D&D Player Compendium

Harbin Wester

3 min read

Harbin Wester — Townmaster of Phandalin

Fat, sweating, well-liked human banker who serves as the elected townmaster of Phandalin. Completely intimidated by the Redbrands. Useless in a crisis. Loved by his constituents anyway.

At a Glance

  • Race / Profession: Human, fifties, banker and minor merchant. Acts as townmaster by election — a one-year rotating post nobody really wants.
  • Where to find him: The Townmaster’s Hall on the north side of the town square — when he isn’t hiding.
  • Disposition: Anxious, evasive, performatively cheerful.

Personality

Harbin has been a successful local banker for two decades. He is not a bad man. He is a small man — by which Phandalin means a man who does not want trouble, who pays the bribes, who closes the shutters early, and who tells himself that the situation is “actually not so bad if you don’t think about it.” He has very nearly convinced himself.

He likes being townmaster. He likes wearing the chain of office. He likes the small respect it gives him. He does not like the part where he is supposed to lead.

When the party walks in covered in Redbrand blood, Harbin will go to one of two places:

  1. Initial denial: “They’re just a mercenary guild, really, not all that much trouble — most of the time —” until he runs out of words.
  2. Reluctant cooperation: If pressed, he will admit the Redbrands need to be stopped, and he will offer the use of his jail’s two cells if the party brings in prisoners.

He will not pay the party for handling the Redbrands. He has no civic budget for this and no nerve for it.

What He Has To Offer

  • The job board outside the Townmaster’s Hall — a list of small bounties posted by townsfolk and prospectors. The current standing job: clear the orc raiders out of Wyvern Tor, 100gp on completion. (Stingy, dangerous.)
  • The jail — two cells, in the back of the hall. Useful if the party captures a Redbrand and wants someone to watch them.
  • Townmaster’s official records — birth, death, ownership, and tax rolls. Useful for genealogy, ownership disputes, and — if a player thinks to ask — confirmation that Tresendar Manor is currently registered as town-owned property and therefore the party legally cannot be arrested for entering it.

What He Knows (And Will Reluctantly Share)

  • The Redbrands’ headquarters is the Sleeping Giant. He has not been inside it personally in eight months.
  • Their leader is “Glasstaff.” He has never met him. He has heard the name twice, both times from frightened townsfolk.
  • Thel Dendrar was a good man. His murder was witnessed by half the town. Harbin did nothing about it. He has not slept well since.
  • He has been quietly corresponding with Sildar Hallwinter about the situation since Sildar arrived. Sildar has been less patient with him each tenday.

Connections

Graph View