Grendira Beglezegle
Grendira Beglezegle
Lived in Mahia forest as a child, until her home was destroyed. She ended up in the diverse-race city of Stothum where she worked as a charlatan to fleece the rich and royalty, who in her eyes were responsible for the destruction of the forest.
She eventually returned to Mahia forest to raise a family and live out her remaining years. Encroaching development and greed have once again threatened Grendira's peaceful existence. No one else seems willing or able to take on the fight, so she reluctantly ventures out to save the forest.
Alternative identity: Adelia Gainsborough, antiquities and rare coins dealer. Long white hair in a French braid, black silk robes with golden embroidery.
Frail elderly Gnome, definitely harmless.
View Character Profile
Age
435
Date of Birth
1057
Birthplace
Magia Forest
Children
Gender
Female
Eyes
Green
Hair
Green
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Height
3' 6"
Weight
35 lbs
Related Plots
I Want to Play Too
It was pretty obvious that the guard Charlie was the next player of The Game. I quickly explained to the other guard that there was an evil creature taking people to a dark alternate reality and asking them to play a game. The guard ordered us to watch Charlie while he reported this situation to the Duke. Since murder accusations fly around this city faster than a hastened Quickling, Tina retrieved another member of the Triple Fang to watch Charlie, and we dashed to the Manor front gate.
I wanted to speak directly with the Duke, but the guards were only willing to pass along a note. I started to look in my bag for some parchment when Tina insisted we speak with the Duke because I had been taken by the corrupted creature in the same way that Charlie had. The guard accused me of being corrupted and ordered me to come with him for decontamination. This felt like a silly waste of time, but I humored him without a fight. I was quite insulted that he bound my wrists like a petty criminal though. I told Tina and Jade to BE GOOD and STAY OUT OF TROUBLE, and followed him to the back of the Manor. As I walked away I messaged Tina to stay in the area in case something went wrong. And reiterated to STAY OUT OF TROUBLE.
I was taken to what looked like a cellar door with an arcane seal on it. The guard pulled something out of his pocket to unlock it, then ordered me to go first into the darkness. It turned out that torches on the wall would magically light once you were inside, but "creepy dark void" must have been an intentional design choice because the lights could have easily been set to trigger upon door opening. The guard followed me down a long hallway and ordered me through a gate.
I immediately noticed an arcane symbol of reflective white paint on the ground in the middle of the room. Glancing around, I only saw torches on the wall, no windows. The gate closed and the bindings on my wrist fell off and slithered away. The guard said that the room removes corruption. They had used it for objects, but never for a person before. The process takes about an hour. Suddenly this all felt like a bad idea and wanted to make a run for it, but even if I did make it out of this cellar, what then? Run from Hygrim and hide out forever while the corruption took over everything? No, I needed to stay calm and do what I do best: observe and come up with a quick plan when the situation goes wrong.
The guard left and the arcane symbol on the floor began to glow. I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, but it looked like the flower on my staff was blooming. I started to feel itchy, and my spores started buzzing around, agitated. Trying to take my mind off of the possible impending doom, I identified the arcane symbol as a Transmutation circle, which really didn't tell me anything. You really need a Wizard in times like these. I carefully walked the perimeter of the room looking for anything interesting, but no luck. The spores seemed to be more agitated so I ushered them all beyond the gate where they were safe from the room's effects.
The symbol continued its cycle of glowing and fading, the itchiness growing and fading in tandem. As the risk of death also seemed to be fading, I settled in to wait out the remaining hour. What seemed like a few moments later I heard the cellar door burst open. I was pleasantly surprised that the time had passed so quickly. But to my horror, the guard had Charlie in tow, one arm black with mushrooms. Mushrooms breaking down a log is one thing, but to see them growing on a living person is revolting. I fought down a wave of nausea.
I backed into a corner as Charlie was thrown into the room, unsure if he would attack. He seemed slightly delirious--probably for the best, to not face the cold reality that you are being consumed by corruption. The symbol on the floor began to glow again, and Charlie started shrieking. I couldn't tell if it was from physical pain or the mental anguish of knowing that he was going to lose the game with the corrupted creature. I sent my spores to attack the corruption, and they too began eating away at it.
Charlie wasn't in a talkative mood, but he did say that the corrupted creature would be coming for him.
Taken Away
Northing starts a morning faster than hearing shouts that someone has been murdered. I hustled downstairs as quickly as my walking stick would take me, only to find the Tavern empty. Outside we could hear coughing and shouting. I thought perhaps there had been a fire. However, upon peeking out the front door, the air was filled with the spores of the corruption. I slammed the door shut and discussed with Tina and Jade what to do. Just then, Tobias entered the Tavern, saying that he had heard that an elderly woman had been murdered in the abandoned manor. The guards walking around outside did not seem to be dropping dead from the spores, so Tina and Jade huddled around me and we hurried to the manor, protected by my spores.
The manor had a dozen town guards surrounding it. No chance of sneaking past, so we would have to get creative. Jade charmed a guard named William and convinced him that the murdered woman may be her grandmother. She gave a perfect performance of scared and grief-stricken granddaughter--I was thoroughly impressed. Guard William escorted her inside while Tina and I waited. When she returned--and we were safely out of earshot of the guards--she reported:
The dead woman inside was head nun Meredith.
Stab wound in her back, but no sign of struggle.
"Please forgive me. She did not suffer." carved in wall above the body.
Corruption was very high in the room. (Same upstairs room that Berry was hiding in yesterday)
There is also significant corruption at the lake
It was pretty clear that our next stop was the lake. The corruption was thick here, and as we walked we noticed a sunburst pattern on the ground off to the side.
Suddenly I couldn't move and everything went dark, like some corrupted alternate reality. A voice from behind me asked if I wanted to play a game. I most certainly did not, but I did want to get information so that I could figure out how to get out of there. The creature said that this is not the first time that it has spoken with me. It claimed that it brought me back to life the first time. This was nonsense. I have no memory of speaking to this creature. But...in the fight at the Monastery, I was knocked out, stabilized by Jade, and then woke up to discover that I had spores swirling around me. I had just assumed that the near-death experience had brought me closer to nature and unlocked a new Druid power. Was this creature trying to tell me that I am tied to or a part of the corruption somehow?
The creature continued, explaining that I had made a deal: I get to live, but the creature will have access to Pepperwell. If I lose the game this time, the creature will have access to Pepperwell much sooner than their first agreement. The game was for me to guess the name of the creature. And just like that, I was back with Jade and Tina. I quickly explained the situation and that I had only five minutes to guess the creature's name. We racked our minds. The Deliverer? Jesus? Tobias? The Weaver? Bajock? With no clear answer, my time was up and I found myself back with the creature.
At this point I was so irritated that I refused to play the game at all. Why would I ever agree to sacrifice Pepperwell for my own life? I have already lived my life! So much so that I would not be surprised if my spores are circling like vultures waiting for me to die so that they can decompose my body. And that's fine with me, because I am OLD! But I cannot die until I know that Pepperwell is safe. The greatest fallacy of evil is that it perpetually underestimates the power of love. So, with that, the creature said that it will go play with someone else.
With corruption spreading in town and an evil creature on the loose, we needed to gather more information. We noticed a number of town guard heading toward the Tavern so we followed. The guard was accusing Tobias of the murder, but Tobias stated that he wasn't attuned to it and hadn't even opened the box yet. Tobias has been looking so tired and stressed lately.
Unable to do much for Tobias, we went to the Church to ask about Meredith. Apparently she went on a walk around midnight, just like she did every night. You could feel the deep sorrow in that room--Meredith seemed like a truly kind-hearted person. I mumbled to Tina that she should offer a prayer. She did, and everyone seemed to find solace and comfort in her words.
Next stop, Jade wanted to go to the Caravan. The little Gnome boy Tunick popped up. He apologized for his sister Berry, which I thought was very sweet but sad that he felt the need to apologize on her behalf. Tunick explained that Berry can sense magical items, and this attracted the attention of the Zhentarim in Magaford. Berry sensed that Pepperwell had a magical item, and befriended her to figure out what it was. Berry stole the invisibility ring the day BEFORE Pepperwell's house was ransacked. Tunick also said he overheard men in Stothum looking for a "troublesome gnome" in the forest. I was loosely familiar with the existence of Zhentarim in Stothum (staying far clear of their shady business dealings of course) and had heard that they were in most cities. I was intrigued to to learn from Tunick that the Zhentarim were not in Hygrim because the Duke does not allow it. Tunick also said that he saw Meredith by the lake watching fireworks around midnight before she died. We thanked Tunick for being so helpful, and Jade gave him one of the mechanical marbles she had picked up from the Noresha Temple. I hope that he will become one of the good people of the world, and not turn out like his sister.
Wanting to know more about the night of the fireworks, we went to the barracks to talk to Tunick's father. As we were arriving, he was being released from jail. Tina went to talk to the Triple Fang while Jade and I walked with the Gnome. Unlike his son, he would provide information for a price. A fair but cold exchange. What we learned:
(5 gold) When did the gnome meet the Duke? 55 years ago, on a business trip when he was with his father. The father wanted the Gnome to entertain his son and the town every year. In return, the caravan would get exclusive merchant access for two days.
(5 gold) Knowledge of the man who won/lost the invisibility ring? Nothing. The Duke is not allowed to purchase items from the Caravan--it's bad for the economy and enjoyment of the town.
(20 gold) The Duke has many enemies outside of Hygrim. The other dukes don't like him. Zhentarim want to buy Hygrim because the forest has direct connection to the Feywild. A lot of value and profit in that. The corruption in the forest makes it far less valuable. Corruption is worst in the northwest and is moving from west to east. The Duke has no idea how to stop it. He is throwing money at it and will be bankrupt soon. The Gnome gave him a loan, in fact. The same sunburst shape in the locations where Jonas and Meredith were murdered.
Jade and I returned to the Barracks in time to overhear the guards talking about how Jade's three Wood Elf "friends" are top suspects for the murder. They plan to track them down. Then suddenly we saw the eyes of the guard Charlie--the one who ate the psychedelic pie--turn black. It looked like the evil creature had found its next victim.
[PAUSE FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT. SEE NEXT PAGE]
The Auction
The auction began, and no plan was coming to mind. We NEEDED to get that invisibility ring so that it would not fall into the wrong hands. But I had no idea how much it would go for, and we had less than 400 gold. I offered to go in with Travaste, but even he was concerned that he wouldn't have enough money. I messaged Berry to inquire again what her plan was, and once again, like an insolent young person, she would not tell me. Tina and Jade struck up a conversation with the simple man behind us named Jebediah, convincing him to spend money on a belt as an accessory for his mother.
During the auction intermission, Tina talked to the Triple Fang and found out that they were collectively prepared to bid 6,000 gold on the ring. When she came back to us, I gave her 100 gold to go in on a bid with them. Meanwhile Jade went looking for Jebediah. She thought it was suspicious that he had left the auction. When she returned (and caused some sort of commotion with the crowd in the process), she seemed quite upset. Apparently Jebediah did have a sick, elderly mother who was very upset that he had spent money on that belt. I could see now how guilty Jade felt.
We realized we needed to get more information on who in the crowd might be high bidders. I tried to find camaraderie with the other older/elderly folk, even making a joke to try to break the ice. One man seemed haughty and quite rude, so I didn't bother trying to have further conversation. Another man was just there to watch, and the final man was bidding on a toy soldier for his grandson. I met back up with Jade, who reported no luck either talking to the merchants, but did find out that the Caravan was allowed to come to town as they pleased thanks to a special relationship with the duke.
The second half of the auction began. Jebediah was trying to win a snuggly cloak but the bids quickly surpassed his coin. Jade and I stared at each other as the bidding increased, unsure if we should try to win it for him. And just like that, Travaste had won the cloak. I felt terrible that Jebediah would have to return emtpty-handed to his mother because of Jade and Tina.
Finally, the moment arrived: bidding on the ring. As expected, bidding rose quickly into the thousands as Travaste, the Triple Fang, the haughty man I had spoken to earlier, and surprise bidder Tobias duked it out. To my horror, the haughty man won. Fortunately Travaste came through with a plan. As the man went up to accept the ring, Travaste called out, asking if he worked for the duke. Tina, Jade, and I shouted about him working for the duke, which led to the crowd turning on them. The ring was then awarded to second-place bidder Tobias. I wanted to speak with him right away to understand his intentions with the ring, but festivities began and a crowd went to the tavern.
We bought the cloak from Travaste at a hefty markup and exchanged it for what Jebediah would have bid for it. Hopefully we can be friends with Jebediah. Kind-hearted people are hard to come by in Hygrim. I realized in that moment how lucky I was to have Tina and Jade as companions. They may cause chaos and make bad decisions when I'm not there, but I truly believe their heart is in the right place.
Tina and Jade stayed to dance while I went looking for Berry. I eventually found her. "So, your plan was to sell the ring to the duke." "No," she said, "my plan was to make money." I felt so deflated in that moment. I had believed that she had good intentions--that she surely must be a good person because dear Pepperwell would never be friends with someone so heartless. I warned her that the world was a small place and decisions have a way of coming back around to us. I think she may be too young and prideful to really understand what that means. Everyone makes mistakes, but at a certain point there is no forgiveness and no one left to help you.
I returned to the festivities--even joining in a dance for a moment! Jade reminded me that her elf friends had tried to escape jail earlier and we should probably talk to them to find out what's going on and calm them down. After mild persuasion to the Triple Fang guard, we were allowed to go down and speak to them. They reported that the corruption was spreading to the elf area and there was no one there to stop it. They wanted to escape to gather the dispersed wood elves and go fight it. Clearly it would be suspicious if we had been down to visit them and then they escaped, so we needed a plan. Tina went upstairs to talk to to guard and look for keys but didn't seem to be making any progress. Jade realized she had a psychedelic pie to drug him. I presented it to him, saying that Jade had won it at the pie-eating contest but had had too much pie, so maybe he would want it to not completely miss out on the festivities? He ate the pie, becoming less coherent by the minute. Eventually he wandered off looking for oranges. We found the keys, then heard a crash. The guard had fallen unconscious. I had the brilliant plan to drag him downstairs and put the keys in his hand, like he had set the prisoners free himself. Jade fortunately had an ale bottle on her to make it look like he had been drinking on the job. Jade chugged it and unfortunately the ale seemed to paralyze her, but we still freed the wood elves and made our own escape (with Tina carrying Jade).
We made it back to the crowded, noisy tavern and took a rest. With no signs of the party dying down, I am headed off to sleep and will speak with Tobias in the morning.
Things to follow up on:
Travel to the wood elf area to assess/help with the corruption?
Find Pepperwell!
Visit home to see what has been ransacked
Find out more about duke's relationship to the haughty man and the caravan people.
Caravan of Values
The trip from the Noresha Temple back to Hygrim was long and we did not talk much. Tina handled herself well in that fight, but Jade almost got herself killed again. What would she do if I wasn't around to heal her? Maybe we'll have some downtime in Hygrim to practice disengaging and staying ranged for attacks. Retreating or running away is always an option.
We parted ways with Thornstrike at the Outpost and went to Hygrim escorted by a Triple Fang member. When we arrived there was the sound of explosions, which turned out to be fireworks from a traveling caravan run by the Schlepen family. They offered games and small magical trinkets for sale. The father introduced his family to the crowd and proclaimed that they had traveled to many places in the area recently, including Stothum and Magaford. Hearing Magaford mentioned sent a jolt through my body. The daughter of the caravan family, Berry, may have spoken to Pepperwell in Magaford! I should talk to her as soon as possible. There are almost no gnomes in that city, so Pepperwell would have been hard to miss. I do hope she is doing well.
But first things first: playing a game of Acorns. Now, the wife of the caravan claims to have invented this and calls it "Acorn Stackums," but I played an extremely similar game in my youth and was even village champion for a few years. I could not resist the chance to play again. A boy joined us to make it a group of four. I told him to stick with me and we would win. Of course, I had forgotten in that moment that the boy had probably never played before and didn't know that psychological manipulation, bribes, and intimidation were all part of the game. When the game began I immediately turned on him and knocked all the acorns out of his hand. He left crying, which was unfortunate but an important lesson to learn in Acorns. My overconfidence got the better of me after that, and Tina's zen monk abilities led her to victory. If I wasn't 400 years out of practice, I would have certainly won! But it was nice to see Tina happy.
While there we purchased pins that allow each of us to glow a different color, and Jade bought a very suspicious magic squirrel in a box.
Jade and Tina continued playing games while I went in search of Berry. I eventually found footprints leading to an open window in one of the empty houses. I called out to see if she was in there, and she called back for me to go away. If I had a gold coin for every time someone told me to "go away" through an open window, I could buy Hygrim and crown *myself* the Duke. After a couple of frustrating back-and-forths and a failed attempt at climbing through the window, I messaged Tina for her and Jade to come help me. Tina boosted me through the window and I spoke to Berry through a closed door upstairs.
Eventually she revealed that she had made friends with Pepperwell, but then one day the whole family disappeared and Berry found the invisibility ring in their house. Berry claims that Pepperwell was being harrassed by a man about the ring. I nearly collapsed in shock. I have drilled into Pepperwell's head since she was a teenager to never, ever, EVER let ANYONE know she has that ring, and to keep it hidden like her life depended on it. Something is seriously wrong if Berry is in possession of that ring.
Berry also claimed that there were lots of gnomes in Magaford, which I found astounding for a city known for its Human-supremacist values. And Pepperwell made no mention of any other gnomes in the city when she visited six months ago. Either something strange happened in Magaford within the past 6 months, Berry was confusing Magaford for another city, or Berry is lying. None of this is making any sense, but I wasn't able to get more information out of her.
Feeling defeated and worried about Pepperwell
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