Races of Wild

along with her son Hionyron, who was the guardian ofnature for the city.A few days later, Hionyron was found dead beside a craterwhere the precious apple tree once stood. Ervadrith and thetree were gone. Gone too was the magic shield that protectedthe city, as became all too clear when the green dragon flewoverhead and attacked. Ephinia and her people put up a bravefight, but most of the populace was slain and the city reducedto ruins. Ephinia herself disappeared, never to be seen again.All that remained of her garden was a single weeping willowsapling with blackened fronds.The surviving elves went forth to discover what had happened.In their travels through the now-twisted land, theydiscovered no trace of ruby apples, and no evidence thatan elf named Ervadrith had ever existed, even when theytraveled to the town from which he claimed to have come.Not until a brave elf named Fermandor ventured below thesurface with a band of human and dwarf adventurers was themystery solved, for they found a grand drow city with a rubyapple embedded in each of its gates.Piecing together the tale took quite some time, but eventuallythe brave band discovered that Ervadrith had beena drow, magically altered to resemble a surface-dwellingelf. The green dragon had seen the tree glittering from thequeen’s courtyard when he flew above and coveted the uniquetreasure for his hoard. Unable to penetrate the city’s defenses,he made a deal with a band of drow passing through the areaon an exploratory mission: Retrieve the tree for him anddefeat the magic shield, and he would raze the city of theirhated rivals to the ground.The drow agreed, and the altered Ervadrith passed easilythrough the city’s wards, which did not prevent the passageof dark elves. Biding his time, Ervadrith brewed a poisonwith which to slay the guardian of nature and prepared aspecial pot in which to transport the tree. After slayingHionyron, he plucked two apples from the tree and pocketedthem, then used arcane magic to reduce the tree to the sizeof a flower, which he potted. Before slipping out into thenight, he stabbed Ephinia while she was in her trance, thusnegating the shield that her own essence had powered. Afterdelivering the tree to the dragon, he demanded fulfillmentof their bargain.The elves tried to retrieve the apple tree, but the dragonwas too powerful, and all but one of them were slain. The solesurvivor of Ephinia’s city now roams the world in search ofcompanions who can help her slay the dragon and retrievethe tree.Adventure Hook: The sole survivor of the lost elf cityentreats the PCs to help her slay the green dragon, now grownto ancient age. The creature’s hoard has been enriched withmany ruby apples, but the tree died long ago because thedragon could not sustain it in the poisonous swamp that wasits home. A tall, graceful weeping willow towers above theruins of the old elf city, and any elf who pauses for a trancebeneath it hears the voice of Ephinia, mourning her son andher city.Alain and Alarin, the Giant-KillersLong ago, in an elf community at the edge of a great forest,twin sons were born to an elf named Melissina. Children arealways looked upon as a gift in an elf community, and twinsare rare enough to be considered blessings of the gods. Theboys were named Alain and Alarin, and they soon becamethe darlings of the whole town.The two boys grew up wiry, lithe, and daring as only youngelves can be. The community looked upon their childish anticswith bemusement, and everyone indulged the two—excepttheir younger cousin Maeve, whose weapon skills weredeplorable. Maeve was jealous of the twins, and she soughtany excuse to belittle their achievements and get them intotrouble with the elders. She had little chance to do the former,however, since both boys excelled at whatever they tried.They were particularly skilled with the bow, and they soonjoined the community watch, insisting upon assignment tothe same patrol.Maeve knew that the boys could not resist a mystery, so shetook pains to draw them away from their compatriots whilethey were on watch, hoping they would encounter troublethey couldn’t handle, or at worst draw reprimands from thecaptain of the watch.One day, Maeve carefully laid a trail of footprints leading toa small patch of quicksand she had discovered near the edgeof a marsh. Sure enough, the boys spotted it and broke offfrom the group to follow. Instead of falling into the quicksandthemselves, they arrived just in time to rescue a human whohad blundered into the quicksand from the other direction.The human turned out to be a king’s son, and he pledgedfriendship to the elf community and sent gifts to the townin gratitude.Another time, Maeve spread the rumor of a whisperingtree near the edge of a high cliff. The route that her cousinstook to investigate led them past a dryad whose tree wasbeing hacked apart by orcs. The two drove the evil humanoidsaway and called for the guardian of nature to mend the tree,making yet another valuable friend for the community.Finally, Maeve saw her chance to be rid of her troublesomecousins once and for all. While gathering mosses for heraunt’s garden in a small valley, she chanced to see two hillgiants inspecting a cave in a hillside. As she watched, thetwo settled into the cave and began foraging for food. Notingtheir movements, she circled the area until she caught sightof a small band of orcs hunting game. Following them at adiscreet distance, she picked up a broken spearhead, pocketedit, and planted it on the trail between the town and thegiants’ new lair.Upon returning to town, she told the watch captain thata small orc patrol was marauding in the hills. The captaindispatched the twins’ patrol and, as Maeve had predicted, thetwo young elves spotted the broken spearhead and went offalone in search of the orcs. What they found were two hungryhill giants already headed in the direction of the elves’ town.They took cover quickly in the underbrush on either side ofthe trail, but the giants had already spotted Alain. “ComeCHAPTER 1ELVES27