Mearedes in her jungle home.

The Lore

Mearedes is a goliath druid, the self-appointed Sentinel of Shault. Shault, in turn, is a hidden island paradise in the Sea of Silt, one of the greenest areas remaining in the Tyr Region, largely thanks to the efforts of Mearedes and her disciples.

Those disciples are the giants Shakka and Shola, and the dwarf Hippolexes. They, their master, and a few volunteers from the local stone and beast giant communities intercept any strangers making landfall on Shault, and demand they subject themselves to a ritual that prevents them from ever speaking about the island to others. Those who refuse are killed. As you might imagine, very few people ever return from Shault, and those who do aren’t saying anything about it.

Though Mearedes has an age-lined face, she’s still as spry as a young goliath, and has received the respectful title of “Little Grandmother” from the local giants. Those who help her and her friends fight off threats to Shault will find her to be a stalwart ally.

The Numbers

Mearedes, as mentioned, is a Goliath. She’s also a Level 18 Controller with 176 HP, Speed 6, and a lot of Classic Druid Powers, which might look very exotic to typical Athasian characters.

She fights in melee with a Thorny Staff that damages and slows for a turn; and at range with Flame Seeds that deal fire damage, and inflict 5 fire damage on any enemy that enters one of the squares adjacent to the target or starts their turn there before the end of her next turn. This means the target can take this additional damage if they try to move.

And then there’s the expected Lashing Vines (recharge 6+), a fireball-sized area attack that damages and then creates a zone of hazardous difficult terrain that lasts for the rest of the encounter. It damages and slows those caught inside. Yes, this is a recharge power, so the battlemap will become rougher and rougher as time goes on.

As a minor action, Mearedes can assume the Form of the Ghost Panther for a turn and shift 3 squares. In this form, she cannot attack but gains +4 Speed, insubstantial, and phasing. She can end this as a free action or sustain it for another turn as a minor action. And she also has the Goliath Stone’s Endurance encounter power, which lets her gain Resistance 10 to all damage for a turn.

Encounters and Final Impressions

Mearedes will almost always be accompanied by her three apprentices (whose stats are left as an exercise for the reader) and by as many stone and beast giants you need to make the fight interesting. She’s also clearly meant to be more of an ally than an enemy here, so she or some of her apprentices could also tag along with the group for a short while.