Jendarion

Revisit the entries related to Jendarion from before this point, please.

MAL 9

 * After an uninterrupted night's sleep, the party departed for Mendham Wood, where Bay says the Elemental Druids are located.
 * The party continued on to Mendham Wood, where they met the local spirit of the land (called a wodeknight) who hailed Red and, after briefly confirming everyone's identity, told them the story of the Elemental Druids. Apparently they had made the decision to ally themselves with elementals and their earthly descendents (nymphs, etc.), which they consider a valid part of nature (different from Red's druidic order, who considers elementals to be extraplanar enemies.)  They were attacked by an ancient red dragon "inflamed with hatred for all extraplanars," who executed Jendarion's naiad wife and children and burned down a quarter of the forest, sending the druid enclave into a deep defensive posture and causing them to double down on their extraplanar alliances, eventually culminating in their current alliance with Chavalk.
 * Liria then parlayed with the party, taking an unexpectedly cooperative attitude. She confirmed what the wodeknight told them, adding that Chavalk had originally portrayed himself as a being of fey "like Shyra" and that she had not realized he was a demon until her previous encounter with the party. Unfortunately the embattled druids voted to continue dancing with the one that brung 'em, over Liria's objections. She expressed her own conflictedness: she felt unable to act against the justly elected leader of her enclave, unwilling to challenge him over it in light of the shared losses they had suffered, yet convinced that Jendarion was making a mistake and/or had his mind clouded by Chavalk. She also stated that although all the enclave would accept the results of a challenge issued in the grove, it would be impossible to win with the powerful water magics surrounding Jendarion. She suggested that perhaps the party could seek answers in the Temple of Water, for if they could disable Jendarion's water protection and/or learn more about him it might be possible for them to wrest leadership away from him "in the Druid way." When asked about Sahree, Liria denied that she had ever been in a relationship with Jendarion. When asked about Bay, Liria said that there was a chaos in her which could prove disastrous if she fell into the wrong hands, but that she no longer trusted Jendarion to keep that from happening. "This Chavalk seems to have a deep hold on his mind."

MAL 10

 * Red used Commune With Nature to scout the landscape. She confirmed Liria's story with evidence of extensive wildfire burn scars, confirmed that there were many unnatural creatures and/or magics in the forest, and identified two "hotspots" of unnatural activity, one of which was the Water Temple Liria had told you about.
 * The party moved on to the Water Temple. As they approached the temple, though, a large Haunt activated, spooking Adriel and Seela into fleeing and producing powerful wind effects that only Red was able to move forward against. Zadkiel explained that Haunts can be neutralized by positive energy like healing or turning, but that this was a gestalt haunt and would require either the cooperation of multiple clerics or the intervention of a necromancer. The party decided to go back and fetch Barken.

MAL 11

 * The daimon of the river Sendor appeared in bull form and charged the party, doing a solid amount of damage in the first round, but after a combination of Red's diplomacy, Jon's use of a song to improve his mood, and Zadkiel's mass healing of both his own party's injuries and the river spirit's, he backed off and summoned the ghost of the naiad Essily to speak with you.
 * The anguished wails of the naiad's ghosts caused most of the party to become shaken, frightened, or even (in Adriel's case) eventually panicked, but after being told that Jendarion was being misled by a demon, she entreated the party to find Quenzil, the only one she's sure Jendarion will listen to. After leaving a few offerings, the party followed Adriel out of the temple.
 * Outside the temple, the water panther remarked that the party had "got the tap back on," pointing to the magic circle Aler had discovered last session, which was now flowing with water. Zadkiel asked the panther about the names of Jendarion's children, to which it answered that it was Aquan tradition for no one but family members to speak the names of dead children aloud. Zadkiel spelled out the name he had surmised from the music box, L-I-S-A-N-D-R-A, and the water panther agreed that this was the daughter's name. The son's name was not learned. The water panther said Quenzil was an Auran windwalker who lived in the forest north of the river somewhere, and that one of the forest's wildlife could lead you there.
 * Barken the necromancer returned with a message for Khirg, who had apparently paid him to ask his ghost friends about the woman he had come here to seek, learning that she was "in Jendarion's basement, or at least she was when my friend saw her." Barken additionally weighed in on Piper's situation, suggesting that it WOULD be possible to return her to mortal life necromantically, but only by getting her soul to pass through the Veil first and then bringing her back... and that in order to do that, you'd basically need to exchange her soul for someone else's.
 * The group encountered Sahree the circus acrobat, who explained that her circus accident had been a "message" from her sylph clan's elders to force her to return home. Sahree presents herself as a free-spirited teenager who just wants to see the world, but Jendarion and her people consider it too dangerous and that they all must stay and stand together against their enemies. Sahree also confirmed that her family has told her the same thing Liria did, that "the fey guy turned out to be a demon." The sylphs are apparently not happy about this, but can't think of a way to eject the demons from the forest without ejecting all outsiders, which would include themselves, or overthrowing Jendarion, which none of the other druids are willing or able to do.
 * Sahree was able to manipulate the Auran runestone to allow the party to use their Speak With Dead scroll to contact Quenzil, who said “Great danger is upon you now. The dragon was but a single monster, and in the end it could slay but a few of us. The alliance I now see rising from the shadows threatens this entire realm. Shyra must be removed as counsel to the Elemental Druids, if it is not already too late.” Asked about Jendarion's power, he confirmed that it was given to him by the River Sendor, and that since the daimon of the river currently lies dormant, the talisman could safely be destroyed if you reach it before he manifests again. However, the talisman is kept in Jendarion's house, and Quenzil warned that it was unlikely the party would be able to break in there without interference from Jendarion. He suggested Jendarion would need to be drawn away from the house and kept busy somehow while the river's talisman was found, and that he did not believe Jendarion could be reasoned with until his elemental power had subsided. The party considered splitting up next session, with one group challenging Jendarion in the grove while the other broke into his house to shut off the water.

MAL 12

 * Discontent of the Sendor River. Zadkiel is very keen on permanently pacifying the angry river genius, but the druids inform you that they have been trying to accomplish this for years and that no matter what they do, the river always returns to rage. Liria tells Red that she considers the anger of the river spirit to have been a corrupting influence on Jendarion, one that Shyra was able to take advantage of.
 * Leadership of the Grove of Mendham Wood. Jendarion ceded leadership of the Grove to Red. The members of the grove uneasily accepted this arrangement once Red pledged to A) not persecute their elemental allies, and B) find another way to go after the dragon that attacked their people. She may or may not have the intention of fulfilling those campaign promises, but it's clear that sentiment in the grove will turn against her hard if she does not. Red suggested returning leadership of the grove to Jendarion, but Liria takes Red aside and tells her she considers that a bad idea. "Jendarion is in a difficult position. He is a good leader who has protected us many times, and I am relieved you convinced him to step down without bloodshed. But I think the anger of the river spirit has taken a great toll on his mind. He is suffused in its power, and that power is now volatile. I believe Jendarion ceded to you for a reason. Perhaps the suppression of his river magics gave him a moment of greater clarity, and he realized he was not certain of the path he was leading us down. In any case, I do not believe he is well enough now to be reinstated as leader. Perhaps once the river is restored."