The Stranger

The monstrous birdlike form of the Stranger.

### Description

One of the Tuatha De Danann, The Stranger is a somewhat hostile figure, the stranger is a bringer of bad news, punisher of the wicked, and sometimes guardian of monsters. Also seen as a seeker of answers and selector of champions.

Few times does the Stranger come to anyone with a good future ahead of them.

They were long ago shunned by the other Tuatha De Danann and now wonder the earth locked in a corporeal form. What exactly they did to deserve this punishment is not know. Some say he committed a great crime, others say he spilled an important secret, other still think he is in self chosen isolation.

#### Current Form

The Stranger appears as giant crow-like beast with four eyes. They stand at over 7ft tall and have a slightly incorporeal essence to their body.

### Appearances

#### Historical Appearances

The Stranger was said to have been involved in the Strife of Camlin. Tales speak of the Stranger leading

people into the darkwoods. No bodies were ever found.

#### Appearances in the Campaign

Ciarán frequently experiences visions of the Stranger. At first, he only saw the Tuatha De Danann in the rare moments when he fell asleep, but he began seeing them in visions and, finally, in his waking life.

##### Session 00

The Stranger first appeared to Ciarán in a vision, showing him an image of the Ersatz University in Rymes.

##### Session 02

After leaving Lowmarsh, the Stranger appeared in a waking vision to Ciarán as he was crossing an enchanted river. Ciarán fled from the vision.

##### Session 05

After discussing the looking glass with Dean Marikosa, Ciarán suddenly fell unconscious after exiting the Dean’s office. He was met with a warped vision of the Dean’s office, surrounded by darkness and strange, forest-like surroundings. The imposing figure of the Stranger stood in the Dean’s office, standing at about 7ft tall. Seeing the figure of the Stranger coming towards him and holding his lantern in front of him, he attempted to back away. However, the Stranger simply pointed at Ciarán and towards a quartz orb nestled in an alcove in the hallway outside the Dean’s office. Hesitating, Ciarán attempted to reach for the orb, but the vision faded.

##### Session 07

   After a conversation with the warforged created (?) by Daisy Chinell, the warforged gifted Ciarán a small wooden raven they had carved. Ciarán was alarmed by the gesture but soon realised that the warforged had no connection to the Stranger.

Upon entering the darkwoods on the expedition for the Hand of Malediction, Ciarán briefly saw the Stranger in the distance, but the figure disappeared after a yuan-ti scouting party attacked the group.

During the fight over the Wand of Malediction, Ciarán fled from the group, emerging from the storage room only to see the figure of the Stranger before him. Getting closer to the Stranger than he ever had, Ciarán implored them for help. However, the Stranger gave no response to anything Ciarán said. The Stranger then conjured an illusion of the orb and pointed towards a pit of exposed lava. Taking their meaning, Ciarán threw the orb into the lava. From the lava, a small white pseudodragon emerged.

Back in Rymes, Ciarán, looking for a statue of the Stranger in the Church of the Forging Father, found only an empty pedestal. The white pseudodragon seemed drawn to the pedestal and landed upon it. Ciarán took the wooden raven figure from his belongings and placed it on the pedestal, expending some of his magic to transform the figure into a full-sized statue.

##### Session 08

During their dive for the lost Harpy, Ciarán glimpsed the figure of the Stranger standing some distance away. The Stranger warned Ciarán of two sharks approaching the party.

##### Session 10

In the flight from Flotsam, Ciarán, faced with death for the first time, had a strange vision. He found himself floating, suspended between two worlds: above him, he saw stars and a figure waving, silhouetted against the moon, and below him, he saw the Stranger and the black foliage he had previously seen in his dreams.

Ciarán later learned from the Man on the Moon that the Stranger was some kind of messenger who had dealings with the Man on the Moon.

##### Session 12

While imprisoned by the hag Granny Ironblood, Ciarán pleaded to the Stranger for aid. In Ciarán's moment of need, as he was losing in a game to the hag, the Stranger responded, changing the numbers on the faces of the Ciarán's die and allowing him to win.

##### Session 13

On his journey to reclaim Salibar’s soul, Ciarán was forced to choose whether the Man on the Moon or the Stranger would possess his soul. The Stranger swayed the young elf’s heart, assuring him they could tell him who his parents were. And, fearing the darkness already claiming his soul, Ciarán chose the Stranger.

Later, after speaking to the Man on the Moon, Ciarán was warned not to trust the Stranger.

In Goback, a creature drawing images from Ciarán’s subconscious assumed the form of the Stranger.