Hunger ‘N Sadie

Years ago, a fearsome demon rampaged through the Motherwood, smashing trees and hunting the beasts and denizens of the forest. It was voracious, eating everything and everyone it came across, and all who stood against it failed and were eaten the same. With each tribe of the Motherwood helpless to stand against the hunger of the interloper alone, the Druidic Tribunal was called to order, and all the fey races of the Motherwood assembled to collaborate against their shared demon. Even with all the sages of the forest assembled, they could find no ritual or spell to destroy it, and so they were forced to settle for the next best option. A trap was laid to draw the beast into a copse in the shadow of an elderwood tree, where it would be ritually bound within. A young dryad, Sadrynne or Sadie to her friends, with exceptional promise volunteered to be its warden, and she undertook her Rite of Rooting early to bind her soul to the elderwood. The trap went off without a hitch, and the hunger was bound to the tree just as Sadie was. Even still, the Hunger threatened to burst from its ligneous prison. The roots seethed against the soil and it seemed the tree would be but a new mouth for the creature to feed with. The Druidic Tribunal scrambled to arrange regular sacrifices of anything foraged or hunted to partially sate the hunger, hopefully just enough that Sadie could keep it contained. And it worked, for years, until the Descent.

With the fey tribes of the Motherwood eradicated by the Devourers, there was no one left to bring Sadie’s sacrifices and the Hunger started to roil against its bark bindings. Before long, the Hunger uprooted the elderwood tree and stormed forth to find more to consume, with Sadie along for the unfortunate ride. Having been isolated during the Descent, Sadie was completely unaware of what had happened, but she knew something was amiss as the Hunger rampaged through the world. Sadie deduced quickly that she wasn’t going to find help from the Tribunal and whatever solution could be found was up to her and her alone. As Sadie struggled and failed to contain her dangerous ward she could feel its power growing as it consumed more and more, and at the same time its swath of destruction grew wider. Though her power grew with the elderwood too, it never matched that of the Hunger. In her despair, Sadie was struck with a moment of brilliance. If her power could never match the Hunger no matter how much the tree grew, then she would just have to give her power away. Sadie began to weave powerful, self-destructive spells of growth fueled by her own life-force, the tree’s life-force. In the wake of the rampaging Hunger, flowers blossomed instantly and trees rocketed up from the soil. Plants and animals’ gaping wounds were cinched shut. Sadie’s new life grew instantly in the wake of the Hunger’s destruction. Though the elderwood tree withered from Sadie’s powerful spell, the Hunger never ceased banqueting and the tree was nurtured just as fast as it wilted. Sadie considers it a temporary fix. Of course, all the new growth in the world doesn’t mean the damage wasn’t done, but for now, it’s the best Sadie can do to just keep the destruction limited.