Although few tales of the shifters of Isonhound spread beyond the continent, one in particular is occasionally shared at campfires and inns across Quelmar. According to the bards, an unusually old shifter referred to as Magnite the Mad, had a particular talent for using her nails—and teeth—to create impressive works out of wood. Her skill, they say, was unmatched.
Magnite lived alone in on the outskirts of the forest where the Alluvium tribe reside. She is said to have traded with visitors of all tribes and races, seemingly oblivious to the conflicts around her (so long as she remained unthreatened). It is unclear how folks knew to find her, but she sourced woods—both delicate and hardy—from across Quelmar for her works. Some left with pendants, others with staffs, others still with carts full of tables and chairs.
Beyond her talent for carving, she was particularly remembered for her perplexing responses to questions. Most notably, when asked by the then chief of the Alluviam tribe if she knew what had become of the chief’s staff—a large unwieldy piece of black walnut passed down for generations—she responded, “Of course. It’s on the edge!” and refused to elaborate. Only two years later, when a youngster was walking a cliffside edge near the borders of the tribe’s land, was her meaning revealed. The iconic dark staff—whittled into a remarkable piece, with vines intertwined over a cobalt gemstone—had been carefully inserted into the hollow of a tree. In front of the tree, so found the youngster, were hundreds of orc bodies, several days expired and all marked by the remnants of magic. Magnite the Mad, and her curious sense of foresight years prior, had warded off an attack from a neighboring orc tribe without anyone realizing it. When a representative of the tribe later questioned her about the staff, she merely took it from his hands and threw it onto a pile of goods. (The representative was then made to hand over several gold pieces to reacquire it and return it to the chief.)
Those who know her—and those after some coin—attempted to capitalize on Magnite's gift of foresight, purchasing her carved items in hopes that they might be more than a charm or totem. But only time will tell which of her items might actually change the fate of the realm. Because her items were never signed, it’s possibly they already have.
