The Greenwood Witch Hunt

Military action

The Greenwood Witch Hunt was an event organized by several local Dorlesian thegns who had been petitioning The Circle of Alabast to take action against a coven of witches who had made their home in Greenwood Fen, upon claims that they were the cause of a growing famine. Though the circle did not take action, they granted the thegns approval to raise a fyrd of men to meet their ends; this action superseded a refusal of this request by the then Duke of Lisieux. The Duke of Lisieux, Eadred the Peaceful, successfully pressed the circle to solicit the oversight of The Order of The Ring of Truth, to ensure that the witches were truly at the heart of the famine. In the late fall or Arkantis, the order arrived with Astav at the helm of their campaign. He quickly dispelled the notion of greed and deception and helped the fryd carve a bloody path through the woodland. After 20 days, Astav finally uncovered the source of the famine from a witch, whom he slew out of anger soon after. This anger in part to the length in time it took to learn this information as well as the fact that the several fyrdsmen has been taking advantage of the local Dyr. Nevetheless, Astav tracked down the night hag coven responsible for the famine and cut their hearts from their chests and damned them for all eternity. When he returned to the Circle and to the Duke of Lisieux, he ousted the fyrdsmen who had committed crimes against the Dyr and they were promptly imprisoned or executed, depending on their crimes. While absolved by the circle, the duke, and the order, Astav was forever haunted by the horrors he let go unchecked.

The Greenwood Witch Hunt was an event orchestrated by gathering of Dorlesian thegns from the Greenwood region. They had been petitioning The Circle of Alabast to take action against a coven of witches who had made their home in Greenwood Fen. The thegns had claimed that the witches were the cause of a growing famine which was plaguing many villages in the surrounding region and threatened to overtake their lands. Though the circle took no direct action, they granted the thegns approval to raise a fyrd of men to meet their ends.   The Duke of Lisieux, Eadred the Peaceful, vehemently opposed this errand, and had previously objected to seeing it through. His decree was, however, superseded by the circle. In retaliation, the duke successfully pressed the circle to solicit the oversight of The Order of The Ring of Truth, to ensure that the witches were truly at the heart of the famine, and that ulterior motives were not being harbored in the hearts and minds of the thegns. In the late fall of Arkantis, the order arrived at Greenwood Fen with Astav leading their campaign. It was then that he quickly used the Ring of Truth to determine that the thegn's concern was genuine.   Together with the thegn's fyrd, the order had carved a bloody path through the woodland for nearly 20 days, leaving no witch, shaman, or hedge wizard unassailed. This continued until Astav was able to corner and question a powerful witch deep within the fen, whereupon he learned that it was a cult of night hags that had cursed the countryside. He slew the witch in blind anger, believed to have been brought on by his "inability to see the truth sooner". On his fervant search for the true cause of the famine, Astav had turned a blind eye to the slaying and subjugation of the woodland's Dyr, from pans and centaurs, to dryads and faeries. They say that Astav's anger was so great that when they located the night hag coven, Astav cut their hearts from their chests and performed a ritual to damn their souls.   When the witch hunt came to an end, Astav informed the Circle of Alabast and the Duke of Lisieux of the crimes committed by the men of the fyrd. In a matter of weeks, the men accused of their wrong doings were tried, convicted, and either executed or imprisoned for life. Astav, haunted by his failure, turned to the drink. The circle, the duke, and the order ultimately absolved Astav and the witch hunt was officially deemed a success, for which many of the order's warriors received honors, but the horrible reality was already etched into Astav's mind.