Reytna

Reytna is a Hexblood Ranger who primarily lives in the Reaching Woods of the Western Heartlands. Although blessed with long life, they have not made good use of it spending their first fifty years traversing the forest and getting to know the fauna and flora. They're known for their lack of people skills, white hair, and a living pepperomia crown that is hidden under their bangs.

Early Life
Having no memory of early childhood, Reytna spent most of the first few decades in the woods living amongst the forest and theanimals. Villagers from Scornubel would often use these woods to hunt and it wasn't long until Reytna was discovered by a group of them. Driven by an insatiable need for knowledge, Reytna slowly began to investigate the city and it's people. Although initially cautious, the villagers would occasionally allow Reytna to trade or learn skills from the townspeople. Reytna learned to keep their living crown hidden in order to pass as human or Elvish within the city of Scornubel and eventually settled down on the outskirts of the city. They were eventually allowed to take classes at the city's university where Reytna discovered a passion for written knowledge. Eventually Reytna worked their way up into a researcher position, notably focused on the flora of the Reaching Woods. Being at the university allowed Reytna to read as many book as they wanted and living near Scornubel gave them opportunities to learn different languages and interact with different types of individuals. Although being at the university allowed Reytna to temporarily satisfy their curiosity, the forest slowly began to call them back and soon Reytna permanently moved back into the woods.

The Woods
Living in the woods proved much easier for Reytna as there was no one to see their lack of aging. Once fully settled back in the forest, Reytna began to grow curious about their origins and the meaning of their hexblood status.

The Campaign
Reytna was passing through the heart of the woods when they noticed the Heart Tree looking incredibly sickly. The tree itself was covered in a sticky black substance that oozed down from the tips of the leaves. After tasting the substance Reytna discovered it was not any type of sap but instead a poison that had origins in dark magic. Desperate to heal the tree Reytna began to make their way out of the forest. On their way they were greeted by a stag with silver antlers who claimed to be responsible for Reytna's existence and who wanted the tree to be healed. Flustered and frustrated by the sudden appearance, Reytna responded to the stag with hostility and did not learn its name or true purpose. Reytna left the Reaching Woods and traveled through the Western Heartlands until reaching Phandalin where they stopped at the Stonehill Inn. Stopping at the inn proved to be a disastrous mistake as much to Reytna's irritation. While Reytna did not pay much mind to the innkeeper Liam or the small girl (Jeis) who hung around him, she did notice when a ghastly looking soldier (Torhd) walked into the inn, his presence breaking the doorframe. Curious about this new stranger, Reytna watched as he ordered a meal he never ate and sat down to play poker with Jeis, a dwarf, and a young human. Jeis easily convinced Tordh to hand over money for the game and Reytna watched as the table seemed to split in two in response to Tordh's fist. Reytna takes notice of how Jeis pockets the extra money and covers for Tordh. Due to unfortunate circumstance, Reytna was forced to join a small crew comprising of Jeis, Torhd, and Banks to complete some favors for Liam.

Roped Inn
While eating a meal Reytna observes Jeis threating a mean old lady with a knife. Although suspicious at first that the old woman might be a hag, Reytna interjects and takes the knife from Jeis and informs her that they know Jeis is connected to dark magic. Reytna decides to stick around with Jeis because they believe Jeis is naive enough to lead them to a more powerful dark magic user and that the situation with Torhd is too good of a mystery to give up. After heading to the town job board and picking a job to convince an old lady to evacuate her windmill, the crew makes their way over to the windmill where they encounter a manticore stalking the tower. Torhd makes the decision to run headfirst into action and try to attack the manticore with Reytna not far behind while Jeis and Banks attempt to scale the tower to rescue the refugees inside. Once the manticore is distracted by the illusion, Banks and Tordh assist the refugees down the tower and out to the woods. Reytna notices that Jeis is still in the tower and makes the decision to climb up the side of the tower to reach the inside. Although intially able to hit the manticore with a couple arrows, both Reytna and Jeis are impaled by spikes and left to bleed out. Banks and Torhd return from the woods and Banks climbs the tower to heal both Reytna and Jeis while Torhd stays on the ground and slays the manticore. The group returns to the forest and rests.

Dead Trees and Flying Things
The group returns to Phaladin and collects their reward from the mayor before returning to Stonehill Inn. The group eats, drinks, and recovers before Reytna turns in for the night. The next morning, Reytna meets up with Banks and a new addition; a halfling named Riras Tallfellow. Torhd and Jeis are nowhere to be found and Riras mentions a sickly tree in one of his woods. Interest piqued, Reytna is more than happy to temporarily abandon the two missing crew members in order to search out this tree. Reiris leads Banks and Reytna to the woods and to the specific tree, which has the same sickness as the tree in the Reaching Woods. The crew finds a campsite that someone had recently stayed at and Reytna finds a mostly empty potion bottle thrown into the bushes. The potion bottle contains a small amount of the black viscous fluid. Reiris identifies the fluid as belonging to dark magic of the necrotic type from the 9th plane, which Reytna had previously learned a large amount about. Reiris claims his patron is from the third circle and names a fake patron and Reytna immediately becomes suspicious of him. The three of them suddenly encounter a peryton, which manages to down Reiris before Reytna is able to shoot an arrow through its brain. The entire crew regroups at the Inn and Reytna soon retires to their bedroom.

Decisions and Departures
Reytna once again dreams of the silver stag, who approaches her under the Heart Tree. Desperate for more information from the stag regarding the tree and their own life, Reytna asks for help. The stag explains that there are dark forces at work that wish to destroy the mortal plane and that one of these dark forces is pushing its way onto the mortal plane and its essence is poisoning the trees. As the stag lays its head down, Reytna realizes the stag is Artemis, Goddess of Hunting. Phihana explains the tragedy that has happened to her party and requests that the group head to Leilon to begin the search for Finn and Rune. Before they leave the party stops to get more supplies. Once they make it to Leilon, Reytna notices the rampant poverty and outright poor quality of life that the citizens of Leilon have as well as some figures lurking in the shadows. They go to the temple of Tymora where Reytna makes an offering of one silver to the goddess before meeting Rose, the leader of Tymora's congregation in Leilon. Rose takes the party to a back room and explains the event surrounding the Thieves' Guild and Rune's past. Rose suggests the party go to Crusty's Tavern. Upon entering, the tavern seems a lot rougher than what Reytna is used to and their initial impression is a tavern full of thugs and bandits.

The Hunt Begins
Reytna suggests that the party split up in order to intercept the bandits in Rassalantar suggesting that Phihana, Porter, Tar’an, and themselves go look for them. They suggest the rest of the party head to Neverwinter while making a stop in Phandolin. Reytna and the rest head towards Rassalantar on horseback, passing an old man begging for coins. Once they reach Rassalantar they head to the local tavern and meet Jagger, who is able to point them in the correct direction.

Birds & Pray
Jagger points Phihana, Reytna, Porter, and Tar’an toward the bandits and they head up to a cabin with a sign in front that says "Welcome Loved Ones". The cabin is clearly a front for a cult and Reytna asks to speak with someone in charge. Reytna convinced the leader that Hawk told them to meet with her there, and the leader tells the group that Hawk is not there and wont be back. Reytna asks for a pamphlet and receives a brochure for the Golden Sun. The cult begins to sing together and the group look for a member who looks young and may not fit in as well. They find Levi, who tells them that Hawk and Wolf came and took his friend Koji who had been talking about their rituals.