Welcome, reader, to the chronicles of an unlikely fellowship, a quartet bound not by kinship or coin, but by a shared, festering wound upon their world: the Grey Blight. From the rolling fields of the outer shires to the quiet villages nestled on the borders of the great, ancient forest, a wasting sickness has devoured the land. It leaves its victims pocked with grey scars, their bodies weakened, and their communities shattered. Yet, one place remains strangely immune, a vibrant and menacing green against the encroaching decay: the forest of Dolmenwood.
It is into this very forest that our heroes must venture, driven by desperation, guided by a terrible truth, and united by the grim hope of finding a cure. They are not knights in shining armor, but survivors, each marked by the blight in their own way. They are the Company of the Scarred and the Seeking Heart, and this is their story.
(All characters stats and details where randomly rolled using the Dolmenwood Character Generator. As outsiders, kindreds where restricted to humans. Classes where chosen).
Gwendolyne Weavilman, The Faithful Carpenter
A cleric of the Pluritine Church, Gwendolyne’s faith is as solid and unyielding as the wood she once worked as a carpenter. Her hands, accustomed to the chisel and plane, now clutch a simple wooden holy symbol, a beacon against the encroaching darkness. Though her own body bears the plague-scars of the blight, it was not her own suffering that set her upon this path, but the sacrifice of others. It was Gwendolyne who discovered the silent, corpse-strewn tower of the mad sorcerer Master Elsbeth, the architect of the Grey Blight. There, amidst the fallen champions who had given their lives to stop the mage, she found Elsbeth’s journals. These texts revealed a horrifying truth: the plague was but a side-effect of a dark pact with an ancient entity from within Dolmenwood itself. Driven by a sacred duty to the fallen and a desperate need to save her people, Gwendolyne now carries the terrible knowledge of the blight’s true source, her grim discovery lighting the path into the woods.
Rodger Fraggleton, The Zealous Friar
Rodger, a friar of the same Pluritine faith, is a man whose pious exterior conceals a fervent, almost obsessive zeal. Once a wainwright, he witnessed his community devastated by the blight, the carts he built used to carry the dead instead of goods. The plague left its mark on him, both in the prominent scar on his face and the excessive hairiness of his body, a peculiar manifestation of the sickness. His belief that witches and foul sorcery are in service to the malevolent Nag-Lord was cemented by the discovery of Elsbeth’s journals. For Rodger, the Grey Blight is not just a disease, but a holy war waiting to be waged. He joins Gwendolyne, his lawful nature and spiritual fervor a powerful ally in her quest to cleanse the land and confront the ancient evil that festers in Dolmenwood.
Molly Addercapper, The Scarred Magician
Where Gwendolyne and Rodger see a spiritual corruption, Molly Addercapper sees a magical catastrophe demanding to be understood. A cattle farmer by trade, she lost everything—her herds and her family—to the Grey Blight, the plague leaving her body pocked with its cruel marks. This profound loss drove her deeper into the arcane arts, seeking mastery over the very forces that had destroyed her life. As Gwendolyne's sister-in-law, their shared grief forged a powerful bond. When she learned of the contents of the mad sorcerer's journals, Molly's quest became clear. She recognized that this was no ordinary ailment, but a magical wound upon the world. She now seeks the ancient, wild magic of Dolmenwood, believing only a deeper understanding of its power can lead to a counter-spell—or a way to turn the blight's own dark energy back upon its source.
Shadwell Lank, The Pragmatic Hunter
Every fellowship of the faithful and the fervent needs an anchor to the real world, and Shadwell Lank is that anchor. A smuggler by trade and a hunter by skill, his motivations are far more grounded. The Grey Blight destroyed his livelihood, crippling the trade routes and drying up the black markets that were his bread and butter. He carries curious trophies from his past ventures, like the wobbly, pink severed hand of a gelatinous ape, a testament to a life lived on the dangerous fringes of society. Recruited by the others for his knowledge of the roads and wilds bordering the great forest, Shadwell has never dared to enter Dolmenwood itself. He is not driven by faith or arcane theory, but by the promise of new opportunities—rare pelts, forgotten treasures, or simply a safe haven in a world collapsing under the weight of the plague. His tracking and survival skills are indispensable, and while his companions look to the heavens or the flows of magic for answers, Shadwell keeps his eyes on the trail, ensuring the company survives long enough to find them.
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