The Cobbler's Gift

Just Tell It You're Scared

“They tell the story so the children know they are never alone. They tell it so the adults remember their cruelty is never unseen.”

— Mara Snow, wandering archivist

They say there was once a cobbler who lived alone at the edge of a valley. He mended boots and carved toys. He had no wife, no children, and no one to carry his name. He was quiet, but he noticed the children others ignored. He saw bruises that were hidden beneath sleeves. He saw little ones who would not speak. He saw the ones who flinched when their fathers shouted or when their mothers looked away.

The dolls began to appear. Each one was made of cloth and wood, stitched from scraps, carved with care. They had faces, but they never had eyes. A child would lie down with nothing, and in the morning a doll would be waiting. No one saw the cobbler leave them. They were simply there. The children who held them said the dolls helped them sleep. Some said the dolls listened when no one else would. A few whispered that the dolls moved when the room was dark.

Then the wrong people began to disappear. A teacher. A traveling cleric. A merchant. A man everyone avoided but no one accused. Their houses were left undisturbed. Nothing was stolen. Nothing was broken. Only a doll remained. It was always still warm. Sometimes it was scorched. Sometimes it was torn. Sometimes it held a piece of what it had done.

The townsfolk stopped saying the cobbler’s name. Some said he had died. Some said he was taken by witches. Some said he was never real. No one agreed on the man. But they all agreed on the dolls. The dolls never stopped.

The story says the cobbler was a witch of the old kind. He would visit the grave of a child who had died in fear. He took only a thread, a tooth, a fragment of what lingered. He carved a vessel and asked the spirit if it wished to protect another. Some answered yes. Some were silent. Either way, he stitched them into dolls.

The dolls were guardians, but they were not merciful. When a frightened child spoke the truth, the doll listened. If the hurt was small, the doll stayed still. If the danger grew, it moved. If the pain was too much, it called the others.

That is when the real horror began. People were found torn to pieces. Others were never found at all. Always a doll remained, sitting in silence. Always it was still warm.

No one knows how many exist. Some were hidden in attics. Some were locked in trunks. Some were buried again in secret. But they're still out there. Waiting.

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Historical Basis

“They tell us the dolls came from grief, but I think it was fury. Only a man who saw too much could have sewn silence into cloth that way.”

— Liora Fen, village midwife of Kestenvale

No records prove the cobbler ever lived, though folklorists argue that a string of unexplained disappearances in several Agriss valley towns may be the root. Inquests from the Baronial courts mention missing priests, merchants, and tutors, but never accused the cobbler by name. What survives are only gaps in the rolls and rumors of dolls found in abandoned homes. While the The Akkara House Guard have investigated several accounts of these dolls over the years, none have yielded any definitive evidence that this is more than just a cautionary folktale shared among parents as a reminder to treat children with care. Raise a hand to a child today, and you strike the hand that will defend Stormwatch Pass and the whole of the kingdom of Areeott

---

Variations & Mutation

“The children whisper their hurts into the dolls, but the truth is we all want to. Every grown man and woman who was ever struck down by life thinks of it. To have something finally listen.”

— Detective Inspector Dakkir Akkara, Akkara House Guard Justicar

Some versions claim the cobbler was one man, others that he was an old couple who made dolls together. In some tellings he died, in others he was taken by the covens, and in others he still carves in secret. A few darker versions claim the dolls can make more of their kind by teaching children to stitch, or that it is indeed the doing of the The Needlewitch The only part that never changes is that the dolls have no eyes and that they answer only to truth spoken by a frightened child.

“I heard one laugh once. Like a child choking on smoke. Never again will I sleep in that house.”

— anonymous testimony in the archives of the Baronial Court

Date of Setting

Once Upon A Time...

Related Ethnicities

• Arin
• Arin Changeling
• Arin Dwarf
• Arin Elf
• Arin Shifter
• Arin Tiefling

Related Species

• The Hush

Related Locations

• The Agriss Mountains

Related Organizations

• Areeott
• Kestenvale
• Lyanmar

“Some say the cobbler was a witch. Others say he was only a cobbler. But I ask you, what’s the difference, if the dolls still move?”

— Mathias "Zippy" Reingar, Merchant Extradinaire

Unknown Shores

The Cobbler’s Gift CR: 6

Tiny construct (spirit-bound), neutral

Armor Class: 16

Hit Points: 72 (16d4 + 32) 16d4+32

Speed: 30 ft , climb: 30 ft

STR

6 -2

DEX

18 +4

CON

14 +2

INT

6 -2

WIS

14 +2

CHA

12 +1

Saving Throws: Dex +7, Wis +5

Skills: Perception +5, Insight +5, Stealth +8

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

Condition Immunities: charmed, frightened, poisoned

Senses: blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 15

Languages: understands the languages of its ward but can’t speak

Challenge Rating: 6 ( 2,300 XP)

Proficiency Bonus: +3

Bound to Fear The Cobbler’s Gift remains inert and indistinguishable from a mundane doll unless, within the last 24 hours, it has heard its ward express a sincere fear, pain, or distress. While inert, the doll is treated as a nonmagical object.
False Object While motionless, the doll is indistinguishable from a normal toy. A creature that examines the doll can make a DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check, noticing faint warmth, subtle stitching sigils, or an unnatural wrongness on a success.
Listener in the Dark The doll always knows the direction and distance to its ward while on the same plane. When the ward takes damage or becomes frightened, the doll can use its reaction (once per round) to teleport to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the ward.
Crawling Horror The doll can move into and share the space of a Medium or larger creature. While it shares a creature’s space, it has advantage on attack rolls against that creature, and attack rolls against the doll are made with disadvantage. In addition, that creature has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to detect the doll.
Escalation of Harm The doll’s behavior reflects the intensity of its ward’s suffering. If the ward experiences minor harm, the doll does not attack. If the harm is moderate, the doll acts normally. If the ward experiences severe harm, the doll enters its Unmaking State. Severe harm typically includes the ward being reduced below half its hit points, subjected to repeated harm, or experiencing extreme fear.
Call the Others (1/Day) When the ward experiences severe harm, the doll emits a silent spiritual signal. At the start of its next turn, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, another Cobbler’s Gift appears in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of the ward after 1d4 rounds. The arriving doll acts independently but shares the same ward.
Unmaking State (Recharge 5–6) For 1 minute, the doll has advantage on all attack rolls, its attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage, it ignores difficult terrain, and it can move through creatures’ spaces without penalty. When this effect ends, the doll becomes motionless until the end of its next turn.
Uncertain Multiplicity Creatures that witness the Cobbler’s Gift in motion struggle to recall its presence clearly. After an encounter, a creature must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or have fragmented and contradictory memories of the event, including uncertainty about how many dolls were present. This has no direct mechanical effect but may influence investigations or divination magic at the DM’s discretion.

Actions

Multiattack The doll makes two Seam Ripper attacks.
Seam Ripper Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 0 ft., one creature sharing its space.
Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. If the target has harmed the ward within the last 24 hours, the attack deals an additional 7 (2d6) psychic damage.
Thread Bind (Recharge 4–6) Spectral threads lash at one creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or become restrained. While restrained, the creature takes 10 (3d6) necrotic damage at the start of each of its turns. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
Mark the Cruel The doll marks one creature it has witnessed harming its ward. The mark lasts for 1 minute. While marked, the doll always knows the creature’s location, the creature gains no benefit from being invisible or hidden against the doll, and the doll deals an extra 2d6 damage to it.

Reactions

Protective Interposition When a creature the doll can see hits its ward with an attack while within 5 feet of the ward, the doll swaps places with the ward and becomes the target of the attack.
Death Throes: Remains of Judgment When the doll is destroyed, each creature that has harmed the ward must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. As it falls still, a faint child’s voice whispers, “You said you’d stop.”