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Annis Baenhunum

NPCs
Gnoll · Commoner (4th-level custom NPC) · Level 4

Annis Baenhunum

Stonecutter
“one hard rain from giving up.”
AC13
HP32/32
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

At the table

Voice

A rough, breath-driven rasp shaped by quarry dust, with enough volume to carry over worksite noise. Her laugh is sudden and booming; when focused, she speaks in clipped instructions, each word cleanly separated like measured hammer strikes.

Her voice has a rough, breath-driven rasp from years of quarry dust, with a warm, carrying boom when she laughs or calls across a worksite. She clips words when impatient, as if saving breath for lifting. Her blunt phrasing comes from years of giving clear instructions over hammer blows, while her humor arrives suddenly and fills the room.

Speech patterns

Uses plain, direct sentences and asks blunt follow-up questions when someone evades the point.
Explains danger with practical comparisons, such as a wall being 'one hard rain from giving up.'
Laughs in a sudden, booming burst, then continues speaking as if nothing unusual happened.
Calls people 'neighbor' when she means to include them, even if they have just met.
When ashamed, she talks about the work that needs doing instead of the feeling she is avoiding.

How to play them

Annis responds well to practical honesty, shared labor, and people who treat workers with respect. She gives freely when she sees a real need, but reacts sharply to cruelty or anyone dismissing a danger that could hurt bystanders. Players can earn her trust by helping inspect the aqueduct, backing up a vulnerable person, or admitting when they do not know something.

Goal

Convince the town council to close the market road long enough to shore up the cracked aqueduct arch before the spring thaw.

Motivation

Annis believes a community is measured by whether it protects people who have no power to demand protection. She wants to prevent another avoidable death without turning every conflict into a public feud.

Secret · GM only

Appearance

Annis is a wiry, long-limbed gnoll whose rusty red fur looks roughened by stone dust, with white markings sweeping from her jaw down her throat and across one shoulder like chalk dragged over brick. Her dark brown eyes are steady and alert beneath a heavy brow. Small brass and bone rings edge both ears, clicking faintly when she turns her head. She moves with a quarry worker's practiced economy, placing her feet as if every floor might conceal a loose slab. She takes up more room than her narrow frame suggests, planting herself squarely between trouble and whoever looks most vulnerable. Unexpectedly, she keeps a tiny folded paper flower tucked in her work belt, replacing it whenever the old one crumbles.

Clothing

A patched leather apron over a coarse, soot-brown shirt, work trousers tucked into thick boots, and a red wool scarf repaired with mismatched thread. Her apron is stained with chalk and mortar, but she keeps its brass buckles polished and oiled.

Body language

She plants her boots wide and keeps her shoulders angled toward the nearest person in danger. When listening, she tilts her head as if judging the pitch of a stone. Her tail gives a short, impatient flick when someone dodges a question. At ease, she rests the heel of one hand on her hammer and occupies the center of a room without seeming to notice.

Height
6 feet 2 inches
Build
Wiry and strong, with long arms, a narrow waist, and the dense muscle of someone who has lifted stone for years
Eyes
Dark brown
Hair
Rusty red fur; no separate head hair
Skin
Dark umber skin visible around her muzzle and palms beneath her rusty red fur
Age
Adult, around 34 years old
Gender
Female
Size
Medium

Distinguishing features

White fur markings run from her jaw down her throat and over one shoulder.
Brass and bone rings pierce the edges of both ears and click softly when she turns.
Keeps a small folded paper flower tucked into her work belt, an unexpected keepsake for a stonecutter.
Her apron is heavily patched but its brass buckles are conspicuously well cared for.

Personality

14 traits and drives

Annis is blunt enough to tell a friend when their plan is foolish, yet generous enough to spend her last coin helping that friend carry it out safely. In a calm mood she jokes loudly and welcomes company; when someone is in danger, she becomes focused and physically imposing. She dislikes being praised for kindness, but takes great pride in competent work.

Alignment
Neutral good

Quirks

Taps a stone twice with one knuckle before sitting near it.
Keeps folded paper flowers in her belt and replaces them whenever they become torn or dusty.
Names every hammer she owns after a kind of bread, though she denies doing so.
When thinking, traces invisible mortar lines across her palm.
Laughs at the end of her own grim warnings, not because they are funny but because she refuses to let fear have the last word.

Habits

Automatically checks lintels, stairs, and retaining walls when entering a building.
Offers food or practical help before asking personal questions.
Laughs loudly at honest jokes, including jokes at her own expense.
Steps between a threatening person and a stranger before deciding whether the stranger deserves it.
Works through discomfort until someone she cares about directly orders her to stop.

Traits · 4

She says what she thinks before polishing the edges, then makes amends through useful action.
She is suspicious of authority but generous toward people who are doing hard work.
She enjoys a loud laugh and crowded meals, yet needs solitary hours to repair tools and think.
She defends strangers from immediate cruelty, even when she has no idea whether they are innocent.

Flaws · 3

Treats accepting help as a debt she must repay immediately.
Can mistake blunt honesty for the only honest way to speak.
Keeps working past exhaustion and becomes stubborn when urged to rest.

Fears · 3

Another preventable collapse killing people who trusted her judgment.
That her brother's death will become only a story people tell when they want to excuse doing nothing.
That her generosity is sometimes a way to avoid asking others for help.

Wants and needs · 4

The council to take the aqueduct warning seriously.
Enough paid work to support Nemi and her niece without making them feel indebted.
A way to expose the old safety fraud without harming the families of the workers involved.
Occasional company that does not require her to solve a problem.

Combat

AC 13 · HP 32 · 30 ft.

Annis avoids starting fights, but if a stranger is threatened she closes distance quickly and tries to put herself between attacker and target. She uses her hammer to disarm, shove, or break an opponent's footing rather than pursue a fleeing enemy. In a cramped space she watches for unstable stone and keeps allies away from collapsing masonry.

Annis Baenhunum

Medium humanoid (gnoll), neutral good
Armor Class13
Hit Points32
Speed30 ft.
Level4
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsStrengthConstitution
SkillsAthleticsPerceptionMason's tools
SensesDarkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 11
Languages
Common,
Gnoll
Stonecutter's Brace (custom): Annis has advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to resist being shoved while she is standing on stone or packed earth.
Hard-Earned Hands (custom): Annis is proficient with mason's tools. When she spends at least 10 minutes examining stonework, she can identify recent repairs, unsafe sections, and likely weak points.

Actions

Stonecutter's Hammer. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 () bludgeoning damage, or 7 () bludgeoning damage if wielded with two hands. The hammer is a practical stonecutting tool, not a finely balanced weapon.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 () piercing damage. Annis uses this only when cornered or protecting someone at close quarters.
Shoulder the Stone. Custom action. Annis targets a creature within 5 feet of a stone surface she can reach. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be shoved up to 5 feet into or away from the surface. This deals no damage.

Reactions

Put Me Between. When a creature Annis can see within 5 feet of her attacks someone other than her, Annis can move up to 5 feet to an unoccupied space adjacent to the attacker or the target. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. If she ends adjacent to the target, the attacker's next attack against that target before the start of Annis's next turn is made with disadvantage. Custom feature.

Services they sell

Stonecutting, masonry repair, and inspection of walls or foundations.
Advice on quarry routes, local building materials, and the condition of old structures.
Physical help moving heavy goods or reinforcing a temporary shelter.

Rewards they can give

A reliable stonecutter's service at a fair rate.
A safe route through quarry tunnels and old masonry passages.
A discreet warning about unstable walls, unsafe buildings, or laborers being exploited.
Her hammer as a loan, if she trusts the party with it.

Equipment

  • Stonecutter's hammer (weapon and tool)A broad-headed hammer with a worn ash haft, suitable for stonework and dangerous close combat.
  • Mason's apron (clothing)A leather apron with reinforced pockets, patched repeatedly at the seams.
  • Mason's tools (tools)A compact kit of chisels, a small mallet, a plumb line, and a folding rule.
  • Workday bundle (personal effects)A wrapped heel of bread, a tin cup, chalk, and a folded paper flower.

Possessions

A stonecutter's hammer
Mason's tools
A patched leather apron
A wrapped heel of bread
A small folded paper flower
A fragment bearing the old inspection mark from the failed retaining wall

Background

Annis grew up among quarry camps, where her family cut blocks for bridges and retaining walls. As a young worker, she believed that good stonework could outlast any quarrel. That faith broke when a rushed retaining wall collapsed during a spring thaw, killing her older brother and several laborers. The foreman blamed the dead workers and ordered the damage hidden. Annis refused, dragged survivors from the rubble, and testified at the inquiry despite threats to her livelihood. She lost her position but gained the trust of the town's masons. Now she works independently, taking modest jobs and quietly checking old walls for danger. She sends part of her earnings to her brother's widowed partner, Nemi, who is raising their daughter, and she argues regularly with the quarry's current foreman, Oru, who insists that safety inspections cost too much. Her present problem is a cracked aqueduct arch above the market road; she is certain it will fail, but the town council will not close the road without proof.

Role in the story

A dependable local craftsperson, generous ally, and blunt moral counterweight. Annis can guide the party through the town's working districts, reveal structural dangers, and draw them into a dispute over public safety and concealed negligence.

“As a young worker, she believed that good stonework could outlast any quarrel.”
From their background
Faction
Independent stonecutter; trusted by the town's working masons but not formally affiliated with their association

Known connections

Nemi, her brother's widow, receives a share of Annis's wages and knows how much guilt still drives her.
Oru, the quarry foreman, is an old coworker who once protected Annis but now resents her insistence on safety.
A young apprentice named Yaremi seeks her approval and copies her habit of checking every stone twice.
The market's street vendors know that Annis will help them move heavy stalls before a storm.
Major secret · GM only
Minor secrets · GM only

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