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Uzhdrik Kvest

NPCs
Mountain dwarf · Fighter, Battle Master · Level 5

Uzhdrik Kvest

Quarry safety assessor and hired escort
“That promise won”
AC17
HP44/44
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

At the table

Voice

A dry, rasping voice with a little grit in its edges, as though the quarry dust has settled somewhere behind his teeth. His consonants land firmly, and he pauses between instructions like a foreman waiting for a crew to act. The old habit of calling warnings over machinery gives even ordinary directions a practical, carrying force.

His speech is clipped and workmanlike, shaped by years of shouting over quarry noise. He favors concrete nouns and short, measured clauses, and often explains a moral point through the language of load, strain, and support. When he is frightened, he becomes more exact rather than louder; when angry, he uses blunt questions and lets the other person sit with the answer.

Speech patterns

Uses work and construction comparisons to explain people: "That promise won't bear weight."
Asks direct questions about exits, loads, and who is responsible before agreeing to a plan.
When embarrassed, answers with a practical observation rather than acknowledging the feeling.
Calls people by their names, not their ranks, unless he is deliberately making a point.

How to play them

Uzhdrik responds best to clear plans, honest limits, and people who show that they have considered consequences. He will share useful local knowledge with anyone who treats workers as people rather than obstacles. If pressed about the collapse, he starts with practical facts and only admits guilt after trust has been earned.

Goal

Find a way to expose the danger beneath Cutwater without driving its workers into poverty, then face Nalia and ask what she actually wants from him.

Motivation

He wants to prevent another avoidable collapse without pretending that safety decisions are painless or that he alone should make them.

Secret · GM only

Appearance

Uzhdrik is a compact, broad-shouldered dwarf with a barrel chest and the careful, weight-shifting gait of someone used to walking across unstable quarry ledges. His coarse beard is divided into two square plaits, each threaded with a small wooden wedge. He smells distinctly of wet limestone, lamp oil, and the sharp juniper soap he uses to try to cover both. In a crowded room, his eyes rarely settle on faces; they track door hinges, ceiling beams, and the gaps beneath tables, as if he is quietly calculating what might collapse first. He leaves the impression of a workman who has already measured the room and found it wanting.

Clothing

A soot-brown wool shirt beneath a patched, riveted coat of mail; a quarryman's leather apron folded and strapped at his hip; heavy boots with fresh hobnails; and a dark green neck wrap that smells faintly of juniper.

Body language

He plants his feet as though bracing against a shifting floor and keeps one hand near the belt where his pick hangs. While listening, his gaze moves around the room rather than meeting a speaker's eyes. When he is unsettled, he rubs a thumb over the ridged wooden wedge in his beard.

Height
4 feet 6 inches
Build
Short, dense, and powerfully built, with thick forearms and a slight forward lean from years of lifting stone.
Eyes
Dark brown
Hair
Dark brown, with a few iron-gray strands in his beard
Skin
Warm umber, often dulled by a fine chalky film of quarry dust
Age
Forty-two
Gender
Male
Size
Medium

Distinguishing features

Two square beard plaits each hold a small wooden wedge, one pale and one stained dark by quarry water.
His gaze habitually measures doors, beams, and floor seams instead of faces.
His clothes carry a noticeable mix of wet limestone dust, lamp oil, and juniper soap.

Personality

12 traits and drives

He is protective without being gentle about it: he will pull someone out of danger by the collar, then scold them for making him do it. In calm company he is dryly funny and surprisingly attentive to small practical needs. When challenged about the quarry disaster, that humor hardens into stubborn defensiveness; when someone is genuinely afraid, he becomes patient and plainspoken.

Alignment
Lawful neutral

Quirks

Taps stone, table legs, and door frames twice with a knuckle before leaning against them.
Turns cups so their handles point toward the nearest exit.
Counts stair steps under his breath, then denies doing it if asked.
Keeps a pinch of juniper soap in a cloth pouch and uses it after handling lamp oil.
When offered food, first checks whether the plate wobbles.

Habits

When entering a new building, he checks the lintels and ceiling joints before greeting anyone.
If a conversation turns to work safety, he becomes exact and relentless, even when it costs him a useful ally.
He is unexpectedly patient with frightened children and animals, but has little patience for adults who pretend not to understand a risk.
After a fight, he checks the floor and walls for structural damage before tending to his own injuries.

Traits · 3

He distrusts confident assurances but respects people who admit what they do not know.
He wants to spare others the guilt he carries, yet resents being treated as though he is fragile.
He is blunt about immediate hazards and awkwardly evasive about emotional ones.

Flaws · 3

He treats disagreement about safety as proof that someone is reckless, and can turn a negotiation into an argument.
He delays apologies until he can offer practical help, which makes those he has hurt feel ignored.
He sometimes mistakes responsibility for control and takes on burdens other people have a right to carry.

Fears · 3

That he will mistake a warning sign again and someone he loves will pay for it.
That exposing Dakoa's tunnel will leave Cutwater's families without work.
Being trapped underground with no way to tell whether the stone is settling or breaking.

Wants and needs · 3

Wants a way to protect Cutwater without condemning its workers to hunger.
Needs to decide whether the hidden tunnel plan belongs in the hands of the settlement or the authorities.
Needs to speak honestly with Nalia instead of substituting money and repairs for an apology.

Combat

AC 17 · HP 44 · 25 ft.

Uzhdrik looks for firm footing, cover, and a route that keeps civilians away from the fight. He uses Trip Attack to drop a dangerous foe, then takes advantage of his two attacks to pressure that target. He reserves Precision Attack for a crucial strike and Menacing Attack for a foe whose retreat could prevent further bloodshed. He does not chase enemies into unstable ground unless someone is in immediate danger.

Uzhdrik Kvest

Medium humanoid (mountain dwarf), lawful neutral
Armor Class17
Hit Points44
Speed25 ft.
Level5
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsStrengthConstitution
SkillsAthleticsInsightPerceptionSurvival
SensesDarkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 11
Languages
Common,
Dwarvish
Extra Attack. Uzhdrik makes two attacks when he takes the Attack action.
Second Wind. Once per short or long rest, he can use a bonus action to regain hit points.
Action Surge. Once per short or long rest, he can take one additional action on his turn.
Combat Superiority. He has four d8 superiority dice, regained on a short or long rest. His maneuver save DC is 14.
Battle Master Maneuvers. He knows Precision Attack, Trip Attack, and Menacing Attack.

Actions

War Pick. Uzhdrik makes two melee attacks with his war pick. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: piercing damage.
Light Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: piercing damage.
Trip Attack. When Uzhdrik hits a creature with a weapon attack, he can expend one superiority die to add damage. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or fall prone.
Menacing Attack. When Uzhdrik hits with a weapon attack, he can expend one superiority die and add to the damage. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of him until the end of Uzhdrik's next turn.
Precision Attack. When Uzhdrik makes a weapon attack roll, he can expend one superiority die and add it to the roll. He can use this after seeing the roll but before its effects are resolved.

Reactions

Parry. When a creature Uzhdrik can see hits him with a melee attack, he can use his reaction to add to his AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss. He must expend one superiority die to do so.
Opportunity Attack. When a creature he can see moves within 5 feet of him, Uzhdrik can use his reaction to make one melee weapon attack against it.

Services they sell

Can assess stonework, tunnels, and masonry for visible signs of instability.
Can escort travelers through quarry roads and explain which routes are safe after rain.
Can train a willing combatant in practical weapon drills during downtime.

Rewards they can give

A reliable assessment of whether a building, tunnel, or bridge appears structurally unsafe.
A quarryman's route through the hills that avoids the main toll road.
If trusted, the hidden rubbing of Dakoa's tunnel plan.

Equipment

  • War pick (martial melee weapon)A well-maintained military pick with a blunt counterweight and a grip wrapped in old leather.
  • Light crossbow (martial ranged weapon)A compact crossbow kept in a waxed case; its stock has shallow notches marking repairs, not kills.
  • Chain mail (armor)A fitted shirt of interlocking rings beneath a work coat, patched neatly at the shoulders.
  • Quarry tools (tools)A small mason's hammer, iron wedges, a chalk nub, and a short plumb line.
  • Remittance packet (personal)A sealed packet of coin intended for Nalia, which he has delayed delivering twice.

Possessions

A bent quarry bell-clapper wrapped in cloth
A small packet of letters from Nalia, mostly unopened
A folded rubbing of a tunnel plan
A pair of wooden wedges from the day of the collapse

Background

Uzhdrik grew up hauling stone in the quarry settlement of Cutwater, a name locals kept after the stream that fed it was diverted underground. He learned to judge stone by tapping it with the haft of a tool, and learned early that a foreman's promises could be less solid than the rock. During a spring shift, he heard a change in the quarry wall and ordered the workers out. The foreman, Dakoa, mocked him and kept the crew working. Uzhdrik struck the warning bell himself; the wall gave way moments later. He saved most of the crew, but the collapse buried his younger brother, Beka, who had gone back for a trapped mule. Since then Uzhdrik has trained as a soldier and made himself responsible for dangers other people dismiss. He sends money to Beka's widow, Nalia, who refuses to forgive him for sounding the bell too late. His former foreman Dakoa now hires him for escort work, insisting that the old quarrel is settled. Uzhdrik knows Dakoa is buying his silence about an illegal tunnel beneath the settlement, and he has not decided whether exposing it will save lives or destroy the only livelihood Cutwater has left.

Role in the story

A wary ally, local guide, or morally complicated witness to a preventable disaster. His knowledge can reveal a looming structural threat, while his decision about the tunnel forces the party to weigh immediate safety against the settlement's survival.

“He learned to judge stone by tapping it with the haft of a tool, and learned early that a foreman's promises could be less solid than the rock.”
From their background
Faction
Former soldier of the border levy; currently takes independent escort contracts from the quarry settlement of Cutwater.

Known connections

Nalia, his brother Beka's widow, lives in Cutwater and accepts his remittances but will not meet him alone.
Dakoa, the quarry foreman who once ignored his warning, now hires him for escort work and is hiding an illegal tunnel.
Taviri, an itinerant mason who helped him learn to read stone fractures, sends him occasional notes with no greeting and no signature.
Major secret · GM only
Minor secrets · GM only

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