Bedlam at Seamount
Lightning flashes and thunder growls shaking the deep bowels of the ancient stonework of Seamount Madhouse. You lurch bolt upright, eyes wide with fear - hoping for release from dreams even more sinister than your tortured existence under the mad wizard. A scream rends the air, threatening to overwhelm even the virulent storm outside - then silence, broken only by a wet pounding sound from the operating theater beyond. Then, it strikes you. You are sitting upright, the leather bonds which have held you onto the wooden slab these past two weeks hang loosely at your side.
Freedom? But how? And why?
Another flash of light illuminates the ward in distorted shadows and you jump - around you five other figures mimic your surprise and fear. Each sits upright looking confused and dazed. By the door, a knife used by the orderlies lies forgotten near a wooden chair which still leans back against the wall without a sign of its usual occupant.
Another scream and you are on your feet. A glance out the window reveals a storm in full fury, lightning illuminating a turbulent sea. Thunder competes with waves crashing against the rocky cliffs of Seamount.
Escape? Impossible. But maybe you can find somewhere to hide in this terror-ridden monstrosity.
As you move quickly to the door listening intently to the hallway beyond, the five others have joined you - comrades now in a mission of survival. Glancing down at figures you suspected were children, you are surprised to see that they have wings. For the first time in two weeks, you smile. You are all fey - elves and fairies - a common bond for what promises to be a storm-filled night of bedlam.
A torturous gurgle from the operating theater...
Cast of Characters
Thorn Hailwasp - (PDF)
Thorn Hailwasp resembles a very small elf, but with longer ears and gossamer wings. He is young, but not a child by fey standards. He loves to wear bright clothing including caps and shoes with curled toes. His weapon of choice is a short bow and magical arrows.
Thorn is a merry prankster who guarded the borders of the Sylvan Glade - an expert at leading adventurers astray and away from the fey meadows. He is friendly with elves, but he is very suspicious of evil and will always keep a watchful eye on any creature he feels might be a follower of the dark path. He can be boastful - but always in good-natured way. He secretly longs to prove himself invaluable to the queen and be taken on as one of her personal escorts.
During his watch one evening, Thorn came across two old men speaking in hushed tones around a campfire - a tale of a magnificent silver-leafed oak tree whose acorns were reported to bring extraordinary luck to those fortunate enough eat one. Intrigued, he followed the men through the forest to the shores of the Great Sea - trying to decide whether to seek the silver tree and an acorn for his queen.
Suddenly, his world went dark and he found himself strapped to a bed in a stone room - unable to escape. However, in the back of his mind, he can now hear the faint calling of the mysterious silver oak.
Ash Flameleaf - (PDF)
Ash Flameleaf resembles a very small elf, shorter than a hobbit and very slim, with tall gossamer wings. He is an exceedingly nimble fellow that may be related very distantly to hobbits. He loves to wear clothing dyed bright colors and decorated with elaborate embroidery or trimmed with silver or gold studs and buttons. He is the carrier of Flameleaf - a magical blade shaped like a long variegated leaf. He is easily excited into action and has an exaggerated sense of chivalry.
The sword was a gift from the queen of the Endless Forest for his bravery in fighting a nest of owlbears that invaded the fey meadows. Ash has special abilities with animals and hopes to someday work with the druids on behalf of his people. He has learned several languages and is an adept student.
Ash came to his present predicament while visiting a hobbit pub, the Old Beard Tavern, at the trade crossroads near the forest. Suddenly, all the patrons - mostly hobbits - were frozen in place, mugs still to their lips. A dark cold swept through the bar as an old man in black robes - smelling of fish and seaweed - strode through the door. He looked about, his gaze finally focusing on Ash. "Here's one the Master will like," was all Ash heard before he was stuffed into a bag and everything went dark.
Tangle Willowshimmer - (PDF)
Tangle is a small fey of large complexity. His family lived on the fringe of the wild, the untamed dark heart of the forest - a situation which tainted his ancestry, according to his peers. He was born on Midsummer's eve, although Tangle's mother claimed she didn't know who his father was. At an early age, he showed an unusual and unnatural characteristic - the ability to shape-change into a will-o-the-wisp. His mother tried to hide his talent, but after young Tangle shocked a member of the fey court, his fate was sealed. Cast off as a boggart - Tangle was on his own.
Stealing away in the dark of the night, Tangle was soon beguiled by a bobbing light which he assumed was his father - always out of reach and just over the next rise. Eventually, Tangle found himself on the coast of the Great Sea near a human trading village. Tangle soon became adept at stealing food and clothing from the men and women. Each night he would see his father bobbing over the water - moving farther and farther out to sea, beckoning Tangle to follow - curtailed by Tangle's fear of water.
One day, his desire to follow his father overcame him and Tangle stowed away on a ship - only to discover that he had fallen in with dark wizards. That first night he was captured, a spell cast over him that made the next few months hazy. He dreamt of his father and later of a shimmering oak tree filled with thousands of balls of lights - ornaments of happiness and family. That happy dream is now a living nightmare.
Bearoak the Cursed - (PDF)
Bearoak was a Forestal in the service of the elven queen - charged with the care of the palace gardens. It was in his duty that he met and fell in love with Arianna - the princess and youngest daughter of the queen. She reciprocated his feelings. The queen, sensing her daughter's heart had been won by a stranger, forbid Arianna from seeing any male elf without her consort. Through the long years, Bearoak and Arianna made plans to flee the forest and make their way in the world of man - free from her mother's watchful gaze.
One night, under the darkness of the new moon, the lovers fled. They were met at the forest's edge by the queen wizard - who had followed them as a sparrow. There he cursed Bearoak and Arianna that one should always be in the form of a bear while the other was an elf.
Now cursed, Bearoak and Arianna traveled throughout the human lands looking for anyone who could help. It was in the furthest recesses of the southern kingdoms - in a pub that only the darkest wizards would dare to enter - that an old man in black robes and smelling of the sea promised them salvation in a far-off land. There was a magnificent silver oak with fruit that would break any curse. Against his better judgment, Bearoak accepted the invitation. His intuition proved right - as he remembers little of his long ocean voyage - waking up chained to a bed with no trace of Arianna in sight.
Truestar - (PDF)
Truestar was the beacon of the elf queen's guard - loyal, courageous and without fault. He served the elven nation throughout the years with never an unkind word spoken of him. So it was that he was chosen when the queen's youngest daughter, Arianna, disappeared along with the queen's wizard and one of the palace forestals. None of the three had been seen for weeks, and the queen was frantic for news. She summoned Truestar to find her daughter and return her to the kingdom.
The three were not easy to follow, as their trails disappeared at the forest's edge. True to his word, Truestar followed every path, oftentimes questioning villagers and guards along the human highways. It was clear to Truestar that Arianna had been shapechanged into a bear - as it was only Bearoak who left a trail as an elf. But the druid was always in the company of his bear. He suspected the wizard of aiding the two, although no sign of the wizened elf was ever found.
Finally, Truestar caught up with Bearoak in the southern reaches, boarding a ship. His rescue was unsuccessful as the druid and bear left just hours before he arrived into port. Hiring a fast sloop, Truestart caught up with the ship - The Jolly Hand - whose captain was more than happy to take him onboard. While negotiating his passage with the captain, Truestar was overwhelmed with a sense of absolute evil. Passing out, he came to on the same bed where he rests today.
He has tried to befriend Bearoak - who is suspicious of his motives and remains reticent.
Grimscar - (PDF)
Sadene enjoyed an idyllic life as a child - with the freedom to roam with her friends playing in the woods and wilderness surrounding her parent's modest dwelling. She was as strong and as fast as the boys, performed well in school, and excelled at swordplay. Her only haunting memory was of the dreams - always the same - climbing the ancient silver oak. Higher and higher she would venture, always drawn forward by some mysterious force. Then - crack - a branch would break and she would find herself falling, bounced between branches like a ball kicked between children at play.
It was her father that suggested she climb the great oaks of the forest - a way to confront her fears directly. So, on that fateful day - the day of the accident that would change her life - Sadene set out in earnest to conquer her demons. And, like the dream, she fell, losing consciousness somewhere along the way. She woke up weeks later in the hospital, wrapped in bandages with her parents standing vigil. While her bones and muscles healed, Sadene bore the terrible scars of that day - along with the irony of her dream continuing.
Afterwards, the boys and girls of the village gave her wide berth - the idylls of her youth were gone. She jumped into her sword practice with gusto - the instructors where battle-scarred veterans who did not give her slashed face a second glance. An adept student, Grimscar - as she was now known - could have easily joined the military. Instead, she became a mercenary looking to find anyone who could answer her questions about the silver oak and the nightmare that had consumed her life.
That is why she was so reckless the day she met Vinewurm - a fool's errand taking the first ship out of port. No precaution landed her right where she deserved - in a stinking prison far from home.
Vinewurm - (PDF)
Vinewurm is a dark elf of a dour and disagreeable disposition. Unlike most of her kin, Vinewurm's childhood (her name was Medali back then) was spent in the laboratories and libraries of Dier Drendal - as the thin waif would spend hours pouring over alchemical treatises and dusty tomes of forgotten lore. Now, as a young adult, she retains a gauntness that belies an average strength and endurance with lightning fast reflexes and the honed fine motor skills of a craftsman. But, it is her mind - and an astonishing memory - that best serves Vinewurm in her present vocation.
Her fascination with alchemy began in dramatic fashion on the day her mother died - as the doctors stood by her bedside ringing their hands. One had mentioned that only the healing properties of the silver oak would bring her back from the brink of death now. When she pressed them for details, they dismissed her as adults often would and spoke in hushed tones that merely provided a catalyst for young Medali's fascination with the unknown. Unable to save her mother, Medali was placed in an orphanage which coincidentally shared common buildings with an alchemical college. Her future was set.
Years later Medali was accused in the mysterious disappearance of the doctors who treated her mother the bodies were eventually discovered under a particularly nasty vampire vine that was growing near the college library. It was then that Medali was given the name Vinewurm - and she fled shortly thereafter from the city.
In her quest to find the silver oak that the doctors mentioned all those years ago, Vinewurm has befriended Grimscar - a fighter and almost a sister to the alchemist. Grimscar has been plagued with dreams about the same tree since childhood. Together, they set off to find answers. Unfortunately, their ship was attacked by pirates and both were taken as prisoners before being sold, crated and shipped to their current location. Vinewurm, however, remembers her journey from the port town to the hospital under heavy sedation - but her amazing mind remembers.