Madrina Adlao
Artisan
“NO! IT’S MY TURN TO BE STENCH!” A young girl’s voice yowls past the walls of wood and plaster in the main Dining Hall next over. Adlao heaves a deep sigh in the front office as she finishes massaging the cream of aloe into her rough hands now that they are dry from washing the lunchtime load of dishes.
The housemother's apron and skirts swish loudly with intention as she cracks the door askew just enough to issue a gentle reminder, “Play nice in there or the boiled cream treats shan’t appear at Supper.”
Another girl's voice pipes up “Ok I’ll be Alooshush then and they can be the vamp this time!.” Adlao hears an exaggerated hiss from a third child as she closes the door. The first girl’s voice triumphantly exclaims, “Never fear, good Aloo Loyshus, I’m here to save you!”
“It’s Sir Stench, my Hero!” replies the other lass in a damsel’s fair timbre.
Adlao smiles to herself as she settles onto a stool by a work table turned desk. The Gloaming Rose Orphanage in Pauper’s Launch has a small but steadily growing number of younglings under the care of the Order of the Pearled Heart; nevertheless, they are still a handful. Adlao leafs through the written proposals and sketches for a commemorative farm and statue that would be dedicated to the deceased dryad. She frowns at the costs in coin listed at the bottom corner of each proposal, and lets out another deep, soft sigh as she places the stack of parchments aside in a tray labeled “Whitehaven.”
“We do what must be done.” She whispers to herself, and then dips her quill into a jar of ink to continue where she left off on a wide sheet of parchment that reads “In Memoriam…”
Stench Blightbane, Hero- In Memoriam
For the dedication of the new “Stench Blightbane Memorial Gardens” in Golden Meadows, Whitehaven
By the Order of the Pearled Heart
In the Grimere Expanse, the Spirit of the Wilds has not wholly yielded to the Blight; it yet resists, thrashes, reacts, fights against the unnatural pathogen that infests the land. From this dogged wilderness came Stench, the Mushroom Dryad, who arose in response to the Blight. He was called forth by The Land to excise the accursed infection, and so arrived into the fellowship of the Unbounded in Whitehaven to join us in our campaign as a new Adventurer.
Stench was a quiet figure who kept to himself, mostly observed and spoke when needed- of the ilk of fungus who thrive in the shades, transforming what is rotten and despoiled into that which is fertile and propitious. He was a maker of earthen things and was skilled of hand: clay pottery, potions, remedies and powerful items only High Magic can produce. His reserved demeanor hid a valiant heart, as we Unbounded would find when it mattered most.
The final battle the Market last took place in the sewers below Rathfall waist deep in the Blood River; the Unbounded were able to free the entity Aloisius from a ritual that was siphoning his powers into a Vampiric Phenomenon. Though freed, he was beginning to wane in power after being drained for too long in the ritual, and may have either faded away altogether or transferred into a Blight Avatar. In order to stabilize Aloisius, Stench sacrificed the totality of his Spirit to the Being of Light, and then was no more.
When all had settled down, and Stench’s remains were returned to us, we were fortunate enough to have one of his kin present to help us with a proper farewell; it just so happened that the Rathfallian Mushroom Dryad, Malar (also known as Morbo) was visiting the Tavern. We asked Malar for any insight on how to honor a fellow Mushroom Dryad. Malar proceeded to use his mystical power to connect with Stench, and acted as a conduit so that we could speak with him through Malar one last time.
Of his last will and testament to the Unbounded, Stench asked that all his worldly belongings and wealth be bequeathed to the next new Rathfallian Dryad who emerges from The Land to fight against the Blight (the cache is currently in the care and administration of the OPH). His final words and request to the Unbounded was thus:
“Defeat the Blight and return the Land to Flourishing”
At last, once at peace with his choices, Stench departed, and his remains were mystically absorbed into Malar, from one fungi to another. It would seem as though Stench was destined to do what he did; his innate mission was to oppose the Blight. By sustaining Aloisius, who acts as a Counterforce to the Blight, he fulfilled his life’s purpose, short though it may have been. What some strive years, decades, millennia to fulfill, he was able to do in mere hours.
We name him Blightbane, and assign him the title of Hero among the Unbounded. May Stench be remembered for long afterwards, when all is Balanced and Bright, and the Blight itself is but a distant memory of a darker time.
((Artist Credit: Steven G
https://dage.artstation.com/projects/eaWXB6))
The housemother's apron and skirts swish loudly with intention as she cracks the door askew just enough to issue a gentle reminder, “Play nice in there or the boiled cream treats shan’t appear at Supper.”
Another girl's voice pipes up “Ok I’ll be Alooshush then and they can be the vamp this time!.” Adlao hears an exaggerated hiss from a third child as she closes the door. The first girl’s voice triumphantly exclaims, “Never fear, good Aloo Loyshus, I’m here to save you!”
“It’s Sir Stench, my Hero!” replies the other lass in a damsel’s fair timbre.
Adlao smiles to herself as she settles onto a stool by a work table turned desk. The Gloaming Rose Orphanage in Pauper’s Launch has a small but steadily growing number of younglings under the care of the Order of the Pearled Heart; nevertheless, they are still a handful. Adlao leafs through the written proposals and sketches for a commemorative farm and statue that would be dedicated to the deceased dryad. She frowns at the costs in coin listed at the bottom corner of each proposal, and lets out another deep, soft sigh as she places the stack of parchments aside in a tray labeled “Whitehaven.”
“We do what must be done.” She whispers to herself, and then dips her quill into a jar of ink to continue where she left off on a wide sheet of parchment that reads “In Memoriam…”
Stench Blightbane, Hero- In Memoriam
For the dedication of the new “Stench Blightbane Memorial Gardens” in Golden Meadows, Whitehaven
By the Order of the Pearled Heart
In the Grimere Expanse, the Spirit of the Wilds has not wholly yielded to the Blight; it yet resists, thrashes, reacts, fights against the unnatural pathogen that infests the land. From this dogged wilderness came Stench, the Mushroom Dryad, who arose in response to the Blight. He was called forth by The Land to excise the accursed infection, and so arrived into the fellowship of the Unbounded in Whitehaven to join us in our campaign as a new Adventurer.
Stench was a quiet figure who kept to himself, mostly observed and spoke when needed- of the ilk of fungus who thrive in the shades, transforming what is rotten and despoiled into that which is fertile and propitious. He was a maker of earthen things and was skilled of hand: clay pottery, potions, remedies and powerful items only High Magic can produce. His reserved demeanor hid a valiant heart, as we Unbounded would find when it mattered most.
The final battle the Market last took place in the sewers below Rathfall waist deep in the Blood River; the Unbounded were able to free the entity Aloisius from a ritual that was siphoning his powers into a Vampiric Phenomenon. Though freed, he was beginning to wane in power after being drained for too long in the ritual, and may have either faded away altogether or transferred into a Blight Avatar. In order to stabilize Aloisius, Stench sacrificed the totality of his Spirit to the Being of Light, and then was no more.
When all had settled down, and Stench’s remains were returned to us, we were fortunate enough to have one of his kin present to help us with a proper farewell; it just so happened that the Rathfallian Mushroom Dryad, Malar (also known as Morbo) was visiting the Tavern. We asked Malar for any insight on how to honor a fellow Mushroom Dryad. Malar proceeded to use his mystical power to connect with Stench, and acted as a conduit so that we could speak with him through Malar one last time.
Of his last will and testament to the Unbounded, Stench asked that all his worldly belongings and wealth be bequeathed to the next new Rathfallian Dryad who emerges from The Land to fight against the Blight (the cache is currently in the care and administration of the OPH). His final words and request to the Unbounded was thus:
“Defeat the Blight and return the Land to Flourishing”
At last, once at peace with his choices, Stench departed, and his remains were mystically absorbed into Malar, from one fungi to another. It would seem as though Stench was destined to do what he did; his innate mission was to oppose the Blight. By sustaining Aloisius, who acts as a Counterforce to the Blight, he fulfilled his life’s purpose, short though it may have been. What some strive years, decades, millennia to fulfill, he was able to do in mere hours.
We name him Blightbane, and assign him the title of Hero among the Unbounded. May Stench be remembered for long afterwards, when all is Balanced and Bright, and the Blight itself is but a distant memory of a darker time.
((Artist Credit: Steven G
https://dage.artstation.com/projects/eaWXB6))
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