Commander Edda Vornkrecht

Human (F) | Age 47 | Commander, 1st Company, Bergstadt City Militia

Appearance

Edda is a broad-shouldered woman with close-cropped iron-gray hair and a jaw like a cobblestone. A diagonal scar runs from her left cheekbone to her chin — a souvenir from a street riot fifteen years ago that she describes as "a teaching moment." She wears her dress uniform only for inspections and funerals; most days she's in worn half-plate with the Bergstadt crest stampedon the pauldron. Her hands are thick-knuckled and ink-stained — she does her own paperwork.

Personality

Edda is blunt to the point of rudeness, deeply loyal to her troops, and quietly contemptuous of the merchant council that technically signs her orders. She respects competence above rank, and will give a street urchin the same serious attention she'd give a magistrate — which infuriates magistrates. She has a dry, understated sense of humor that most people miss entirely.

Ideal: Order without justice is just tyranny in uniform. Bond: The 1st Company is her family. She will go to extraordinary lengths to protect her soldiers. Flaw: She holds grudges with remarkable patience. She doesn't get angry — she gets thorough.

Background

Edda joined the militia at 18 as a common foot soldier, the daughter of a tanner in Bergstadt's lower ward. She rose through the ranks by being the person who showed up, solved the problem, and didn't claim credit. She was given command of the 1st Company eight years ago after her predecessor died of a fever — not heroically, just administratively, which she found fitting.

She has survived three commanders of the City Watch, two changes of government, and one brief occupation by a mercenary company hired by a faction of the council that quickly regretted it.

Hooks & Complications

• The Ledger: Edda keeps a private record of every bribe offered to her or her soldiers, by whom, and for what. She has never acted on it. Yet.
• Strained Loyalty: A beloved sergeant in her company has been skimming confiscated goods. She knows. She hasn't decided what to do about it.
• Old Enemy: The mercenary captain who led that occupation is back in Bergstadt — as a "private security consultant" for a merchant house.
• Soft Spot: She runs an informal program placing orphaned street kids as militia runners. It's not official. The council doesn't know.

Stat Block (5e, CR 5)

Use the Veteran stat block (MM p. 350) with the following changes:

• HP: 90
• AC: 16 (half plate)
• +2 to Intimidation and Insight checks
• Tactical Command (Recharge 5–6): As a bonus action, one ally within 30 ft. can make an attack or take the Dodge action as a reaction.

"The city doesn't pay me to be liked. It pays me to still be standing when everything else has gone sideways." — Commander Vornkrecht, to a newly commissioned officer