Exposition
“As you can see by diagram F, Pointed Shade, Pine Leshy and warrior of The Serene Grove druid tribe of the Gungir Forest in made a prime mistake in his defenses when Chelaxian agents attempted to burn the forest down. Does anyone here know what that mistake is? Anyone? Hint: It’s the same mistake our own Eagle Knights made heading north from Falcon’s Hollow into the Five Kings Mountains. Anyone? Gilda, you should know this, Sir Odker was a member of that particular expedition – and I have my doubts that he failed to mention it.”
The lecture hall erupts into nervous laughter as Professor Merrythane points out one of Odker’s more obvious foibles. The short cropped red hair of Squire Gilda of August shakes out a no.
“He’s mentioned it once or twice, if I recall. But that particular mistake was underestimating the locals. There are these little impassioned beings, from the First I think, called Twigjacks. Tiny little sticks that fought the platoon of Knights to a standstill. Ended up having to around. Cost ‘em nearly a week.”
“EXACTLY!” The professor roars gleefully. “They underestimated the locals. Twigjacks, as you’ve mentioned are a feracious and rather deadly foe – specifically when encountered on their own ground, and this is exactly how Pointed Shade was able to defend against the Chelaxians. He and only a handful of druids from the Grove went to confront the Hellknights, odds were not in their favour, but when the battle turned towards the Hellknights – the twigjacks arrived in numbers. Their unconventional tactics drove the Hellknights not only from the Gangir but the returned to Cheliax.
The point is that a home is a home and if threatened – even if natures would normally repel, such as the twigjack and the leshy – the locals can be called upon for defence. They know the terrain and that can be the advantage that swings a battle, or even a war.
That will be all for today, remember next week is your final week of Warfare Lore and should you pass your assessment you will be put into the field with your knight, and let me be clear, I expect you all to exceed expectations.”
Introduction
James: Bramble
Freeman: Splinter Spray
Source: Bestiary 2 p.270
Reading List:
Pathfinder Lore
Appearance
· Made of prickly brambles woven together with vines
· Have a mossy growth atop their head like hair
· Mouth is just broken sticks across it’s face
· Leaves and sprigs of new growth scatter across their bodies
Ecology
· Impetuous and violent
· Care deeply for forests – consider them THEIR forests
· Harass outsiders who enter
· Not territorial with other forest creatures
· Will rally with fey and other sylvans against a threat
· Arrive eager to fight, even when not invited
· Can be mistaken for leshys – which they hate
· Have a low opinion of leshys
· Some fey embarrassed by these cousins
· Redcaps, quicklings, spriggans and the like adore them and their violent tendances
Sidebars
· Communities = brambles
· Aid each other in times of need OR to exact some great vengeance
· Can be anywhere from 3-30 individuals
· Once mission is complete, they disperse
History
· Are fey
· Found in the First World
· Sometimes they find religion – Edlest of the First World
· Prefer to worship “false deities of their own design”
· Could be a shadow in the brush, tangles of tree branches, or even just a random cave
· These faiths are localized and not clerical
· Do inspire “zealous crusades against non-fey”
1e
Mythology and Folklore
· None?
Mechanics
Story and Mechanic Ideas
· There are a lot of places on the internet that warn of the deadliness of these tiny creatures, especially the 1e ones - reddit, daily bestiary tumblr
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