Servants of the Moonlit Circle

The Servants of the Moonlit Circle are a mercenary company that grew out of the druid Circle of Lunara. Their main duty is to fight the influence of the dark archfey Blaspheus in the mortal realms.¹

The rescue of Erdentree

For a hundred years the Circle of Lunara had planned a nearly impossible undertaking: to release a powerful nature spirit from the Feywild back into the forests of Westreach. The spirit was Erdentree, a fey being in the form of a golden elk, held in the Grove of Looming Shadows in the Feywild by Blaspheus. The druids’ magic was strong enough to open the way for the spirit with a ritual, but the ritual had to reach the place where the spirit was held, and for that they needed help, so the Circle hired adventurers from around Westreach.²

The adventurers were to carry a magical ember to the heart of Erdentree’s prison and so connect the druids with the spirit. Under the leadership of Archdruid Perildien, thirteen adventurers took the contract, and they succeeded in bringing Erdentree’s spirit back into the material plane. They were rewarded with many precious stones and pages of scrolls holding arcane lore.³

The plan had been to avoid fighting the archfey, but it went wrong when a barbarian from the North killed the archfey’s consort. Sensing the death, Blaspheus became aware of the operation and reached the grove as the company was leaving through the planar portal; with a powerful spell the archfey killed seven of them before they could escape. Those seven souls were later raised by Blaspheus as his heralds of doom.³

The surviving members decided to stay together, and so the Servants of the Moonlit Circle were born.³

Ways of the company

The Servants are especially effective in missions that involve protecting or restoring the wild, confronting supernatural threats and crossing treacherous terrain. Their bond with the Circle of Lunara gives them access to ancient knowledge and rituals, which makes them adept at speaking with nature spirits, understanding plants and animals, and using natural remedies. Every member is fey-touched, bound to nature or spiritual. Like most of its members, Perildien himself does not object to the use of poison in battle.⁴

Perildien, a two-hundred-year-old druid of the Circle of Lunara and once its archdruid, is now the company’s spiritual leader. He takes no part in its paid day-to-day missions, but supports and mentors every member.⁵

The trials of the Lunara

The initiation, known as the trials of the Lunara, is a deadly quest in its own right. It has three parts: the trial of the sap, the trial of the sting and the trial of the moon.³

• The trial of the sap. Nominees drink a mixture of midnight tears and elder wood sap infused with nature magic and fall into a near-deathly sleep, in which they face their most feared enemies and try to overcome them.³
• The trial of the sting. It takes place in a wyvern nest near the Grove of the Moon, home to a fey-touched breed of wyvern whose sting can infuse a survivor with fey energy.³
• The trial of the moon. The druids perform a ritual that lets a nature spirit possess the nominee’s body and judge their bond with nature. If the spirit finds the nominee worthy, they become a member of the company.³

War with Blaspheus

The dark archfey detests the company and relentlessly hunts its members, while his devotees and warlocks keep searching for a way to return Erdentree to the Grove of Looming Shadows. Azimuth, a warlock of Blaspheus, counts fighting the Servants among his favourite work.⁶

The Servants seek to avenge their fallen brethren and free them from Blaspheus. They recently learned that Avalon, a skilled ranger who became one of the heralds of doom, has come to Vansreik.³

Members

The company’s roster includes Archdruid Perildien Elderwood, Leylanda, Esther of the Bluelands, Nicklaus the Gray Fox, Kaldor, Lachland, Shepherd of Bears, Vaness Von’frevein and Yortkul Grootlegiggles.⁷

• Lachland’s father was one of the original members who entered the lair of Blaspheus to save Erdentree. Lachland joined to fulfil his own mission and is respected and loved by the crew; his closest friend in the company, Giddeon, is likewise the child of one of the original thirteen.⁸
• Esther learned in the grove of the Servants’ mission to destroy the heralds and joined them seeking revenge for her family.⁹
• Vaness Von’frevein became a prominent figure in the company through her close bond with Erdentree.¹⁰
• Yortkul passed the guild’s tests with ease after a few missions alongside it; once initiated, he learned of the founders’ infamous mission and became obsessed with hunting the undead generals of Blaspheus.¹¹
• Kaldor found in the company the protection he sought and the family he longed for, Nicklaus came to the moonlit grove to join its ranks, and Leylanda passed all three trials with ease and awaits a first mission.¹²