Harlan Reed was born on the edge of the Terget Forest, down beneath them tall pines that
never quit whisperin’. Most folks knew the place as Longleaf Holler, but those that lived there,
really lived there, called it Awen. Home.
His parents, Silas and Annabelle Reed, were farmers, same as near everyone else. Steady,
patient people. The kind that believed the land gives back what you put into it… eventually.
Harlan grew up barefoot more often than not. Learned the woods long before he ever learned
his letters. Neighbors used to joke he’d wander off for hours and come back with stories nobody
else had heard yet. The name “Red” stuck with him early on, same as that red clay that was
always caked onto his feet.
Even as a boy, animals trusted him.
Once, a skittish mule wouldn’t settle for nobody, till Red came along. Chickens followed him
round without so much as a handful of feed. Another time, his folks found him sittin’ on the stoop
one mornin’, a bear restin’ her head on his left leg and a stag laid up on his right while he read
’em a story like it was the most natural thing in the world.
At first, folks said he just had farmin’ in his blood. When people asked him how he did it, he’d
only shrug and say, “They listen better when you don’t rush ’em.”
As he got older, it got harder to pretend nothin’ strange was goin’ on. Crops leaned toward him
when he walked the fields. Storms seemed to break softer near his land. Animals that had no
business hangin’ round farms started showin’ up on his.
Eventually, somebody said the word everyone’d been thinkin’. Druid.
Nobody made a fuss over it. Awen had druids before. They come from the land, take care of it
while they’re here, and then they go back to it when their time’s done.
Silas and Anna Reed lived long, full lives. Long enough to watch Harlan take on more and more
of the farm without ever havin’ to be told. Long enough to see him sittin’ on the porch at dusk,
talkin’ low to the goats like they was old friends. When they passed, it was peaceful, same as
most things are under them pines.
Harlan marked their resting place at the edge of the property with stones, laid alongside the
stones of their parents, and theirs before ’em. Took over the farm without ceremony. Life in
Awen kept movin’, just like it always had.
Red lived alone, but he was never by hisself.
Neighbors stopped by regular-like, for food or company or both. Animals wandered through his
fields same as they always had. Kids from the holler came to him with questions and advice,
even when they didn’t rightly know which they were askin’ for. When bandits drifted too close,
Red handled it quiet. When storms came, he was already there. When animals or crops took
sick, folks came to him first.
Red was generous to a fault. Believed a body was only as good as their word. Gave what he
had and never kept count.
Session Events
Session 0
Boarded a ship heading to Artmegía where he met Leif, bonding over their shared druidic practice. Offered Leif some homemade whiskey — Leif failed his Constitution check spectacularly. At the group meetup on the road, Red recognized Úlfr from working together on the farm — a joyful reunion that helped integrate the full party. At the village inn, Red participated in the “Staff Brothers” moment — four party members produced their staves and did a staff fist bump.
Session 1
Found a passable campsite (decent nature check). Went hunting with Drolta, Leif, and Asha — successfully brought back deer and vegetables.
At the campfire, Red told the story of an Academy student who years ago tried to enter the “old forest” near his village. Red got the student drunk at a party so he’d forget about going in, potentially saving his life. He hopes to find the student at the Academy. Shared his recurring dream: running with a pack of animals under a full moon, seeing three spheres — purple, blue, and red — making strange twists around the moon.
At Thornvale, Red tried to fix a leaky roof (carpenter job) — rolled poorly and refused to accept payment for a job not done. Approached Lucian Cugg at the Silver Tankard: “I don’t like thievery. People work hard enough as it is.” Spotted a trip wire in the cave that would have hit Leif. Rolled a Nat 20 on initiative in the goblin lair and went first. Hit a bandit with Poison Spray. Stole one of Dilly’s remaining boots after combat.
Session 3
Overheard Tobin whisper to Ms. Maris: “Wasn’t that a chalice? Wasn’t that one of the—” before she cut him off. Red immediately confronted them. Ms. Maris deflected, but the party’s Insight checks confirmed she was hiding something.
At the Biblioplex, asked Lorehold apprentices about his dream of 3 orbs. They identified it as connected to Venus, the Agent of Creation — one of the Hands of the Solemn Pantheon. They showed him a textbook image. After the mimic fight, received 1 platinum piece from Professor Sharpbeak (possibly a bribe).
Session 4
At the Fire Jolt Café, heard frogs croaking in the back lounge, leading to the frog racing discovery. Cast Speak with Animals to coach the suspenders frog to victory (30 gold winnings). When the frogs transformed into Giant Frogs, cast Animal Friendship on the suspenders frog, making it docile: “Don’t hit this one!” Adopted the friendly frog as a pet after the fight.
Witnessed Drolta bite a frog’s tongue and drink its blood during combat. Reacted with shock: “What the fuck? What tarnation?”
Gained Wild Shape at Level 2 (Druid). Available forms: giant frog, wolf, constrictor snake, panther. In the Lost Library of Leith Chantos, scouted as a panther (+7 Stealth, Darkvision) — rolled a 23 on Stealth. Spotted the circular library with its glass-cased book through a cracked door. Dealt 9 damage to a goblin with Rend. Crit a hobgoblin for 10 damage.
After the bear fight, noticed something unusual about how Leif casts Starry Wisp — it looked different from other druids he’d seen. Asked Leif to cast it again to confirm. Received a private DM message about it.
Session 6
At Myrna’s dorm in Pillardrop, Red’s survival check flagged that the celebratory wine had been tampered with (the DM secretly warned him). Despite the warning, Red — true to his trusting nature — drank anyway. The wine was a sleeping draught used to travel the party undetected to Myrna’s safehouse in Lathen, where the S.A.T.O. and the mystery of the fourth magic were revealed.
The party reached Level 3, and Red joined the others in adopting the name The Fallen.
Session 7
- Bound a raven familiar named Bama via ritual — she and Leif’s owl Howl get along well.
- Held no grudge over Leif’s hidden warlock nature — “still staff bros.”
- Curiosity got the better of him: he tried to dismantle a locked door in Myrna’s beach house with his carpenter’s tools, striking it so hard it rang a deafening TANG through the whole house and got the party caught by Myrna and the S.A.T.O.. His cover story (Deception at disadvantage) flopped.
- Floated a side-hustle: offered Myrna’s family samples of his home-brewed whiskey, beer, and smoking leaf to distribute through their shipping business.
- The Moon thread deepened. At the Lathen temple of the Agent of Mysteries, Red told the priest of his old dream of Venus’s three orbs (purple/blue/red) — but revealed the orbs hang before the moon, and that he’s been having recurring dreams of the moon itself, which is partly why “things started happening” and he set out. The priest’s read: The Moon — the disputed tenth Agent, protector of the pantheon — may be reaching out to Red as one of her chosen few. Red dropped a silver in the collection basket; the priest promised to research the Moon’s worship.
Session 8
- Reintroduced at Level 3 as a Circle of the Moon druid — a lot more Wild Shape incoming.
- Sniffed out the ambush: traveling with his raven Bama (plus Leif’s owl Howl and Asha’s hawk Astra) and having cast Speak with Animals, he caught a faked bird-call — a signal to hidden attackers — and sent Bama to scout, exposing the bandits before they struck.
- Wild-shaped into a giant spider and dominated the fight — his poison bites finished both the Eyes and the Slicer (“That was for Bama”) — but the form triggered Aren’s spider phobia, and she spent much of the battle (and days afterward) treating him as a monster to be burned. Red tried repeatedly to reassure her (“it’s me, I’m your friend”) and got nothing back but “spiders are abominations.”
- Rolled a Nat 20 on the night’s dream check, gaining Inspiration. Chose horses over horse-theft at Freedale and climbed into Morgana’s tower with the others. Afterward he swapped one of his Wild Shape forms (dropping the giant toad option due to its swimming speed).
Session 9
Red’s investigation roll opened the whole session. On the tower’s third floor he picked up the book on Morgana’s writing table, rolled a natural 20, and recognized it as Morgana’s journal — plus the detail that mattered: everything else in the room had been untouched for decades, but this book had been opened recently. (“Someone’s here.”)
Bama earned his keep repeatedly. The raven scouted the ground floor and came back with the session’s best line — “Big metal guy, big metal guy” — giving the party warning before the shield guardian rounded the corner. Later Bama proved the fourth-floor fire trap was floor-triggered by flying over it along the ceiling, then ferried Morgana’s papers out of the trapped workroom in his talons, trip after trip, until Asha had the whole pile to read.
Red spent most of the session wild shaped as a tiger (with a Úlfr Bardic Inspiration behind the stealth retreat up the stairs), knocked a ghoul prone in the basement, and — unable to work a doorknob with paws — had to fetch Úlfr to open the roof door for him.
He also examined Morgana’s body, reading its ~two-decade decomposition against flesh eaten within the last few days, and pulled the mask off her face with a retractable claw to reveal the hollowed-out eye sockets beneath.
(Notably, Aren tolerated the tiger without comment — “cool, there’s a cat” — a marked thaw after the giant spider.)
Session 10
Red’s eagle ran reconnaissance for the whole first act. Bama found the Endymion Empire column marching south under a sword-and-axe banner roughly 30–45 minutes behind the party, then went up a second time and caught the detail that mattered: at the crossroads, the column split east and west and stopped following the road south. His survival roll then carried the entire party cross-country through the woods, keeping the slower members on pace.
He talked them through the gate. After Úlfr’s attempt to lie to the guards collapsed, Red stepped in with the truth — armed forces on the road behind them, and all anyone wanted was a night off the hard ground — and got the party into Pentamarone. His read afterward was pure Red: “These guards don’t seem too concerned with safety… I don’t think we’ll be safe here if that army comes. We protect ourselves.”
Then he bought the Alchemy Jug. He went to a pottery stall asking after brewing supplies; the potter liked the cut of his jib and produced a WitchCrafter-assisted jug that pours four gallons of beer on command. 50 gold, no hesitation. He said “beer” at the dockside tavern and has not paid for a drink since — and the jug is, indirectly, the reason the party solved the Golden Chalice, since it put a magic cup on the table next to a mundane one and prompted Aren’s question. Red rinsed the chalice, filled it, and handed it over.
He failed his dream roll — exhaustion, and hungover besides — but was the only party member with a dream left in the bank. What he saw was two images: something grand and good, a great city or temple, and then the same thing in ruins. No context, and a bad feeling attached. He told the party over breakfast; nobody could place it.
Session 11
(Roy joined partway through; Red was quietly along for the ride until he did — a state the party noted approvingly as “hanging around, observing.”)
Red’s fight, once it started, was almost entirely Wild Shape. When Howl bolted down a back alley, Red went with Leif — “I don’t know, I guess I am chasing a bird” — and ended up in the middle of the encounter with Aleister the Invoker and Cocytus.
- Moonbeam on Aleister for 8 radiant, the only sustained damage anyone got on him before he flew away.
- Wild Shaped into a brown bear — large enough to shrug off the knockdown rider on the elemental’s slam.
- Engulfed. Cocytus swallowed him whole: 20+ damage, knocked out of bear form, restrained and suffocating inside the creature’s body. He broke the grapple on a Strength check, described as a brown bear reading a river the way it reads a salmon run.
- Wild Shaped again, into a lion — and the swashbuckler of the rival adventuring party finished the fight by launching off his back and driving a rapier through the beast’s eye.
He also caught 5 damage from Leif’s Ice Knife on the way through, and offered the Alchemy Jug at the tavern before being reminded the drinks were on the guild.
Session 12
Red set the direction of the night’s theorizing and then took the party to church. See Session 12 Recap — Something from Nothing.
He helped describe Aleister the Invoker to Madame Verre, on a natural-20 perception as helper. The pooled description: green hair, a white robe with red detailing, a monocle, a book, a staff drawn out of the summoned creature’s chest, a summoning sigil, and glowing red symbols on his hands, a diamond with an eye inside it. With each detail Verre sat up straighter.
The Alchemy Jug got explained. In the chalice report, Genni used it as the counterexample. It only seems to make liquid from nothing. It actually siphons microscopic amounts of that liquid from all across the world, so each cup of beer is less than a drop taken from a thousand cans elsewhere. The Golden Chalice doesn’t siphon from anywhere, and that is what makes it sinful.
His religion checks produced the one-Spoil-per-Agent theory. Back at the inn, Red led a round of religion checks, and the pattern clicked: if the chalice mocks Venus’s domain of creation, perhaps each Sinful Spoil mocks an Agent. His own contribution was the gown: a white gown as a mockery of a burial shroud, which would make it a Spoil against Pluto. That set Aren worrying and pointed the party back at Verre’s white dress.
The Temple of Venus was his idea. “Who feels like going to get religion today?” The statue out front shows Venus with her three orbs, the orbs he has been seeing in his dreams. He read the entry-hall scriptures with Aren, and in the basement he was the one who found the meteor: a small flaming meteor deliberately added to the mural, which the priest tied to She Who Fell Before the First Fall.
He asked the priest about his dream of the three spheres (purple, blue, and red) orbiting the moon while animals sat staring at it:
- The Moon is thought to be a tenth Agent, though that’s disputed. She may instead be the protector of the Agents, the one who “makes sure that everything stays as it should,” including protection from the Dark Lords, “ideally.” (This matches the Session 7 reading at the Lathen temple.)
- Perhaps the divine is inspiring Red to create something with animals. “That certainly is [something that resonates]. I love animals.”
And he asked about home. Red described the people back home carrying banners showing no Agent he recognized. The priest identified them as the Church of Dogmatika in the Closed Land: a new pantheon and deity separate from the Solemn, saints who perform miracles, exponential growth over the last couple of decades, and a founding about a century or a bit more ago, possibly around the Great Cataclysm. “In times of great peril, people are always looking for hope.” The party’s whispered follow-up: what if Dogmatika’s god and saints came through the rift too?
At the fireworks festival that night, Red showed up in the crowd in lion form.