Vepris

Guarding the entrance to the Heart of the Grotto are two Gaolers so old, their spirits have entwined with the forest around them, their long claws more like roots, their massive horns like branches. Flowers and moss adorn their hides. They are like earth golems, guardians of the Behemoth. And they watch with stony eyes as you enter. Yes, they are fused with the forest, but that does not mean they do not feel. They do. And they are in love.

Vepris is the spirit of the young trees. Saplings, new species, new buds in spring taking root are all him. He is bright, talkative, and knows every single shoot and shrug by name. As a Gaoler and a golem, he lives mostly above and away from the rest of the Heart, but he adores talking to Tierney and Phythan, the botanical caretakers of the Grotto, who help cultivate his children into larger and better plants than he could have ever dreamed of. Vepris may seem young in terms of age or appearance, but you'd be unwise to let that fool you. He is as old as the Behemoth itself. Perhaps, even, as old as the Glademother Herself.