The Travelling Tumblers of the Autumn Peak

Monastery

Originally a group of scholarly monks that lived in a monastery on the side of a mountain known only as the "Autumn Peak", the Travellers left for a reason now lost to time. For as long as any of the current group can remember, they have travelled. It has been so long since they last saw their ancient monastery that the very location of the Autumn Peak has been lost as well. There is speculation that this is either somewhere within the Glittergloom Mountains or even within the Feywild itself, and was lost when the Planes last clashed.

Either way, the travellers practice still as a loosely structured monastery with a Grandmaster and then a hierarchy of masters below them, numbering about sixty strong. They train their young, and while they are mostly considered Vae'Nadas Elves, others have joined them over their long years. They are open to any who wish to pursue a simple life of performance and travel, often taking in waifs and strays who have been rejected by other communities. They practice a form of martial arts and bending the energy within one's own body that comes from old methods of acrobatics and physical performances. This is combined with a love of life, a celebration of the world around them and a long tradition of brewing beers, which has led to their method of fighting being confused with drunkenness due to their staggering, swaying form. Their aim is not to harm others, but to use the momentum of others to their advantage, avoiding harm being done to the monks and instead redirecting attacks towards the allies of their attackers.

Performances

Wherever the travellers go, they entertain. They do this without request for payment and without discrimination. They will share anything that they have with others, including their skills. Their performances are acrobatic by nature, including silks strung from trees and aerial displays, tossing one another through the air, through flaming rings or over sharp stakes, trapeze work and tight ropes as well as dramatic recreations of famous historical battles. They are jesters, tumblers, dancers and storytellers.

Their performances have never discriminated and they have travelled the length and breadth of The Weald, performing at the Flower and Cups in Mosstone, for the Dwarves and Gnomes at Gloomhollow Deep, for all types of Elves, for the Order of the Silver Hand, for the Orcs at their Allmoot, for Old Mag deep within the woods and for the rebels.

Ethos

The travellers don't have many rules that they impose on their members, but they do have a few standards that they hold themselves to.

''Share what you have, even if you don't have a lot.

Spread the joy you find in the world, especially where there isn't much joy to be had.

Protect those who can't protect themselves.

''Everyone is equal, no matter who or what they are. Treat everyone with kindness until they prove they are not worthy of it. Even then, treat them with respect.

Feywild Incursion

The travellers are used to wandering the forest unimpeded, protected by the blessing they obtain every four years from Old Mag. Recently, the forest has become unsafe even with her blessing and so the travellers have set up a camp rather than continuing to wander. When this began, they were travelling North along the River Avain from Mosstone to perform for a few very exclusionary Vae'Nolar communities. For this reason, they left their resident tiefling, Mirth, behind with Faygrace Cobbletoss and her wife, as they have every ten years when they make this trip to the North since they got him. Before Faygrace and Marla were together, the tiefling often stayed with Marla's family due to the risk of him being killed on sight by the Vae'Nolar.

Important Figures

The current leader of the travellers is Grandmaster Caelia Dawnflower, a tall and strong Elven woman with long red hair, a ruddy complexion and freckles. She claims to have been born in the monastery on the Autumn Peak, but does not recall where this was and no one else is old enough to verify that this is true.

The two masters serving under her are Vandrin Landonel and Allistra Retharan, the masters of defence and offence respectively. Vandrin is a tall, willowy Elven man who is softly spoken and known to be very kind. Originally from one of the Vae'Hilé tribes, he left to join the travellers after a performance they held for his family. He keeps himself to himself and rarely bites back if someone attempts to irritate him. Allistra is a dark skinned, dark haired Elven woman who while just as kind and softly spoken, won't let anyone speak down to her. She was originally one of the Vae'Nolar from the northern end of The Weald who left after a falling out with her family. The travellers found her lost in the woods and took her with them.