Through perseverance and determination new things grow from the ashes of what has come before, taking root so they may thrive. The Tangled Boughs are a loosely knit collective of those bound together by camaraderie and entwined in common cause; to do good by others.A home for those whose unorthodox talents, skills, and motivations may seem complicated-at-best in the light of day, but may flourish in the shade. A sanctuary for the lost and overlooked, with fire in their hearts and mystery in their souls. A refuge for those that understand that there is not just one path ahead but many, each forged through thorn and bramble by those willing to bear the torch and light the way.The goals are lofty: To hunt down that which would seek to harm others. To protect the under-served and downtrodden. To be the conservators of knowledge lost and forgotten by many, and to seek the secrets that linger just beyond reach.

Nothing worth achieving is ever so simple, after all.

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From Ashen to Ashes...

No one had expected it.A notice of forfeiture, of seizure bearing the unmistakable seal of balanced scales. The wax was still warm. barely set.Each letter penned in sharp and unsympathetic script, an edict that may as well have been carved into stone. The grace of Nald'thal no longer balanced in the Ashen Clinic's favor, and there was very little that could be done to convince the Order otherwise. A charity, a group of wayward and well-meaning souls were no proper custodians of this vaunted place; they argued - the excuse they'd perhaps been waiting for, to dislodge charity from a city whose tenants were ensconced in the pursuit and glory of the almighty gilcoin.The walls around them rumbled. Fissures formed in hallways, giving hint of the endless passageways that yawned below. The strangeness that had been bearable in small doses had become unnerving and dangerous, as though the entire place was becoming unmoored from it's foundation; maybe from sense and reason itself. This wasn't a missing room, a hallway that led to a different wing than it had a sennight previous. It was no longer benign, and it had been noticed.A confluence of magic and aether -- a place of ancient rites and reason. A place of secrets that should have been left buried and forgotten. It never should have been in her - or any - hands, the papers argued. As lizards skittered along sandstone walls, and lights flickered and flared it became more difficult to argue otherwise.The cracks were beginning to show elsewhere, too, formed by the weight of compassion-borne fatigue and expectation.Milloux had once stated that one of the most difficult things to do was to extend a hand in help to someone when curling it into a fist would feel better. They could fight, they could perhaps even win. But what is more difficult is to understand that not every battle is worth waging, and that the hardest decision, at times, is to simply walk away.With as little fanfare as when it had first opened, so many turns past, the Clinic closed, and the organization known as the Ashen Enclave disbanded, it's members scattered like leaves on the wind.

The Rustling Leaves

**❧ **A story isn't finished just because a chapter is. Sometimes, one finds that what is needed to move forward isn't a light to guide the way, but a hand to hold in the dark; to allow the whole story to change course.That, and a realization that there is still so much to be done.With other organizations and charities flourishing, intervening to help in the same niches where the Enclave once stood nearly alone, the need to provide clinic services had diminished greatly. To witness the great progress in the Firmament gave hope that the City-states would hearken to the call and follow Ishgard's example to protect and provide for their own.The Ashen Enclave, as it had stood, was no longer needed.The decision was made from need seen elsewhere. In the unending calls for help in the form of bounties and levequests posted by the Citystates and by individuals. In finding a place to reconcile one's own past and not only set things right for one's self, but support others - to recommit one's self to the choice to do better for others than was done for them. A place to ask for help, understanding, and community for those who wish to reach for things just beyond their grasp....or perhaps don't yet know where their place is.**Safehaven. Refuge. Sanctuary. **In many ways, it was easier than expected to cast off the trappings of a formal charitable organization and focus inward. To set aside the mantle of 'Lady Advocate' and the weight of it's role and obligations. To instead reaffirm the bonds of camaraderie forged through adversity and strengthened through shared vision, and reach out to those scattered remnants of the Enclave and begin anew, together.

Taking Root in the Shade...

**❧ **Everything that comes next? _That's _the hard part.Spiritfall Hollow. A manor home and forgotten lodge on the precipice of being swallowed wholecloth by the Twelveswood, whose quiet halls rustle with leaves and dust and stories left undisturbed for generations.A place to lay down roots and begin anew. Bit by bit, life returned to it's halls, a mission changed and reaffirmed by each new face seeking home and refuge within it's walls. No longer one goal, but many.A cycle marked by growth and loss, of seeking new allies and connection. In discoveries strange and unnerving, even as pieces of the past are laid to rest and reconciled.Work worth doing is never an easy thing, after all.

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Our Mission (OOC)

**❧ **The Boughs were borne of the desire to continue the Ashen Enclave's legacy and core tenets while allowing our characters to follow the course of their development. By doing so, giving us the space to pursue new avenues and opportunities for collaborative storytelling and community engagement without the rigid format and structure of the previous organization.It was also an opportunity to hit a soft 'reset' button and re-evaluate what we wanted as a group, and to reorganize ourselves in a manner that would allow the game to continue being fun for us, going forward. It was not an easy decision to close the doors on the Ashen Enclave, but one we knew needed to be made.It is our goal to continue providing a small low-key, welcoming and close-knit community for our members and friends - with major emphasis on that last word. We believe that creativity blossoms most in a supportive environment, and we are all invested in each other’s stories.We are committed as a group to creating diverse character-driven storylines, plots, and events (both long and short-term, social and adventure-oriented) as well as providing resources for our members to develop their own. We encourage our members to bring their own ideas to the table, and want to work with our FCmates, collaborating with one another for the sake of mutual character development and storytelling.

• FC Structure
• Combat System

Themes + Goals

- **❧ **Morally Grey / Complicated (Maintaining a preference for characters that wish to 'do good', but understanding that this can come in many complicated forms and ideals. Someone has to be willing to do the 'bad things' sometimes required to help good people.)- **❧ **Supernatural / Horror / Adventure / Intrigue / Research / Reclamation - In addition to continuing storylines based around helping others, we are diving further into 'darker' themes, giving our characters new facets of the world around them, and themselves, to explore. Magic, voidcritters, cursed artifacts, wildlings, just plain bad dudes, and myriad other other problems needing poking.- **❧ **Lore-plausible, not lore-breaking. We continue to believe in an environment that allows creativity to flourish, understanding that lore should be a guideline for interesting stories, not have a stranglehold on them. We will allow some latitude for nontraditional character concepts and ideas on a case-by-case basis.- **❧ **Diverse platforms. We utilize a blend of in-game, discord, and roll20 based RP depending on which platform works best for individual scenes and stories - both standalone and parts of larger campaigns. We are currently developing a homebrew combat system, to allow a character's abilities and talents to shine.- **❧ **The Job Ledger - regularly posted marks, jobs, and small-scale adventures to be used as RP starters and an opportunity for our members to dip their toes into DMing in a low-pressure and encouraging environment.- **❧ **Community Events - we remain committed to providing RP events and opportunities for the greater Crystal-DC RP community; both small / casual one-off events and larger productions. We are currently discussing what form these will take, but will likely include the continuation of our Workshop series, albeit with slightly different direction and tone.- **❧ **Social / Slice of Life RP - As a group, we enjoy attending events together around the Crystal DC, or just engaging in lowkey and lowstakes social RP together outside of major storylines or events. These might include sparring nights, or just hanging around and having a drink together.- **❧ **Other Content - While we are primarily an RP FC and we have absolutely no expectations of our members participation outside of RP-related content, we do other stuff together as well!- We frequently run older content for mounts, glams, and minions together. We also organize Map, PVP, HoH/PotD, and Bozja / Eureka groups. We also have regular Movie Nights, or play other games together, too!

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