Silk Greengallow

**Silk Greengallow**, code name **Agent Magpie**, is a halfling druid currently working as a field agent for the Interplanar Containment Authority. He was one of only four successful candidates who joined the ICA following a recruitment drive, arguably thanks to lack of competition rather than any great merit on his part. Silk is part of the core team, and provides them with considerable magical support, using both spells and shapeshifting to assist his teammates as best he can.

## Biography

### Early Life

Silk's early life is a mystery - even to Silk himself. His early life was spent in a small halfling farming community, although the location has been lost to Silk's foggy memories, as well as the identities of his parents and friends at this time. He has even forgotten what his original name was, before he took on the name Silk. What is known is that at some point, Silk had a desire to move to a larger community, which led him to leave his home and journey to Axis.

In Axis, Silk joined a thriving community of halflings, helping out where he could in the community garden. It was here he met his friend Mary Butcher, a halfling landlady who owned an inn called The Sleepy Dormouse, where Silk lived during this period of his life. Silk loved the bustle of the city and the inn where he lived, as well as tending the garden and the wildlife attracted by the plants he grew. It was at this inn where he met his eventual teacher, Rowan Thorn. Initially passing through Axis out of necessity rather than want, he stopped a while to hear the news of civilisation. Silk urged the druid to visit his garden, but was disappointed when he was criticised for the state of the wildlife, as it was being tamed rather than being allowed to grow to its full potential. Silk urged him for more information, but Rowan was keen to return to his work in nature. Rather than spend any more time in the city than necessary, Thorn saw potential in Silk and offered him an apprenticeship. Silk eagerly took up the position and left Axis to learn from the druid.

The next time Silk was seen in Axis, he had been banished from the druidic community. Silk had learned of a plan developed by the Order of the Druids to raze a village to the ground to atone for percieved crimes against nature - they had desecrated a druid's grove after she had prevented them felling a forest. Although Silk agreed that they must atone, he felt the execution order was too harsh and sided with the villagers in the ensuing fight. However, he was too weak and failed to save the village from the wrath of the Druids. His betrayal was punished with exile, and he was forced to return to the city, where the Archdruid's influence was weak. In this time - Silk saw first-hand the animals and plants that now relied on the people in the cities and towns - the foxes and pigeons that lived off the scraps produced by the townsfolk.

Doing as best he could to support the wild animals living in Axis whilst avoiding the notice of any Druids, Silk begun to sense strange fluctuations in the ambient natural energies found throughout the plane. Although normally weaker in places where civilisation is concentrated, he sensed areas of strength. Following the trail led him down into the sewers of Axis. After searching through the extensive tunnel network, he found found his new teacher, Aranaea the nature spirit. After communing with her, Silk discovered Aranaea was a relatively new being, coming into existence as the deification of the natural energies of the city. She very rarely manifests physically, but when she does she takes the form of an enourmous spider. Silk communed with the spirit for years, never once returning to the surface, instead choosing to live where Aranaea's presence was strongest. It was here that she gave him the moniker Silk. This time drastically changed Silk, changing him both in external appearance and warping his mind to help him become the druid he is today. The area where he found Aranaea turned out to be an area of great magical potential, one that could, under the proper care, become a sacred grove. This was hitherto unheard of, as it was technically a manmade structure and so this should have been impossible. Silk, under the guidance of Aranaea, resolved to bring this area to it's full potential, and show the Order of the Druids that it was possible for civilistation to promote balance rather than destroy it.

### Joining the ICA

Silk finally left the sewers when a job advertisement washed into them. He saw this mysterious organisation as a means to search for a means to gain knowledge and power that would eventually allow him to realise his dream of a circle of urban druids, and to spread his new outlook on druidism.

## Residence

Silk has resided in the sewers of Axis for many years. However, after his travels with the team, his magical powers and understanding grew until he was a powerful druid in his own right. Over the months, Silk worked to develop the small antechamber in the sewers he lived in into a living place that could promote the natural magicks that first attracted him to the area. This involved promoting the growth of small bioluminescent mushrooms to provide ambient light, and bringing in clean water.

Once the team decided to settle in the Summer Citadel, Silk felt ready to consecrate the area as a Grove - an area of great magical power and importance. Over the space of a month, he used a combination of spells and elemental forms to radically transform the chamber into a sizable cavern, with adjoining caves to allow for growth. The resulting Grove has been named The Grove of Whispers, on account of the constant whispering of the inhabiting spiders. Now a fully realised Grove, Silk is able to access increased powers when residing there, as well as when on missions with his friends.

## Personality

Thanks to Silk's extended time in the sewers, he doesn't really know how to behave himself in civilised company. He has a startling lack of self awareness, not realising how he comes across to people, nor really understanding the impact of what he says or does. Despite being continually underestimated by those he meets, he has no idea that they think of him this way, instead defaulting to an assumption that people like him and are his friends.

A combination of his lack of social awareness and druid training has made him fairly cold when dealing with emotional topics such as death. This was demonstrated when he took Brick under his wing. Although he thought he was being helpful, his colourful descriptions of the teammates they had lost up until then terrified the acolyte, causing him to leave the group when the first opportunity arose.

Despite this, he cares for his friends intensely, and will do what he can to help and save them. Upon losing friends, he does not spend long mourning, as death is a natural part of life, but he will attempt to honour his friends as best he can, such as naming his berries after Kran upon his death.

Silk truly believes all living things to be equal, and so approaches everyone he meets with friendship, provided they are not openly attacking. He also thinks everyone else lives like this too, and so does not notice when people are looking down on him, therefore living a happily oblivious life.

## Abilities

Silk is a powerful magic user, using both spells and shapeshifting to assist his allies.

* Shapeshifter - Silk is able to shapeshift into a variety of animals. Notable examples are:
	+ **Giant Spider/Spider** - This is Silk's preferred form, although it has since been superceded by more powerful forms.
	+ **Giant Scorpion** - Used during the assassination of King Agathon IV to enable himself, Freth and Bollo to escape Eccles Manor.
	+ ***Heshera*** - Learned when visiting the Court of Life Vampires, this form has been used many times to transport the team across long distances and is able to perform dextrous manoeuvres, such as when Silk caught the captured Honey after she jumped from his back.
	+ **Elemental Form** - Silk has used various elemental forms. Most notable is the air elemental form, which he used to successfully race Verrospex the Terrible.
	+ **Young Black Dragon -** Upon consecrating the Grove, Silk was able to draw on more power. This was used during the fight in Monarch's ship against the giant robot guarding the central AI chamber. Silk used the form's acid breath and strength to break down and destroy the machine's impenetrable armour.
* Spellcaster - Notable spells:
	+ **Goodberry** - Silk constantly has these berries on him, renaming them Kranberries in honour of his fallen friend, Kran.
	+ **Pass Without Trace** - Used when stealth is required, most notably used when infiltrating Eccles Manor during the assassination of King Agathon IV.
	+ **Conjure Animals** - Often used to conjure support animals, such as spiders that brought a dragon down from the sky during a fight on an airship, or the Curse Monkey used as a guinea pig when one is required.
	+ **Polymorph** - Silk has used this to remove difficult enemies from a fight, or to assist allies in a difficult situation, such as turning Freth into an elephant when he was injured.
	+ **Scrying** - Most notably used to spy on Prince Georgios to determine his intentions.
	+ **Transport via Plants** - The team often use this to transport themselves across the continent of Patamei instantly.
	+ **Wind Walk** - Used in the race against Verrospex the Terrible, and as part of the plan to escape the Elemental Plane of Air.
* Silk is proficient in both poisons and herbalism and collects interesting herbs and mushrooms he finds in his adventures.

## Equipment

* **Staff of the Woodland**
* **Staff of Insect Plague**
* **Amulet of Aranaea**
* **Mysterious Ring**
* **Assorted Dragon Scales**
* **Stone of Farspeech**
* **Kranberries**
* **Bioluminescent Mushrooms**
* **Deadly Spores -** Spores of the giant stone-eating mushrooms from The Fungal Forest, Given to Silk by Klethrith Galain.
* **Poisoner's Kit**
* **Herbalism Kit**

## Relationships

* Rowan Thorn - Former Teacher
* Aranaea - Deity and Teacher
* ICA
	+ Caroline Tobin - Colleague and Acquaintance
	+ Arthur Parsons † - Former Colleague and Rescue Mission Target
	+ Test Engineer 14 - Recruiter
	+ Bluebird's Team
		- Agent Bluebird - Superior
		- Boris M. Oplot - Former Field Leader
		- Kran † - Former Colleague and Friend
		- Honey Smith - Colleague and Friend
		- Lacey Stain - Colleague and Friend
		- Eldon Flambard † - Former Colleague
		- Eleanor Darling - Colleague and Friend
		- Freth - Colleague and Friend
		- Bollo Burbage - Colleague and Friend
* Lobelia - Aquaintance and Liberated Slave
* Tio Don Marco † - Former Associate
* Court of Life Vampires - Professional Allies
* Le Blaireau - Informant
* Verrospex the Terrible - Contact and Ally, and Former Rival
* Edward Bingham - Professional Ally
* Old Bessie - Informant and Ally
* Acolytes of Lathander
	+ Brick - Former Ward
	+ Varnish † - Former Associate
	+ Sam - Former Associate
	+ Luger † - Former Associate
	+ Bertie † - Former Associate
	+ Lenthis † - Former Associate
* Cora - Mycologist and resident researcher in the Grove
* Cybin - Former Romantic Partner
* Klethrith Galain - Ally
* Celia - Lieutenant and Grovetender
* Roach - Ally and Grove inhabitant
* Ghesfa - Ally and Friend
* The Fae Slave Trade - Theft Victims and Adversaries
* The Silver Hand
	+ Lithe Woman - Professional Adversary
	+ Well-Built But Ugly Man - Professional Adversary
* False Hydra of Broadford † - Adversary
* The Eccles Family
	+ Patrice Eccles - Professional Adversary
	+ Gordon Eccles - Professional Adversary
	+ Celeste Eccles - Professional Adversary
	+ Edgar Eccles - Professional Adversary
	+ Adrian Eccles - Professional Adversary
	+ Benedict Eccles - Professional Adversary
* Baphomet - Professional Adversary
* King Agathon IV † - Assassination Target
* Honey Rammstein Messerschmidt Ribbentrop Von Sackville-Bagg † - Sacrifice to the Court of Life Vampires
* Brunhilde von Berger - Adversary
* Vralos the Unforgivable - Prisoner
* Prince Georgios - Former Employer
* The Wizards' Pavilion - Former Jailer

## Trivia

* Thanks to years spent living in the sewers, Silk has no sense of smell or propriety.
* Silk is currently cursed, after accepting help from Granny Ragna. This has manifested in him seeing all high elves as Eleanor.
* Silk has made many enemies as he has travelled the world. In the early stages of his work with the ICA, he was convinced by Honey to steal a Fey who was being sold by the slave trade after bidding three hundred thousand gold pieces. Because of this, he is one of the underworld's most wanted adversaries.