Great hall at Rhosgobel?

[Butterfingers]

Who sits on the chieftain's seat in the longhouse at Rhosgobel? Clearly it's not Radagast, but has this been mentioned in any of the sourcebooks? I can't find a mention, and I am trying to populate the folk-moot for my players.

I know two agents of Radagast mentioned, Banna and Beran, but they don't seem leader types?

[Halbarad]

There isn’t an actual Chieftain at Rhosgobel. Mountain Hall is the only Woodman Community that actually has a Chieftain and is notable for it. Fridwald and Ingomer are merely representatives of the Councils of Elders of their respective communities. There is no named Woodman of Rhosgobel with the same standing or position as them on it’s Council of Elders.

[Butterfingers]

Fair enough, and it would explain why no-ones mentioned anywhere. But then why is there a chair for chieftain in the hall in addition to Radagast's own chair?

I thought the local smith (since there's a forge?) would be important enough to act as the village's leader who's in charge of the everyday managing, since obviously Radagast doesn't like to take direct charge of the village?

I have added a couple kinsmen/women, thanes etc. for each representative in the Moot, so they wouldn't seem so lonely. Some are obvious ones mentioned in the adventures, some I made up to flesh out things a bit and give the companions someone to interact with.

Then I added some local merchants and entertainers to give the moot a bit of festival feel, in addition to the serious stuff. They camp and ply their trades outside Rhosgobel while the moot takes place in front of the great hall in within.

[Halbarad]

That’s a good question and the only answer I can think of is that we have a continuity error.

Having the Village Smith as the de facto Chieftain sounds perfectly plausible to me.

[The_Vanguard]

I‘ve created Edda One-Eye for that very purpose in my campaign.
Edda is a wizened old crown with tangled grey hair. Her left eye is milky-white. She is famous for her sharp wits and even sharper tounge that made her as many admirers as enemies. Many also believe her to be a witch, as she spent much time with Radagast in her younger years.

Edda is a constant thorn in Ingomer‘s side, especially because she is a childhood friend of Gierbald‘s mother and argues for his pardon any chance she gets. Concerning Mogdred, she will advise for him to be accepted by the Woodmen, just as all their hounds are the offspring of wild wolves they once allowed to join them.

When the Black Tarn faces certain problems (I‘m trying to avoid spoilers here), she will try to get to the bottom of things only to be drowned by the real culprit. This person will then frame her, claiming the waters were despoiled by Edda‘s foul magic. This might drive a wedge between Rhosgobel and the rest of Woodmen society.

[Stormcrow]

A throne without an occupant sounds like a great plot twist.

I swear I've heard of something like that somewhere...

[Robin Smallburrow]

Someone else in an earlier thread mentioned Regnald 'Russet-hound', so I am using him as the Chief Elder of Rhosgobel. Edda one-eye, I like it!

Robin S.

[Terisonen]

Great idea, indeed

[Halbarad]

Indeed, Edda ‘One Eye’ sounds like an excellent addition and the events at Black Tarn sound like a great idea. Regnald’the Russet Hound’ is an NPC variant of my own character in an online campaign(Regnald ‘the Fox’). Russet Hound is an antiquated term for fox btw.

[Butterfingers]

All good ideas, thanks everyone. I think I am going to keep the smith angle for now, and maybe make Edda his mom?

I am going to introduce some additional intrigue in the moot, in addition to just adding various NPCs. A murder mystery might be a little too distracting (not to mention an unthinkable thing to happen during a moot I suppose), and take away the attention from the important event, but maybe some theft or other lesser mystery. Espionage certainly, I already have a couple of spies from various quarters infiltrating the event.

There will be a couple of erring men groups with their wagons allowed at the fringes of the moot, mixing with traders etc. Performers of some kind, bards, jongleurs and masque-performes? And as obvious outsiders, certain to arouse suspicions if something happens.