Interlude: Bronwyn and Rivariin Origins

General Summary

Bronwyn

  Born in the small town of Ross Plunk to a farming family. When she was twelve, she was out in the forest and ate some berries that ended up being very poisonous. As her stomach burned, she headed back to her town, but collapsed on the way and laid there on the ground, eyes open and unable to move. After a bit, a raven flew down and perched down near her. Ravens are said to be sent by the goddess Morganna to take the souls of the dead to the afterlife. The raven watched her for a few moments, then started to caw and flap its wings. She felt a draining from her as the raven seemed to be taking her soul.   But suddenly an arrow flew out, piercing the raven and slaying it. She sees a tall pale man, gaunt and clad in all black leather. He has long black hair and has a bow with him and a hawk circling him that swoops down and takes the raven’s corpse, flying off with it to devour it. The man looks at her and gives her a small smile and nod, then continues on his way, leaving her there paralyzed and unable to move.   Her body is found by someone in her village, but he assumes she is dead. He checks her, but does not find a pulse. He takes her body back and they ready to bury her. She is in a coffin, the lid closed as she hears the village folk give a eulogy and the coffin is moved to be buried. That is when she can feel herself able to move again. She pounds on the coffin lid to be released. The gravedigger sees her emerge from the coffin and starts to give warding signs of protection against evil. She is alive, but the town believes she is returned from the dead and everyone is frightened of her, avoiding her if not directly speaking against her. She is eventually forced to leave her village.   She finds herself over the next few years having to pick pockets and steal to survive. She is in the market square of a town cutting the strings of a money pouch to take when she hears a voice behind her say, "Not bad, but you could use a bit more practice." Turning, she sees a red skinned tiefling sitting there watching her as he eats an apple. He introduces himself as Malthus Normal and he offers to take her in and teach her. He is a part of a group that offers protection from the law for its members, the ability to train, security, food, and a place to live in exchange for working for the operation.   She finds that Malthus works for the Bookhouse Society–an organization that operates all through the isles. However, he is also the second in command of a thieves guild in Eastbridge under Cinead MacPharlain. Malthus is able to manipulate the situation so that eventually Cinead is removed from power and he takes over the thieves guild, tying it completely to the Bookhouse Society. She gathers that the Bookhouse Society is working toward some greater goal, but does not know exactly what it is. But she does know that they are seeking ancient tomes trying to find something in the old writings.    

Rivariin

  A foundling, they call it, when a child is abandoned and taken in by others. Some say that Rivariin was found, still an egg, in the forest. Others say that he was an infant when he was found. The stories told by the druids of Llyreth Forest vary and are typically exaggerated or embellished, but still always ring with truth at its core. The druids were mostly humans, elves, and half-elves and he was the only one of his kind and, to their knowledge, there were no dragonborn settlements anywhere near. They raised Rivariin and taught him their ways, but even as a youth he knew that his path would be a bit different.   One day a traveler moved through the forest. It was not unusual to have travelers pass through, of course, and the druids would simply watch and see that they would do no harm. This one knew the forest naturally, but this one was also dragonborn with green scaled skin. But he was not druid or ranger, but something else. Upon meeting him Rivariin felt an affinity beyond race, but of purpose. He introduced himself to the druid’s order as Talshond, paladin and follower of the Oath of the Ancients.   Rivariin still remembers the first story that Talshond told him of the Oath of the Ancients:   "None shall pass. The heart of the forest is forbidden to you, traveler."     A knight in armor that once gleamed enamel-white stood atop a hill in the midst of the trackless woods. The knight’s armor was covered in moss and lichen, like a century-old birch, and their helmet bore a magnificent rack of antlers. The helmet had two tapered eyes, and a slender, V-shaped slit that gave the helmet the appearance of a barn owl. A green cloak with a faded pattern of oak leaves sat heavily upon the knight’s shoulders as they gazed down.   A traveler in the forest looked up at the knight, squinting past rays of sunlight that filtered through the trees around the impassive warden. The traveler spoke, lowering the hood of her cloak as she did so. "I fear that I must pass, knight. I beg you not to try and stop me."   Something in her tone took the knight aback. Appraising the traveler with a mixture of interest and suspicion, the knight inclined their head and allowed their helmet to fall into their hands. Beneath the helmet was the smooth face and short-cropped hair of an elf. "I have been the warden of this wood since I was old enough to carry a spear," said the knight. "As did my parents, and their parents, ever since both the trees and my bloodline were first blessed by Ildross. Tell me: why should I now, after untold centuries of stewardship, allow a human to enter?"     The traveler looked at the knight, and the knight saw a spark of magic flare within her silver eyes. "I have foreseen death spilling forth from the heart of your forest, knight." Her lips tapered into a quizzical frown. "Have you not felt it?"     The knight stared at the flash of silver in the traveler’s eyes. "I am a warrior and a protector, not a seer."     "Then I would not pass into the forest’s heart alone," said the traveler. "Come with me. If you are a protector, then protect your home from within." The knight smiled, and drew their spear and shield from their back. "If you have sight beyond mine, then lead the way. You need not fear while I am at your side."   After hearing the story, he knew his calling. He traveled with Talshond for years and he taught him the way of the Oath of the Ancient. In his travels he has only ever met a handful of other members of the order. Talshond would travel the isles, going to different portals that led to the Feywild. He would enter and it would be Rivariin's responsibility to wait outside for his return. Time doesn't always act the same in the Feywild as it does in the regular world and sometimes Rivariin would camp out outside of the portals waiting for Talshond for days. Sometimes weeks. Sometimes months. Most recently, he has been gone for over a year. Rivariin waits outside of the portal, this one connected to a Moonwell, pools of sacred water that have a connection to the fey and the land and even the gods themselves. Moonwells are usually protected by druids and this one is no exception.      

Meeting

  Rivarrin had followed Talshond to this portal to the Feywild and Rivariin made camp to wait for his mentor's return. This Feywild portal, however, was tied to a Moonwell and the Moonwell was protected by the druid Moireach O'Byrnel who had connections to the fey. Rivarrin waited in his camp for close to a year--time does not always pass the same in the Feywild, so there was no reason to be concerned.    Bronwyn approached the Moonwell, she had known the druid, Moireach, as he had supplied her with herbs that she would craft into poisons. She had seen Rivariin there a few times, but didn't think much about it. While purchasing the herbs, barbaric warriors moved to advance on the Moonwell. The first attacks on these raiders bounced harmlessly off of them, as they proved to be wereboars and they carried a satchel that was meant to corrupt the Moonwell.    The three did their best to hold off the attackers, Bronwyn used her deceitful cloak to surprise attack some of the warriors and called upon the dead to do damage when her weapons would not. Rivariin's great axe would not penetrate the lycanthropes, but when he called upon divine strike to add to his blows, he found that it had worked. One of the warriors moved past them, however, and was able to toss the satchel into the Moonwell. However, just before it hit the water, the well splashed up, coating Rivariin and Bronwyn in its waters. The water gave Rivariin a powerful vision:   He sees warships sailing toward the isles–they fly the Orleander flag as they sail to invade the isles. He sees the Leviathan, the great sea beast that destroyed their last invasion fleet and protected the isles. The Leviathan rises from the water to smash the ships, but they are ready for it this time. Harpoons fire from the ships, linked with great chains that tighten and hold the Leviathan above the water, and it is unable to submerge. The ships open fire on Leviathan with a barrage of cannons and the protector of the water is slain.

He sees Elmas, the King of the Unicorns with its black fur standing out, struggling as he is bound in chains. Inhuman creatures that seem distorted and alien hold the unicorn in place as he sees a Moonwell, corrupted and vile. The water in the Moonwell bubbles and churns as if something is rising from it. He sees it only in shadow, but something in him instinctively knows that it is Nyctelios, the Mad God, somehow released from his prison. The sight of the god does not disturb the creatures that hold Elmas fast, but the unicorn tries to buck and pull away, but it is unable and you see the madness spread in the unicorn’s eyes as it sees the Mad God and its mind is broken and perverted.

He sees the Wild Hunt, a chaotic force, but one that still protects the isles. It was the Hunt that charged into the colony of the Orleander Throne and slew them all during the last attempted invasion. He sees the pack of dogs that lead the hunt, the horsemen following behind. He sees a powerful man dressed in furs and leathers. He sees the Hunt’s approach and he shifts, transforming into a werewolf. He lunges at the alpha of the Pack, ripping out its throat. He shifts down to a large wolf and he takes control of the Pack as its new alpha. He leads the pack toward Caer Ceredig, home of the High Queen of the Isles. The pack crashes into the city and the Hunt follows, slaughtering everyone in the city.

Finally, he sees the isles, the glamor glow of the portals to the Feywild begin to go dark, closing the connections between the worlds. He sees magic and glamor fading away, the Old Gods lost and barely memories as the isle–and the world–slowly becomes covered in steel and coal.

  Moireach was slain by the invading warriors and the Moonwell was corrupted. However, a great white dragon suddenly flew above, swooping in. It opened its maw and breathed fire instead of ice on the scene below, destroying the corrupted well and the portal to the Feywild and killing everyone below, save for Rivariin and Bronwyn who were protected from the dragon's breath by the waters of the Moonwell that still clung to them.   With the portal destroyed and no way for his mentor to return through it, Rivariin left with Bronwyn, heading to Eastvale to figure out what to do next.