Niamhe Spear of Nyresa Champion Lore
The Cerulean Guard is an elite force dedicated to protecting the Sylvan’s most important sites and dignitaries. Among these are the Heart Tree of Nyresa and the Coppice Hall, and the Conductor of the Sylvan Court and the Monarc of the Mistwood respectively. All are safe because the Cerulean Guard protects them day and night.
To join the Cerulean Guard is to join an exclusive and secretive order. Numerous tests and arduous training must be passed and completed. Aspirants endure the Corpseflower Run, completing ten laps of the Fanglilac Meadow, each faster than the last, and trying to not be bit by any of its barb-petaled guards. Then they complete the Tide-hold, where they stand in the freezing and turbulent waters of the Mistwood Sea for several hours, battered and cut by the innumerable pieces of driftwood thrown around by the waves and currents. One of the final tests is the Neversleep, where they are taken to the darkest, most quiet part of the Mistwood and must prevent a single nightberry being taken by a host of Shadowbows and Pathfinders determined to do so. This ordeal lasts for days, and the aspirant cannot afford a moment’s laxity. Even those who succeed in all these challenges may not be granted the blue capes of the Guard, denied according to its ineffable standards. Those who are granted entry join for life, and take a vow of celibacy.
Niamhe is the Spear of Nyresa, the shield-mistress of the Cerulean Guard, unwavering and ruthless in the pursuit of her duty to the Mistwood and the Sylvan people. To her falls the responsibility of deploying Cerulean Guards when and where they are needed most. If the High Watcher is leaving for a campaign, she must ensure adequate guard is assigned to him. If the thegns of the Sylvan Court are to gather in their full number, the Sylvan Court’s protection must be increased accordingly. Ultimately, the security of everything the Sylvan hold dearest is Niamhe’s to ensure. It is a heavy burden, but she does this all with a professional calm as cold as the steel of her armor.
This cool demeanor permeates every fiber of Niamhe’s being. While the Rhythm is a force inherent to the Mistwood and affects the Sylvan, all Sylvan have their own Rhythm which in turn affects others around them. Niamhe at once has been all-but consumed by the militaristic beat of the modern rhythm, but her own rhythm follows a consistent percussion and bass pattern. It is deep, continuous, and dispassionate, emanating from her nature and purpose as being ever watchful and ever wrathful. Her alignment with the Rhythm means she shares much in common with Bladechorister Caldor. They attend the same gatherings and discuss the same security risks. Each is as close to a friend as the other has — deeply respecting the other as a peerless defender of their shared home.
To fulfill her role as guardian of all that is most precious to the Sylvan, Niamhe is suitably equipped. Her shield is both a symbol of duty as a protector of her land and people as well as a tool of war. The Jeweled Leaf, as it is known, is decorated with a naked tree design, the roots of which reach the shield’s lower point, and the branches reaching all the others. At the center is a heavy stone of green obsideite, forming the boss, shaped into a sphere to represent the totality of Niamhe’s devotion to her duties. Her life is the Mistwood’s shield. She would take any blow to see it safe – her mind, body, spirit, and shield unyielding to any foe.
When Niamhe is on the attack, she strikes to kill, for no threat to the Mistwood’s most important sites or its leaders can be tolerated. Should prisoners be needed for intelligence gathering, she leaves capturing to them to more clandestine organizations such as the Vermillion Chamber. In the rare event a thrust of her main weapon, the Spear of Nyresa, is not fatal, the wounded foe will find their senses disoriented and their dexterity failing, so they can neither see nor grip a weapon, ensuring Niamhe’s second strike ends their lives. Niamhe coats the Spear’s blade with a heady mix of Aratheia Corpseflower’s curse-pollen and venom milked from the glands of azure mothering frogs. The amphibians are the most toxic in the Mistwood, and despite their diminutive size are ferociously protective of their spawn. Niamhe sees a parallel between her and the frogs. She must be as protective over her charges as the azure mothering frog is over heryoung.