Purge of the Rot

The Purge of the Rot was a campaign undertaken by the Wolfenhold Wardens in the Wolfen Hills in 4E 43. Beginning with the Reclamation of the Wolfenhold and ending in the climactic Battle of Blackwood Forest, the campaign saw the Wolfenhold Wardens decimated and the Wolfenhold destroyed. However, due to the efforts of Warden-Captain Iorwyn nic Angelystor, returned from her self-exile, her adventurer retinue, and the common folk of the Wolfen Hills, the Cult of Rot and the Swinefolk were eradicated from their lands.

It is the first time in the Mynyw's history that the power of Wardens was weakened and the Western Door became vulnerable. However, it caused a reformation within the age-old order under the watchful eye of Iorwyn nic Angelystor.

Wolfenhold Reclamation
The Rot had claimed the Wolfenhold and its denizens -- eliminating more than 70% of the Wardens number. Rot monsters known as the Swinefolk battered down the gates, ruined the buildings, and the walls. The only place within that was at all safe was the Grove and its Chapel.

Sometime in July, Warden-Captain Iorwyn recruited several companions and traveled into the Wolfenhold to determine its fate. Discovering the Rot, the companions began to spread out to study and recover the Wolfenhold. They went wing by wing in order to discover what happened and reclaim the shattered fortress -- beginning with the Training Grounds and Grove.

They established the Grove as their base of operations and moved onto the Keep, where they found the first instances of the Swinefolk. Defeating them and shutting off the castle's magical defenses, they came into contact with a small piglet leading the Swinefolk called Wilbur and a hooded figure that summoned a monster of great proportions to fight against the companions. Upon its defeat, they moved into the Artisan District to access the armory.

Finding and defeating the Swinefolk there, they came upon Kaiden nic Farsil, the last denizen of the Wolfenhold. He explained his presence there -- to study the Rot -- but the Wolfenhold was invaded. With the the final wing explored, the Wolfenhold was firmly in control of Warden-Captain Iorwyn and her companions.

Reconstruction
Determined to reconstruct the Wolfenhold, Warden-Captain Iorwyn nic Angelystor re-established the 1st Chapter, making herself Prime Warden. Many of her companions joined her in this Chapter, becoming the first of a reformation.

Three resources were needed for the reconstruction of the Wolfenhold: Lumber, Stone, and Manpower. Iorwyn separated her newly-minted Wardens into groups and sen them to the major outlying villages to gain these precious resources.

Cleansing of Cydweli
Cydweli was the major source of lumber in the Wolfen Hills due to it’s location near the Blackwood Forest. Iorwyn assigned Airn nic Codaghain, Master Dunarin Arcweaver, and Jeanne Nullite to move to Cydweli to gain this source of lumber again.

Upon their arrival, the trio discovered that the Blackwood was the epicenter of the Rot -- something pulsed deep within. They spoke to the village's Glanydd -- Aifric the Green, who was formerly among the Rhyfellion. Promising safe haven at the Wolfenhold while the Rhyfellion begin cleansing Cydweli, Aifric agreed to give them as much lumber as the Wolfenhold needed as long as they found the source of the Rot near Cydweli.

The trio moved into the forest, sending a cart of sick lumberman to the Wolfenhold with Aifric. Allowing Dunarin to feel out where the strongest magics were in the forest, they found what is known as a 'Rotspread Stone', named so by Kaiden nic Farsil, guarded by a wounded and sick draigarth.

Not desiring to harm an innocent creature, Airn nic Codaghain attempted to lure the it away and help it with its wounds -- healing some of the Rot from its system while Jeanne and Dunarin were tasked with destroying the crystal.

The trio returned to Cydweli and then the Wolfenhold to report their success -- forever securing a source of Heartwood for the Wolfenhold.

Liberation of Penfro
With Cydweli secured, Warden-Serjeant Dubheasa nic Angelystor and Goewyn-Gwydion nic Llwach were tasked with gaining manpower from Penfro -- the largest village and trading hub of the Wolfen Hills. Upon arriving, they found that the entire village was covered in a thick, Rot-infested fog and the people of the Penfro had been turned into mindless servants.

Moving into the town, they discovered that the Wardens and Penfro were betrayed from within: the garrison, commanded by Warden-Serjeant Vecatus, killed their comrades and brought what is known as the 'Mindtaint Stone' into the village and activated it. After being questioned by Goewynn and Dubheasa, Vecatus revealed the name of the leader of the Cult of Rot -- Pydredd. He was ultimately slain and the crystal deactivated and brought back to the Wolfenhold.

Discovery at Ynysddu
The mines and quarries of Ynysddu were all that was left to reconstruct the broken Wolfenhold. Lady Laesonia Thorn, Shieldmaiden Arwen Graves, and Praetorian Fuh'ria were tasked with requisitioning the mining town's resources. Upon arrival, it appeared that Ynysddu stood alone in the Wolfen Hills, maintaining a functioning militia and its relative independence from the rest of the chaos that had erupted from the Wolfen Hills.

Val of Ynysddu met with the trio and demanded that their stone and minerals be bought at a fair price -- that they, as a town, become semi-independent from the Wolfenhold in order to create more of a regional influence to compete with Penfro. Additionally, they demanded that the trio take care of a group of Kobolds that had been harassing their workers.

While agreeing to their fair prices, Laesonia promised that independence from the Wolfenhold would need to come from an authority. Val agreed and otherwise, the trio set out to deal with the Kobolds. They found the hiding place of the Kobolds and discovered that they too were suffering attacks from the Swinefolk.

Promising safe passage to their home south of Ynysddu and near Iscoed, the Kobolds agreed to stop raiding and waited for the Wardens to make good on their promise.

Piercing the Lair
After the good work done at Cydweli, the Warden-Captain assigned Airn nic Codaghain to lead a small group consisting of Lady Laesonia Thorn and Shieldmaiden Arwen Graves to scout out the ruins of Blackwood Forest. In those Rot infested woods they found what they were looking for -- the ruins of an age-old cult that long ago held sway over the Wolfen Hills.

Delving into the tomb, they found many active traps and the journal entries of a lost expedition that had dared to penetrate the ruins. It was encoded, however, thus the group carried on through the traps and managed to find their way in.

Coming to the end of the tomb, they found two rooms of notable consequence: a spawning room in which three pools of Rot were mixed with blood, flesh, and bones and another which broke down the dead bodies that the Swinefolk dragged into them. Without delay, they moved to begin destroying what they could before Wilbur activated a latent guardian.

The group managed to overcome the guardian, destroy the spawning pools, and bring down the ruins on top of the other rooms. Without the ability to spawn more Swinefolk, the Cult of Rot would be unable to replace their losses on the field.

Recovery of Caer Unigedd
With resources secured, Warden-Captain Iorwyn needed to know the security of the Wolfen Hills was still intact on the borderlands. The famed 2nd Chapter, led by Warden-Captain Bronwyn the Witherer was stationed at Caer Unigedd and thus Iorwyn needed to make contact. Sending Warden-Serjeant Dubheasa nic Angelystor, Warden-Magister Dunarin Arcweaver and Lady Laesonia Thorn to make contact, they discovered... an inactive outpost.

Travelling inside, the trio determined that the outpost had been attacked -- with many of the Wardens slain by the Swinefolk. However, as they travelled inside they discovered that they had a betrayer from within and a large stone was found and activated. Called the 'Mindsooth Stone', it lulled the denizens of the outpost into a catatonic state.

Battling the Swinefolk and even Pydredd himself, they managed to get the upper hand and release the Wardens. However, during the combat Pydreddbmanaged to escape to his lair in the Blackwood Forest. A final confrontation was at hand.

Return of Hoosk
Deciding to lead a group herself, Warden-Captain Iorwyn nic Angelystor took budding explorer Jeanne Nullite, and the Llwach sire Goewyn Gwydion nic Llwach with her to return Hoosk to the Jagged Rock Coalition. With them rode two individuals -- the exiled Lady Gaytheil Sunstrike and the Abattoir Kora Deathwhisper. With her warband assembled, they escorted the group of twenty Kobolds, intending for a good faith gesture towards the Coalition.

After dispatching a group of bandits, the group stayed the night in the middle of Wolfen Hills near Iscoed, however as the morning light came upon them there was a dual assault on Iscoed and the Jagged Rock's entrance back into the Underway. Dividing the warband, Iorwyn led Kora to Iscoed only to find Goewyn there taking care of the Swinefolk.

Jeanne and Gaytheil advanced with Hoosk, only to find themselves outnumbered by the much more powerful and numerous Swinefolk. Holding off until Kora and Iorwyn could arrive, they managed to keep themselves alive and show the Kobolds that they would not retreat, even in the face of certain death.

The battle once the remaining members of the warband arrived, was short -- thunder and necrotic death dancing across the battlefield onto the Swinefolk, bullets and psionic energy both erupting the Swinefolk in explosions that did a number on the warband itself. The battle reached its climax with the sacrifice of the wardrummer -- exploding and sending more than half the warband into unconsciousness.

The Kobolds, seeing their escorts and defenders fall, decided to take them in and stabilize them before leaving them outside the Wolfenhold...

Battle of Blackwood Forest
With Pydredd backed into a corner and the Swinefolk unable to spawn, the Wolfen Hills rallied around Warden-Captain Iorwyn nic Angelystor. Leading the coalition of forces into the Blackwood, the forces of the Wolfen Hill laid siege to the crudely-fortified ruins.

Acting as the vanguard, the newly-reformed 1st Chapter of the Wolfenhold Wardens charged forward to create a gap in the defenses. Assigning the budding explorer Jeanne Nullite to the task, the vanguard managed to create a breach and charge into the depths before the rest of the coalition's forces... triggering a trap in the process.

Despite sustaining major wounds, the vanguard held with the aid of the coalition forces -- and pushed further in to confront Pydredd and Wilbur themselves. After overcoming the traps the Swinefolk had laid, the 1st Chapter had the fight of their lives. As they engaged, they chose to kill the piglet Wilbur, causing grief to overcome Pydredd and turn him into a Rot Monster. After which, the 1st Chapter managed to just barely kill the monster -- saving the Heartlands from further devastation.

However, Pydredd had been channeling into a Rotspread Stone which was causing the Rot to begin spreading from the inactive stones at the Wolfenhold. Sacrificing his life, Kaiden nic Farsil managed to restore the stones before the Rot could overtake the Wolfenhold again.

Aftermath
With the defeat of the Cult of Rot, the Rot that had spread throughout the Blackwood is slowly being driven back by the Rhyfellion. However, the incursion largely weakened the Wolfen Hills as a border province -- leaving open a large gap in the defenses of the Heartlands. For the first time in its history, the Heartlands lay open for attacks at the Western Door.

The Wolfenhold Wardens lost most of its power in the Wolfen Hills, finding a low point in their organization. Questions have begun to circulate among knowledgeable Glanydd on what the Wardens' role will be in the Wolfen Hills and if the Wolfenhold should come under the control of a Tanist, abolishing the Wardens as entity entirely.

What is known is that the newly-founded First Chapter has been relatively quiet since the defeat of the Pydredd, leading some to believe that they're only licking their wounds and preparing for a larger reformation to occur...