Bronwyn MacGruder

Keeper of the homestead's walled garden and its ledgers, the most careful observer in The Forgelands, and the only person Elara visits deliberately.

Bronwyn MacGruder

Bronwyn MacGruder is the middle child of the MacGruder family and the keeper of two things: the walled garden in the homestead's sheltered northern corner, and the ledgers that track everything the homestead produces, trades, and owes. Both are kept immaculately, and both contain more information than anyone else in The Forgelands has thought to ask for.

Known Role

Bronwyn manages the homestead's accounts and seed stock. Her crop records are the primary evidence base for the Stone of Growth's documented effects; it was her yield ledgers, kept season over season with identical method, that turned a farmer's hunch into an archival fact. The Archives' agricultural data is, in honesty, mostly Bronwyn's data.

The Garden

The walled garden grows things the fields do not: rare flowers, experimental crossings, and several plants Bronwyn has not labeled and will not discuss. Elara visits the garden without announcement, and Bronwyn is the only person in The Forgelands she appears to seek out rather than merely tolerate. Asked what they talk about, Bronwyn said "growing things," in a tone that closed the topic.

Character

Bronwyn is precise, patient, and dry. She corrects the Archives' figures when they drift, which is appreciated, and notices when entries about her family are softened, which is unnerving.

Field Notes

She has formally requested that if the Forgotten Seed is ever to be planted, it be planted in her garden. The request is on file. So is the Archives' hesitation.

Related Records

Related Locations

MacGruder Family HomesteadActive
The farming compound and family seat of the MacGruder villagers, anchoring the agricultural district of the northern plains.
Cherry MountainDiscovered
A cherry-grove mountain on the western horizon, surveyed but deliberately left wild, and the most likely place to encounter Elara.

Related Characters

Drugal MacGruderActive
Patriarch of the MacGruder family and master smith of The Forgelands, whose standards define what counts as proper work.
Roric MacGruderActive
Eldest of the MacGruder children, fieldhand and roadworker, and the family's reluctant expert on the caves of Scalloped Gulch.
Lorne MacGruderActive
Youngest of the MacGruder children, officially the keeper of the chickens, unofficially the homestead's early-warning system.
ElaraUnknown
A wandering keeper bound in some way to the Stone of Growth, who appears in The Forgelands on her own schedule and answers questions by deciding which ones were asked.

Related Artifacts

Stone of GrowthActive
A weathered standing stone in the homestead fields whose presence measurably accelerates crop growth, and whose keeper is Elara.
Forgotten SeedUnknown
A single unidentifiable seed of unknown origin, currently held in secure storage, which Elara says was planted too early and will therefore sprout late.

Referenced By

Forgotten SeedUnknown
A single unidentifiable seed of unknown origin, currently held in secure storage, which Elara says was planted too early and will therefore sprout late.
Stone of GrowthActive
A weathered standing stone in the homestead fields whose presence measurably accelerates crop growth, and whose keeper is Elara.
Drugal MacGruderActive
Patriarch of the MacGruder family and master smith of The Forgelands, whose standards define what counts as proper work.
ElaraUnknown
A wandering keeper bound in some way to the Stone of Growth, who appears in The Forgelands on her own schedule and answers questions by deciding which ones were asked.
Lorne MacGruderActive
Youngest of the MacGruder children, officially the keeper of the chickens, unofficially the homestead's early-warning system.