The queen’s physical attachment to her arboreal

home, on the other hand, stems foremost from the irrev-

ocable tie between her spirit and that of the tree. The
roots of the tree are purported to penetrate into the cen-
ter of Aryth, drawing forth a vast amount of raw super-
natural force. This magical power flows up the Elder
Tree’s roots and spills out into a massive subterranean
chamber at its center. Aradil is intrinsically tied to this
wellspring, and it is the source of all of her power,
longevity, and strength.
Few but the Witch Queen are allowed to access the
heartwood of the Elder Tree. Only those mages and
druids who have gained Aradil’s favor can even hope of
glimpsing the heartwood’s raw power, let alone tapping
it and bending it to their own ends. So forceful is the
strength of the tree’s magic that it is rumored to have
caused the death of many channelers who have attempt-
ed to access its energy. The Elder Tree was once the sin-
gle most powerful nexus in Erethor, and perhaps the
world, but its power has been harnessed for a purpose
other than simply powering spells and enabling the cre-
ation of magic items; the weight of that duty falls most-
ly on the Heart of the Wood, rumored to exist nearby at
the headwaters of the Southern Felthera River. Instead,
what was once the pure spell energy of the Elder Tree
now feeds into and powers everything from the Whisper
to the magical plants of the forest to the spells of Aradil
and her connection to her avatars.

Minions
As valuable to Aradil as her magical powers are
those who allow her to make the most use of them: her
eyes and ears, her messengers and her warriors. While
the majority of her minions are elves, Aradil claims
many non-elves among her followers.

Avatars of the Witch Queen

These loyal servants pledge their lives to the service
of their queen, acting as her eyes, ears, and hands in the
forest realm of Erethor and beyond. She is able to join
her mind to theirs, allowing them to use all of their own
skills and abilities as well as many of hers. These pow-
erful few need to be both strong of mind and strong of
body, lest they lose themselves completely within the
Witch Queen’s overpowering identity and become sim-
ply mindless shells. The more independent an avatar can
remain, the more use she is to Aradil.
Avatars’ normal duties run the gamut from general-
ship of the elven forces to acting as emissaries to allied
races. They conduct their daily lives with the queen’s
presence constantly aiding them, providing all of their
actions with an underpinning of ancient wisdom and
immeasurable power. Should she have need of direct
action on their part, the Witch Queen can inhabit her
avatars’ bodies and personally oversee whatever action

56 Chapter Five: The Witch Queen