Gouwen

Uncursed

**Gouwen** is an NPC and temporary player character controlled by Brittany. She is a Half-Orc Druid who formerly suffered from a curse that drastically changed her appearance and personality.

## Meeting the Party

###### Session A068

Gouwen first appeared to the party when they stumbled upon her hut in a swamp. The hut itself *stood* above the water line. Unlike the surrounding swamp land, the water here was clear and the bugs were minimal. When they first met, Gouwen looked to be an old half-orc dressed in old, dirty clothes. Her eyes were cloudy and sharp at the same time. Moss and lichen grew on her clothes, and her tusks were dull and chipped. She lived with a goose that went by the name of King Gus and a timid alligator called Gladys. Along with the goose and gator, a third animal, one much larger and imposing, lived with Gouwen: Oleander the dire wolf. Despite Gouwen's ill temper toward the wolf, the creature insisted on staying with the woman and fought along side her and the party. Despite her insanity, Gouwen determined that the then sick Lusine just needed a moon stone to get well again. She *had* one, but it had been stolen by the witch of the swamp: Gertrud.

Leaving the unconscious Lusine with the goose and gator, Gouwen led the party to Gertud's lair to retrieve the moonstone. All the while proving to be both useful, powerful, but also very unpredictable and insane. At one point she gave Silvius a large rock, named Dwayne, to carry; going on about how it was important and to not let go of it. Some days she remembered the rock, other days she didn't... Throughout their travel, Oleander insisted on getting Tholgar's attention. Pestering him, attempting to tell him something in regards to Gouwen. However, no connection could be made between the two, and Tholgar remained confused with the dire wolf.

After defeating Gertrud and retrieving the moonstone, the party returned to the hut and revived Lusine. At this point the party starts to notice something is magically off with Gouwen. Silvius determined she was cursed and, after a few tries, is able to use 'Remove Curse' to free her of the spell. With the curse removed, Gouwen transformed from a bent up old woman, to a 6' tall Amazonian like woman. Her hair turned vibrant green, her skin regained its color, her eyes became sharp and full of wisdom and life. What in the beginning looked like a giant bruise on her neck and body was restored into a beautiful night sky body tattoo. With her memory restored, she greeted Oleander and apologized for treating him so poorly. He was overjoyed to see her back to normal again.

## Backstory

Second born to the chief of the Nagrand Tribe, Gouwen grew up learning to balance the needs of her people and the laws of nature. In her tribe she was nicknamed 'Aconite,' for she loved to use the family of plants of the same name. She specialized in poisons, gathering materials from the world around her and using them on weapons and traps. Gouwen was meant to take over the roll of chief from her father. She was well respected amongst the other members of the tribe. Armed with her wisdom and level head, her people believed she would make a good chief. However, her older sister, Witalla, grew jealous. Not gifted with the same magical abilities as her younger sister, Witalla turned to a dark magic of spirits and witchcraft. She made a pact with some cruel spirit that gave her powers and influence over the dead and otherworldly beings. As part of her pact, Witalla demanded that the spirit got rid of Gouwen in any way the spirit saw fit. With this demand, the spirit took Gouwen away, abandoning her in a swamp and with a powerful curse upon her soul causing her to age and forget herself.