I have said this before, and I’ll say it again. If you struggle to bring a Phandalin NPC to life, pattern them after your favorite characters in literature, cinema, or television.

After spending a bit of word count on the harrowing ordeal the Dendrar family experienced in Lost Mine of Phandelver, I think Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games trilogy would be a good template for Nilsa Dendrar.

But we can’t get to Nilsa without first discussing her mother, Mirna.

You see, Mirna has been through a lot. The murder of her husband. Her family’s captivity by the Redbrands in a dungeon stocked with monsters. She may or may not have been held captive by a green dragon for some time (if you want to go off the rails with me, you can read more here and here).

There are limits to mental fortitude, and if anyone in Phandalin is going to descend into a form of indefinite madness, I think Mirna Dendrar would be a prime candidate.

Recent experiences have taken their toll on Mirna, as she sinks deeply into depression where she finds it hard to care about anything going on around her, thus leaving the Dendrar household rudderless in the absence of the dearly departed Thel Dendrar.

With her mother checked out, it falls to Nilsa to care for her mother and brother.

Nilsa was not an apprentice to her father’s craft as a woodcarver, but Thel Dendrar shared a close bond with his daughter, which was strengthened by the time the two spent together in the hinterlands of Phandalin, hunting for game and foraging for wild, edible plants.

Nilsa uses the commoner stat block, but she’s proficient with a shortbow and trained in survival. If you subscribe to my theory that Mirna Dendrar is actually a half-elf, that would mean her children are as well, with Nilsa inheriting these weapon and skill proficiencies regardless.

Like Katniss Everdeen, Nilsa Dendrar is strong, resourceful and, due to her recent experiences, mature beyond her years. She’s out in the woods often, foraging and hunting squirrel, cony, and quail which she barters for goods and services among the townsfolk who gladly trade with the girl, knowing the family’s circumstances.

Spending as much time as she does out in the hinterlands, Nilsa is a good source of information for the types of monsters that prowl the nearby hills and valleys. She probably hasn’t come face to face with an owlbear or a white dragon, but perhaps she’s seen them from afar, or the aftermath of their kills. She’s also a capable guide within a 15 mile radius of Phandalin.

Given her life experiences, it should surprise no one that Nilsa is not fond of transient men who come sauntering into town armed to the teeth and covered head to toe in armor. That goes doubly so for wizards, or any practitioner of something resembling magic. Should characters take an interest in Nilsa, she’s a tough nut to crack. She’s an NPC whose friendship is earned.

Though, she also knows what it is to be rescued from a harrowing situation. If characters find themselves in danger out in the wilds, Nilsa can serve as help unlooked for, though in the limited capacity of a commoner (from cover, at the maximum range of her shortbow).

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