Over the last few weeks, I’ve been discussing the Factions that appear in the Forgotten Realms for D&D 5E.
This week, I’m going to take a look at the Emerald Enclave.
Emerald Enclave History in Faerun
The Emerald Enclave was founded in the Year of the Thoughtful Man (374 DR) in the Vilhon Reach—on the island of Ilighon—by a group of druids prior to 717 DR. They were established as a powerful force when they defeated the Turmish forces sent to engage them by a conclave of wizards known as the Windlass.
In 1150 DR, the Emerald Enclave comes to the aid of the cities of the Vilhon Reach when the mohrg Borran Klosk raises undead armies to attack those cities. The druids of the Enclave cause the Alaeorum River to rise at the Battle of Morningstar Hollows, flooding the invading armies.
In 1358 DR, Silvanus provided his special blessing to the island of Ilighon.
The mohrg Borran Klosk rose again in 1370 DR and summoned an army of drowned ones to sack Alaghon. Haarn Brightoak and the Emerald Enclave came to Alaghon’s aid.
By 1372 DR, the Emerald Enclave had begun to establish splinter cells in other major forests across Faerun—the High Forest ,Cormanthor, Wealdath, and the Forests of the Great Dale. A series of portals were established to link Ilighon to each of the other locations, though the portal in Cormanthor was soon lost (disguised by misdirection and permanency spells to prevent it from being used by drow in the region).
Shadowmoon Crystalembers was the elven representative on the Elder Circle of the Emerald Enclave when the Spellplague hit in 1385 DR. She succumbed to a Shar-induced madness and changed her name to Cindermoon and slowly descended into insanity.
After the Spellplague, most of the order died or left. The remaining druids—those less experienced—harbored a deep hatred of the spellscarred, and the Enclave made efforts to stop the scar pilgrimages that passed through to the plaguelands south of Turmish.
In 1486 DR, the Chosen of Lathander, Stedd Whitehorn, cured Cindermoon of her madness. She changed her name back to Shadowmoon and reorganized and revitalized the Emerald Enclave.
Lost Mine of Phandelver
Reidoth was a druid and member of the Emerald Enclave who would visit the ruins of Thundertree to keep tabs on the situation there.
Rise of Tiamat
When the Cult of the Dragon attempted to bring Tiamat the Prime Material Plane, Delaan Winterhound, a half-elf ranger, came to the Council of Waterdeep as the lone representative of the Emerald Enclave. While he understood the need to stop the Cult, he was also focused on preserving the natural order. The Enclave also investigated the aftermath of cult raids led by a green dragon in the Misty Forest. Finally, druids and rangers answered the call to arms in the final battle, bringing their treant and griffon allies with them.
Princes of the Apocalypse
Haeleeya Hanadroum was the owner of the bathhouse in Red Larch and was an Emerald Enclave contact.
The Enclave had a stronghold in the form of a huge walled temple-farm dedicated to Chauntea, located in the Dessarin Valley. The stronghold was called Goldenfields.
Shadowtop Cathedral was a stand of towering shadowtop trees in the northwestern High Forest that was also an important meeting place for the Emerald Enclave in the area.
Members of the Emerald Enclave were among the delegation from Mirabar that went missing. They were going to meet the elves of the High Forest. The delegation included Dreena, a human druid, and Flameran Verminbane, a lightfoot Halfling scout.
Out of the Abyss
The Emerald Enclave tracked the corruption spreading through the flora and fauna of the Underdark back to Zuggtmoy and Jubilex. Morista Malkin was a shield dwarf scout in Gauntlegrym who trained scouts to reconnoiter the Underdark passages near the city. Her scouts were the wood elf Sladis Vadir—who disappeared while on a mission in the Underdark—and the shield dwarves Brim Coppervein, Thargus Forkbeard, and Griswalla Stonehammer.
Amarith Coppervein is a shield dwarf veteran who has built a zoo in the Underdark between Mantol-Derith and Gravenhollow.
Storm King’s Thunder
Dasharra Keldabar was a shield dwarf veteran who was retired from Waterdeep’s Griffon Cavalry. She lived north of the town of Fireshear in a mostly underground hovel, where she raised griffons, trained them as mounts, and taught people how to ride them.
The head of the council of the village of Jalanthar was a member of the Emerald Enclave named Quinn Nardrosz, a retired ranger.
The half-elf scout Ghalvin Dragonmoor was held prisoner by the hill giants in their den.
Tomb of Annihilation
The Emerald Enclave maintained a presence in Chult, focused on protecting the people from the undead menace. The Enclave maintained several well-camouflaged outposts in the jungle as hidden observation posts.
The druid Qawasha lived in Fort Beluarian and hired himself out as a guide to adventurers and explorers.
The Emerald Enclave in Published Sources
The Emerald Enclave first appeared in the D&D 2nd edition Vilhon Reach sourcebook for the Forgotten Realms. They made additional appearances in the Forgotten Realms setting books for both 3rd edition and 4th edition.
Using the Emerald Enclave in Your Campaign
The members of the Emerald Enclave have the following main beliefs:
- The natural order must be respected and preserved.
- Forces that seek to upset the natural balance must be destroyed.
- The wilderness can be harsh. Not everyone can survive in it without assistance.
Their goals are “to restore and preserve the natural order, keep the elemental forces of the world in check, keep civilization and the wilderness from destroying one another, and help others survive the perils of the wilderness.”
As Allies
The Emerald Enclave works well as a source of assistance for characters who spend time in the wilderness far from civilization, as long as they are not involved in upsetting the natural order. Those characters who work to keep the balance and protect nature make perfect allies for members of the Enclave.
Example Adventure: A necromancer has found the location of an ancient battle in the savage north of the Sword Coast region. She has been raising the undead and building an army that she intends to use to attack Neverwinter with the ultimate goal of establishing an undead empire with herself as the Empress. The characters stumble onto the increasing numbers of undead while traveling through the region and are able to track their creation back to the stronghold of the necromancer. However, getting past the undead horde and into the castle will need a diversion, and the Emerald Enclave may be willing to help create that diversion to assist the PCs in their mission to bring down the necromancer.
As Enemies
The Emerald Enclave will work against any group that, through their actions, unbalances the natural order. PCs might be hired by loggers from a local village that have been attacked by wild animals or monsters in a forest in which they are working, to protect the loggers while they cut down trees for their village. The Emerald Enclave may see this intrusion into the forest as a negative and unnecessary disruption of the natural order, and work against the PCs.
Characters as Members
Members of the Enclave generally work alone or in small numbers. A player character group that is focused on wilderness exploration (rangers, druids, etc.) may find that their goals align with those of this faction.
If one or more of the PCs wish to join the Emerald Enclave, the DM may choose to implement the rules for factions from the Adventurer’s League program.
The Emerald Enclave Campaign
Like the other factions, a campaign that revolves around all the PCs being members of the Emerald Enclave is a good option. If this option is chosen, the DM may wish to give all the PCs the Faction Agent background for free (thus giving each character two backgrounds). Alternately, the DM may just decide that the PCs gain the Safe Haven feature and the faction-specific equipment and not any of the other benefits of an extra background.
The Enclave is a good organization to use if the focus of the campaign is the untamed wilderness away from civilization. The Sword Coast region, especially in the north, provides great opportunities for adventure in the vast spaces between the cities.
Further, the independent nature of this faction works well with a party of adventurers, as they tend to prefer a certain amount of freedom in their choices of where to go and what to do. As long as they work towards maintaining a natural balance, they can travel and explore where they want, and help out those in need or protect nature when they stumble across something that is going wrong in a particular location.
Conclusion
The Emerald Enclave can be used in a Forgotten Realms campaign to spice up wilderness adventures and exploration. It is easy to use them as either allies or opposition, depending on what the PCs are doing in their current adventure.
Have you used the Emerald Enclave in your own campaign? Did they work with or against the PCs? Tell us about it in the comments.
Andrew J. Luther 
So its up to the DM as whether I HAVE to join any faction. I’m not in the AL (as far as I know), we are a small group playing at a book store, not online.
Thanks for the information.
If you’re playing in the Adventurer’s League, you can only join one of the factions. However, in a home game, there is nothing stopping someone from being a member of more than one faction. For example, joining the Harpers doesn’t automatically put you at odds with most of the goals of the Lords’ Alliance. As a DM, I would allow a PC to become a member of more than one faction, but I would track their progress separately.
As far as not agreeing with the precepts of the Emerald Enclave, if your character doesn’t feel like he/she agrees with all the goals of the EE, then joining doesn’t make sense. And unless your DM demands that all the PCs join factions for some campaign reason, there’s no rule that says you must join a faction. Becoming a member of a faction is entirely optional for each character.
Having just finished the Hoard of the Dragon Queen and going into The Rise of Tiamat, I have learned that the Factions seem to be a big deal with some PC’s and the GM. Mostly the Harpers but the GM has put my PC in a situation with the Emerald Enclave rep that seems to have conflict arising. I am a Chaotic Good 1/2 Elf Cleric and I don’t see myself, in any way, in tune with the EE’s themes. While a nature domain cleric I don’t see myself completely neutral to the sufferings of beings and creatures in order to preserve nature.
What is it with the factions and do I have to “chose” one over the other?