| The Willow Sourcebook |
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Franjean is nine inches tall, and Rool a little shorter. Sometimes the biggest trouble comes in the smallest packages. Franjean kidnapped Elora Danan from Madmartigan in the fairy forest, while riding his eagle, Canterfree. Pursuing brownie, baby, and bird, Willow and Meegosh fell into the brownies' favorite pit trap. Rool plundered a supply of love potion, Dust of Broken Heart, from the fairies of Cherlindrea's forest. Franjean and Rool both decided it would be best to leave the forest, escorting Willow, before the fairies learned of the theft. In the tavern where Willow met "Hilda" (that is, Madmartigan), Rool endeared himself to a tomcat and fell into a beer stein, all in one smooth move. Again, it proved prudent to exit quickly. In the Nockmaar base camp, the brownies freed Willow, Madmartigan, and Fin Raziel from their prison. But they also gave Madmartigan a faceful of Dust of Broken Heart. That brought Madmartigan closer to Sorsha, and brought Sorsha's tent down around both of them. Finally, having played catch-up with the heroes through most of the journey to Tir Asleen, the brownies redeemed themselves. They brought Airk Thaughbaer's army to the castle in time to provide much-needed support to Willow and Madmartigan. At least that's the way the brownies tell it. Airk's troops say the little creatures just hopped a ride. For Franjean and Rool, this was a slow week. FRANJEAN It can't have been more than 200 years ago that Franjean decided to be King of the World. Up to that time, for centuries, he'd been happy tying bootlaces together, rearranging farm tools, wrapping cats with human undergarments, unbaiting baited fishhooks, wrapping cats with human undergarments while the humans were still wearing them, souring wine, sweetening vinegar, breaking eggs... the usual daily agenda of brownie deeds. But for Franjean, the routine began to pall. Humans grew more alert every century. He kept getting into scrapes and escaping only by the narrowest margin. For instance, when he dropped a live guppy into a wealthy merchant's snuffbox, the wriggling fish stirred up so much snuff that Franjean fell to sneezing and was discovered. In the resulting mess he escaped only by a quick dive into a wineglass and a blinding squirt of burgundy on the rich man's monocle. This sort of thing makes even a brownie stop and think. Franjean figured royalty would not be prone to such misadventures. Things like that never happened to Cherlindrea, after all. So he gathered his fellow brownies, or "subjects" as he now called them, and declared that he would reign as their king forevermore. Receiving less than unanimous acclaim, Franjean retired to think about how to win his subjects' loyalty, or at least to stop them from throwing pinecones at him. Without warning, he had an idea. One day he left the forest; no one knew where he went. No one cared much, though. After many days he returned, dragging a large cloth sack. From it, Franjean brought forth a strange new device. At the end of a stick hung a cord; tied to the cord was a tiny suction cup, taken from a squid tentacle. Franjean said, "I invented it myself. Watch!" And he swung the stick like a flail. The sucker hit a low branch and stuck. Franjean held tight to the stick, and swung like a monkey to another branch. "Wheee! This is fun!" Well, then everybody had to have one. But Franjean wouldn't turn his loose. So the brownies rushed to the seafood market of the nearest fishing village, but found that all the squids had been detentacled. The pursued the matter in other townships, for few creatures are so persistent as a brownie in search of fun. But they found no tentacles, and nothing that could help them make "sucker-swingers". Returning to the forest, they found Franjean sitting atop a large pile of the suction cups. "I've destroyed the whole world's supply of squid tentacles, except for what I have here," he told the frustrated brownies. "If you want one, you have to declare me king. Gee, this is more fun than I've ever had!" he said, driving home the point by swinging over their heads. To the brownies, this sounded like a fair deal. They called Franjean their king and swore to obey him. Declaring a jubilee for his ascension to royalty, he passed out the sucker-swingers. The brownies played with them exhaustively for the next several days, and had a great time. Then they got bored and disposed of the toys. There is no record of the reaction of the poor human being who opened his dresser drawer and found a huge pile of decaying squid tentacle parts. But Franjean found that his deal didn't hold very long. He should have known that the oath of a brownie is meaningless, since he'd broken a few thousand himself. The brownies ignored him as usual. And there wasn't anything he could do about it, except gripe. He could have learned a valuable lesson: "Office without authority means nothing." But he didn't. By constantly harping on the subject of his kingship, he instead learned a lesson that works even better among brownies than among other folk: "Nag people long enough and hard enough, and they'll play along just to shut you up." ROOL Among the simpleminded brownies, Rool is perhaps the most simpleminded. The brownies tell jokes: "What did Rool do when he saw the sun setting behind the trees? - Sent out a fire alarm." "What happens when you whisper in Rools' ear? - You hear echoes." But like some humans, the ones who make you wonder how they survived infancy, Rool possesses unusual luck. It has saved him from seemingly certain doom a hundred times over the centuries. For example, he's fascinated by children. Not because he wants to pull their hair or sprinkle them with bacon grease of kidnap them, like some brownies. He just likes to look at them. And they like him too... but Rool always forgets that, and he gets into trouble. Outside a small hut Rool once met a young human who had just learned to walk. The boy waved his chubby arms enticingly, Rool wandered over to look, the child offered his hand, and Rool shook it. Then, of course, the kid wouldn't let go. A baby's grip is one of those little miracles that astonish new parents: How can something so small grip so hard? Rool couldn't get loose. For any other brownie, the next steps would be clear. Pull the child's hair, spit on it, yammer loudly to scare the child. Standard operating procedure for a brownie. But Rool forgot all this. Instead, using all his cleverness, he froze. He couldn't move or make a sound. Whenever the kid squeezed him, he parted his lips, as though gasping... much as a goldfish would do in the same position. The boy enjoyed experimenting with Rool. He dipped him in the water barrel and watched the bubbles for a couple of minutes. He used him to pound out interesting rhythms on the front steps. He tried to feed him to a horse. Twice. In his confusion Rool could only wonder at the amazing strength and endurance in the child's fingers. As he debated whether he could survive until the child fell asleep, a stout woman in colorful robes plodded out of the hut. "Alifer! What have you got there?" she said, in the commanding tone favored by mothers and platoon sergeants. "Wah-gaaah gloosh!" the child explained. He gave Rool a squeeze, so that his tongue stuck out and his eyes almost followed. "Where did you get that doll? Let me see," said the mother. She grabbed Rool's feet and tried to pry him out of the child's hands. Rool was still paralyzed, but he was also ticklish. Erupting into sudden guffaws, he startled the woman so badly she backed into a hedge and, in a spray of hair, leaves, and skirts, flipped end for end. The boy laughed, and in his excitement he clapped his hands - thus releasing Rool. As his last experiment on brownies, the child got to observe Rool's maximum land speed. That Rool has survived a millenium or more - he, like all the brownies, lost count of the years a long time ago - is testimony to a protective order in the world. GAMING NOTES 5th skill-level thieves Because of their small size and nimble movements, any attack on Franjean or Rool is -6 to hit. For more information, see BROWNIES. SKILLS Franjean and Rool, like most brownies, can pick locks as well as any experienced human thief. They excel at stealth, concealment, and climbing. Franjean can ride his eagle, and Rool can hang on for dear life. POSSESSIONS Spears, about six inches long - they double as lockpicks. Franjean and Rool strike as 5th-level fighters. For damage, see BROWNIES. Rool carries a pouch of Dust of Broken Heart. |
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