Rogue 2 / Cleric 2 {R,C,R,C}
Aydim Bolstrin – wood elf, male,Skills: Insight, investigation, perception (expertise), stealth, Medicine.
Tools: thieves’ tools (expertise), herbalist kits, healers kits
Saves: Dex and Int
Communication: Literate + Spoken > Feyloise (elvish), Gladnorean, Orrish
Armor: Light, Willow Armor of Saivelaugh
Weapons:
Armor:
10/2024 Character Creation Parameters – Point Buy
Background: Acolyte
> Herbalist Kit proficiency instead of Insight. Languages: Gladnorean, Orrish
Life Cleric @1st: Instead of Heavy Armor proficiency (elves avoid this), Medicine skill (improves Healers Kit operation).
The life in the Saivelugh Weald (faerie home) was a tense one in his first hundred years. First came the Dew Gate and the curse of the Grimmdowns. Relations with the humans began to decline, and they had begun to take more than they should one moment, and next to nothing the next. Outsiders came and usurped the attention of the then-rulers of the territory that the Grebell Woods (the home of the Saivelaugh Weald) were partially in – a place humans called ‘Bondeu’. The Burren family that ruled it seemed to possess a short memory for the deals they had made with the previous generation of the Weald elders. Then came more outsiders. The lady of summer became enamored of some of their number, who had aided the people in dealing with a spirit of the Glue Gris that caused a bit of trouble with the local humans. There was a moment when the kin of the Weald armed themselves, when all the humans around them began to do the same in a civil war. But the man named Belim brought the matter to a close – saving the entire area from the cloud of death hanging over it. There was a new era to celebrate, and all seemed well for a while. The elders warned that despite this resolution, a shadow was soon to come.
He was chosen to travel with his cousin to the city of Zerburre. The times of leisure were now past. He traveled with those who dealt with the outsiders, learning their language and writing, trying to understand them. It was said another era of darkness was coming, and that the folk of field and stream would need to learn to work with the humans again. The seasons passed, and there was turmoil and strife, and soon cracks grew in the lines of the faces of the humans that were known. Belim, the champion of the humans, was laid low in his time and new faces came and went. During this time, he observed and learned as much as he could.
Long had he sung the praises of his teachers, and sung to himself and the birds the formulas and recipes of the healing craft taught to him by his older sister. But she was a better healer than him. With the carefree mentality of youth, he challenged himself, seeking out plants outside the forest, stealthily moving among the edges of the lands around it and through the places frequented by the humans. The odor of humanity was the thing he liked least about them, otherwise they were a hearty lot, and one that lived with zest. They liked wine and beer, song and dance, gardening and agriculture… they did not seem all that bad, despite what plenty of elders had to say.
The fresh breezes from the Saivarn Hills were beginning to blow on foul currents. There were whispers that Orrish were repeatedly seen there, and a shadow was soon be cast east from the places long sealed up from whence their kind made attacks upon the folk of field and stream.
Then the shadow that was warned about, began to lengthen. Not just in the Weald, but in the lands around it – afflicting faeries and humans alike. The old enemy from the Dark Lands was returning in greater numbers. The boundaries of the Weald were strengthened, but soon there were fires in the night, and the Spiders of Go-Zen were seen within the woods… harbingers of something far worse going on outside.
And then came the fateful day.
There was an intrusion in the low hills bordering the forest in the west, where the other logging along the lands bordering the humans were, and where his people traded with them. The intrusion was from deep in the earth. His skills as one who can avoid detection were needed. He and two others were to track down a party of Orrish that were somehow remaining hidden in the edge of their land. They seemed to be using old human ruins, forbidden to the elves, but that the forest had grown around, as a base of operations. The presence of the human ruins made him and his kin feel ill-at-ease. Perhaps it was this that led to the outcome. The goblins were able to entrap them at sunset, and his kin were infected by Wormblat of the Orrish weapons and could not escape before he could get them back. He swore it would never happen again, and dedicated himself to healing and particularly healing the Wormblat wounds of Orrish weapons. He was able to escape with his life, hiding in a stagnant pond and praying to the spirit of the Weald for the goblins to pass him by. He watched as the goblins butchered his kin like a deer. He witnessed a large black Ork covered in spines preside over the entire thing, hearing his chants to the evil god Everdark. The wound in his leg burned, he knew he had been infected. At sunrise, he dragged himself to the nearest Lily Wealdings where he divulged all he saw and heard, knowing they would whisper back to his elders.
The glade you are in suddenly brightens, and is filled with a warm soft breeze that smells like heather. The leaves rustle and you look up. A beautiful tall Aelf stands before you. There is a strong flower smell and scented breeze. “I am the Summer Queen Tatiana, I am the queen’s spirit, her avatar upon this world and a living gateway to the faeywyld itself. I wish to speak with you child. This place and the lands around it stand upon a knife’s edge. Such goings on that were set in motion ensured my notice is drawn to them… but humans live such short lives and I have so many distractions. In spite of my better instincts, I am still intrigued… or at least entertained. The barrier between realms is still thin in this region, though the humans and their kith have had multiple generations in which to forget. I am still amused with the dangerous dance that was performed and the risks they embraced. Such boldness! Such arrogance! Here I stand, the will of The Folk personified. An eye is upon you, and though Belim and most of his band have left this world for eternal rest, I will aid their remaining efforts. Are you worthy of such things, i wonder?”
— Conversation and contest; @ Measures 1 use each after sunrise as a Bonus Action till quest done —
With a word you can summon the motes of sunshine – she pulls the sparkle from her eyes and places them in your hands, as she clasps them and enfolds them. “This gift i give to you for all time.”
> Dancing lights x2 lights, no concentrate, x2 distance
“I will watch over your shoulder, and I will whisper in your ear – you will be my voice and my hand.” as the last word fades on the breeze, the face collapses into a single eye bearing down upon you. When the eye blinks, all trace of it is gone, though you hear a faint and fading laughter in hushed tones as if she were standing next to each of you. You are healed completely, and set off on your way home.
Having returned to the elders of the Weald, in the nuance of Feyloise, they were able to determine that the ork he saw was one of the Black Heralds of Everdark – not seen in these parts in hundreds of years. After telling the elders of his vision and seeing his new powers, he was sent tot he lands of the humans to bring the message of the Black Herald. He was to integrate himself into their efforts and provide reports on activities outside the Weald while your own people prepare for war. You are to seek out a knight of the Lightbringers named De’Vosa. The last place he was known to reside was the capital of Zerburre in the Riverdan of Bondeu. This knight and his companions dealt honorably with your own people, in fact ensuring peace between them.
Meeting De’Vosa: You travel to Zerburre and see the countryside is on alert in the human lands. As an envoy from the Saivelaugh Elves, you are given access at a crucial point – it seems De’Vosa has just recently returned and is putting together a team to fight the Orrish. You are afforded respite by the rulers of Zerburre, and attend a feast that night. A quick audience with De’Vosa after an impassioned speech and he asks that you join him at sunrise, where he will be equipping him and others to leave and track down the champion of an Orrish host that sounds like they have defeated the combined might of a few human settlements and are ‘licking their wounds’. You strive to get a decent night sleep, and are up before the dawn, and await in the courtyard of the keep. A small group assembles in the warm morning sun, a baggage train of mules and horses sets out, the others staying mostly silent but all of you know why you are there and trust that De’Vosa has brought you together well and with true intent.
Current Date: Common Year (CY) June 8th, 9169 @ Ancient Blood’s Due