Synriel
Warden of the Root and Stone
High Druid of Clan Enlanefel, Guardian of Ley and Glade
“The forest is not a place. It is a rhythm. A memory. A voice carried in the roots of the hills and the stones of the riverbed.”
— Synriel, during the Grove Council of Midsummer 573 CY
The Earth-Speaking Soul of Enlanefel
The sylvan heart of the Gnarley Forest does not beat to the sound of swords or prophecy—it pulses through the ley lines and ancient trees, whispered by those who can hear the land breathe. Synriel, wood elf druid of the 18th circle, is such a soul: a vessel of deep natural wisdom and primal connection, known for her unparalleled knowledge of elemental flows, ancient groves, and faerie currents.
Though not one of the six Loremasters of Oakvein, Synriel is often called their seventh voice, and in matters of druidic mystery, even Faeluneth defers to her. She is a living conduit of Ehlonna's grace, Rillifane’s silence, and the raw will of Oerth itself.
Appearance and Presence
Synriel bears the wild beauty of an untouched glade. Her skin is the color of sun-warmed bark, and her hair—coiled with vines and crowned with thorns—flows like ivy in the wind. Her eyes shimmer like morning dew on moss, and her very scent carries the green musk of loam, fern, and living wood.
- Heightened Features: Slanted, luminous green eyes; moss-threaded hair; tribal runes bloom like lichen across her arms
- Aura: Wherever she walks, plants subtly turn toward her, and the air grows calm
Role in Clan Enlanefel
Though she shuns official titles, Synriel is the spiritual earth-anchor of the clan, advising the Loremasters on issues of forest balance, territorial corruption, fey negotiations, and elemental disruptions. She leads seasonal rites, communes with forest elementals, and oversees the preservation of ancient glades and mystical sites.
- Position: Druidic elder and field guardian
- Seat of Power: The Verdanarch Hollow, a sacred sinkhole where ley lines cross beneath a weirwood grove
- Cultural Role: Spirit-walker, negotiator of fey courts, and lorekeeper of natural wonders
- Field of Expertise: Magical geology, ley line cartography, ancient stone circles, and primal druidic magic
Background and Initiation
Born under a silver eclipse in the southern Gnarley, Synriel's birth was marked by a forest-wide hush that lasted three full breaths—a sign that druids of the Old Faith still retell. Raised among the Moonfern Grove, she was chosen as a Sister of the Verdant Knot, and spent her youth mapping buried monoliths, deep roots, and whispering caverns where elementals still stir.
She later walked the lands of Celene, studied under the Stonecallers of Ravarodel, and earned her staff by pacifying a rogue elder treant who threatened to awaken the sleeping mound of the Suss.
- Birthportent: Solar eclipse and a three-breath forest silence
- Training: Moonfern Grove, Stonecallers of Celene, and solitary wanderings across the Suss and Welkwood
- Milestone Rites: Defeated a corrupted elemental prince, restored the Broken Ring Glade
- Circle Affiliation: Though she serves The Old Faith, Synriel is closest to Ehlonna and Rillifane Ralathil, holding a rare dual devotion
Personality and Beliefs
Synriel speaks with the confidence of stone and the stillness of tree roots. She is not impolite, but neither is she quick to explain herself. She sees time as a slow erosion rather than a path, and her decisions often seem strange to outsiders—until they are revealed, years later, to be profound.
- Disposition: Slow-speaking, deliberate, serene, and often cryptic
- Beliefs: The land remembers. The faerie courts are always watching. Magic must obey the rhythm of place.
- Mannerisms: Often barefoot, speaks to rivers and stones as one would to a peer
- Fears: That elemental corruption from the old temples will poison the ley grid irreparably
Magic and Abilities
Synriel’s druidic power is vast but measured. She rarely casts showy spells, preferring to shape weather, awaken groves, or call upon ancient elemental spirits slumbering beneath the roots of the forest. She is a master of ley line tapping, and can sense disruptions to magical geography from miles away.
- Signature Magic:
- Commune with Nature, Earthquake, Wall of Thorns, Awaken, Transport via Plants, Tsunami
- Unique Abilities:
- Stone Listen – Can sense history of a location by meditating on the bedrock
- Ley Drift – Move instantly between two ley line nodes once per day
- Sylvan Pact – Speak in riddled tongues to command minor fey creatures
- Wild Shape Forms: Typically forest beasts, but also rare elemental creatures or plant forms in dire moments
Relationships and Influence
Though her reclusive habits keep her from politics, Synriel’s wisdom is revered, and many seek her out in times of ecological crisis. She is respected by other loremasters and often mediates disputes between druids, rangers, and fey beings that otherwise might spill into violence.
- Faeluneth Larethil: Fellow spiritual elder; the two often meditate together during lunar conjunctions
- Naerion: Friendly rivals; she considers him too fascinated by mortal relics, while he calls her “the Root-Witch” affectionately
- Druids of the Gnarley Forest: Revered as a living bridge to the Old Faith
- The Fey Grand Court of Celene: Holds favor among willow dryads, swanmaids, and the Mistlord of Fogvale Vale
- Mounted Borderers & Verbobonc: Cautiously tolerated; considers their horses destructive to forest trails
Relationships with the Other Loremasters
Faeluneth Larethil — The Moon-Touched Oracle
Synriel shares a deep spiritual kinship with Faeluneth, both being the mystical anchors of the council—one rooted in dream and prophecy, the other in earth and ley. They often lead seasonal rites together and meditate during solstices. Synriel sees Faeluneth’s insight as vital to maintaining the balance of the soul and soil.
- Shared Values: Natural rhythms, divine mystery, ancestral memory
- Contrasts: Faeluneth walks the dreamscape; Synriel walks the rootways
- Interaction: Often act in spiritual tandem; Faeluneth interprets omens Synriel grounds into action
Naerion — The Wandwright and Shaper
Though respectful of Naerion’s arcane brilliance, Synriel often views his reliance on structure and artifice as disruptive to natural flow. Their rivalry is marked by philosophical tension: she listens to the trees, he shapes them into wands. Still, they occasionally work together when sacred places need magical reinforcement without harm.
- Shared Interests: Preservation of ancient forest sites, resistance to planar corruption
- Tensions: Nature's will vs. magical imposition
- Interaction: Cooperation possible—but only when Naerion defers to druidic balance
Nemoi — The Dreaming Veil
Synriel views Nemoi as strange but essential—he moves through veils of thought and realm that her rooted power does not reach. Though his dream-lore unsettles her, Synriel respects his vigilance over planar crossings and dream-touched glades. They collaborate during fey manifestations or when the Dreaming bleeds into the waking forest.
- Shared Interests: Feywild events, dream-induced elemental rifts, leylines crossed by planar spill
- Tensions: Synriel distrusts excessive abstraction
- Interaction: Mutual reliance during times of planar instability
Lian — Guardian of the Eternal Memory
Synriel and Lian maintain a reverent respect for one another. Both serve as keepers—she of the land, he of the spirit. Their roles intersect most during rites of passage and when elven soul-lines are threatened by corruption. Lian often preserves the lore that Synriel uncovers from beneath the moss or stone.
- Shared Values: Continuity, remembrance, spiritual grounding
- Contrasts: Lian emphasizes written and ritual legacy; Synriel, living memory in place
- Interaction: Collaborate on funerary rites, ley-stabilization, and the marking of sacred ground
Avinor — The Chronicler of Fallen Thrones
Synriel sees Avinor as a necessary but grim voice—his study of past devastation provides warnings she takes seriously. They work together when signs of cultic or elemental desecration emerge, particularly when ancient forests have been battlegrounds. However, Synriel grows impatient when Avinor’s caution slows response to a rising threat.
- Shared Interests: Preservation of ancient sacred sites, identification of cult corruption
- Tensions: Synriel acts through instinct and signs; Avinor through precedent and text
- Interaction: Work together during investigations of old wards or ruins with planar scars
Current Concerns (576 CY)
Synriel has sensed elemental unrest stirring beneath the Welkwood verge, and believes the ley grid is being twisted—as if something is drawing power in unnatural channels. Though unaware of the Second Temple of Elemental Evil, she fears that someone is tapping elemental nodes—an act that could disrupt the entire magical balance of the Gnarley, Suss, and Welkwood.
- Ley Instability: Disturbances traced near ancient cairns once sealed by druids
- Elemental Signs: Water flowing backwards, trees weeping amber, birds singing in reverse at twilight
- Proposed Solution: A ritual to anchor the ley grid—but she needs a team to recover three missing geoaegises lost in the time of the Suel-Baklunish Wars
Key Details for Dungeon Masters
- Name: Synriel
- Race/Class: Wood Elf Druid (Circle of the Land – Forest) 18
- Alignment: Neutral Good
- Age: 489
- Residence: Verdanarch Hollow, Gnarley Forest
- Role: High Druid, ley line guardian, NPC quest-giver, and lore source
- Specialties: Magical geography, faerie politics, elementalism, and ley theory
- Adventure Hook: Synriel requests aid recovering an ancient earthbound seed from beneath the Suss—before it becomes twisted by Elemental Evil
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