Our Lady of the Pitfalls and Pixies is hosting the RPG Blog Carnival for the month of June and has selected the Third Fey March as the theme. What is this? As defined by our Lady herself, its goal is «to provide the tabletop gaming community with more Faerie/Fey themed content». I’ll call the coincidence card here: my next entry for the guilds of Ravnica was about the Selesnya Conclave, so I’ll write about two of its elements which are related to feys. First, we’ll talk about Trostani and its mysterious origins, giving alternate abilities to those we can encounter in the «Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica». Then, I’ll introduce to a new creature you can use as summoned servants and offensive power for nature-oriented characters: the saprolings.

Trostani

     «Are you there, Sister?»
«I don’t know. I can feel a vibration. It has to be her.»
     «Follow it. You’re further than last time.»
«It’s like she’s everywhere but I can’t find her. I know she’s there but… it’s too much.»
     «Sister… focus…»
«It’s too much.»

Trostani is the guildmaster of the Selesnya Conclave on Ravnica, and speaker for Mat’Selesnya, the parun of the guild. She is a fusion of three dryads. Each of the three heads represents a Selesnyan value: order, life, and harmony. Before becoming Trostani, the three dryads had separate names and personalities.

• Oba was wild and full of life. Her hair was tangled with leaves and vines. Her eyes shifting with her moods, from green like flecks of emerald and jade to smoky brown.
• Ses was ordered in manner and speech. Her hair was held in place by a headpiece made of goldenwood, and fell to her shoulders in a cascade of auburn.
• Cim was the eldest and the bridge between the other two sisters. Despite being a small, slight dryad, everyone within the Selesnya Conclave could feel the power within her. She would always find a way to balance the needs of one with the other.

When the Selesnya Conclave lost their connection to Mat’Selesnya, the World Tree, disarray was all around the guild. Three dryad sisters, Oba, Ses, and Cim, went into a deep trance to try and connect with Mat’Selesnya. During their trance, they were aided by Suniel who bound them to an old oak tree. Upon connecting with Mat’Selesnya, this old Parun fused the three dryads with the World Tree, creating Trostani.

Up to recently, the three heads of Trostani have been in discord. While Harmony remained mysteriously and utterly silent, Order argueed in favor of a peace treaty with the other guilds, while Life wanted to focus on building the strength of the Conclave. The fact that the dryads were divided meant that Trostani was virtually paralyzed and faded into the background of events, causing the elf diplomat Emmara Tandris to step forward in order to fill the void in leadership.

Trostani appears in the «Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica», page 252. As an 18th-level challenge, it probably doesn’t need any more powers and abilities, but we’ll give it one more nonetheless.

Imbue Saproling. As an action, Trostani can create a Selesnya crystal, which hosts a saproling for it to be summoned by a fellow member of the Conclave at a later time. These crystals can be activated by spending a spell slot of 3rd level or higher.

Saprolings

Saprolings are cultivated, fungus or plant-based lifeforms (sapro-ling literally means “putrid thing” or “thing from rot”). Though capable of reproducing by spontaneous generation, they are usually created by thallids or treefolk. «Saproling» seems to be a generic term for small plant/fungus creatures rather than a specific species. In Ravnica, they are much more plant-like than the fungal Dominarian saprolings, resembling crystals enveloped in floral tendrils. They are particulary common in the Selesnya Conclave, where they bond with the guild’s root-kin elementals, and the Golgari Swarm, in which they are made of the bond between plants and rotting flesh that the guild seems to exemplify.

Saprolings can be given away as protection by Trostani, and also as a token of appreciation to adventurers who have embarked in mission on its behalf.

If you want to know more about how the three Sisters became Trostani, be sure to check out «The Great Concourse», a short story by Adam Lee.