“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying
to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
―
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| Candella and Duchess |
That would be unkind. NPCs are ours to define and
develop; they are what we make them.
Shekespeare said it best in Twelfth Night, I believe,
even if its inference was less than kind when spoken: “Be not afraid of
greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have
greatness thrust upon them.”
That may be the very reason why I love them so. Room to
grow, so to speak. And what room, indeed!
Where’d this dynamic duo spring from? The imagination of
Jean Wells.
Consider this comment from this Dragonsfoot Forum thread:
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| Candella and Duchess |
This leads me to believe that Duchess and Candella were 2
of her PCs, her favourite, it would seem, judging by the above quote. She loved
them enough that she wished to immortalise them in her one and only adventure
module, that only briefly saw print, before office politics decreed that her effort
be recalled and destroyed. Why was it destroyed? Not by her doing, rumour has
it; it had everything to do with presumably suggestive and immoral artwork,
none of which she was happy with. Much has been said about this “lost” classic
(which is not lost at all: the PDF is readily available for download; and a
number of copies were “rescued” from destruction and those that were demand a
pretty penny these day), so I won’t dwell on it. Use a little Google-fu if
you’d like to learn more. The art may not have been her fault, but that did not
save her from the fallout. Alas, she produced no other products for TSR.
Sadly, we cannot ask her, personally, what happened. She
is forever mum on the subject.
(Oeva Jean Wells Koebernick, July 25, 1955 – January 25,
2012, 56 years old)
She will be forever mum on the subject of Duchess and
Candela, as well. There might be a few who are privy to the story. The
aforementioned Skip [Williams?] might have insights, perhaps a few others from
those early hallowed halls of TSR who are still alive and well might, as well.
I have not reached out to any of them on the subject, and likely never will,
preferring to dream what dreams I may, instead. That way D & C will be
forever mine.
All we do know is the little she wrote about them.
As the party searches the room, roll for a wandering
monsters. If on the first roll none was indicated roll again. On the last roll
if one was indicated the wandering monster will be two female thieves: Candella
(20) F (AC 7, T2, hp 8, #AT 1, D 1-6. Save T2, M 7, AL N, S 12, I 15, W 13, D
17, C 15, CH 14) Duchess (18) F (AC 7, T2, hp 6, #AT 1, D 1-6, Save T2, M 7, AL
N, S 11, I 12, W 15, D 16, C 18, CH 15). Both women will have an above average
appearance (CH 14, 15) and will attempt to use it to their benefit. They will
pretend to be young inexperienced fighters in search of adventure, fame and
fortune, but mostly fortune. Candella is the spokesman of the two women.
These two thieves will be friendly towards the party,
not acting hostile if they win the initiative. They will politely ask to join
the party, saying that they are not quite as tough or prepared for adventuring
as they had originally thought themselves to be. Dutchess [sic] (hp 6, CH 15)
will stress her desire to accompany them, saying she fears that she and her
companion have made a grave error in attempting to venture into the palace
ruins by themselves, especially after seeing the strange 3 headed monsters they
have managed to flee from so far. Both thieves will have the following on them
including normal dungeon supplies, weapons and thieves tools:
15 gp.
7 sp.
21 cp.
Wolfsbane (Duchess)
poisoned daggers (poison effective for one attack)
Strand of pearls (Candella) (value 600gp)
These two thieves may be used by the DM as NPCs
(nonplayer characters) or as a normal dungeon encounter.
[B3_Original – 10, 11]
What have we learned from this short passage? That they
are pretty, and that they use their beauty to their advantage. They
misrepresent themselves—perhaps not unexpected, as they are thieves and of
dubious moral fortitude (they are packing poison, after all), and one might
expect (they certainly do) that thieves would be less welcome in Lawful parties
than fighters—although there is no mention that they will not be true to the
party. That may be implied, citing the poison, but they are not Chaotic, are
they?
We also learn that although it is Duchess who wishes
(stresses her desire) to join the party, it is Candella who their spokesperson.
That suggests that Candella (I 15, W 13, CH 14), the smarter of
the 2, is the leader, but that Duchess (I 12, W 15, CH 15), the wiser
and more charismatic of the 2, is not without influence.
That’s not much to go on; but it is also enough to
inspire the imagination.
I’m not the only person to be inspired by Duchess and
Candella, either. Those who are do pop up from time to time, in art, mainly (most
notably Domenico Neziti, as seen below); but I also expect that quite a few
DMs have seen fit to include them in adventures they’ve devised. ArtoftheGenre
certainly used their image on the cover of his bonus module A Secret Respite,
if only there and not in the adventure, itself.
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| Candella and Duchess |
More importantly, Tom Moldvay saw fit to salvage D &
C and include them in his refit of Jean’s disgraced adventure. One wonders
whether he was inspired by these exceptional NPCs, or maybe perhaps he wished
to exonerated Jean by ensuring her favourite characters survived the axe that
felled her. We will never know how so about this, either, as Tom shall be as
forever mum on the subject as Jean is, for the same reason.
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| B3 Candella and Duchess |
But salvage, and immortalise them, he did.
A statue of a young girl playing with a dove is in the
south-eastern corner of this oddly shaped room. A large handcarved bookcase
stands next to the northeastern wall. Two wooden benches, one in front of each
of the two southwestern windows, have scrolls lying upon them. Two women stand
next to one of the benches. Both women wear leather armor and carry swords. One
of the women has just unrolled a scroll and is reading it. [B3 – 24]
Tom did not deviate much from Jean’s original intent,
although his room we encounter them in differs from the one she introduced
them.
This room contains the remains of bunks, bedrolls,
round oaken tables, stools, benches and dead soldiers which have been beheaded.
Along the north wall is a line of 6 heads. [B3_Original – 10]
Jean’s is far more grim.
Other than that, Tom’s D & C are as equally deceitful
in their profession.
The two women appear to be fighters, but are really
thieves. [B3 – 24]
Otherwise, they are very much identical to Jean’s
“heroines.”
The two women are named Candella (AC 5; T/2; hp 8;
MV40'; #AT 1; D 1-8; Save T2; ML7 ;AL N;
S 12, I 15 ,W 13,D 17, C 15, Ch 14), and Duchess (AC 5; T/2; hp
11; MV 40'; #AT 1; D1-8; Save T2; ML 7; AL N; S 11, I 12, W 15, D 16, C 18, Ch
15). Because of their wisdom ability scores, both women gain a bonus of +1 on
magic-based saving throws. The two thieves are both very attractive and will
attempt to use this to their benefit. [B3 – 24]
The thieves will have the following on them: dungeon
pack C; 21 cp, 7 sp, 15 gp, wolfsbane (Duchess only), and a string of pearls
worth 600 gp (Candella only). [B3 – 24]
Take note of the picture included in the module. I would
hazard the guess that Candella is the blonde, since it is she depicted wearing
a necklace.
Tom expounded on why they were there, in his castle,
though, weaving them into his backstory, which differed from hers.
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| Candella and Duchess |
But he did not deviate from their choice of deception.
These two thieves will act friendly toward the party.
They will pretend to be young inexperienced fighters in search of adventure.
They will politely ask to join the party, saying that they are not quite as
tough or as prepared for adventuring as they had originally thought. [B3 – 24]
He then elaborated on how they might be played.
If they join the party the two thieves will wait for a
good chance to steal whatever they can (either by trying to pick pockets or
just grabbing any loot in sight), and then run away. [B3 – 24]
This shows patience on their part, in keeping with their
above average wisdom.
If the thieves are not allowed to join the party, but
are not attacked, they will try to get close enough to a character to try to
pick that person's pockets. If discovered, they will claim that the person made
a mistake, that they merely bumped into the person by accident. If successful
they will leave with their loot. [B3 – 24]
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| Demon Bait _ Candella and Duchess |
Remember, these are wise and intelligent ladies, and not
rash, nor foolish, in their pursuit of their ill-gotten gains.
When playing the roles of NPCs the DM should keep in
mind that NPCs are reasonably normal persons. They seldom act suicidal, usually
fighting only if there is a chance to win. While they will take risks, they
will seldom take unreasonable risks. In this particular encounter, the two
thieves want loot. They are likely to try what- ever method offers the best
possibilities for gaining the most loot at the least risk. [B3 – 24]
Tom goes on to declare our heroines expendable, in
relation to the PCs, in his adventure. Which they would be, I suppose. The PCs
are always front and centre, as they should be.
If Duchess and Candella are with the party, the
doppleganger [sic] may choose one of them as a victim or one of the party
members. Of course, if the doppleganger [sic] succeeds in killing its victim,
and hides the corpse, it will pretend to be the new character. […] The
doppleganger [sic] will continue to kill characters secretly until caught.
[B3 – 24]
I declare their being expendable as short-sighted. Few
NPCs are as evocative, in my opinion. Actually, there are a lot of
“indispensable” NPCs stowed away in a lot of modules; you just have to keep an
eye out for them.
Take this NPC, “found” in G3 The Hall of the Fire
Giant King, for instance:
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| Duchess in Distress |
I’m reminded of Duchess and Candella. Duchess, in this
case, owing to her dark locks.
Her stats don’t match our heroine…
Duchess: AL N; S 11, I 12, W 15, D 16, C 18 Ch 15
…but that’s of no never mind. Stats are as stats used.
What’s important is her capricious thanks, reminiscent of our “point in case.”
These two thieves will act friendly toward the party.
They will pretend to be young inexperienced fighters in search of adventure.
They will politely ask to join the party, saying that they are not quite as
tough or as prepared for adventuring as they had originally thought.
If they join the party the two thieves will wait for a
good chance to steal whatever they can (either by trying to pick pockets or
just grabbing any loot in sight), and then run away. [B3 – 24]
I suggest that we swap out this NPC with our Duchess. Why?
Because I wish it; and because D & C are my favourite foils. When I say
foils, I’m suggesting how useful our girls can be. They can be love interests.
Lovely, lovable, loyal to a fault… Or not… Depending on their whim.
As to their capricious nature, they could be instrumental
in absconding with what items you’ve mistakenly lavished upon your PCs. That
said, this should not be an overused plot device. This might be a one-shot-deal
occurrence.
I would ensure their inexpendability before attempting
such a thing: they’re a font of expositionary lore, they’ve rescued the PCs
when all seemed lost, delivered them from sure defeat more than once, pawned a
thing or two, or delivered some much-needed graft when the PCs could not.
Whatever.
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| Candella and Duchess |
“We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
―
One must always give credit where credit is due. This post is made
possible primarily by the Imaginings of Gary Gygax and his Old Guard, Lenard
Lakofka among them, and the new old guards, Carl Sargant, James Ward, Roger E.
Moore. And Erik Mona, Gary Holian, Sean Reynolds, Frederick Weining. The
list is interminable.
The Art:
Duchess and Candella original art (unpublished)
A Secret respite cover, by Domenico Neziti (nezart), from CRK B3 A Secret Respite, The Folio
Candella and Duchess, by Harry Quinn, from B3 Palace of the Silver Princess, 1981
Demon Bait, by Domenico Neziti (nezart)
Captured Thief, by David Trampier, from G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King, 1978
Sources:
9025 World of
Greyhawk Folio, 1980
1015 World of
Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
2009 Monster
Manual 1e, 1977, 1978
2011A Dungeon
Masters Guide, 1st Ed., 1979
9018 G3 Hall of
the Fire Mountain King, 1978
9044 B3 Palace
of the Silver Princess, 1981
9058 G123
Against the Giants, 1978, 1981
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