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Difference between revisions of "Morgun Forest"
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In a previous Age, one before the Great Artifice, the Morgun Forest stood as testament | |||
to the power of nature. The flora of the Morgun were more active than most of what | |||
one would find in the other forests of Sapience. At some unknown point in time, the | |||
ancestors of the citizens of [[Arbothia]] decided to settle in the area. Being unable | |||
to remove the nuisance of the trees from the land they wanted to settle, the settlers | |||
wove a powerful spell to enchant the trees and put them to sleep. The trees slumbered, | |||
becoming quiet and unmoving like those in other forests. The settlers chopped down the | |||
trees for timber, and built the settlement that would come to be the village of [[Thera]]. | |||
Time passed, and with it came the Great Artifice. Even the villagers of Thera forgot | |||
that the forest had once been awake, and that the trees and bushes had moved about | |||
as they pleased. The Therans went about their daily lives as craftsmen and harvesters | |||
until one fateful day when the forest was touched by a jungle. A group of toucans took | |||
wing, flying on a path different from the one their ilk usually followed. One of | |||
these birds was ill, and it perished on the odd path, plummeting into the Black Forest. | |||
The toucans of the Itzatl Rainforest have a symbiotic relationship with a type of | |||
parasitic ant. In the rainforest, these leaf-cutting ants served to trim the thick | |||
foliage of the jungle trees, but in a deciduous forest they served to upset the entire | |||
ecosystem. Some of these ants emerged from the corpse of the toucan and began to infest | |||
the local trees, stripping leaf and bark in a ravenous fashion. [[Duiran]] took note of | |||
the invaders and attempted to thin their numbers, but no matter how many of the ants were slain, more kept hatching. | |||
[[Slyphe]] became desperate to quell the invasion and turned to [[Chakrasul]] as a | |||
potential source of aid. The Lady of Corruption suggested that [[Necromancy]] might | |||
be employed to kill a ring of trees, containing the spread of the ants. Realizing that | |||
Duiran would not suffer the idea of [[Extermination]] being used in the forest, She | |||
instead suggested that flame might be used. Duiran remained unwilling to accept Her | |||
suggestion and She grew irritated. In Her frustration, She touched an ancient oak | |||
tree nearby, brushing it with Her [[Divine Essence]]. Everyone present was shocked | |||
as a feminine shape fell from the tree and coalesced into the form of a beautiful | |||
dryad. Rather than claiming any sort of right to the dryad, Chakrasul withdrew | |||
stating that forest issues were not a concern of Hers and that Her advice was clearly not needed. | |||
The dryad sobbed, explaining that she was in pain from the attacks by the ants as well | |||
as the citizens of Thera, who came to chop down the trees for varying reasons. Those | |||
present were cautious of the dryad, not certain if they should trust a creature that | |||
seemed to have been created by Chakrasul's touch. The dryad became frustrated with the | |||
lack of action from the forestals and she embedded herself back in the ancient oak, | |||
refusing to emerge again. The dryad's appearance was another event to ponder, but it | |||
did little to suggest how the problem of the ants could be contained. Someone postulated | |||
that fire could be employed, and the ancient oak rustled in response to the statement. | |||
The oak seemed to encourage the idea, and the small field where the tree stood was set | |||
ablaze. The ants upon the tree popped and burst into tiny flames as they began to fall | |||
off of the oak. The tree shuddered, shaking the burning ants from its form as it commanded, "Get those flames off of me!" | |||
The tree's statement stunned those present, as they were not accustomed to trees speaking. | |||
They quickly doused the tree, putting out the flames that had ended its torment at the | |||
mandibles of the ants. The oak spoke little, expressing only that he intended to awaken | |||
the others of his kind. In the coming months, he wandered about the forest, stomping on | |||
the ants as he pondered his course of action. One day the answer came to him, and his | |||
voice roared across the land as he called upon the Elder Trees to awaken. First the Willow, | |||
then the Beech, the Pine, and the Maple were awakened. Each of these Elder Trees awoke | |||
the lesser trees of their kind, and they all bowed to the Elder Oak, proclaiming him | |||
"Arghash, King of the Black Forest." The trees revealed that the Black Forest had once | |||
been known as the Morgun Forest and that no animal made its home there, for it was a place where the flora reigned supreme. | |||
Time passed, and the settlers of Thera became more and more uneasy over the activity of | |||
their southerly neighbors. The Theran Priest, [[Arboth]] perused the ancient tomes at | |||
his disposal and learned the truth about the village. Knowing that the land his peers | |||
lived on had once been part of the Morgun domain, he deduced that it was only a matter | |||
of time before the living trees marched on the village to reclaim it. He rallied those | |||
willing and able to fight, gathering a mob together to defend the village through offense. | |||
The children and craftsmen of Thera fled the village for safety, taking refuge far away. | |||
The mob left into the forest, armed with axes and torches. As they moved into the forest, | |||
they used their makeshift tools of war to cut down trees and set the forest ablaze. The | |||
living trees resisted, and Duiran came to their aid, putting out fires with water and ice | |||
while the numbers of the Therans slowly dwindled. The priest cried out, rallying the mob | |||
to continue their crusade, even after the trees had become victors. None of the Duiranites | |||
harmed the priest though, as Arghash had requested that he be spared. The priest continued | |||
marching through the forest, ranting at the top of his lungs until he stumbled across the | |||
Elder Oak, who seized him up with his branches, berating him. The priest was fervent and | |||
would not listen to the tree's words. Arghash left, carrying the priest with him, intent | |||
on teaching him a lesson about respect. In the aftermath of the mob's assault, it was | |||
discovered that the village of Thera was empty, but their actions had not been forgotten. | |||
The malice shown by the Therans had awoken the hemlock bushes from their slumber. The | |||
bushes were guardians of the forest, and they lashed out indiscriminately at anything that was not a plant. | |||
The trees were resolute in their goal, and the borders of what was once known as the Morgun | |||
Forest were blocked off by the Elder Trees. For many months, only a handful of Druids could | |||
manage to find a way into the forest, and the things they saw within were strange indeed. | |||
The songs of birds and buzzing of bees were absent from the forest. Where many innocuous | |||
flowers had grown before, poisonous blooms now took root. The message of the forest was clear. | |||
This was no place for creatures of flesh and blood; it was a realm of xylem and phloem. | |||
When at last the Elder Trees moved and allowed those brave enough to venture into the forest, | |||
it had become almost unrecognizable. A lake was located at the center of the forest, one of | |||
its most distinguishing features. Mist made vision difficult in the lake surrounding the island, | |||
and it was inhabited by water spirits that hadn't been seen in the area previously. In a grassy | |||
clearing, Thera's well still stood as a final testament to the fact that a village had once stood | |||
on those grounds. Throughout the forest, the hemlock bushes prowled, stalking and battering any | |||
intruders, even Druids. Strange mists could be found in low-lying areas, and they were lethal. | |||
The first breath of the mists would inflict [[paralysis]] on an unwary victim, and subsequent | |||
breaths almost always led to death unless a quick rescue was performed. The forest was harsh and hostile. | |||
Perhaps the most controversial change to the forest was the return of [[Morgun Island]] | |||
The island was home to two strange humanoid statues. One was an obsidian statue of a masculine | |||
figure that appeared to be protecting the other, a feminine statue of green crystal. The | |||
statues seemed to be both alive and sculpted at the same time, and some insisted that they were | |||
the cursed forms of spirits of the forest. Few Druids had groves within the forest, but those | |||
that did became involved in attempts to discern the nature of the curse that had befallen the | |||
two figures and remove it. For years many different attempts were made with little success. | |||
It seemed that the unsettling statues and mists of the forest were there to stay. | |||
Amelia, the Arch Dryad that had fallen out of the Elder Oak with Chakrasul's touch, and her | |||
consort, a nayar named Namal had been bewitched by the Goddess of Corruption. After his awakening, | |||
the Elder Oak struck a deal with Chakrasul. The Morgun Forest had been ruled by a | |||
council of Elder Trees, but he wanted more. He wanted to be the King of the Forest no matter | |||
the cost. He accepted Her Corruption in order to awaken the other trees of the forest | |||
and to be their superior. Blinded by his ambition, he did not realize that Chakrasul was | |||
bargaining with his dryad as well. Chakrasul appeared before Amelia, taking the form of a | |||
radiant dryad. She convinced Amelia to submit herself and Namal into Her service in exchange | |||
for the revival of the forest. Amelia was unaware of the pact between Chakrasul and Arghash, | |||
and she and Namal were split in twain. The bodies of the dryad and nayar remained on Morgun | |||
Island, while their souls served Chakrasul within the Castle of Despair. | |||
After years of trial and error, the dryad and nayar were freed from their prisons. Innumerable | |||
pearls were placed into the crystalline statue until it cracked, and a Druid located the crystallized | |||
essence of the forest and she placed it into the statue's arms causing both statues to shatter. | |||
Amelia was beset with questions from the curious forestals, but in the end only a couple of things | |||
became clear. The first was that Amelia's pact had meant nothing, for Arghash had bargained for | |||
the awakening of the forest himself. The other was that Amelia was pleased with the forest being | |||
awake, and she had no intent to change it from its corrupted state. The pair appeared weakened, | |||
and many attempts were made to bolster their strength in hopes that perhaps the Arch Dryad's stance | |||
on the forest's corruption would change if she felt stronger. | |||
Eventually, the shards of Amelia's crystalline prison began to be located throughout the forest. | |||
Upon touching her, the shards would shatter into a mist that would be absorbed into the dryad, | |||
seeming to make her seem a little bit stronger. Some members of Duiran and Enorian discovered that | |||
the shards of Amelia's prison could be purified in the Mirror of Purity in Enorian. When these | |||
shards were given to the dryad, they too exploded into a mist which she absorbed, but they appeared | |||
to cause her pain. In the end, the dryad was crippled by the purified shards, but the corruption | |||
of the forest persisted. Arghash carried Amelia and Namal to a barren spot in the forest, and | |||
Amelia began to claw at the ground near the spot where the Theran well still stood. It was | |||
discovered that her clawing was a fevered attempt to get to the Sacred Spring, which ran beneath the forest. | |||
Using buckets of water purified in the Mirror of Purity, numerous heroes cleansed the Sacred | |||
Spring, but the corruption they purged from it remained in the cavern as a miasma. Calling | |||
on the [[Triumvirate of Duiran]], a ritual was performed to cleanse the waters of their | |||
corruption permanently. Tendrils of the green vapor made their way into a well-hidden | |||
cave in the forest, where the Mirror of corruption lay. The mist began to react with the | |||
minerals that the mirror was laced with, and as its face bulged in a reactive manner, Amelia | |||
screamed as her soul dissipated into the air, leaving behind only a wooden skeleton. Arghash | |||
fled the area, concerned that the corruption leaving the forest would be his end as well. | |||
As the mirror reacted more violently, it eventually shattered, collapsing the cave that housed | |||
it. With the source of the corruption gone, the trees of the forest were freed, and they began | |||
to recount the tale of [[Scipter]], the rogue Druid that had helped pacify the forest so long ago. | |||
{{AreaPage|type=Forest}} | {{AreaPage|type=Forest}} | ||