Rico Pengallen

Rico Pengallen was a human man from the village of Pengallen in the Silver Marches. He was a farmer.

Description
Rico was a man of his mid-twenties, rugged and strong. He had a ruddy face and widely spaced blue eyes.

Personality
Rico Pengallen was an angry and prideful man, and often aggressive.

Possessions
Rico carried a blacksmith's hammer when hunting the orcs.

He lived in a simple farmhouse built of logs and boards packed with mud, with a steep roof. Nearby was a barn. His property was fenced around and included a goat.

History
Rico enjoyed hunting down, capturing and forcing others, common enemies of humankind, to work for him, in the full knowledge of all in Pengallen. In his time, he enslaved a number of goblins and orcs, and even a bugbear, though only one at a time. When he was done with them, when they ceased to be useful or docile, he had them hanged at the village gate. Among the slaves he took was Nojheim, a highly intelligent and good-hearted goblin.

In the winter of the Year of the Worm, 1356 DR, a band of ogres and orcs attacked the village and carried off captives, including Nojheim. Rico gathered four other villagers, including Tharman, to hunt down the group and rescue the prisoners. Rico largely wanted his slave back, and to stop the raiders from returning to Pengallen.

The next day, the group was discovered by the drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden. Rico was aggressive to the drow, but they joined forces to rescue the captives. He kept pressing to destroy the raiders instead, and finally disrupted Drizzt's efforts for a stealthy rescue. At the raiders' camp, fighting broke out, and Rico led a charge against the orcs, he and his farmers slaying them while Drizzt defeated the ogres. However, Rico was angry that Nojheim had fled during the battle, and insisted on going after him, explaining that Nojheim had led a previous raid against the village and was being held for trial. Drizzt volunteered to return Nojheim alive.

Drizzt did so the next day, and Rico was happy to have Nojheim back in his power, and offered Drizzt a meal at the local inn on him in reward. Rico later overheard Drizzt speaking to Nojheim, in which the drow learned of the slaver's deeds and vowed to free him. While Drizzt went to Silverymoon for legal advice, Rico hanged Nojheim, and had the other villagers support his story that the goblin had attacked him. Drizzt returned several days later and wanted to attack Rico for his crime, but left in disgust.