Druid. Nomad. Adventurer. All these words describe the caring and down-to-earth Jade Galanodel. She was born to a nomadic tribe of Wild Elves in the Black Reach Mountains. Jade spent her formative years traveling the Korventine Empire and learning how to navigate the wilderness. Her mother had some Druidic ability which she passed on to her daughter. But when it was clear Jade had enormous potential, a mentor was found for her.
Galen of the Firelit Forest instructed Jade to be a Druid for a century. The two lived in the Firelit Forest together and Jade grew into a powerful spellcaster. Jade also got her first real taste of the cruelties of the world, as her Master Galen’s Half-Fiend heritage made him untrusted in cities.
After Galen passed of old age, Jade took to wandering the Eleste Lands. She made and sold maps and grew her craft of herbalism for income. Her travels led her to the great capital city of Eleste’si, a traditionally High Elf place. She faced racism due to being a Wild Elf. But she stayed when she met the reserved and charming Jasper Galandodel.
The two fell in love and spent many years in the city together. But Jasper’s parents did not approve of the match. The two absconded from the city, traveling together until they settled down in the village of Skyview.
It was a time of great happiness in Jade’s life, where she could be with her fiancé. She also formed a relationship with a Druid Circle that was based out of the nearby Firelit Forest, allowing her to continue her specialty and protect nature.
But the good times were not to last. A necromancer had made his way up the Amakiir River and towards Skyview, leaving death in his wake. He was sacrificing people to his god, the Life Drinker. Jade and her Druid Circle fought the necromancer in Skyview. They were successful in defeating him, but at a great cost. Jasper was killed while getting villagers to safety.
Jade was devasted. For decades she wandered alone. She had lost the will to live her life, and with it nearly all of her magical abilities. There were three things that pulled her out of this depression.
The first was saving the life of a reckless Half-Elven Paladin in Vesper. When he stood up to a group of criminals on the street, he was gravely wounded. She called up nearly forgotten power to heal his wounds. That man would later become her close friend, Brother Zok.
The second was finding an animal companion. She rescued a baby fox from a hunter’s trap. Calling him Foxy, she kept him as a pet and he brought joy and spontaneity back into her life.
The third was a frightening vision. Her connection with nature birthed a terrible vision in her mind. Of a city on the coast, Oceala, ablaze. Attacked by a great red dragon. Oceala was the home of her grandparents, a city they led with pride and kindness.
Jade knew she could no longer waste her life away in the shadows. Even if it meant relearning how to be a Druid all over again, she would protect those she cared about so that no one else would have to feel the pain she did.
We join Jade in the first book of the Thread of Souls series, the Phantom Five. She is living in Somberdale and is good friends with Brother Zok and the boisterous Captain Sen. Jade’s hope is that staying in this port town will allow her to hear rumors of any dragons. She knows that once she has a place to begin, she can hunt this red dragon down and stop it from destroying Oceala.
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