Traveller: Character Challenge 16: Grove Guardian

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Character Challenge 16: Grove Guardian

I'll have to dual-stat this also for the Fantasy Trip: I think that the dryad they saved will have had a child. And I rolled odd, so male. Which is unusual for a dryad as they are female, but, in following the same book as last post:

Dryads rarely give birth in the mortal world, but when they do their offspring may become grove guardians, the protectors of the forest and trees. They are warriors with fae heritage, not bound to a single location or tree like their mothers.
They are, however, born from a seed that grows into a tree; until about twenty-five years of age the grove guardian is essentially a dryad, able to enter both their tree and Faery. After reaching maturity the guardian leaves their tree permanently, unable to enter it or Faery on their own thereafter.

Theon was born just before the corruption started in the forest. For 30 years he stayed near his mother but finally left to go and explore the world a bit more. Though he stayed in the forest, he went south and watched Bresselwythe from the safety of the forest. Enamored by the people, he stayed for several years. While he did not hunt animals, watching the hunters with their bows made him wish to do the same. And he had this urge to protect the forest, and thought a bow may help. Crafting a bow, he practiced until he was proficient in the bow. He even named his bow Swift Wind for the sound the arrows made. Few saw him, and those that did thought he may have been some forest spirit. Which he was. But then he felt a tugging on his heart, and fearful, returned home. What was once a lush forest was now the Cutting Fields. He heard his mother, Kalise, cry out in pain and fear, but before he could get to her, he saw a group of adventurers first try to help her, then fight off the gruesome creatures that arose from the bloodied fields. Seeing his friend Dovak help his mother free herself from her tree gave his heart relief. His mother, freed from the corrupted tree, would die soon without her home. But at least she was free of the corrupted magic.

Theon followed his mother and met her moments later. They wandered the next day, Kalise weakening by the moment. Finally, finding a small pool fed by a trickling stream, she rested one last time, and died in his arms. Her fae body whispered away on the breeze, unable to return to the Fae lands as her tree, her portal, had been destroyed by the corruption of the magic.

Theon, not knowing what else to do, headed north, to follow the adventurers. They helped Karise, perhaps he could help them, and help destroy whatever was corrupting magic.

His tree has so far not been corrupted or killed, which is a good thing:

They still retain a partial link to their tree. As long as their tree remains alive they have an extra Hit Die (2d6 at level 1). If the tree is killed, they automatically lose the additional Hit Die permanently and must Save v. Death or take an additional HD worth of damage (not permanent).

As he is only a level 1 Grove Guardian, he does not have any of the Druidic spells or a few of the other perks. He can carry any non-metal weapons and armor. He also has 3 skills which are a d20 roll; Proficient is 15+

Athletics / Endurance Proficient: he does not get disadvantaged until 2x normal time (every 2 hours)
Naturalist: Proficient.
Wilderness Survival: Proficient.

These skills are almost inborn to him (and will translate pretty readily to TFT).

Theon will never be mistaken for human: his skin has a birch-like texture and leaves for hair. While his mother was a staunch protector of the woods until the corruption killed her, Theon, while protective as well, is not driven by this alone. But he never cuts living trees and only uses deadwood for fires when he needs them. He is careful when foraging to not take too much from any one area, leaving enough for other woods folk and for the plants to recover. He is vegetarian and does not eat meat. Nor does he eat enough if he were human: he still gets some sustenance from nature around him. He would be more than uncomfortable in an urban setting: he would literally start to wither and become weaker.