The Black Forest Awakens

For many centuries, the ancient eaves of the Black Forest have stood in brooding silence, undisturbed by any save the occasional animal to scamper through the forest's depths, or an adventurous traveler who braved the dangers of the dark wood. None thought that anything could ever threaten the powerful forest that had stood for ages upon ages.

But a rogue wind blew over the world, bringing disturbing chill to the deep jungles of Itzatl, where a small group of toucans was nesting. It will never be known what caused these tropical birds to take off from their natural home. All that is known is one evening, a sick toucan lost its strength over the eaves of the Black Forest and plummeted down unto its death.

Nothing may have come of this except for a curious symbiosis, for within their natural habitat, the toucans were often the carriers of tiny eggs - the eggs of rather large ants who feasted upon the leaves of the rainforest, keeping the foliage from spreading too far. Yet these useful creatures quickly turned into destructive monsters as the first leaf-eating ant crawled out from beneath a toucan's wing and set off into the unfamiliar depths of the Black Forest.

Duiran was immediately concerned, sending many forest dwelling folk to destroy the ants. Yet no matter how quickly they were slain, more and more continued to hatch. Exhausted, a group of forestals paused to take a breath before the ant-infested shape of an ancient oak. It was then that truly strange things began to happen.

The Goddess Slyphe, desperate to find help for the forests wherever it could be found, decided to contact a most unlikely source - Her Divine Sister Chakrasul, the Lady of Corruption. Chakrasul, who seemed to be in an uncharacteristically benevolent mood that day, suggested that the Forests attempt to destroy the ants by destroying their food - namely, by exterminating a fire circle of sorts. Noting the adverse reactions of all to this necromantic suggestion, She quickly revised Her idea, stating that perhaps fire might be a better alternative. Yet still, the forest folk seemed reluctant to accept Her advice. Growing irritated with the lack of action on their part, Chakrasul decided to act on impulse. She touched the ancient oak, channeling some of Her divinity to briefly brush past it. With a burst of energy, a feminine shape tumbled out of the tree, coalescing into a beautiful dryad.

Surprised with the strange outcome of Her actions, Chakrasul withdrew, stating that She had no more interest nor knowledge in the goings on of trees, and that the forest folk would simply have to figure it out themselves, since obviously Her advice was not necessary. In the meantime, the dryad was slowly getting herself together, trying to figure out how, after many centuries of sleep, she had been awoken in such a rude manner. The first thing she did upon regaining some sense of direction was to burst out crying.

Through hysterical sobs, the Dryad told everyone gathered about the horrible pain she was suffering because of the ants and the people of Thera, who came often to chop down her favourite trees. Despite her desperate pleas, many of those gathered remained cautious, unwilling to believe a creature who had apparently been evoked by Chakrasul. With a final tantrum, the dryad embedded herself within the tree, refusing to come out again.

Bewildered, the group began to discuss what precisely would have to be done about the strange occurrence. Someone suggested that perhaps fire might be a good way to go. To their surprise, the ancient oak began to rustle fiercely at those words, encouraging the action. After several solid thumps on the part of the oak, the forest folk finally decided to give it a try, setting fire to the small field where the oak stood. The ants upon the tree burst into miniature flames, and with a great sigh the ancient oak shuddered, shaking them off. "Get those flames off of me!" he suddenly thundered. For a moment, the entire group stood in shock at hearing a tree actually speak. Yet after a moment of stunned silence, they quickly fell to pouring buckets of water over the ancient oak, until nothing remained of the flames except a few charred leaves.

The only one who seemed unsurprised at the turn of events seemed to be the oak himself. In fact, he was thoroughly amused at the forest folk's surprise that a tree could actually talk, move, and act as any sentient being. He explained that many ages ago, the trees of the Black Forest walked its paths freely, and it was not until a great sorcerer placed a spell of deep sleep upon the forest that they had receded into their slumber.

The oak did not seem overly inclined to speak much further, stating simply that he had every intention of attempting to awaken the rest of his slumbering people. For several months, he wandered the paths of the Black Forest, stomping on the ants as he pondered the best way to reach the sleeping trees. At last, the solution came to him, and his thundering cries echoed over the land as he called on the Elder Trees to awaken.

First to rise from her slumber was a beautiful willow, who quickly set off to awaken the lesser trees of her kind. After the willow came the silvery beech, followed by the majestic pine and at last the colorful, proud maple. As one, they bowed to the Elder Oak, calling him their liege and overlord, for he was revealed to be the eldest of all Trees, the King of the Black Forest. As they spoke, the smaller trees of the forest began to awaken, tiny sapling staggering back and forth on their wobbly roots, followed closely by graceful trees in the prime of their strength.

The trees told all those gathered that the ancient forest they now stood in was once called the Morgun forest, stretching far and wide in every direction. It was the realm of trees, where no animal chose to live, for within the forest, the ancient race of Elder trees kept a watch on their younger children. Although surprised that the time of the Awakening had come again, the trees made known their joy at being able to walk , think, and feel once more. They warned all those gathered that they would not tolerate injustices against their kind, but added that all who would call themselves friends of the forests and the trees were welcome beneath the forest's eaves. And so, an ancient era had once more come to pass, for now those who have slumbered long in unresponsive apathy have once more awoken to fill this world with their unique life.