Name: Tamadir "The shepherd" (human, male, 0-level, N, shepherd)

Submitted by: Frank Huebner

Tamadir is a quiet, well-esteemed member of the Arylon's Tail community. He is a little over 5' 3", slim, spindly, 39 year old man. His long, slightly grey hair is mostly covered by the hood of his years old, grey-green cloak. His blue-gray eyes are hidden behind two bushy black eyebrows, and his skin looks like old leather tanned by sun and wind. Whether he's in the center of the town or out in the emptiness of the Field of the Dead, he wears his cloak and holds his staff. Some joke that he even takes these things to bed with him. Both items he got from his father, who got them from his. Tamadir has no son, who will inherit his job. But he happily sees a great interest to become a shepherd from his daughter. Next year she will follow him into the fields. Although Tamadir is very skilled in the usage of his staff in combat, even against a small pack of wolves, he is not a hero who likes to fight and he will try to avoid all trouble, if possible.

Tamadir owns a small yard at the edge of Arylon's Tail. The yard contains a one-story wooden building where he, Sumaria, his wife, and Jalin, their 14 year old daughter, live. There is a large stable for the sheep. It houses the herd when he is home for the night and his own sheep during the winter.

From spring to autumn, his wife and daughter are mostly alone in the house. They work in the small garden and take care of some small animals like ducks, chickens, and rabbits. Anyone who thinks they would be easy to steal from, learn Sumaria can handle a shortsword very well. Also, the neighbors look after the well-being of the two women.

In early spring, when no more frost is expected and the new grass stands on the pasture, Tamadir moves across Arylon's Tail to collect the sheep for his herd. He goes from farm to farm, collecting sheep from the ranchers. Each farmer marks his sheep with an unique combination of cut marks in it's ears. Though this sounds brutal, everyone knows that it doesn't hurt any more than piercing a human's ear. Tamadir gets two cps per sheep when he adds them to his herd.

With his three dogs, he drives the sheep onto the Fields of the Dead. He has some special places, where the fields are humid enough to produce fresh grass most of the year and it is safe enough to stay out in the wilderness for some days without being disturbed by wolves or undead. Tamadir stays out on the pasture for three to five days. After this time or earlier if there is very strong rain, he goes back home for one night. He takes new clothes and provisions when he moves out again the next morning.

At the beginning of Mirtul he moves back to his yard to shear the sheep. For this purpose he calls all the ranchers who gave him sheep to herd. They receive their wool for which they give Tamadir two cps per animal.

All newborn lambs are marked by Tamadir as belonging to the owner of the ewe. Sometimes he gets a sheep instead of money so he now has fifteen sheep of his own.

In late Eleint, Tamadir brings all sheep back to his yard where he drives them into a holding pen, which has a narrow gate at the opposite end. Since only one sheep can pass through the gate at a time the sheep are easily sorted. On this day, the farmers gather in Tamadir's yard to collect their sheep. The yard takes on a festive atmosphere since this has become an important event in the yearly cycle of Arylon's Tail. For every sheep he gives back, he gets two cp. For every missing animal, which is very rare, he pays 10 cp to the owner. Mostly, Tamadir gets paid with additional things like fresh fruit, sausage, eggs, etc.

During the cold months Tamadir stays home with his family. He repairs damages to the house or sits in the cellar whittling wooden toys or instruments. His wife sells these things the next spring at the market in Arylon.

Tamadir has a dark secret in his life. He has never told anyone the story of what happened eight years ago.

It was a warm day in summer when he was out on the field with the herd. In the middle of the day he got hungry for some fresh fruit or berries, so he went to the woods nearby to collect some. The herd was well guarded by his dogs. As he moved slowly through the thicket, he heard the sound of horses. Following a reflex, Tamadir hid in the underbrush. Through a gap in the bushes he saw a terrible scene. Four bandits hunted a lone rider. Just before they reached him, an arrow hit the man in the back and knocked him from his horse.

Just a second later the four bandits caught and beat him. They robbed him of his equipment and searched all his pockets. Fearfully, Tamadir stopped breathing. He was never a hero, who fought against superior numbers of opponents. After some minutes, the bandits stopped torturing their victim and went away. Still stunned by fear, Tamadir waited a while to see if they would came back before moving slowly back to his herd. Hours later he had pangs of remorse because he didn't help the man. Tamadir went back to the place of the crime. But, he came too late. The man had already died because of his serious wounds. Sadly, Tamadir buried the man a little away and deeper in the woods from the place of his death. After saying a devoted prayer, he went back to his sheep. After this event, Tamadir stayed out on the fields for a longer time than normal.

Some weeks later, Tamadir sat in a tavern and heard a strange story. A young women spoke about the son of a nobleman from Waterdeep, who departed from Arylon some weeks ago but never arrived at home. He carried a last will, which was needed to clarify the claim on a piece of land north of Waterdeep. A feud between the two families was expected to start very soon. She mentioned a group of bandits who were caught some days before. They told her about a man they robbed, matching the description of the son. But they did not remember a last will. The bandits led her to the place of the crime, but there was no trace of the victim. Full of shame, Tamadir kept silent that evening and went home very late.

Since that day, he has avoided the area near the woods. He hasn't told the story to anyone, but maybe he will trust someone enough to tell them and clear his conscience, eventually.

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