GR 36: Greenwood Shadow

This campaign picked up approximately a year after the conclusion of campaign GR 34 – Rise of the Winged Sword. Elicia, Markesh, and Reneslar left the Greenwood with the Questing Party, heading west to Doltrek by way of Onscra, leaving their apprentices - Andreu, Baldron and Picket, respectively - as the de facto stewards of the Greenwood in their absence. While in Barrelbur, the trio began to hear rumors of dark tidings. Some were saying that the Satyrs were gathering strength (as the trio already witnessed personally the year before), and were expanding their presence beyond the traditional boundary between their land in the Stonewood and the peoples of the Greenwood – the Caal River. Many believed that there would be another uprising as there was long ago. There was also a strange report of dead fish and animals along the Twimmerilth River, within the Greenwood itself. The party set out to investigate these rumors.
During their investigation they found the rumors to be true, and found many more disturbing things as well, all that seemed to have a connection. The waters of the Twimmarilth and its tributaries had been infected with a fast-spreading black ichor which was killing the flora and fauna in their vicinity, and the party found evidence that the Satyrs were vehicles, if not the orchestrators, of this destruction. Furthermore, the infected water was turning all creatures who drank from it into mindless plant-like zombies bent on chaos and destruction. After rescuing survivors of a Satyr attack in the village of Hawster, the party followed the tracks of the Satyrs to a woodland stronghold where they had taken townsfolk prisoners and were turning them into plant-zombies slaves. The party found more evidence of Satyr chaos and destruction throughout other areas of the Pera-Caal region as well.
In order to find a cure for the infected water, the party went to the Dragon Oak, an ancient grove with a huge dragon-shaped tree at its center. By completing a ritual dance, Picket was able to ask the spirit of the Dragon Oak a question, and found out through its riddled answer that a mixture of sulfur and chalk would reverse the effects of the black ichor and heal the flora and fauna that had been poisoned by it. After procuring sizeable quantities of these materials, the party then went to the source of the Twimmarilth and deposited them, healing the waters and its downstream tributaries. However, the hostile actions of the Satyrs continued.
In the final game sessions of the campaign, the party once again encountered Hasharra and the Daughters of the Butterfly, and were shocked to find them in league with the Satyrs, their ancestral mates. When Reneslar returned to the Greenwood and sought to reclaim his son from the Daughters in their treetop fortress, Hasharra informed him that his son had been moved to Rodessa and was being held captive until Reneslar agreed to depart the Greenwood permanently and relinquish political control of the region to the Daughters of the Butterfly and their Satyr mates, restoring what they believed to be the rightful order of the Greenwood before the coming of Mena. The hot-headed Reneslar chose to fight rather than to agree to the terms, and seemed to be winning until a mysterious dark figure (the one who had been seen multiple times watching Baldron and Andreu and perhaps influencing events) joined his spirit and strength with Karanu the Satyr-King and forced Reneslar to admit defeat. Reluctantly, Reneslar agreed to the terms Hasharra had set before him, and flew off on his windsteed to claim his son at Rodessa, never to return.
With Elicia, Markesh and Reneslar now permanently removed from the Greenwood, Hasharra and Karanu made a deal with Picket, Baldron and Andreu, allowing them to remain in the Greenwood and take up the posts vacated by their deceased/departed masters. The not-so-subtly implied condition though, was that their authority was granted only at the pleasure and convenience of the true rulers of the Greenwood, Hasharra and Karanu.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS: This campaign welcomed Tony Stoutenberg (Picket) to the SpiritQuest world.  It was also notable in that the COVID-19 pandemic hit during the middle of this campaign, forcing the group to take a sizeable hiatus from game play.

CAMPAIGN INFORMATION Gaming Data:
Dates Played: September 2019 to March 2021
Play Sessions: 11
Session Venue: Steve's House - Oakdale, MN
Rule System: SpiritQuest - 8 (simplified rules)
SpiritQuest Setting:
Era: Age of Exile
Time Frame: 3234 SR
Region: Greenwood, Wessa
Origin: Hulden Vale
Destination: Melikki's Grove
Player Characters:
Andreu Jörin - Mike Martin
Baldron Haywarde - Jon Raverty
Marshal Picket - Tony Stoutenberg

Important Non-Player Characters:
Marshal Holman
Vrolcath and Slinemor, Fae Scouts
Finnon McDrier, Reneslar's man
Claregard, Former Onscra Guardian
Ashena, Dryad of the Old Grove
Cenela, Captain of the Golden Guard
Hasharra, Daughter of the Butterfly
Karanu, King of the Satyrs
Lord Marshal Reneslar, Warden of Greenwood