How to serve man, er ... ogres

[rylen dreskin]

Been reading more Glorantha background and have begun putting together some ideas for a clan to be the center of the action.  I'd like to have an ogre lurking in there from the begining who feeds conservatively.  While not top billing monsters like the Broo, I think ogres have a deep Glorantha resonance.  HQ and the Orlanthi put immense emphasis on community, relationships, and shared effort.  Ogres are not just free riders, they actively subvert the community.

I'd like some advice on hiding one of these folks and making him a socially nasty, non-obvious villan.

My current thoughts -- a dedicated tanner is probaly rare among the hill tribes, but they occour.  A clan is lucky to have one and he provides higher quality leather and useful trade goods for the clan.  His work will involve his own shack well away (and downwind from) any major stead.  He'll have piles and vats of stuff with which he can destroy evidence.  He'll have a mask for some chaos signs.  And he'll have an excuse for having his own religious rites.

My ogre married into the clan before or during their trip to Dragon Pass (recall I'm going to try this during settlement times).  The clan and bloodlike were glad to have him, please with his skilled work, and touched by his care when his wife sickened and wasted away (she suspected something and he poisoned her.)  He continues to live with her kin and has resisted future marriage either within the clan or to bring in a bride claiming it is too soon, but turthfully being worried about suspicion.  He has eaten a few times since then --- [details?]

Important stats:
Tanner -- 10W -- with augments should reach ~5-10W2
Pretense of Loyalty to Clan -- 10W
Pretense of Loyalty to dead wife -- 10W
Stanky -- 5W  (tanning involves lots of noxious stuff)
Manipulate Emotions -- 5W

So, I think I've got the start of a sound baddie.  Once he's found out he'll try to divert attention and if that doesn't work, get away.

We'll, suggestions on how to develop this guy, hide him, and use him effectively please.

Rylen

[Mike Holmes]

We'll, suggestions on how to develop this guy, hide him, and use him effectively please.

Sounds like a fun NPC. Is it your intent to somehow make him the center of an adventure (I'm guessing)? If so, then I'd suggest the Relationship Map approach to designing the action. This would involve coming up with other NPCs, I'm thinking those kin you mentioned.

So you have:

Markas - Ogre
Nielda - wife, deceased
Pindro - their son, 8, and soon to be introduced to his father's ways
Fladamar - Nielda's older brother, a weaponthane like his father
Kiellia - Fladamar's Wife
Ranganar - Nielda's elderly father, retired weaponthane
Stosia - Nielda's younger sister, a looker, intrugued by Markas
Endiaris - young man who's attempting to woo Stosia
Lindrek - clan elder, father of Endiaris

Then you say that Endiaris has seen Stosia spying on Markas, making him worry about her. Not that he suspects what Markas is up to, but Endiaris' father Lindrek has told them that the family is odd (after all living with that stench, and so far from the rest of the clan...), and that he should stay away from them, so he wonders. Fladamar is the head of the household, and a loose canon (Orlanth Adventurous?), and often gone for long periods. Ranganar was a great warrior in his time, but is getting a tad feeblminded - but he cares greatly about his daughter, and suspects that she is interested in making her sister's widower her husband, despite it seeming odd (she could do better than Markas). While Fladamar is away, in theory Kiellia is supposed to run the household in his absence, but she's a wallflower, and people do what they want when Fladamar isn't around.

Of course, what's going on is that Stosia has gotten an inkling that Markas is doing something nefarious, and, having a mischievious heart, wants in on it whatever it is. Pindro knows more about what his old man is doing than anyone, but he's torn between his loyalty to Markas, and what he thinks his clansmen would think is the right thing to do.

Enter the PCs:
Markas - if there are other chaos PCs, then Markas may try to align with them, and/or exchange magic, etc. He might try to cut a deal with somebody nefarious to come up with the body he needs for his son's "introduciton" to his ways.
Pindro - stressed, he'll be looking for anybody he can trust. Getting him to tell the whole story should be a significant challenge, however (possibly an adventure spanning extended contest to gain his trust). It should be easy to see that something is wrong with him, OTOH.
Fladamar - Senses that things may be amiss while he's away. May approach PCs to watch the family.
Kiellia - lonely, and stressed out by her position, and lack of success in it, in addition to the weird vibe in the household, she may turn to another man for comfort...
Ranganar - needs somebody in better shape to watch his daughter Stosia to see she doesn't get into trouble.
Stosia - may chuck over ideas of Markas for an even more rebellious figure. Quite willing to be forward, and just as unknowledgable about how to do it. She may also attempt to gain the right sort of allies in determining what Markas is doing.
Endiaris - Needs help trying to find out what's going on to help Stosia, especially since he can't travel out there often because of his father.
Lindrek - Needs somebody to watch his son who's been cavorting with the Tanner's Folks of late. Thinks them odd.

The key thing is to get the PCs working at cross purposes, which will be interesting to see the effects of when it becomes clear what Markas really is. He'll deny everything, and try to get the PCs to take each other out as slyly as he can.

Hmmm. Not perfect, but what do you think?

Mike