The fall of Sedruid of the Forest-Plane
- Ollie Murphy
- Nov 23, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 6, 2022
Hello, welcome back! I must say I am rather enjoying writing this blog, it's a creative outlet for my creative outlet. Very layered.
Now in the last post I briefly covered who Sedruid was, what he did in the first campaign and where he left off. The next part is the story I wrote for him between the two campaigns. I decided at some point to give Sedruid an arc and a goal. He needed to become more compelling, so naturally that meant more psychological torture. Here we go;
Sedruid left Phandalin and headed West, he travelled for two years, seeking information that would lead him closer to hopefully finding his brother.
One day on his travels he found himself travelling aimlessly through a murky forest, until he came upon a small town, inhabited entirely by Elves. It was a very small and unassuming settlement, the buildings were basic but the people seemed happy and thriving. He entered the small town and the atmosphere immediately changed, becoming decidedly chilly. The townsfolk were looking at him in distaste and fear. He decided to lower his hood in a small attempt to appear more trustworthy, which did little for his cause.
He came upon a small store and decided now was a good time to top up his provisions. As he entered the store however, a small group of bandits rode into town, further changing the atmosphere of its residents. They now appeared decidedly scared. The bandits rode to the centre of town and stopped, eyeing up the townsfolk who by this point had moved away slightly. The leader of the group, a buff looking bandit, dismounted from his horse and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, an act of intimidation and smugness.

'Well, well, well. Here I am again.' bellowed the bandit leader to the unresponsive townsfolk. 'I am here to collect what is owed', he further bellowed. The town fell into a scared silence, no one daring to utter a word. 'If I don't receive a response soon, things will not go well for your little village.' This statement roused the locals as they began to fuss amongst themselves. Suddenly a young Elf lad emerged from the crowds and stepped before the bandit leader. He stood there, nose to nose with the brute, trying to look intimidating, but the bandit laughed hysterically, punching the young Elf, knocking him to the ground.
The bandit leader then began to laugh hysterically. 'Is that all you've got? Some puffy little halfwit child?'. This statement produced laughter from the other bandits still on their horses. As they laughed an elderly Elf woman hobbled towards the bandit leader, she then crouched down and tended to the injured Elf lad. 'Why do you choose to torment us like this?' she said, looking up at the bandit leader towering over her. 'We are peaceful people.'
It was at this point that Sedruid took notice of the commotion. From within the shop he saw the Elf lad, the old woman and the bandit leader engaged in discourse. He turned away, aiming to not get involved.
'Why do I do this you ask?' responded the bandit leader, with an air of anger in his voice. 'Because you're Elf scum'. In one brief action, he knocked the old woman to the ground and pulled out his sword. He raised his sword and then powerfully brought it down, hoping to strike them dead. But it didn't. The sword flew out of his hand and landed a few feet away from him in the grass. The bandit, not realising what happened, looks around, perplexed, trying to figure out what was going on. It's at this point that the bandit recoiled in pain as an arrow flew past him, mildly slicing his cheek.
He looked at where the arrow came from and saw Sedruid, bow armed and arrow drawn, emerging from the shop. In anger the bandit shouted 'who the fuck are you?'. Unamused by the brute, Sedruid responded with 'Leave this town, or the next arrow won't just graze your cheek'.
Bewildered, the brute looked to his men, one by one they all dismounted from their horses and stood together, facing Sedruid. They look to their leader, who gestures for them to attack. Sedruid quickly placed his arrow in his quiver and pulls out his dagger. The bandits came running at him, he managed to redirect the first bandit, sending him crashing through the front of the shop. The second bandit came at Sedruid armed with a rusty dagger which clashes with Sedruids. The two parry daggers for a moment before Sedruid applied force, breaking the rusty dagger. Sedruid then grabbed the bandits hand, which contained the remains of the dagger and plunged it into the bandits shoulder.
Whilst this happened, the third and considerably larger bandit, took advantage of Sedruid being busy and ran at him with force. He tackled Sedruid side on, causing the dagger to fly out of his hand and land some distance away. The four bandits then gathered around Sedruid as he lay prone and began kicking him violently. He took the beating for a while before grabbing one of their ankles and pulling it, hard, bringing the bandit to the ground.
Sedruid then convulsed his body and jumped up, flipping over the group of bandits, in the direction of his dagger. He grabbed his dagger, as he did so, the bandit leader ran at Sedruid. In one fluid motion, Sedruid turned and plunged his dagger into the bandit leaders side. He then activated the daggers enchantment, causing it to extend into a short sword. The dagger fully impaled the bandit leader who stopped dead in his tracks. The leaders entourage stood together watching. Sedruid then pulled the sword out, releasing the bandit, who fell to the floor, still alive.
'Leave. Now.' he commanded of the bandits. They did as he says and fled on their horses, much to the joy of the townspeople. They crowded around him showering him in thanks. He felt slightly uncomfortable by this but didn't want to appear rude. He decided to stick around for a little while to ensure the towns safety.
Two years later, Sedruid was married to an Elven woman called Luthien. They had two children called Alidathin and Prisathine, after his Mother and Sister. Sedruid was happy. In that time however, the bandit raids got worse. Every night they came and raided, every night their numbers growing and their casualty list getting longer. Every night Sedruid defended the town, fighting off as many as he could handle. But it wasn't enough. One night, during the worst raid yet, the village was burnt down. Claiming the life of Sedruids family. He knelt there in the ashes of his home, his family dead. That was enough. He'd lost enough loved ones to the cruel hands of bandits. He rounded up any able bodied person in the village to mount an attack on the bandits base.
Under the cover of darkness they travelled to the cave in which the bandits had made base. They entered the threshold of the cave and headed into the inner sanctum. That's where they discovered something they did not expect. All of the bandits were dead. They inspected all of their bodies. Their wounds were old. Several years old, the flesh rotting away. This didn't make sense as these very bandits had attacked only the night before. Suddenly a glowing fog emerged on the cave, the bandits slowly began to rise.

Sedruid and his Elf entourage then fought the bandits. The battle ensued, one by one the Elves hacked and slashed at the undead bandits, bringing them down in a bout of vengeance. Many were lost on both sides. Eventually the fog cleared and Sedruid and the Elves had triumphed over the undead bandits. Then the fog grew thicker. Suddenly a deathly screech bellowed around the sanctum in which the battle had taken place. From darkness emerged a Lich, a powerful necromancer. Surrounded by fog, it made its way into the room. The Elves bravely charged at the Lich, each being easily slain by the giant iron sword the creature produced.
A great battle ensued, the Elves plunged their swords into the Lich and in return the Lich would slay them, sending them to their death. Eventually all the Elves were slewn, all but Sedruid. He charged at the Lich, sword in his hand and pain in his heart. He struck a blow on the Lich, who in turn embedded its sword in Sedruids chest, piercing his heart.
The Lich faded into smoke and dust and Sedruid collapsed. He laid there on the cold floor of the cave, slowly bleeding out. He was truly alone. His light faded as he passed into another realm. Before he went he dreamt of his mission, of his brother, his friends and his family. He felt sorrow for not completing his mission. Then, he faded. His mind and soul wandered through darkness, his consciousness faded and his light went out.
Then, light. Sedruid awoke in the cave, his chest aching and the stench of death in the air. He was alive, but how? In that moment it mattered not. His final thoughts lingered on his brother and he knew his mission must continue. He gathered himself, patched himself up and looted the cave for anything helpful. He found weapons and armour he could trade and a small wooden box which was fastened shut. He grabbed everything and headed out of the cave, leaving behind his fallen brethren. He didn't return to the village as the pain was too fresh. He continued west, as he had intended to do so, oh so many years ago.
As the years went on, Sedruid changed. His chest never healed, the wound blackened. Putrid black veins grew from within, encompassing his entire upper torso. His humanity faded. He had died that day, and then he came back. Someone, or something, had resurrected him, and then vanished. With them, they took his soul. He spent the next 7 years searching. He interrogated mages, wizards and foul things in the pursuit of answers. He killed and tortured many mages and necromancers over the years and his legend spread across the land.
In Neverwinter a coo was waiting for him, he'd attacked a mage in Calimport. They incapacitated him and incarcerated him in the dungeons. Many months passed, he remained locked up, the outside world continuing as if he never existed. One day a soldier, Dalinar, persuaded Sedruid to help with the war efforts. He was released, conditionally. His gear returned to him, the two of them travelled to the camp. That's where he met some familiar faces from his past...
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