Quote Originally Posted by CollectorOfMyst View Post
I run a sort of 'Age of Exploration' campaign. That being, there are rudimentary guns and cannons, the players own a ship, and it takes place in a sort of archipelago (a group of islands). Scattered about this archipelago are twelve characters that function as a player would, and can be recruited to the ship. At present, nine of these characters are complete in that I know who they are and who they used to be. Three of them are in varying stages of completion. I can say that having someone help patch those gaps would be a great help, so anything you (or indeed, anyone else) can offer would be a godsend.

The campaign takes place across several islands. There are two 'superpower' nations - the Kingdom of Aeros, and the Empire of Kyralia. Both of these two nations have several vassal states, and there is tension between the two, because as if two nations could exist in D&D without nearly being at war with each other. The recruits come from various powerful factions; the Cardinal Orthodoxy, the religious group of the isles; the Ambrose Academy, the university and council of mages (wizards, warlocks, sorcerers); the Blackthorn Mercenary Company, based in Aeros; and the Outcast's Charter, a former thieves' guild now trying to do some good in the world. There's also an unknown group called the Coterie, which puts up a front of being a group of people who want to improve the world and the relations between the two nations - but is truly seeking power in various ways. The players themselves are essentially a group of wanderers thrown together by chance, standard stuff.

Willow Myastan

Race: Dragonborn (Bronze) | Class: Warlock, Archfey Patron | Alignment: Lawful Neutral | Age: ?? | Faction: Ambrose Academy

Willow was found unconscious on the side of the road near the village of Silverwood (a forest of silver-barked trees). When she woke, it was revealed she had lost most of her memory - all she remembered was the name Willow. However, this was not the most shocking discovery; instead, it was the powers she would sometimes inadvertently use.

Since, Willow has been under the supervision of the Ambrose Academy, as in this world, warlocks are unheard of - meaning that she needs to be studied. This is done in a humane way, of course, and she's free to leave at any time (I might eventually decide that the Academy changes their mind about that bit, but it remains true for now).

Now, I do have a couple of ideas for this. Basically, though, either Willow and/or her patron (who I have been referring to as 'Butterfly' before now) was in a near-death state. In order to save them, the contract was made. How and why this caused the loss of her memory is something I've yet to figure out. I also don't know who she was before her memory loss.

Willow is followed by a rainbow-coloured butterfly wherever she goes (it's pact of the chain)
The Silverwood does have 'Hidden Pathways' - the ways you will enter the Feywild.
This one was easy to write; but again, not sure if it's too "high fantasy" for your campaign...
But with the mention of "Hidden Pathways" to the Feywild....
And the mention of a rainbow colored butterfly...
This one literally simply told itself...
I even leave the fate of an "ancient enemy" very open to be reused by you if you wanted.
As always, I love feedback - what you liked, didn't like, what worked, what didn't work!
Enjoy!
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There was a sound; like glass shattering.

A thousand fragments with a thousand colors as if a mirror composed of a box of crayons had just exploded.

There was the sensation of falling into the darkness below her.

A beast made of shadows and despair, rising up, its maw wide open, teeth gleaming like a thousand blades under the moonlight.

Then the colored pieces formed two large wings and dove beneath her and just before she had been devoured by the unseen creature flew upward, saving her from uncertain death.

Willow sighed as she stared into the tub of water, her own reflection peering back at her. But for Willow, it was a face she recognized, but the person was a complete stranger. Willow’s past was gone; a whispering wind touching the fringes of her mind. Every once in a while when she closed her eyes and focused; she could return to that vision of the shattered, colorful glass. She tried to remember if she had been in a Cathedral that frequently had eloquent stained colored glass to paint a picture. However, the nearest Cathedral was on an entirely different island and reported that none of the glass had been broken in years.

The unusually colorful butterfly that had been with Willow since she’d been found on the side of the road near Silverwood landed on her shoulder, peering at her, as if wishing it could speak. The butterfly reminded her of what she’d seen in her memories with the shattered, colorful glass, and the creature who had flown in and saved her from the jaws of death.

Now in the care of the Ambrose Academy who was conducting humane tests on her; she was told that she was a marvel to behold. Never in the entire Kingdom had they seen anything like her; someone who could wield magic so easily, as if it had been infused in her body.

While the Ambrose Academy studied her for her magical capabilities, she in turn, had hoped that they might also explain where she came from. As she lay down to rest, the colorful butterfly with wings of a thousand colors, settled on Willow’s forehead, just as it had done ever since Willow awoke.

The butterfly, however, was far more than just a colorful insect. As it rested its wings on Willow’s forehead, listening to her rhythmic breathing as she slumbered, the “simple butterfly” recalled its final moments in its true form.

It’d been years now when it happened: The War of Spirit Fountain.

The butterfly in truth was an Archfey Dryad by the name of Caomhnóir who had been anointed to guard the Spirit Fountain. The Spirit Fountain had been where Fey souls were reborn. Those with pure hearts who perished had their souls enter the Spirit Fountain to be recharged, reshaped, and reborn into the world anew.

An ancient Lich by the name of Siúlóid Báis, who had been a human who devoted his entire life to extending his own had acquired enough magical power to master the art of Necromancy and had managed to raise an army of dead. After learning of the Spirit Fountain, he knew he could harness the energy with what he’d learned to become a god, gaining not only immortality but godhood as well.

He marched his army into the Feywild where the Fey fought vigilantly and bravely against Siúlóid’s armies; but Siúlóid would only in turn raise the dead Fey to serve him, causing many of the Fey to flee, rather than kill their loved ones – even in their state of undeath. This granted Siúlóid access to the portal to the Spirit Fountain.

Willow, and many other defenders of the Order of Life and Light, converged in the Plane of Spirits to try and stop Siúlóid and his army. Making their final stand on the rainbow bridge that led from the Feywild to the Plane of Spirits a battle that lasted for nearly a year waged on but as more defenders died; Siúlóid simply used his magic to corrupt their souls and capture them before they could escape into the Spirit Fountain and fed off their energy increasing his power and increasing his army.

It had come down to Willow and Caomhnóir. The Dryad turned to Willow and said, “We cannot let him reach the Spirit Fountain. If he does he will destroy all of reality.”

“What can we do?” Willow had asked.

“There’s only one way to stop him from reaching the Spirit Fountain,” Caomhnóir replied.

Willow looked down at her feet. “Shatter the Rainbow Bridge,” she whispered.

“Indeed,” Caomhnóir sighed. “The Rainbow Bridge is the only way to the Spirit Fountain. We must sunder it, but we cannot leave it like that. Please,” Caomhnóir extended her hand. “Take my hand. You must find a way to return here and fix the Bridge one day. We will chain our souls together so that we might undo what we are about to do.”

Willow nodded and took her hand. Instantly like a bolt of lightning coursing through her body, hot, searing, energy burned her inside and sent her to her knees. “Break the Bridge,” she heard in her head. Willow looked at the Rainbow Bridge just as Siúlóid was lunging forward to grab her. Willow raised her fist and with the mystical energy charging her body she brought her first down on the bridge and shattered it like a mirror, sending her and Siúlóid falling into darkness.

“Do not fear,” she heard in her head, just as she saw the remaining energy that made up Caomhnóir absorb some of the fragmented bridge pieces into her and took on the form of a large butterfly. “Brace yourself,” she spoke directly to Willow’s mind, “I am flying towards one of the Feywild portals, when we go through, I do not know what will happen…”

Together they slammed through the Feywild portal, crashing through the woods and stone with so much energy and speed, they slipped through the Feywild and came out another portal in the middle of Silverwood, and continued to spin, crash and roll through the woods, until they came to a stop outside of Silverwood, lying unconscious on the path.

One day, Willow would recover her memory, and remember her mission to rebuild the bridge to the Spirit Fountain. Until then, Fey souls would be lost, unable to be reborn back into the world…