MORNINGDEW HEARTWOOD
FeyGrove Guardian and Matchmaker
"Love is like a tree, dear heart. It needs patience, nourishment, and sometimes... pruning.""
Identity
- Residence
- The Kissing Willows, a sacred grove where mortal and fey lovers meet
- Civilization
- Fey
Appearance
• Physical: Her skin resembles birch bark with delicate green veins showing beneath. Leaves grow in her hair instead of strands, changing color with the seasons. Her eyes are the amber of tree sap. • Clothing: She wears living garments—vines that flower at her shoulders, moss that cushions her feet, petals that drift around her like a gown. • Distinguishing Marks: A heart-shaped scar on her palm where she cut herself to bind a promise to a mortal lover, centuries past.
Relationships
- Family - Her sister-trees, a grove of willows she considers siblings
- Allies - A mortal priest of the love goddess who sends her couples seeking inter-species blessing
- Rivals - The Thorn Widow, a dark fey who sows jealousy and breaks couples apart
Personality
- Traits: Romantic to a fault, fiercely protective of her trees, unexpectedly pragmatic about love
- Mannerisms: Speaks in metaphors about roots and growth, touches trees for comfort
- Voice: Sounds like wind through leaves, with an odd cadence as she pauses to listen to her grove
Backstory
Morningdew fell in love with a mortal knight who promised to return after his quest. She waited so long her tree began to die from grief. When she finally accepted he wasn't coming back, she dedicated herself to ensuring other lovers wouldn't suffer the same fate—mortal or fey. She's facilitated thousands of unions, but none for herself.
Daily Life
She tends her willows from dawn till noon, ensuring they're healthy and their magic remains potent. Afternoons are for counseling lovers—listening to their troubles, offering ancient wisdom, occasionally performing binding ceremonies. Evenings, she walks her grove alone, remembering.
Secret
The knight did return—after eighty years, ancient and dying. She used her magic to transform him into a willow tree, and he still stands in her grove, the largest and oldest. She never told anyone, and she speaks to him every night.
Story Hooks
- 1 A couple she blessed has gone missing, and she fears the Thorn Widow has taken them—she needs help rescuing them before their love is corrupted
- 2 She has had a vision of a PC's true love, but revealing it would require the PC to perform a dangerous favor for her first
Narrative Value
Quest giver, source of romantic subplots, potential ally with nature magic, tragic figure with her own love story ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════