Norlond

## Description

### Appearance

Norlond is pretty average looking, at least for a Goliath. He is around seven feet tall and has broad, strong shoulders. His eyes are a vibrant green color and like all male Goliaths, he is completely bald.

### Personality

Norlond lives up to some of the stereotypical assumptions one might have of a Goliath man. He is incredibly strong, both in body and temperament, he can be quite stubborn, and his natural demeanor is one that many might find intimidating. While he is not what most would call a social butterfly (few of his kind are), Norland is a natural born leader, and is good at organizing people and getting things done.

## Biography

Norlond had been the Leader of the United Mercenaries and Adventurer's Association (UMAA) for at least a few years before the appearance/creation of the Greyrot Shards.

### First Impressions

Norlond met the adventuring party (then consisting of Rineth, Calix, Dordlo, Manawyd, Gahildorir, and Armentel) not long after their first adventure in the town of Sweetwater. He, like them, had come to investigate the strange illness plaguing the town. When he arrived to speak to Mayor Abigail Bolton, however, he was surprised to find that she was attempting to solve her issues on her own by sending in a group of freelancers.. Norlond and his associates were quite peeved by this, and accused the mayor not only of underpaying her adventurers, but putting them in undue danger by failing to tell them all the facts.

The party presented Norlond with the Greyrot Shard they had found, and he was understandably wary at first. He brought in one of his other associates, the half-orc Cleric Robierre, to place the shard into a blessed jar. After ensuring the party was properly compensated by the mayor, Norlond explained his plans of bringing the shard back to Spire City. He invited the adventurers to accompany him, promising that if they continued to do well, then they could become members of his guild.

Back in Spire City, Norland escorted the party to the UMAA headquarters, located in the Northeastern spire, a short walk away from the Gondola terminal from the Vyrland mountain range. He gave the party a tour of the place, and explained to them all that UMAA was meant to do. He boasted of the benefits enjoyed by UMAA members, such as first dibs at jobs, networking opportunities, and for those who could pay, access to resurrection rituals. In return, UMAA would take a small cut of the party's earnings, and reserve the right to demand access to knowledge they had gained. The party agreed to sign on with UMAA, and received their first task; tracking down some lost shipments of Blessed Sands.

The party returned successful, albeit having suffered some losses. Norland was quite impressed by the speed at which they accomplished their task. Convinced now that they were capable, he directed them towards the City of Clemency, where the Orthodoxy had requested assistance in containing other shards.

### A Tale of Two Norlands

While the party was off on their many adventures, Norland found himself in a rather difficult situation. He was kidnapped by Mind Flayers! While normally the disappearance of such a prominent man would be immediately noticed, Norlond's situation was rather unique, as unknown to him, he was replaced by a changeling doppelgänger.

Norlond was in the mind flayer lair for many days, possibly weeks. He could not tell. Finally came the day when he, along with his fellow prisoner Gleebo the Goblin, were to be implanted with Mind Flayer tadpoles. Norlond watched in horror as the goblin was 'infected'. Thankfully, Norlond did not suffer the same fate, as the ritual was interrupted by the arrival of the very adventurers he had employed a few weeks prior. After killing the Mind Flayers, the party, now including a young tiefling girl named Berry and the singer Perasona Jiwa, put Gleebo out of his misery, and freed Norlond. It was then that he learned of his supposed 'replacement'.

Norlond was escorted back to the surface by Rineth, where he began planning how precisely he was going to retake his identity. Once the rest of the party joined up with them, they returned to UMAA headquarters. As soon as they entered the lobby, Norland shouted to his secretary, Agnes, to "Cancel his 12 o'clock". Agnes scrambles to comply, activating a few runes on her desk. On the lift ride to the office, Norland explains that that is their code to activate contingencies in the event of an imposter to lock down the guild hall. Armed with spite, determination, and the code word of Sammiches, the group stormed into Norland's office, where they came face to face with the false Norlond. Though the imposter tried to run, he was swiftly caught, and the true Norland began beating him until he revealed his true identity as Daisy, a changeling from Vyrland.

## Relationships

#### Daisy: Enemy

Daisy is a changeling from Vyrland who infiltrated UMAA by posing as Norlond.

#### Galfrey: Associate

Galfrey and Norlond keep in contact with one another regarding research on the Greyrot Shards. They are close associates, but there is some tension over disagreements on how to conduct studies.

#### Perasona Jiwa: Fan

Although perhaps not as crazed as some of the other residents of Spire City, Norland is believed to be an avid fan of the singer Perasona Jiwa.

#### Lady Vironia: Friend/Associate

Lady Vironia is one of Norlond's friends in Spire City. He stands by her work as an artificer, and has encouraged some of his clients to go to her for help.

1. ↑ Gahildorir Died. Armentel chose to run off with Chef Coriander.