Wardens of The Emerald Grove

The mysterious and rarely-witnessed Wardens of The Emerald Grove are barely more than shadows roaming the forests of T’Nanshi. Reports of their whereabouts surface quickly and usually involve a heroic rescue or last-minute aide in a battle gone wrong. However, any attempt to trace the members’ quick exit from the scene usually fails leaving doubt even in the minds of those that tell the story. Some say the Wardens were once part of the Green Order of The Forest. Others say they were only loosely associated with that mage order. They are currently considered members of House Wildfire.

One elaborate tale about the Wardens of The Emerald Grove portrays them as an ancient order not originally associated with The Trust or its predecessor, the old Fold of Nine. The legend tells of a pocket plane created by early elves in T’Nanshi as a place of escape in case a being like the Negerai Prime ever returned to Avlis. The pocket plane, resembling a grove environment, could act as a temporary refuge for the elves or any stray ancient spirits they found in the event of a disaster. According to sages familiar with the legend, the Emerald Grove, as the pocket plane is called, has several exits to other planes of existence, such as the plane of Faerie, the Happy Hunting Grounds, and later an outlet to the Celestial Dragonlands provided by His Most Splendid Majesty who rules a small pantheon to the south of Negaria.

If this is true, the Wardens of The Emerald Grove are in charge of safeguarding an ancient secret and a valuable means of escape. In the wrong hands, such a place could also serve as a means of travel to other coveted planes for maleficent purposes.

Accounts of the Wardens of The Emerald Grove tell of wizardry mixed with archery or powerful magics of protection and hiding. It seems such skills would be necessary for getting into position and escaping without detection. Moreover, since few stories of the hidden group have ever mentioned direct hand-to-hand struggles with living members, it serves to reason that ranged methods such as archery and magics that augment it would be a likely tool favored by the Wardens.

The chaotic portrayal of the group’s actions also suggests that there is likely little order or protocol observed among the Wardens. It is thought that senior members who are more skillful with melding magic and bow are responsible for the group’s actions and the mentoring of newer recruits. Whatever figure leads the Wardens most likely also has secret association with House Wildfire and the Academy of Mortal Magic. Beyond that, it is anyone’s guess how the organization’s internal workings proceed.

The other orders of magic seem to have the same sense of confounding frustration when it comes to pinning down the Wardens’ actions. For some evil mages, finding out the location of the rumored pocket plane known as the Emerald Grove would be a boon. Controlling such a crossroads would bring a lot of power with it. Good-hearted mages would of course oppose such actions, and for the same reasons: to keep such a disaster from ruining the affairs of the world, and to prevent evil organizations from spreading into the connected planes from the grove.