Rhys

Desert Druid

Rhys is a Halfling druid from Mulhorand.  This is a desert land south of the Sword Coast.

She was part of druid circle that helped maintain and protect the fragile desert eco system along a trade route.  She dealt with a lot of explorers who were bound and determined to explore the ruins and even the purple mountains of her homeland.

During one of her patrols, she stumbled on part of a dragon's horde and was caught in one of it's traps.  The dragon came to investigate the trap and found to his delight a Halfling druid.  The copper dragon's name was Ilnezhara, and he loved hearing stories about the shorter lived races lives. The two became friendly, and Ilnezhara convinced Rhys that the way to become a more powerful druid was to travel and have adventures, then come back and tell Ilnezhara all about her travels.  He gave Rhys a cloak and a staff out of his treasure stash "As a loan, you see" to encourage her to go off and travel the world. He occasionally scrys on Rhys as part of his own personal Survivor series.

Rhys took a ship north. The journey was long and uncomfortable, and was made even worse when it was boarded by pirates. She helped fight them off but the ship was damaged and looking for the closest port, and that's how she found herself in Phlan. So far, having adventures sucked.  It was cold, and rainy and they just didn't have enough tej to deal with it all.  Then Phlan got taken over by an ancient green dragon.  Rhys was now definitely done with adventuring, and was trying to find a boat to take her home.  Then she had a weird dream, and woke up in a swamp, which was actually more unpleasant then the rainy, cold forest that she and the other refugees from Phlan were hiding in.

She met up with her current adventurer band, hoping that at some point, they could find a ship that could take her home, or at least find some more tej to deal with the current state of her life.

Ilnezhara has decided that the Rhys show is one of his favorites and has acquired more popcorn and M&M's for the next season.

Traveled through time with Brian: They, Kaiya: Quaefen Voskorm, and Zee: Grim in Fall Harvest.

Knows that Phlan has been taken over by the green dragon.

Had further adventures with Kepesk and Blink Recruiting the assistance of the Fey of the Quivering Forest to help the refugees of Phlan.

She and Blink then rejoined They and the refugee Therli the Insane to liberate the prisoners of Grimshackle Jail in an attempt to gain the favor of the Bandit leader Sahnd Krulek.

Krulek agreed to help if they could liberate his hideout, but Rhys was whisked away via dream before she could see the end of that quest.

Hoo, hoo, hoo.

Somewhere in the distance an owl is hunting and Rhys shifts again trying to get comfortable enough in her bed roll that sleep will find her. The forest is to wet and the trees grow so large that their roots are everywhere. She would give anything to be back in her warm dry desert again where the wind carries the smell of the sagebrush and the sand wraps around you inviting sleep.

She doesn't know if it is the forest, the missing time, the horrific events she experienced in the windmill, or something else entirely, but even when she does manage to find sleep, it is filled with unspeakable terrors.

The memory of those dreams are the last thoughts in her mind before she drifts off to sleep, and like a self pro-filling prophesy, the snake is there to meet her.

There is always a snake in her dreams, and a whispering nameless voice coaxing her to dream.

The snake is small and black and the dream starts as it normally does with red lightning and unspeakable horrors trying to catch her, but this time the dream is different. The whispering voice fades away and a great goat horned head rears up over the horizon. She turns to run, but she knows it is no use, where would she go?

She falls to her knees and there is the small black snake. The snake looks up at her and says:

"This is wrong, this is all wrong. He has chosen you too many times and now you must pay his price."

Out of the ground spring forth hundreds of little black snakes writhing and encircling Rhys's body she tries to struggle, but there are too many of them.

"Shh, we will hide you,' a snake hisses in her ear, and she stops flailing.

But it is too late.

Great black taloned hands begin ripping snakes away from her and then she sees the goat head floating before her.

"It is time for you to pay the price promised by your family." The great voice booms and echoes inside of her head.

"She is not who you seek!" shriek the snakes around her. "The dream speaker has bested you again. She is not the sixth of the sixth, she is not Sath."

"I have no more time for their games, I have selected my piece and the pawn will be placed. She is part of the game now and let the dream speaker live with the guilt that it was they who picked her."

The great hand squeezes Rhys tightly and the rest of the snakes fall away, limp and broken. There is sudden movement and then Rhys is flying, no, falling. Falling towards a swamp then through the earth and then POP! her eyes open and she is lying in a circular room on a large bed.

There is a cheery fire burning in a stone fireplace in the wall across from her. Water steams in a large bath and a board painted with alternating light and dark spaces sits on a small table next to the only door out of the room. On the board are 32 small statues, each between 2 and 4 inches tall, intricately carved and each occupying a single square on the board.