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Hishgall Umbrogaelen

NPCs
Dragonborn, hag-imbued fey-touched lineage (custom) · Fighter, Battle Master · Level 16

Hishgall Umbrogaelen

Fey bounty hunter
“rather than”
AC19
HP210/210
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

At the table

Voice

His voice starts in a low, chesty rumble and carries a dry rasp, like a whetstone dragged across a shovel blade. There is a faint whistle on his inhalation from the narrow channels between his throat plates. When alarmed, he draws breath in quick, rasping pulls, and his words acquire a hard clicking finish. His name alone has a rolling, open-voweled sound that contrasts with the clipped precision of his speech.

He speaks with the deliberate precision of someone accustomed to reading warrants aloud and the blunt practical rhythm of a hunter used to giving warnings in bad weather. He clips the ends of ordinary sentences, but carefully articulates names and contract terms. When rattled, his breath rasps through his nostrils and his consonants come out with a dry, clicking edge.

Speech patterns

He uses short, exact sentences when making an offer, then lets silence force the other person to answer.
He asks people to state what they mean by words such as 'owe,' 'serve,' and 'forever.'
He addresses fey by their chosen names but refuses titles that imply ownership.
When speaking of his mother, he calls her 'Teka' rather than 'my mother,' as if the relationship is something he must earn again.

How to play them

Hishgall first asks what the characters want and what they are willing to promise for it. He is direct but not needlessly hostile, and will hear a counteroffer if it is specific. He respects those who admit uncertainty. He becomes immovable if someone attempts to bind another person through coercion or hidden terms.

Goal

Find Gurdza, recover the names she has taken, and discover whether Teka's lost memories can be returned without making another bargain.

Motivation

He wants to make bargains legible and consent meaningful in a world where powerful beings treat names, memories, and people as currency.

Secret · GM only

Appearance

Hishgall Umbrogaelen is a towering dragonborn whose proportions seem exaggerated by a fey curse: long forearms, a barrel chest, and a neck that can crane forward with the suddenness of a striking heron. His scales overlap like rough, dark green bark, with pale chartreuse seams that glimmer when he is angry or near a fey crossing. He grooms them obsessively, scraping away loose scales and oiling the ridges until they shine like wet leaves. His crown of swept-back horns is bound with neat copper rings, each inscribed with a captured name. His stride is soundless for his size, yet his shadow sometimes arrives a heartbeat before he does. He smells faintly of crushed mint, rain-soaked earth, and the iron tang of old blood. Unexpectedly, he keeps a tiny, carefully folded paper theater in his breast pocket and repairs its painted puppets with astonishing patience.

Clothing

A dark moss-colored traveling coat split for his tail, fitted with leather straps and narrow pockets for warrants, chalk, and restraints. He wears a high collar of waxed canvas, bracers of blackened steel, and a wide belt hung with small bells wrapped in felt so they do not ring.

Body language

He stands with his weight on the balls of his feet, hands held open and low as if offering peace while remaining ready to seize someone. His tail traces a slow arc behind him when he listens. When unsettled, his jaw works as though grinding a hard seed, and his breathing changes from a steady nose-whistle to short, rasping pulls.

Height
7 feet 4 inches
Build
Massive and long-limbed, with dense shoulders and a thick, flexible tail. His movement is far quieter than his size suggests.
Eyes
Bright amber with narrow, dark pupils that widen noticeably when he hears a name spoken under oath.
Hair
No hair; his horn ridges are groomed and polished with oil.
Skin
Deep bottle-green scales with bark-brown ridges and pale yellow-green seams.
Age
Forty-seven years old, though the fey courts insist his egg began dreaming before it was laid.
Gender
Male
Size
Large

Distinguishing features

His shadow occasionally lags half a second behind his movements, especially near fey magic.
His scales are meticulously groomed, and their pale seams glow faintly green when he is agitated.
Copper rings on his horns are each inscribed with a name he has legally released from a fey contract.
A paper theater in his coat pocket depicts a tiny dragonborn and an old woman; the puppets are repaired with fine green thread.

Personality

12 traits and drives

Hishgall is severe about promises but surprisingly patient with mistakes. In negotiations he is methodical and almost ceremonial; among frightened people he becomes practical and protective. When he feels betrayed, he does not shout. He asks the betrayer to repeat the promise they broke, then acts with unnerving speed. He wants to be seen as fair, yet quietly resents anyone who can give his mother the easy affection he cannot.

Alignment
Lawful neutral, with a fierce private tenderness he considers a liability.

Quirks

He folds any scrap of paper he is given into a tiny chair before putting it away.
He taps each copper horn-ring in sequence when trying to remember something important.
He refuses to step over a threshold until the person inside has either invited him or clearly refused.
He tests the air by flicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, as if tasting whether a promise has been made nearby.

Habits

He studies a room's exits before greeting anyone, then makes a point of offering the host the chair with its back to the safest wall.
When a contract is discussed, he repeats its key terms exactly and asks each party to confirm them aloud.
If frightened, he takes one slow breath through his nostrils, and pale green light begins to show between his scales.
He handles paper puppets gently, but tests blades and restraints with clinical roughness.
After a kill, he collects any written promises from the victim and burns them, unless someone still living has a claim on them.

Traits · 3

He distrusts grand declarations but remembers small kindnesses for years.
He is formal with strangers and unexpectedly playful with children, whom he teaches to make paper puppets.
He believes mercy should be a choice made with clear eyes, not an excuse to avoid difficult consequences.

Flaws · 3

He trusts written terms more readily than sincere emotion, and can miss a plea that has no clear wording.
He treats every unfinished debt as a personal failing, even when he could not have prevented it.
He can be frighteningly persistent once he has accepted a warrant, even when new circumstances make it cruel.

Fears · 3

That his mother's lost memories are a fair price for his continued freedom.
That he will become the hag's instrument, hunting people simply because a contract says they belong to someone.
That the fey courts will decide his unusual birth makes him property rather than a person.

Wants and needs · 3

Wants Gurdza's stolen names returned to their rightful owners.
Needs to decide whether telling Teka the truth would restore her agency or only burden her with pain.
Wants a reliable ally who can challenge a warrant when his judgment becomes too rigid.

Combat

AC 19 · HP 210 · 30 ft.

Hishgall begins by judging who is directing the fight and tries to separate that person from allies with reach, forced movement, and Fey Step. He uses the glaive's reach to control narrow ground, saving his breath weapon for clustered foes or a dangerous escape. He uses Action Surge to finish a target who has surrendered only if that target renews the fight. He prefers capture, but does not confuse mercy with allowing a threat to continue.

Hishgall Umbrogaelen

Large humanoid (dragonborn, hag-imbued fey-touched lineage (custom)), lawful neutral, with a fierce private tenderness he considers a liability.
Armor Class19
Hit Points210
Speed30 ft.
Level16
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsStrengthConstitution
SkillsAthleticsInsightIntimidationPerceptionSurvival
SensesDarkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 17
Languages
Common,
Draconic,
Sylvan
Fey Ancestry. Hishgall has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic cannot put him to sleep.
Hag-Imbued Hide (custom): Hishgall has resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws against being poisoned.
Draconic Breath. As an action, Hishgall exhales a 30-foot line of crackling green lightning that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking lightning damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. Once used, he cannot use this feature again until he finishes a short or long rest.
Fey Step (custom): As a bonus action, Hishgall teleports up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space he can see. He can use this feature three times, regaining all uses after a long rest.
Indomitable (2/Day): When Hishgall fails a saving throw, he can reroll it and must use the new roll.
Action Surge (1/Short Rest): On his turn, Hishgall can take one additional action.
Second Wind (1/Short Rest): As a bonus action, Hishgall regains hit points.

Actions

Multiattack. Hishgall makes three attacks with his hooked glaive or two attacks with his longbow.
Hooked Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: slashing damage, plus poison damage. On a hit, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 5 feet toward Hishgall.
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: piercing damage. The bow's blackthorn arrows are mundane, but Hishgall can choose to deal poison damage instead of piercing damage with each hit.
Draconic Breath. Hishgall exhales a 30-foot line of crackling green lightning that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. Once used, this action recharges after a short or long rest.

Reactions

Hook the Runaway. When a creature Hishgall can see moves out of his reach, he makes one glaive attack against it. On a hit, the target's speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its turn.
Parry. When a creature Hishgall can see hits him with an attack, he adds 3 to his AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss. He can use this reaction while wielding his glaive.

Services they sell

Tracks fey creatures and people who have fled through fey crossings.
Reviews the wording of a fey bargain and identifies ambiguous or coercive terms.
Can escort travelers through a known fey crossing when doing so does not interfere with a warrant.

Rewards they can give

A lawful introduction to Kivren's fey court, if the characters help recover stolen names.
A writ confirming that a character is no longer bound by a particular fey claim.
A carefully repaired paper puppet made in the character's likeness.

Equipment

  • Hooked glaive (weapon)A long, dark steel polearm with a hooked rear blade, built to catch limbs, clothing, and weapon hafts. Its poison coating is a custom alchemical preparation, not a magical property.
  • Longbow and blackthorn arrows (weapon)A reinforced longbow and a sheaf of blackthorn arrows, some marked with chalk notches to identify targets.
  • Fey-stalker half plate (armor)A fitted suit of half plate painted in layered greens and browns, with its joints carefully padded against noise.
  • Hunter's kit (adventuring gear)Felt-wrapped bells, chalk, waxed warrants, manacles, a healer's kit, and a compact paper theater.

Possessions

A hooked glaive
A reinforced longbow and blackthorn arrows
Fey-stalker half plate
A small paper theater with repaired puppets
Copper rings engraved with released names
A packet of waxed warrants and chalk

Background

Hishgall Umbrogaelen hatched in a clutch kept beneath a roadside shrine by his mother, a dragonborn midwife named Teka. A hag called Gurdza had secretly marked the egg with a stolen sliver of fey glamour, hoping to grow a tracker who could pursue debts across worlds. Hishgall emerged larger than his siblings, with a voice that made the shrine's candles gutter and a shadow that moved against the firelight. His family hid him until the hag's hunters found them. At seventeen, he followed their trail into the Feywild and found his mother bargaining away her own memories to keep the hag from claiming him. He broke the bargain by killing the hag's collector, but Teka returned home unable to recognize his face. That failure shaped his rule: a contract is only just if its terms can be understood by both sides. He became a bounty hunter, specializing in fey who flee into the mortal world and mortals who vanish into fey bargains. Now he tracks Gurdza, who has resurfaced and is buying old names from desperate people. Hishgall is also quietly paying for Teka's care through a village apothecary, though he visits her only when she is asleep, unable to bear being mistaken for a stranger.

Role in the story

A formidable hunter who may pursue the party, bargain with them, or become their ally against a hag. His rigid standards make him a useful source of fey law, but his hidden family history complicates any simple judgment of his choices.

“A hag called Gurdza had secretly marked the egg with a stolen sliver of fey glamour, hoping to grow a tracker who could pursue debts across worlds.”
From their background
Faction
An independent bounty hunter who accepts warrants from the fey magistracy of Kivren's court but refuses permanent membership in any court or mortal authority.

Known connections

Teka, his mother, lives in the village of Kestek and no longer recognizes him. He sends money for her medicine through a local apothecary.
Gurdza, the hag who altered his egg, is alive and trading stolen names. Hishgall has sworn to find her before she binds another child to a bargain.
Kivren, a fey magistrate, provides him with lawful warrants but considers his mortal sense of consent inconvenient.
A young paper-maker named Dazka repairs the tiny theater Hishgall carries and believes the hunter is secretly kinder than he pretends.
Major secret · GM only
Minor secrets · GM only

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