The Woodberry Journeys, Vol. 1 - The Spriggan War
* Written by a participant of Spriggan War, Wotan Woodberry.
The Spriggan War was a terrible great war between years AR 127-134 in the Arelith Isle's earthkin history, where many good souls fought against the bloodlust of evil gnome deity, Urdlen the Crawler Below.
As much I would like to forget the war, I'm writing down my experiences so that the earthkins of tomorrow learn about the events in a slightly more historically accurate way than just my ego-centric ramblings and be armed with this knowledge should the dark spriggan threat ever return to plague them.
When I first sailed to the Isle of Arelith in AR 130 and witnessing the bombing of Wharftown at the distance, the Spriggan War had already been waged three years in secret deep in the Underdark, where the Wardens of Great Grotto fought against the corrupt spriggans, before the conflict spread to the surface.
My role in the tale began when I met a wolf in the Bendir Dale, who told me about the Nature's Dream, pleaded me to seek out forest gnomish elder, Ivory Bushdigger, and share the vision with her before it was too late.
The dream told about the spriggans and "Sad Gnome with the huge blade," who was ahead about something great and terrible. We spent a lot of time to figure out the vision's deep meaning but Ivory in the end felt that our best option was just to wait and see what is to come.
My first mentor, Ivory Bushdigger was a bard of wisdom, as well a great singer and musician. She always taught the earthkin about the importance of smiles and laughs, how we should take time to joke, riddle and dance when able, as they keep the evil away from us.
I pray she is at peace and not too deeply saddened by how I have comported myself since her departure.
The Battle of Skull Crags
I had my first spriggan encounter at the mountains of Skull Crags alongside with my Oakenheart Company, the Forces of Triad and Lion's Legion of Guldorand. We ventured through a red portal deep inside the Infernal Prison, where I learned the true meaning of evil.
They had practiced terrible experiments like turning gnomes into spriggans, pulling apart elves or dwarves and then putting them back together as "drows and duergars." We could not offer them nothing else than our prayers for their lost souls and vengeance upon their jailers.
The warlocks summoned ancient devils against us but in the end we prevailed. After the battle I met Warden Torlarnd Ironfoot, who I shared my experiences about the spriggans and Nature's Dream, and he in return told me about the enemy and the war I had ended into. After our meeting we started to plan and work together against the spriggan threats.
Urdlen and its spriggans believed that all the living things should be killed, and anything created by them had to be destroyed. The deity heavily encouraged greed, bloodlust, hatred, uncontrolled impulses and evil.
My second mentor, deep gnome known as Warden Torlarnd Ironfoot, was the last leader of the Great Grotto and gnomes. He was the priest of Ironhand, the gnome deity of vigilance, combat and martial defense. Torlarnd was like a hammer and shield in the darkness, and never flinched at the face of evil. He always had wisdom and knew what to say to us.
The Battle of Greyhammer
During my journey I met a rock gnome known as Terto Tarquin, the minister of Gnomen Associations, who kept watch over the gnomish rights around the Arelith Isle. We both worked for the good of our kin but we had our disagreements, such as his strong views that the gnomes had no place with any community expect with their own kin, since the other races never could be trusted.
We joined together with the gnomes to defend the Town of Greyhammer when the Shadow Mole horde dug up while the halflings had been performing a handfasting there. I feel I should add here that I feel a great respect for the hin for they not only completed the handfasting, they did so while fighting the invading moles. These wonderful people are serious about both their festivities and protection. I saw they had the situation more than handled, so I took others to rush to save Ivory from her spriggan captors.
The Shadow Moles work as Urdlen's spies and if you suspect them being nearby, I suggest you to check your area for any signs of them like the dug holes and speak with hands or write on paper, since they can only listen.
The First Battle of Bendir
It did not take long when the siege against the Earthkin Village began, where the spriggans assaulted us with their Underdark allies and summoned devils. I was leading the defenders gathered by Hawk'in Captain Kera Nutcracker, with my Oakenhearts and volunteered archers. Waiting the dark to come was the worst part as we prepared ourselves.
Before the siege began, we had our first encounter with the spriggan doubles in the form of Terto Tarquin and mayor Lissa Whitehorn. They tried to order us to lay down our arms and trick this was a false alarm, but luckily the real couple came soon after and we dealt with their evil counterparts.
The spriggan doubles were most dangerous. Once made, they possessed your skills, powers, gear and even any piece of knowledge, which made the use of safe words useless but not your true nature.
Their revelation however made many earthkin uneasy, as they could have been anywhere. Best hope to reveal them was the use of holy water, protective wards against evil, fun such as singing and dancing, or anything positive like the acts of love. I heard iron also worked but never saw it in use.
I never had encounter with any living evil doubles of my own, as they often were found dead but they still made me shudder and skin crawl at the sight of them.
Luckily we were not without the spies of our own, as deep gnome known as Vysarene Urda risked her neck by digging up any piece of she could find to help us. Unfortunately she was later caught by the spriggans, never fully recovering from the torture they gave.
After the battle, mayor Lissa Whitehorn stepped down from her office and passed her title to Captain Nutcracker. I heard it was because the guilt from her past capture by the spriggans, being forced to build the very terrible machines they used against us during the war, as well plagued by her impostor who was revealed to be her aunt, Selmila Whitehorn.
Aunt Selmila was driven mad by the loss of her daughter and sought to make all the earthkin suffer as revenge, who she held responsible while trying to force Lissa to become a new daughter to her. My first encounter with Selmila just ended me being cursed into deep sleep but luckily I was saved by the former mayor.
The Battle of the Great Grotto
Long time after the Grotto fell under the tyranny of spriggan double known as "Torlarnd the Greater," who outlawed all the practice of gnomish religions. Real Torlarnd and I worked out a plan to use the Festival of Star to reveal the doubles as well the tyrant himself with the use of songs from Ivory, and mixing holy water into drinks.
We gained aid from Thane Ghestdalt Blimth of the Dominion and its dwarves with our plan, who waited our signal. The festivals turned into a battle as we fought off the enemy while holding our holy rituals for each of our deities with gifts and prayers.
We won the day and captured the tyrant, but with the cost of Warden Torlarnd, who was taken by the spriggans into the Iron Prison hidden somewhere in the Plane of Shadows. We gnomes were left without our leader and I felt being lost, as thus far it had always been Torlarnd who had led me in this war.
Dwarven spymaster known as Mykthar Silverbeard was the first one to raise a voice about me becoming the leader for the gnomes. I felt scared and nervous about the idea, taking a long while to accept the role, but after many encouraging from my close friends and loved ones, I rose up to the challenge.
I would act as regent until my mentor was saved from his iron prison.
The Iron Prison Break
We succeeded to torture out the location of Iron Prison from the spriggan tyrant with the use of warm halfling hugs and healing magic on it, as this creature felt great fear and pain by these.
Together with Thane Ghestdalt and Colonel Keryvian of Myon, we gathered our forces, including many bards to sing along to march with us into the Plane of Shadows to save Warden Torlarnd Ironfoot from the Iron Prison.
Unfortunately in the prison Mykthar and I got separated from the others. Mykthar made a risky bluff to trick the enemy for being one of their agents, with me as his prisoner. I was brought to the dread machine which the spriggans had used to corrupt gnomes into one of them.
Mykthar tried to buy me more time until the others would arrive but I was hit by the blast. I've never felt such unspeakable pain as I felt my body, mind and spirit twisted and bend, but by some luck or strong will I somehow survived, through I was in deep shock. which took some time to recover from.
After my survival and destruction of the machine, we found out that the devils, spriggans and their drow allies had fallen into infighting each other. What I learned was that the Andunor had not taken kindly to the idea of having another Underdark city invading their territory. After getting Warden Torlarnd free, we faced the Spriggan Jailor himself as well his very evil deity, Urdlen the Crawler Below itself.
During the battle, I took a risk to face the deity into battle of wills with my gifts of animal empathy, as after all Urdlen was a mole, an animal and we could not defeat it with the strength of mortal arms or magic. After a headaching struggle, I succeeded to take over its mind and banished it back into the abyssal plane where it had dug out from, breaking the spriggan morale on our mortal plane.
I leave it to the readers to determine if the mole banished was really a god or just a minion of the deity. Some say a god can not be dominated by the mind of a mere mortal, no mater how long or painful the attempt.
I could not breathe for long after blowing up the Iron Prison, as halfling Bhando Muddletoes warned me that the spriggans were gathering all their remaining forces and turning last of their machines on the Bendir Dale.
The Second Battle of Bendir
I joined the battle that also ended the Spriggan War. I lost track of time as I fought side by side with Terto against the endless waves of spriggans, as we were hit by their corrupting blasts from the machines.
After taking down last of the spriggans and their machines in the Dale, Terto and I with the dwarves went to hunt down Mephez, last of the enemy leaders behind the war.
I tracked and dragged him out from the golem factory of Glorag Mur to face judgment in the Brogdenstein as his hideout blew up. Thane Ghestaldt, Terto and I judged him guilty, and the punishment was death.
Mephez in his dying breath laughed about being send back to Urdlen and gave threats of coming back more powerful than ever before, in which I replied and asked to tell the dark deity who sent him.
The End
The Spriggan War was finally over but it had one more victim to claim. Terto fell into into darkness as he did not survive the corruption like I did. The long war had hurt him inside and killing Mephez was the final push over the edge.
He turned on me, questioned why I was spared but he was not, why I was special and picked as leader.
He called me weak and believed himself being the strongest, the very best for our people.
I asked the thane and his dwarves not to raise their arms, facing his hatred with love instead of fear. I did not wish to spill more blood and back then I thought there was still good inside him, a conflict. We allowed him to go with the promise that he would not harm others.
Back then I had hopes that we could have save Terto's soul later but today I also riddle myself if it was the right thing to do for him.
Couple years later Terto murdered Torlarnd on duty as we two tried to arrest him for freeing "Torlarnd the Greater" from the prison and for trying to set flames of civil war at the Grotto. I was badly wounded and unable to stop him fleeing from the scene.
Terto was in the end exiled from all the earthkin lands of Dale, Grotto and Brogdenstein by the will of Stone Council, never to return or else he would be hunted down. I founded the Ministry of Gnomish Affairs, determined in leading our people into the better tomorrow, to heal the wounds and repair the damages of the war that nearly wiped us out.
We must move on for those we lost and for those who still remain.
Again I leave in the reader's hands for them to make their own determination. Some say that Terto did indeed change, as I have explained but so did I. Some claim that I did not recover from the darkness but have embraced it, or more accurately it has embraced me, for I act in ways that later I refuse to acknowledge occurred and say things that are obvious and blatant lies.
Perhaps Terto was more of a hero than I let on and I was more of a villain? I leave that to you, dear reader.
Urdlen and its spriggan threat will someday return, maybe not on my lifetime but they will return. I hope my first journal can somehow aid you but remember that with the determination, faith and dreams can any challenge be faced. Always be happy and have fun as they keep you falling into the holes of Crawler Below, as Ivory used to teach to me.
'Edited for historical accuracy.'