Cedar Court — Available Companions
Cedar Court — Available Companions
Three Volunteers for the Blightroot
The Court Offers Its Aid Against the Corruption
Three figures wait beneath the spreading branches of the Cedar Court's ancient trees. Each has volunteered to accompany you into the corrupted reaches of the Palakar Forest, though their reasons for doing so appear quite different.
A tall elven warden stands with a spear resting against one shoulder. Beside her, a small leshy examines a bundle of living roots. The third volunteer, a soft-spoken gnome, carries a collection of glass bottles and carefully wrapped instruments.
A court representative gestures toward them. "The corruption threatens more than your settlements. These three know the forest and have agreed to help. You may choose one to accompany you."
Available Companions
Ancestry: Elf
Role: Scout, protector, and wilderness guide
Sylvara has spent decades patrolling the boundaries between the mortal forest and the Cedar Court's protected groves. She is familiar with hostile vegetation, dangerous terrain, and the warning signs of unnatural growth.
Specialty: Survival, Nature, tracking, and identifying hazardous plants.
Personality: Reserved, practical, and suspicious of unnecessary violence.
Reason to volunteer: Sylvara believes the Blightroot threatens the forest's oldest protective boundaries.
Party benefit: Provides scouting, wilderness knowledge, and assistance navigating corrupted forest terrain.
Ancestry: Leshy
Role: Spiritual guide and plant specialist
Bristlewick is a small, moss-covered leshy whose body sprouts tiny cedar shoots. They communicate with plants, interpret disturbances in the local natural spirits, and recognize changes in the forest's living networks.
Specialty: Nature, primal magic, plant identification, and spiritual disturbances.
Personality: Curious, earnest, and occasionally distracted by ordinary plants.
Reason to volunteer: Bristlewick has sensed something beneath the forest that no longer behaves like a living root.
Party benefit: Helps interpret blighted vegetation, identify unusual magical growth, and recognize environmental clues.
Ancestry: Gnome
Role: Healer, researcher, and alchemical support
Pipkin studies the interaction between supernatural corruption and living organisms. His satchel contains measuring tools, preservation vessels, field notes, and a modest selection of medicinal preparations.
Specialty: Medicine, Crafting, alchemical analysis, and specimen preservation.
Personality: Talkative, methodical, and considerably braver in theory than in practice.
Reason to volunteer: Pipkin wants an uncontaminated sample from the Blightroot to help develop a reliable countermeasure.
Party benefit: Provides medical assistance, identifies chemical hazards, and helps preserve samples for later study.
The party may select one companion for the expedition. The remaining volunteers stay at the Cedar Court and remain available for future assignments.
Each companion should primarily provide exploration, knowledge, and support rather than functioning as an additional full-strength combat character.
Sylvara: Best for navigation, scouting, and wilderness hazards.
Bristlewick: Best for understanding the supernatural nature of the Blightroot.
Pipkin: Best for medical support, alchemical research, and recovering useful samples.
The companions do not automatically provide additional combat actions or alter encounter XP budgets. If one participates directly in combat, establish an appropriate creature stat block and account for their contribution when designing encounters.