The Curator

The Curator is a mysterious fey power found around the forests of Isonhound, often times working for mysterious reasons and asking favors and demands of the mortals of Quelmar for what he deems is ultimately "the greater good"

About

Quotes from interviews with the Wold Order about the Curator:

"He is a Fae loose canon that shouldn't be trusted any farther than you can throw him. The Wold Order Council should have nothing to do with him."

"I personally like the fellow, though his attention to the matters of the Wold Council make him a limited asset. He seems to pick and choose the issues he would like to deal with."

"It would be nice to have known he was spying on us as we discussed the issues of Cheshire and his connection to the Shadow Forges. Rather, he simply went off on his own and unleashed a force of heroes into the forges."

"If he ever decides to accept a seat at the Wold Order Council, I will endorse him fully. Though, I doubt that will ever occur in anyones lifetime."

Interferences

The Curator interacts with Quelmar only in dire times, interfering in ways often described as "putting a thumb on the scale".

The Shadow Forge Shutdown

In the months leading up to the Umbral Flood, which devoured Isonhound, leading to shadowfell energy to decimate the forests and kill unknown numbers, was perhaps one of the most Curator-interfered points of time. While the Curator couldn't stop the Umbral Flood, it's generally agreed that his actions beforehand seemed to be an attempt to stop it, rather than cause it.

His first appearance at the time was in 825 PR where he took the form of a frog in Direheart Pond. After being kissed, he took the form of a naked satyr and an elegantly clothed elf, reinforcing that he was one with the sylvan and elven nature of Isonhound itself. It was there that he introduced the Isonhound heroes to a major secret: At the fringes of Quelmar and the Shadowfell in the space between the planes, a Shadow Forge had been set up.

Possibly thinking that the Shadow Forge would be the source of Isonhound's Umbral Flood, the Curator put a heavy thumb on the scale and lent a shocking amount of power and intel to the heroes of Isonhound on an assault that would be later known as The Shadow Forge Shutdown, going so far as to lead them to a rare Purple Dragon.

After the Shadow Forge was shutdown, he was in debt to several heroes, and repaid those debts in various ways. In one instance, he helped the heroes of the Band of the Iron Hawk navigate to the dragon ridden land of Kiston in search for a specific red dragon who had wronged the band's leader.

Against Feredemius

In the weeks leading up to The Battle of Five Lights, the Curator summoned a group of heroes, who had previously fallen asleep in their own beds, only to wake up in The Feywild. Each had their own cottage which was in a semicircle, and when they had a delicious fey breakfast delivered to them, they met with the Curator, who presented as a magnificent and glorious archfey.

He believed that he could help the heroes with their fight to save Umbralhound from the shadows, he could help them cork up the shadow energies that are perpetually pouring out of the mountain, which could in theory also flood the entire realm. In order to cork it up, the heroes would need to go inside the Northern Snowy Mountains themselves, at the heart of the disaster. By opening fey gates across the realm, he quickly helped them gather a small team of allies including Falgrim Norest, Longfang, and Gideon. Together that team formulated a plot to blow up a magical bomb under the mountains that would collapse the rift. Thanks to ancenstral schematics from Trina, a bomb was crafted and planted.

Behind the Screen

The Curator is inspired by a number of "hand-wavy" fantasy and science fiction characters such as "Q" from Star Trek or the titular Doctor Who. When and where he appears can seem to be random, but is almost always in a scene of great importance to the fate of the realm. His shape shifting also bears a resemblance to DC Comics' Mr.Mxyzptlk.