2 the Company of the Scarred and the Seeking Heart

Following her grim discovery in Master Elsbeth's blighted tower near Greyhill, Gwendolyne Weavilman (Cleric) did not immediately rush into the forbidding wilds of Dolmenwood. Her Lawful nature, tempered by a carpenter's practicality, urged caution and preparation. She bore the heavy burden of Elsbeth's journals, their chilling revelations about the Grey Blight, and the unholy pact gnawing at her soul. The truth that Dolmenwood, that ancient, fey-haunted wood, was not merely unaffected but might be the source of their suffering, was almost unbearable.

Gwendolyne returned, to her blighted home village, a slightly larger settlement, Oakhaven-by-the-Wold, which, while scarred by the blight, still maintained a fragile semblance of order. Here, the Pluritine Church still held some sway, though its authority felt distant, its pronouncements from far-off Londinium often slow to reach the ailing hinterlands.

It was in Oakhaven's makeshift infirmary, ministering to the sick (many of whom bore the same insidious pockmarks as Gwendolyne herself), that she found Rodger Fraggleton (Friar). Rodger, with his gruff, yet earnest demeanour and "meticulously oiled hair" that seemed at odds with his "hessian rags," was a local oddity, a wainwright by trade who had taken up the friar's cowl after the blight claimed his own family and left its subtle "prominent scar" on his face. He shared Gwendolyne's fervent belief that "Witches serve the Nag-Lord" and saw the blight as a manifestation of that very evil.

Gwendolyne, recognizing a kindred spirit of faith and shared suffering, confided in him, speaking of the journals and the unspeakable pact. Rodger, already consumed by a desire to cleanse his blighted homeland and perhaps find a new secret underground lair where the pure might escape the decay, needed no further convincing. His Lawful conviction burned fiercely. If the Nag-Lord's influence was spreading from Dolmenwood, then it was the Church's sacred duty to meet it, even if Londinium seemed too preoccupied with matters of court and creed to grasp the true peril in the wild marches. Together, their shared devotion to the Pluritine faith and their personal vendetta against the blight's unseen master forged an immediate, unbreakable bond.

Gwendolyne’s connection to Molly Addercapper (Magician) was one of deeper, more familial tragedy. Molly, a cattle farmer whose family and herds had been decimated by the Grey Blight, was Gwendolyne’s sister-in-law – her late brother’s wife. Molly, too, was pocked with plague-scars, a stark visual testament to the shared agony. While Gwendolyne sought divine intervention and cleansing, Molly, with her keen intellect and magical aptitude, believed the solution lay in understanding the arcane currents behind the blight. She felt a burning need to wield magic powerful enough to prevent such devastation ever again.

When Gwendolyne presented Elsbeth's journals, Molly devoured them, not just for the clues they held, but for the dark knowledge of the pact itself. The idea of an unaffected Dolmenwood, a source of both corruption and potential salvation, ignited a fierce determination in Molly. She would join Gwendolyne not just for family, but for the mastery she craved, to turn the very tools of the blight against its unseen master. Their grief, though channeled differently, became a powerful, unifying force.

The final, crucial member of their desperate company was Shadwell Lank (Hunter). Shadwell was a familiar, if somewhat shadowy, figure in Oakhaven-by-the-Wold and other peripheral settlements. As a smuggler, he frequented the taverns and quiet corners, trading in rare furs, illicit goods, and, more recently, grim news from the blighted lands. He was known for his uncanny ability to stalk and track in the wilderness – skills invaluable to anyone contemplating a journey into the wild. He’d never dared venture into Dolmenwood itself, the fey tales and strange disappearances acting as a natural deterrent, but he knew the approaches to its borders better than anyone. Although he was deeply afraid of it he longed for nothing more than to explore Fairy, pulled by some morbid curiosity.

Gwendolyne and Rodger, knowing they needed a guide whose knowledge of the wild was absolute, approached Shadwell. Molly, meanwhile, likely saw the practical benefit of a skilled woodsman over any moral purity. Shadwell, ever the Neutral opportunist, was intrigued. The blight had disrupted his usual trade routes, and the desperate flight of people meant dwindling opportunities. A journey into Dolmenwood, dangerous as it was, promised access to untouched resources, rare trophies, and a chance to venture into fairy. The promise of payment, even a share of any discoveries, would have sweetened the deal. More than that, the utter chaos of the outside world, ravaged by the blight, might have made the dangers of Dolmenwood seem a more appealing, even logical, choice.

Thus, the Company of the Scarred and the Seeking Heart was formed: a cleric seeking divine answers, a friar yearning for purification, a magician striving for arcane mastery, and a hunter seeking new avenues of exploration. All bound by the Grey Blight’s cruel touch, and all turning their gazes towards the strange, unblighted forests of Dolmenwood, and the distant, foreboding silhouette of Castle Brackenwold.