A venture into the deepest woods. (Samheen~26th)

[Guest]

Samheen 26th 'late' Morningtide

The morning was only halfway and the tinker had already big plans on his mind. His last venture to Lallana’s house had led him to believe that she been reckless again. He knew with her vanished also the little boy, whom he knew better.

Always walking his dog, he is still missing and someone better go find him… I’m not really much for heroic but sitting home is not my style either, I reckon a day in the wilderness will do me good. He would never do anything rash; Lallana must have been overeager and just stormed ahead. He likely just ran or maybe he is just with her on survival.

The timid explorer had left a small note upon his uncle’s desk explaining his need to search for them. In his mind he knew Lallana would be able to take care of herself. With her bow and edge Lallana was quite capable of fending any wild beast or orc. The little boy however would be cold and in danger only dressed in the clothes he wore on his back. The blanket he had with him would be gladly accepted once he would find him.

He took everything and placed them in his packs, as he was going on an important journey. The voyager was not going to leave anything too chance and dressed up in the best clothes he had available. In his black and grey clothes he made sure his splintmail fitted well enough over it. The cloak would keep him warm during the travel and dry as well. The boots were good for travel and it was quite a change wearing sandals or clogs. He took both his satchels wearing them firmly strapped over his back. They were relatively small and would not hinder as a large sack would.

For weapons he was fixed upon a staff with hardened edges, which would also be good as a walking stick. A sharp stiletto hung sheathed on his belt and a sling would be used for multi-purpose. In total he was unskilled in any form of weapon but well he could use them if necessary. He remembered the day before that a captain thought of him skilled enough to fight… which he was not able to do… yet.

Tying his hair in ribbon would make them not move out of place and he had enough blankets to be warm at night. He had a water-sack, lantern and rope for whatever need would arise. For luck he wore his black leather hat fixing on it the small red leaf he been given that day. He made his first attempt at a small prayer, not knowing if it required any form of symbolism or previous studied course.

Please mistress keep me safe even though I am new to it all help me at finding them. Their mothers will be so pleased to see them back again and we all could do with a little happiness for a change. I’ll try to be more responsible from now on, helping them get home will be the first step. Just keep them out of harms way, especially the little raccoon and watch over him.

With some hesitation he moved towards the area in which he had last the young boy and his dog. Trailing from here he would make an attempt in trying to read tracks, hoping they were clear enough. His feet would always be carefully placed knowing the density of the forest. He had always been careful enough not to run in a place filled with trunks, branches, roots and ivies. Sesan planned using his natural affinity with the woods to lead him silent and hidden from sight. He had heard some hints of survival from rangers but reality would be quite different.

I have to find… I have to make it… Who else will bring the eager tyke and his doggy back to his mommy? The staff will keep me safe and if I run into something bad I get an edge, I hope.

Solemn Sesan entered the woods in search of the boy without much experience, but with good preparation and a good dose of vigour and zest.

[Finley Ward]

Though Sesan was well versed in remembering his paths through the forest, and though he found the spot he'd last seen the young boy without too much trouble, evidence of tracks was fairly sparse in the carpet of the debris and leaf litter than covered the forest floor. The one path that led deeper into the forest from this point was small, and winding, and shortly he found himself enveloped by the cool darkness of the trees, barely a ray of sunshine breaking the thick canopy to touch the forest floor. Though the day was bright and breezy, there seemed little evidence of this between the trees - and it almost seemed cloying, thick with the darkness, groping in on all sides to reach at him with its shady tendrils.

And the silence - that also seemed somewhat odd. Here in the sheltered cool of the forest, usually one might here birdsong, or the moving about of small creatures - but today, there was little noise besides the crunch of dried leaves beneath Sesan's feet, and the slight noise, far above, of tree branches hissing and rattling in the wind.

Somewhere, far in the distance, came a scent of... something acrid.... wood smoke...? Possibly. At this distance, the smell was so weak it was almost impossible to identify, and came at fits and starts, one moment clear and present, the next moment whisked away as if it had just been imagined.

After a walk of only a couple of burns, Sesan found his path becoming smaller, more awkward and harder to traverse - here, it almost seemed as though the trees themselves were leaning in on him, blocking his way with stumbling roots and reaching boughs, shouldering aside the little track and swallowing it up with their foliage. Twigs and thorns snagged in his cloak and pulled at his pale hair, and quickly this path was becoming not a walk, but a fight for every step. It was, of course, impossible to be silent in such dense undergrowth - the crackling of breaking branches hounding his every step - but hidden, he surely was - for the further he travelled, the less this seemed to be a path at all, but rather a vanishing track that had, without warning, simply disappeared.

[Guest]

Somehow it puzzled him that the forest was so hard to traverse. Honestly Sesan had never been much of an explorer of the woodlands. More foolish then he had initially planned continuing would get him hopelessly lost and also progress would be very slow. Instead of pressing on he decided to turn back as not very likely Lallana in her fancy dress could’ve passed here. The fire was puzzling he questioned anyone would lit a fire in these dense parts. The silence also alerted him with a feeling of peril and he decided it was best to return while still unscathed.

Sesan you've got to think… Lallana had a dress, one of those big fancy ones. If she did cross here many threads as well cloth would’ve be torn off. It might be more possible that they went first alongside the narrow edge of the forest first. Then they went in a more accessible trail and moved over that one. I best look for clues there and then alert a guard.

With some initial reluctance he made his way back towards the way he came from. Feeling of walking a wrong path was something he knew would be common in the future as well. A big chance was that he might’ve missed could now be seen. Clear in his thoughts there had to have been boot prints of both a woman, a boy even a dog.

The voyager had studied well the way he walked over the trail and did so to remember his way back. He felt far to overwhelmed to deem travelling in the woods alone healthy. He needed an experienced guide to help him out on this one. Overeager he had underestimated the woods density, which was thicker then he could’ve initially imagined.

If not much happened he would soon walk down the trail again and make way back to Kes’Levy. The sheer size of the forest led him to believe that he could manage but not without a friend. He would also have to alert someone that the missing kids were in serious trouble…

[Finley Ward]

It was not hard to turn round and go back - the path Sesan had been following was, after all, the only one he'd seen. And curiously, the track seemed to grow wider and less densely crowded in by trees far more rapidly than it had narrowed. Sesan had little trouble following it back, having taken close notice of the single track on the way, and for a few burns nothing out of the ordinary happened. Nothing more than a ramble through shady and somewhat quiet woodlands, of a morningtide.

Then, the path banked sharply right and up a short slope. Odd thing was, it had not taken such a route before, and despite his careful observation of his route, Sesan would have no memory of this sharp turn. It was almost as though it had become a different path altogether - although, again, there had been no forks or other paths since he'd entered the woods and it was only common sense that it had to be the same path. The only other explanation would be that somehow the trees had moved around and rearranged the path behind his back - which was, of course, completely impossible.

After a couple more burns walking, the forest began to close in again - though this time it did not reach in to invade the path, but closed up overhead - the canopy becoming like a vast, dark ceiling cutting out almost all sunlight. Soon, it was almost as dark as gravetide on the narrow path, walled in by thick vegetation on all sides, like the walls of a curved green tunnel - and though he'd been walking for as least as long back down the path as he had walked up it, he had not yet found his way back to Taquar. This was also a little odd. You'd have thought a path would be the same length whichever direction you walked it. Surely?

It was a long walk before the path opened up into a clearing - and though common sense dictated that clearing should reveal the graceful trees of Taquar, it soon became obvious it did not. This single path, with no forks in it, no tribuatary paths that Sesan had spotted despite his careful memorization of his route, had taken him somewhere quite different.

The clearing itself was small, and rounded, and grassy - too small for the heavy, inward-leaning trees of the canopy to leave much of a gap for sunlight, but a small beam of light did filter down from a hole in the middle, leaving a little, pale, jagged circle on the earth floor. Arranged around the circle of light, a number of large, mismatched and ancient-looking stones were ranged in a rough crescent moon shape, the central stone being the tallest, and fanning out towards the edges with the lowest stones at the tips of the shape. All the stones were rain-worn, dotted with moss and lichen, and looked as though they had not moved in many, many long yahren.

Otherwise, the entire clearing was silent - barely even the sound of the wind whispering through the trees, and no birdsong or animal noises to speak of, which was highly unusual in the depths of the forest.

[Guest]

I did not make any sense too the explorer the sudden curve and with most uncertainty he took the turn. He felt like being in a forest maze, which changed as you wandered through it. Some tension tickled in the back of his mind, as he was uncertain of where he got himself in too. The sudden darkness of the trees loaming overhead changed his entire perception even more. A feeling awkwardness filled into his tummy, adding to the feeling of completely loss of way. Like a small pebble in a pond the wannabe shaper was swallowed up in the strange dense vegetation.

Sesan, you are in serious trouble there seems to be only one explanation for this… think. There must be some kind of forest within the forest itself like in children tales told by the elders. What… should you do? Best be too get a bearing of what is north and that is relatively easy… Moss grows most on the north side of trees from which you can determine what position to venture too.

Led by a path that just appeared that was what his journey had been about. Doing the sensible and returning instead of pressing on had led him here. The entire sight was surreal for the young ‘woodsman’ too uphold. He witnessed a small pillar of light shining down into a small centre. Unmoved for countless of yahren, the stones stood strong against the test of time.

The woodlands… the mother… the mistress… did they being me here into this circle? Was my faith to see something from the past I so relish upon? What is this? A symbol shaped in the way the moon does in darker nights. A sign of a long lost religion or perhaps an existing one once used now abandoned? We truly must have lost our way in the woods if we lost this treasure of faith.

The young engineer could not resist and with utter care made his way into the stony circle. Touching the stones he could only imagine the visions they must have seen… To him every thing was imbued with an essence and these stones had to posses a sentience. Sesan could easily imagine ancient shamans or druids standing with in the centre being a high priestess or such. His mind's eye started working overtime visions of marvel, splendour and a glimpse of the long forgotten traditions.

Stone and wood, these were the elements that shape the world, without ruining it. He went out on a journey to recover lost friends but came along a jewelled cherish like this. The wind was even silence to him and the bird didn’t interfere everything was quiet and calm. The young adhiel moved towards the small sprinkle of light wondering if this was a monument too worship day or night. In a way it looked more related to the night… again it could also be both.

He couldn’t resist it and slowly moved towards the centre stone. He was going to touch it, perhaps embrace it as he would a beloved friend. The voyager would do this with care, respect and compassion too the scene. Still he could not neglect making himself present while moving slowly towards.

“Namaste acha or achaliel, is there anyone here that might enlighten me? The forest it led me towards here I have to be here… is there anyone, acha?”

The path had led him here a strange and somewhat unusual walk into the heart of the forest. The whole scene was surreal as in a powerful vision or vivid dream. All he could do was slowly move about and familiarize with the crescent ringed area. There had to be sentience here, he was certain it was a gathering place for the mystical spirits of the woods.

OOC: Uncertain if the silence is one suspected with awe and respect or fear and dread.

[Finley Ward]

His words received no reply, seeming to be swallowed up by the dense, eeirily silent undergrowth that hemmed the circle in. As he stepped into the clearing, he saw no other creature or being present, and as he made his way towards the huge central stone he felt nothing holding him back. Nothing at all - the place seemed oddly empty of the usual birdsong and atmosphere of the forest surrounding T'aquar. Famously magical forests, now somehow bereft of feeling. Empty. His fingers reached out to touch the stone, and he felt....

Nothing. The pockmarked surface worn smooth by rain and the elements, by yahren of sitting, and made rough by lichen, moist and soft by moss. It was a stone. A really big, really immobile stone. And it seemed to be nothing more. It seemed to be... was it? Indeed, it had clearly been placed here for a reason, in this rough crescent shape, in this clearing. Though why or by whom seemed impossible to tell. Emptiness, silence, surrounding and enveloping him like a wide, warm, muffling blanket. Barely even a hint of a breeze to cause a rustling in the trees or sway his light hair, dance over his skin. He reached to embrace the stone, and then, just on the edge of hearing, and so out-of-place as to seem perhaps nothing more than a trick of the wind through the trees...

Laughter?

What wind through the trees?

A long silence followed, the brief noise making the silence even more oppressive and strange than it might have seemed before. The laughter had been soft - a melodic, amused, sweet laughter - perhaps a female voice? But now, it was absent again. Nothing seemed to stir around the clearing, and no further sounds issued. It seemed as though Sesan was entirely alone.

[Guest]

The solemn silence was a bit too much to bear, even for the more reserved of heart. Sesan was capable of some degree of formal stillness alas this was almost none. This forest with its lose of natural sounds was strange as if one of those sacred places he could imagine outsiders never found. It troubled him to think that he could by accident stumble upon this in several banners walk… Time was deceiving when you had fun… Still did he have so much fun that marks had passed yet?

Speak too me dreamer where is it you have landed in? Is it a strange memorial, monument, or open-air shrine to a deity or element? I have to know what this is the feeling, a strange notion… is it a symbol of freedom, focus or twist? This place cannot be located so close to your home, the forest is alive… perhaps it always had been.

His hand touched the moist stone in seemed natural; still he knew he was hardly a specialized man of the forest. The wind seemed to become a bit stronger if only brief or was it his imagination?

No the forest have always been alive and sentient now it is confused? I… hear a noise of chortle? Laughter? Melodious with a sweet ring it is such an awkward way of titter. A maiden’s voice so light as if from an adolescent or perhaps a child? It reminds you does it not dreamer? The tales of giggling beings in the forest growths… Faeries? Pixies? nymphs? Or perhaps Sesan it might be something else? Be with care… you need to stay friendly always, as the key is kindness, understanding and good spirits.

The tinker had found it strange when he first arrived here to make the call of acha. Sister was something he had said before even considering if anyone was there and then if he suspected or knew it was feminine at all. Alas, all he could do for now was to continue his exploration of the stones and surroundings.

The touch of stone now firm made him ponder on the notion of something more then met the eye. He had always relied upon his instincts in such events. This soft laugh was there for real and was no imagination, as he knew when he was thinking up matters.

Closing the eyes Sesan would concentrate upon the sounds, opening his heart with friendly thoughts. A radiance of positive he would emit as to show good will to his surroundings. If it were a benevolent creature it would be cautious to see if he had good intention. Many adhiel had strayed from positive ideas and too much hate and vengeance was clogging up the forests of Ta’quar.

His thoughts were jovial as if he welcomed the strange creature tittering about. With a soft undertone he started singing softly a rhyme his mother had learned him as a tyke. She likely made it up in the moment but some how he felt it was good to be silly here.

Two little flowers opening to the call, one a little worker one a little pal.

Two little flowers blooming in the light, one a little builder one a little guide.

Two little flowers waving in the breeze, one a little planter one a little tease.

Two little flowers closing sleepy eyes, one a little sleeper one a little trice…

Sometimes one of the many children rhymes he learned or thought up made him come at ease and focus his mind more clearly. It was about the seasons spring, summer, autumn and in the end winter…

[Finley Ward]

The forests of T'aquar were alive - and they always had been. The trees, it was said, could sometimes talk or move - and some even said they could eat people. The plants were not always plants, and even the stones and roots themselves were mutable, changable - as changeable as the seasons, but perhaps less predictable and far more flightly. And this was to speak nothing of the life in the forests of T'aquar - to speak of the trees and the rocks and the plants was one thing, it was quite another to consider the creatures that lived in the depths of these forests.

As Sesan began to sing, he heard a second voice join him - and then a third and a fourth - beautiful, melodic female voices raised in complex harmony and singing similar but not the same words. There was something timeless and enchanting about those voices; something that spoke of ages old and time uncounted; of rain on leaves and sunlight on branches; of roots in dark soil and of growth and the changing of all things. Beyond the simple verse that Sesan sang they sang - more words, and in a language of leaves whispering, of the creaking of tree limbs. A language Sesan would not understand. There was something old and dark and rich about the song - something that changed as the seasons changed. Naturally.

A flicker or two passed - or was it a burn or two? Or perhaps a mark? Sesan was finding it increasingly hard to tell. Though the sunlight had not moved, the lack of sound beyond the singing made everything seem somewhat surreal and hard to grasp. The singing ended after this incalculable time somewhere between no time at all and forever, and the three voices dissolved into peals of fresh giggles - though what precisely this laughter was addressed to was unclear.

"It feels of warm things, of light and time and happiness, sister..." One of the voices remarked, and laughed lightly once more. "It is like sunlight on leaves, open and warm and welcoming, though it knows not what it touches at..."

"Oh, it is, but there is something of the dandelion about it, wouldn't you think...?" A second voice replied, a smile in its tone. None of the speakers were yet visible to Sesan - but what they said was as clear as day to him. "Time passing like the dandelion clock, and all that fine, white hair! Perhaps if you blow at it, it will float away?" More laughter, floating around like a soft breeze, from no particular direction.

"Sister, it is just as you say! Like a dandelion clock... Shall I blow on it, see what it does...?" A third voice giggled, and then, quite suddenly, Sesan felt a sharp cool breeze tickling at his hair from behind, and a fresh peal of laughter ringing out from between the trees.

[Guest]

The sun makes way shining its light upon the branches covered by morning dew, touched by the winds of afar. Oh tinker… it is a beckoning of beings old and young knowing the tales, which dreamers, idealists, fantasts call for in the wildest dreams… It clashed with his uncle’s rules of noble etiquette and regal goings of the city of Kes’Levy.

That city was no place for one who wished to shape thoughts into pattern and mist into dreams… Painful Sesan had noticed that his first real day out… The troubling people and even an avatar that felt confused when aid became minor flirt and rivalled dictated decorum. He hoped she would return to a more pure path then the filth of noble intrigue.

These sounds he heard seemed to lift him upwards making his mind spin in enchanting joy. He forgot all his troubles, the place he was born the taunts of a hotheaded captain, the silly duties. Time and worries became like he knew not of what it was, going back and forth, or perhaps none of the above.

If it were his day to be taken to those who passed he would’ve had little trouble accepting it now. The entire scene was so tranquil filled with a fantastic sense of joy that it made him feel more then merely alive. The giggling of maidens more then one made him happy and eased his initial nervous thought.

Words… speaking of dandelion clocks it small plucks a many joy to everyone a like to lay breath upon and see them flow. For a dreamer as Sesan the dandelion was a form of ultimate transportation, light and able to take a single person to be carried of by wind. The words spoke of him as if the hair upon his head was as white as dandelion… a new one to the wide array of things people had called it, still one of the most positive for sure.

Dandelion… carries me… upon a breeze…

The cool breeze was enough to give a minor chill piquant in a way as a maiden blowing that way gave a tingling sensation to the lone voyager. The young tinker could not help to unleash quiet laughter and kept his eyes closed the whole time… He planned not too make any sudden movements, anything that would give away the moment just a calm peek from between his eyes. He would not even turn as if it were a game he was no allowed to see them, unless permitted. Taking a soft breath he blow softly upwards as if blowing a dandelion, his hair bobbing upon the air.

“I believe you right… as dandelion still without them float away. Thanks be great for joy my solemn heart, Sesan me be and me be grateful.”

Water with soil, wind in trees…

Slowly lowering upon both knees it was as if he thought of prayer in a rather unique sense. He lie his staff cross spread upon the top of his upper legs and sat down with a heart of filled with ocean breeze and the feeling of wet sand between his toes. Sesan oh so loved the sea when it softly floating through the forest trunks. He knew there had to be such forests, called lands of marsh and he hoped them to be warm in summer. Small fishes, swimming between the trunks the combination was so true…

Thy mind is drifting the blow is making you think of a sea playing with the forest. The blow it felt so strong as if a maiden standing right behind blowing straight at your neck… Naughty nymphs? You being the flower of the season, is that what you are Sesan? Playful feel friends within forms no matter its heart within…

He was filled with thoughts of both spiritual and tangible elements, which had always fascinated his heart. Sesan was now getting contact through fresh vibrant thoughts, visions, and even unspoken tongue. He had stumbled upon a dancing ground of sort, the stones a favoured meeting ground for the spirits he always longed to meet. It required a quirky rhyme as if to say, that…

I wish to stay on rainy day, where I would stray with my Fay, I wish to say I wish to stay…

If maidens fair as thee I may, that life is joy with you my Fay, I wish to say I wish to stay…

Night or day, I wish to say that I wish maiden Fay would astray to find today I wish to say I wish to stay…

Not send away but to lay within a day, I wish to lay with maiden Fay as if to say I wish to stay…

Skins in touch with clay of bay, I wish to ray with such a Fay as if to say I wish to stay…

Roll in grass that to turn too hay, I wish to May to be with Fay I wish to say I wish to stay…

Stay to may, if Fay is day then I wish to say with stay and day to much grey if life to hay then one might say that leaves do pay within a ray of every day that I might say I wish to stay with such a Fay upon this day I wish to say?

The tune made little sense especially the ending more meant for amusement then any actual truth. A small jest to charm the ladies and amuse the gents at expense of mocking one self. The ladies loved a good titter and he knew he had to give the crowd a small act to show his true free will and independent notions.

“Dandelion me be…”

He recited it within his mind trying an attempt using his thought to embrace word with voice and picture. It took a lot of effort still it felt like the word of the forest and the idiom of the earth. He remembered the naughty little leaf that fell on him an omen and he felt a small prank played by a Fay. These Fays were in his eyes nymphs or faeries. Beings who were pure and open able to read ones heart as if a book, its cover long lost never recovered…

“Sesan me be… Dandelion me be…”

Soft words with tone of a child…He would not open his eyes unless they would allow this accepting that they had control of his vision now. The moment not meant to be broken by rash ways or wicked thoughts from afar. Sesan felt home as if lost a thousand yahren wondering a planked city, which had long been unaware of the forest around… He swayed a bit back and forth on the wind as if a dandelion would eager to send it small seedlings to voyage the world.

OOC: Phew long post I seem to be inspired with a real fuzzy feeling.

I’m not too sure what it is exactly about but sounds like visions placed into the psyche, correct me if I'm wrong. Else I reckon Sesan is stoned like a a cupcake, must be all that spicy food then?

[Finley Ward]

More laughter at his words - and there was almost an edge to it now, the three joyful voices skipping around his blind form as he stood with his eyes closed, reciting poetry to them. Perhaps they enjoyed it? Their laughter suggested they did, although not all the of laughter seemed exactly kind - and the voices persisted in speaking of Sesan as though he weren't there - and calling him it.

"I am not certain it knows you are there, sister! Whatever is it, to stand there singing to itself? Perhaps it is just a piece of leaf litter, rolled in on the breeze?" One of the voices remarked, softly, terribly close to Sesan's ear - for a moment he could feel soft, light breath on his cheek. Breath that smelled of new leaves and moss nesting on bark.

“Sesan me be… Dandelion me be…”

Laughter!

The second voice mused, from somewhere around Sesan's right shoulder and moving around him thoughtfully, "Oh, if it is a dandelion or a leaf litter, then you know what we should do with it, sisters? All things turn in time, one thing to the next... it will understand this, of course. Dust to dust..."

"And ashes to ashes! Earth to earth! Dust to dust!" The second voice shrieked in a singsong tone, laughing happily (and somewhat nastily, perhaps?), "Of course, dear sister! It has wandered in to be a present to us, to feed us as the sun does, as the rain does - as the very earth does... Look! It even says it wishes to stay! Oh, shall we keep it? Please say we shall!" A sound of the clapping of hands, happily, an eager pause.

"Yes, I think that is exactly what we shall do! We shall keep it! It asks us to stay, and stay it shall! Wouldn't it make such fine soil, once it's done?"

"Open up, little nut... little dandelion! Open up! Say you want to stay with us, mmm? Say you want to make us smile and reach up to the sun, and grow like we should? You want to be our earth, don't you...?" And Sesan felt, on his forehead, a little tapping - as a bird might tap a nut to see if it were good or bad. Or the tapping of knuckles. The voice breathed, in a close, honeysuckle voice, smelling of leaf litter and the decay of the undergrowth, and of brambles and thorns, and of dark soil were only earthworms and treeroots go. Right into Sesan's face - it challenged him, the soft, dark purr of a woman's voice. "Open up and say hello, dandelion..."

[Guest]

The once so gentle manners in which he had thought to be were different now. In a way he started to wonder if he was not behaving to folly. The words seemed to sting more then initial a tease going too far. Sesan started pondering on the entire notion with quick thoughts, he came back to earth from the heavens so to say.

Sesan… your imagination got the best of you, perhaps it is better to start awakening now. Rise… be calm… no fear, no troubles you cannot fight a forest in which you reside… Friendship is the key… understanding and love.

The commands of ashes and soil suggested consuming him as a young flower. The thoughts were now more words or perhaps both the tinker could not tell at all. He did feel however to be in more danger and started to imagine that he could be in peril…

I am a friend of the forest, a treasurer, protector, and perhaps shaper if the mistress allows. Why would you wish to harm a young one who has come to respect you? The forest led me here, the place I call home, and a paradise of which the mother has created us from. I know where I originate from and I can understand that there might be disappointment with some of the designs.

Designs… from nature… He would have to face it accept it all. With a simple flick of the eyes he opened himself to view what had blow and now tapped upon him. His hands firmly touched the wood of his staff, which was once shaped from a large branch discarded on the forest bed. Dryads? Angry? Annoyed? Creatures irritated of the behaviour of people? Nothing could be told until he saw them face to face, eyes awake and his spirit honed.

“I am Sesan, I am not your enemy nor is it my time to return too the forest. One day I will be taken back too the soil and become part of the woods again… Not now though… not yet…”

His sight would face whatever situation he got himself in, being bad or good. Sesan knew to be wary of the dangers of the woods, still if the forest wished to destroy him… There was very little the greenhorn could do. Soil… roots… vines… thorns and branches could harm even take his life… A small dandelion could not stand up to the full gale of the skies or rumble of the floors… The elements ruled people everywhere and the earth was the one he faced right now.

I care for you but am not a mere snack to be consumed, I wish to seek out your comradeship and learn from thee…

[Finley Ward]

Three female figures stood before Sesan. Naked, although apparently not at all self-conscious of it, nor accustomed to wearing clothes of any kind. The nearest stood directly before him, perhaps several inches shorter and slim, willowy in build. Her skin was a light, golden green, her eyes large and emerald, and her hair, a dark tangled brown, the colour of dark moss. Her hair twisted over her shoulders like tree roots, tangled and matted into odd shapes, and in it she'd twisted thorny vines of some kind, the little red flowers decorating her hair like drops of blood decorating the forest floor after a hunter had killed. She was astonishingly, radiantly beautiful too - in a strange, animal way that spoke clearly of otherwordly things. She was beautiful in the same way a wild moor is beautiful - wonderful to gaze upon, but spend a night alone with it and you might not survive to see the morning.

Her two 'sisters', as they'd all referred to each other, were similar in appearance but the three were not identical - you might easily tell them apart. As far as their similarities went, they all had similar hued skin, green-tinged and earthy - and their hair was similarly twisted into wild shapes, as if they'd deliberately tangled it. Wild hair, the shapes of the branches of an oak in winter, when its limbs are bare of stripped of leaves, and twined into the hair, plants and flowers, decorative in a strange, surreal way.

The foremost girl smiled at Sesan, and thought it was a pleasant enough smile, it revealed that her teeth were small, and pointed.

"Ah, my dandelion, and whyever is it not your time just yet? Do you think a leaf does not cry out 'it is not my time! it is not my time!' when it falls from a tree limb? Do you think the trees do not mourn the leaves passing...?" She leaned forward a little, and her warm, earthy breath carressed Sesan's cheek and she whispered up to him, her great liquid green eyes trained on his own pinkish ones unblinkingly, "And yet, the leaves become the soil, and the soil feeds the trees, and the trees grow leaves again... it is the way of things. Do you deny that you are part of the cycle, little dandelion, little nut...?"

Her two sisters smiled at this - the righthand one laughed, her laughter musical like wind through branches. The lefthand one, with her pale, green-blonde hair the colour of ripening wheat, circled around the behind Sesan, running her fingers down his back and then leaning in, her head against his shoulderblades. And she purred, softly, "Mmm... you are not our enemy, of course, little nut... for how could the leaf be enemy to the tree...? Or the water enemy to the ground...? Sssessannn....." There was a smile in her voice, and her body, pressed naked against his back, was warm and firm and young. They were very beautiful, of course - and, they seemed to want to keep him...

[Guest]

Ladies… women of grace without the need of garb he had heard rumours of it even a tale or two… The tales did make a real connection too what he saw right now and he had no clue what now was upon him. Trying to analyse the situation, he could conclude that they belonged to the forest most indefinitely. He could’ve stumbled accidentally upon the place they enjoyed to roam or even resided.

Sesan… their beauty is deceptive as well way out of your league. You should try dealing this respect, knowledge, and appeasement. Anger will certainly get you in trouble here… They speak the language of home and that suggest they came in lasting contact with your kind before…

The tinker listened to the maidens without interrupting their actions, as he did not want to cause them to go cross. In a way everyone was a leaf, which in time would fall returning to the soil… Fact here remained that he still had a whole life ahead of him and best was spoken that fact.

Has it not been twenty autumns ago when you first saw night and day upon this earth? You cannot appease a lady with the stamina of an ancient oak, let alone three. Suicide it would be to try to do these actions, even though their curved look attractive and actions filled with love. They are however honest about their motivations suggestion free choice. Are they tense cause of the entire situation the forest is in?

Giving a sheepish smile he gazed as one even stroked him giving him a bit a nervous titter. In a way he was pleased to be so thickly packed with clothes, armour and a nice cloak… Then it struck again one leaning in from behind, causing him to be nervous even more…

“One cannot deny that I am part of the forest as the mother created us as she did you and your sisters as well. Please do respect that even if I may be a youngster, I have lived for over twenty autumns now and not one as a normal leaf does. I prefer to stay alive and continue too serve the forest in my own way through kindness, will, and erudition.”

With a little wiggle he tried to gentle make sure that even though he was flattered he did not feel like staying and losing his life. Sesan was no warrior at any form and he had always been relying on cunning and distraction. He admired their beauty still they seemed to be more trees changed into appealing women… or maybe women changed into trees? Or perhaps both… he was uncertain but they did belong to the forest nonetheless.

“I enjoy your presence I must admit, alas I am but merely a simple Adhiel enjoying the forest. I came hear as I seek two friends, one a young boy other a maiden wearing in an expensive dress. I shall say that I am new to the woods and somehow the path shifted ending me here. It is… fitting in a way as this morning I was at the altar of leaves trying contact the mistress.”

With a minor cough he pulled himself together rising upon his feet slowly and gently. He stayed nice with a positive attitude; he was flattered and honoured in a way. He hoped the hint of the mistress of leaves in the motherly temple was respect and understood by them.

“My dream if the mistress allows it is to become a sculpture of the forest as I said earlier. This is a gift granted by either the earthly mother or a few of her divine daughters. That’s why I also went to these woods as to sniff up the atmosphere, still I need to stay alive else I cannot do this task.”

Trying to create an angle where he could see them all he tree, he tried staying close to the stone. In a way being approached from behind direct by a stranger gave an insecure feeling. It was what any person felt and these maidens could be lethal if given in too their call.

“So ladies… Now you understand why I cannot join you and return too the forest. I am one of some thousand left who are able to help turn the tide of darkness and zealots. You also must be aware of the dangers created by those that wish to seek harm? Please believe I am not a dandelion… I was once a sproutling that now has grown into a tree and will do so for a very long time… Purpose as what I to seek and aid to protect the woods. I need to be able to move freely, protecting life from harm and making sure that no trespasser befouls our beloved home!”

Sesan had given a bit of gung-ho speech, even though he did not know if he was even able to do much, he did want to be able. The tinker knew that he would make a very good shaper and could be able to follow an engineering way that was acceptable to nature. Still in the end the woods would have to accept someone to change their shape… The ladies seemed close to this being able to teach this to him… or perhaps he had to look elsewhere?

[Finley Ward]

OOC: this thread has been marked impassable due to uncertain foresty death... ;)

At his words, the face of the foremost woman darkened a little, her emerald eyes sparkling - it was unclear if she seemed amused or angry, and when she eventually spoke, it was in a deep, rich, almost flirtateous tone. Something in her eyes would tug at Sesan, something most encouraging - and still, it seemed as though time had stopped, or perhaps many marks had passed. Beyond the four of them, nothing seemed to exist at all - as if they were sealed away from the world by some form of air-tight bubble.

"Sesannn.... mmm. Do not be afraid of us - we only wish to take you with us... take you into us, in a way... do you not want that, mmm...? And you say you shape the trees...? Or you want to, any which way, and that is what matters, hmm...?" She smiled, tracing a greenish finger down his cheek and leaning in close so that her hot breath touched his cheek. He found that her two sisters had moved in, taking his arms in a most gentle and encouraging manner. They did not seem to be restraining him, merely holding him - and their warm naked skin was against him on both sides.

"Well, I can show you how to shape the trees... three certain trees, at least." The foremost woman smiled, showing her small pointed teeth, "And I can even take you to your friend... the girl in the dress....? We know where she is, after all...." The closer she got to him, the less everything else around seemed to exist at all - there was only her, and her wide, beautiful green eyes, and her curved lips - she ran a tongue across them, slowly, as if quite aware that he would be looking at them. "And all I ask, pretty one, is that you give us this one boon... you wish to shape the trees...? And find your friend...? Oh, well I can do both of those things. Would you like me to take you to her, hmm...?"

[Guest]

Sesan became tense with a sense of lethal danger filling his heart. The offer was alluring still untrue as shaping was something to be only granted by the earth goddess. The whole element was surrounded the aspect of religion and could not be given by people. He decided that it was wiser to break free the spell that was being woven upon him…

Think Sesan… The forest forms itself therefore only a true shaper could open a path through it. You have to use your courteous ways to explain them that you do not want any short cuts. Appeal to their feminine sense of nurturing instead of destruction.

“I’m honoured and flattered by you maidens still I cannot accept burdening you with my problems. I have to be found gracious in eyes of the earthly mistress of leaves and her mother. The boy needs to be found first, as he is young and not used to forest life. The maiden who’s armed with edge and bow will be able to survive much better then him.”

With his famed sensitive gentleman look he made an in attempt to shake the seductive eyes and return to his rational side. The tinker added to this diversion by taking his leather hat off with his left hand, placing it so it covered his lower face. His eyes easily looked over it and he wanted to make her see the small golden red leaf upon the rim. It was the same small leaf that fell upon him during his first attempt at connecting the mistress of plants and leaves at the floral altar.

“This leaf is a symbol of autumn still I wish it to become a sign of renewing life. The mistress could aid me in finding a way to make it not wither away towards the winter days… Greens, Golds, Reds and Browns.”

Placing his hat quickly back upon his head, Sesan pulled his finger along the rim slightly tilting it. He tried a bit of dazzling action that would work well if he had taken more acting lessons. With a gentle beam Sesan attempted to lighten the scene and stir the conversation even more. It was time for a bit of quirky fun that everyone enjoyed who had a love for water.

Drought… Trees… Rain… Maybe water would appease them, it is perhaps not much but it’s the thought that counts is it not?

With a playful display he took out his large water-skin and squirted some water upon their legs. Trees love water and this would give them happiness, it all depended on how dry it had been the last few days. He had it top notch filled and maybe they would prefer to be drawn to the small lighted centre and frolic with water instead of draining him. He aimed the spray at the maiden that had been smiling at him all the time ready to squirt if the occasion was needed.

“Perhaps you ladies wish to share in some of the water I brought with me? You seem a little thirsty and I can give some now and get more if you wish?”

[Finley Ward]

Unfortunately to Sesan, he was not speaking to trees, and his squirting of water on their legs did not exactly go down well. While the three dryads (for that is what they were, though the adhiel had never met one before, let alone three) had found his singsong words and strange ways entertaining to begin with, it was clear as he spoke they were growing restless, tired of their game. They wished it to move towards some conclusion, and rapidly so. The water on their legs, though - that accelerated their impatience with him quite astonishingly. From each side, the two naked women holding his arms tightened their grips, and the green-eyed girl before him yelped as the water touched her legs and then her face twisted into a strange sort of snarl. Odd to see an expression so vicious and determined on the face of such a beautiful creature...

"Enough of your games, mortal... My sisters and I grow tired of asking you nicely, so perhaps we shall stop asking, hmm...? It is not for the leaf to decide, and cry enough, it is my time - and nor is it for you. You will do excellently well shaping our trees, believe me..." The time for seduction seemed to be over, and the woman's voice, still deep and sultry, was now cruel and sharp-edged - and the sinister something seemed to have broken fully to the surface. Though in Sesan's eyes she was still almost luminously beautiful, it seemed like this was a thin veneer, beneath which lurked a cold and dark creature.

They yanked him forward by the arms, their grip on him tight - and though they were small and slim, something about that grip was very extremely persuasive. The lead woman, her large green eyes fixed on his, seemed to be dragging him backwards with her gaze, willing him to follow her through some mind trick, and filling Sesan's thoughts with haze and uncertainty. The clearing was little more than uncertain shapes on the edge of his vision now, strange distorted shadows smudged into an uncertain oneness - and all that dominated his sight was her beautiful, cruel face, pulling him forward with only a look.

"Come, dandelion... it will not take long. And then you can be with your friend again... won't that be nice...?" She purred at him, a crooked smile revealing her small pointed fangs.

[Guest]

It utterly amazed him that dryad had such an odd response to drops of water. He knew these were not mischievous forest creatures; they seemed warped somehow likely cause of darkness. It also explained their annoyance and reluctance to even listen to his tales of spiritual happening.

“I am not a dandelion! I am not! I am a child of the mother and not some short lived puffy flower!”

He got frustrated with these wenches their pulling and demanding was just too much to bear. If he would wander off with them he knew he would regret it and he tried everything to break free from their pull. If possible he could muster his force to repel the hold she cast upon him.

I must focus and free myself… I am not their pawn these are not kind beings these are foul beasts. I need to get in tune with myself, become cold without care… These fiends power themselves through my affection; I will not give it to them.

The one who spoke was the ringleader and she was very vicious he could see. Trying to force his body to move the pale engineer tried to slip out of their grasp. If possible he would attempt to keep them away from with anything possible.

“Release me, is this what you would do to those that care for you? You betray them by denying their own will? I came here with heart of care for you all in search of the mistress. I shall become her follower, her shaper, and ranger. Is she not your mistress as well and are we not here to aid one another? I wish to become a brother of you, a devotee of your mistress.”

His eyes turn dead cold and his face gritted into a cross look. He went here because he needed to fulfil his empty heart with the purpose and enlighten of the mistress.

How can I become a protector of the woods when the maidens in them wish to harm me? I will always care for the mistress and her forest even if it is turned dark, even if I’d turn dark. I will not die here not now I shall not, something is wrong something…

It struck him while he spoke and thought… She… speaks of Mortals… She is a fiend… I must break free… now!

Sesan felt ready to do anything that would break him free from these dreaded dryads. A kick in the stomach against the mean toothed one was best first. Then he could try kicking the others on their naked foot or shins with his leather boot. If his arms would work his splint covered elbow against the cheek or throat. He could then use the staff for a simple strike and perhaps catch a quick getaway right after it.

The engineer had no real skill in any of this but an elf in dire was dangerous indeed.

OOC: I'm not so well at writing battle actions, still these are only used if they won't let go of him. I reckon he has to fight his way out then...

[Finley Ward]

They ignored his shouts, his pleas for mercy - and they dragged him towards the edge of the clearing. Towards a pit in the earth. A hole, surrounded by three trees, closeknit, their great mossy branches intertwining to shut out light to the forest floor beneath. Sesan would not be able to see what was in the pit, but from this distance he might catch the stench of it. Something foul and putrid, a nausiating waft of something rotten there. Whatever it was, the three strange green-skinned woman with their twisted, root-like hair were dragging him towards it, and something dark and brutal in all three slim, lithe forms seemed to grow clearer with every step they took.

No, they paid his words no heed - he might beg and plead all he wished. The others had, after all - but all those words had come to naught when they were buried beneath the earth, feeding the trees with their lifeblood. Hunger... it was what they knew. For while the dryads had lived many long lifetimes to your average mortal creature, they had not known a hunger like this before. It was sharp, and constant, and it whispered to them, giving their hearts a pull towards dark deeds and clouding their minds with something unspoken and horrible. His words were nothing to that hunger, besides perhaps... an appetiser.

"Mistresss....? And what do you know of our.... misssstresss....?" The foremost dryad hissed at Sesan as he spoke, perhaps a glimmer of amusement in her emerald eyes - and for a flicker, it seemed as if this beautiful, radiant, cruel creature were not there at all, but something else... It was only for the briefest of moments, and so brief Sesan might be forgiven for thinking he imagined it, but it was there - something dark, and twisted, like tree roots - and those emerald eyes black with hunger.

"Do not pretend you speak of the creature to which I refer... you know nothing, little mortal plaything... and your body is worth nothing more than to feed our treesss..... ssooo, do not struggle, weak one, for you cannot resist usss...." Again, for the briefest of flickers, less - was it the lovely green-skinned woman who stood before him, but some creature of tortured bark and wild hair, something with anger and pain in its eyes....?

And then, Sesan struck. His kick was poorly aimed and timed, but he had no knowledge of fighting and it was a miracle he caught the creature at all. His other strikes did little - his feet not having enough room to maneovere to deliver a forceful kick to either of the dryads at his sides - and they held his arms too tightly to allow much movement of them. His first strike though, this did hit - a glancing blow to her shin which made her wince and hiss, and all of a sudden, and for several flickers, Sesan's mind was clear of the subtle games she had played on him since tapping him on the head those few burns before.

tap tap... wake up, nutmeg....

She glowered at him through black eyes, sparkling with a malevolence that burned like torchlight in the shade of the trees, and she was... something else... Whatever had been dryad once had been twisted into something other - her skin like knotted bark, and the colour of deep moss, ridging into spines along the bones of her elbows and shoulderblades, and her face... Where the spines ruptured from her gnarled flesh something like dark sap had formed, crusting around the spines. Sap the colour of blood. She was no longer beautiful. Far, far from it. Whatever had twisted her soul and her nature into something hateful and wrong had wrung out her beauty, too, and left her a thing of suffering. And oh, the hatred she felt for that... it burned through her like hot iron, a constant pain and suffering for which she knew no cure... No cure, except. The hunger. The hunger eased the suffering. Sometimes, sometimes it did...

A few flickers together was all Sesan had of this sight, and she hissed at him through teeth like daggers, fury from her like a tide... and then, "Sister!" The dryad on his left spat, and in an instant, the facade was back up, and she was perfect, furious beauty once more.

In their surprise at the slip, for a moment the dryads did not hold on to him so tightly - there was a space in which his left arm was almost completely free, and his right only held loosely. His kick had distracted all three, but for only the barest of moments. It was a chance. Perhaps his only chance...?

[Guest]

It became apparent to him that a sinister force possessed them. He spoke of the mistress of leaves, a peaceful daughter of the mother. They spoke of something else at least the was what he hoped they did. He could see through a façade they were not what they appeared to be.

They are not maiden fair at all, the dead black eyes tell tales enough. Fiendish beings they are Sesan disperse them quick to stop undone. They are tormented still this cannot gain, you shall fight and teach the pain…

Pathetic that is how he felt at his initial attack but a very learning experience nonetheless. The more anger and a view disgusting perhaps stressing enough to freeze a man… Still for the uncaring state he had lowered it did little he merely gritted his teeth with a look so coarse it would turn milk sour.

He refused to see them as women, refused to watch them in the eyes. Lose it in the flow he would sting and be deadly without remorse nor regret.

Swift… deadly… like wasp… wasp… wasp…

A rush he could feel, adrenaline started racing and now his natural feeling took over. Using his keen swiftness and lean frame he spurted into action. Air… entering lungs… unless… a cry for those drowned at sea… a cry my mother used to do… PAINNNN! An agonizing cry came from his lips filled with anger and pain. Sesan unleashed an icy scream, as if made by a banshee when wailing for the death of a child so pure.

“NAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEIIIAAAIIIII”

At same moment Sesan stomped his boot on the left wench's foot and pulled his left arm clear. The arm freed the tinker would try to reach for his stiletto sheeted on his belt. With this rightward momentum he would attempt to shoulder bash the dryad on the right side who held him. His hardened splint suit would cause to dampen the blow for him and hurt her more in the process.

If possible this would free him up enough to give room for the staff’s lower end to fling against the shin or knee of the ugly one in front of him. He could balance it like a broom under his arm while making it point downwards.

The rush was high and the stakes even higher. Sesan refused to die here a senseless death of some form of being consumed. If his quick planned attack would work he could beat them down and wound them enough to spook them at minimal. Quite possible he could fully immobilize them then making a getaway unto a free trail.

The wailing scream hopefully would shake them while he moved; he had always been able to strike a high octave with ease. Slowly he would release it fluctuating the pitch making it more agonizing a real ear pester. His eyes squinted and the only thing he felt was… hate… anguish… and wrath…

[Finley Ward]

As Sesan let out his earpiercing shriek, it seemed as though the illusion was finally shattered - the three beautiful green-skinned women were no longer women in any sense. All three now resembled what he had seen of their nominal leader only flickers before. Their black eyes regarded him balefully, and as the first moments of his scream crossed his lips, his voice was joined by theirs - three heart-rending, hissing and screeching cries, like the sounds of a great limb tearing from a tree. A sound of pain, of death, of the ending of things.

His foot hit the dryad's great, barky limb clumsily, and her own hissing cry became like a roar, an deep, earth-shaking growl - and her knotted fingers twisted against his arm painfully. As he yanked at it his shoulder gave a hot burst of pain, and she did not let go, her hot breath hissing over his face as she growled one long endless call, and it smelled of rotting leaf debris. Earthy, and rich, and dying. The pull did indeed bash his shoulder against the dryad to his right - and though it had a good deal less power behind it than he intended, she moaned in pain and pulled back. His heavy armour had, quite by accident, hit at the shoulderjoint - and though her skin was like some armour of bark, he'd jolted the bone beneath at a painful angle. She clutched at the arm with her long, pointed fingers, a look of pure hatred in her black eyes, and her wail one of anger, and pain, and horrible to hear.

The lead dryad reached for him now, her claw-like hands groping at his face and scything strips from his skin, and she and the dryad on his left pulled him forward, towards the pit. And now, he could see what was within it. At the base of the pit, a tangled mess in the dark that was almost unrecognisable - there were bodies. The stench of rotting flesh was almost unbearable, and his reluctant, desperate feet had almost been dragged to the very lip of it when both released him, suddenly - remaining close to his sides, their hot breath on him and their eyes burning with rage.

"You will shape the treeeeessss now.... dandelion..." The lead dryad hissed, her voice the grating of the wind through the trees on a stormy night. "And you will thank ussss for it..."

[Guest]

He was helpless unable to give a solid strike nor able to break free. The dream like state he now thought he had been in had fooled his senses more then he thought. They were covered by hard bark of course a simple leather boot would be useless against it. His shoulder burned painfully much like the time he had fallen as a little boy. He was now just being dragged as a rag doll, his dainty frame easily hauled up and away.

Sesan what do they want from you? If they want you to become a simple meal why haven’t they broken you down? The shriek revealed the truth, if you had not done that must certainly you would’ve been in more problems. A staff can barely stand against a tree like being like… the knife is even less let alone the boot again.

The pit was terrifying to freezing state if he had not himself a cold baleful side that helped his vains turn as ice. For some reason he felt much like they did in a way hurt and angry. Was this like walking the plank into an ocean, as in tales was told? What did they mean with him having to shape this pit for them? What were these beings that laid in it, the rotting sense suggested they likely were the dead of Taloh… or perhaps not?

“If I stay alive and not consumed to thank you, I will surely do so… I will thank you even in the many yahren beyond. You seem hurt and I am can sense your pain… you are dying. I am just tense and you speak somewhat unclear, do you wish me to shape the trees.”

The tinker made sure he did not fall into the pit himself, using the staff to balance himself. The entire situation was grim; still they kept referring to him having shape their trees. Were these beings to a tree trying to repair themselves with the dead? Were the plants trying to shape itself to a state where they could devour flesh? He had little choice and with the little experience he had, faith would be the bulk of his efforts.

The task has led you here to help treat the most ill of trees… You made a vow of compassion to aid the forest whatever condition. If you were allowed to shape, heal, and nurture you would aid any flora whatever the cause. Did these creatures sense your willing spirit to help them how rudimentary it may be? If they wished to kill thee they could’ve done so easily… Is this a grand test? A plunge into the deepest of ponds, is that what the mistress wishes from you?

He did not know what the darkness had done to the forest, still these beings needed to be fed. Sesan could only hope those bodies belonged to those already dead… He felt uncertain what to do still faith was the key and he had to take a leap of it right now.

“Do you wish to become whole by sustaining directly from these corpses, instead of the slow regular decay normal in life? You are wise beyond years what would you like to see happening here? I am a servant of the forest but not a simple item to be killed off. Tell me what is needed show me what you wish I will do what I can for you.”

Sesan tried to calm his inner self by breathing constant, as if he had been out of breath. He softly held his hurt arm against his body with care and placed his forehead against the staff. He felt the scratch on his cheek with his fingertips, perhaps deserved for his foolish actions. He was deep in it far over his head; trying to climb out and perhaps if the maiden allowed it he would be able to do so.

Soft rustling of the leaves, drips of water on the canopy a buzz of noises echoing around me. Please mistress show me what I am to do, I am a sprig calling out for you to grow. Please guide me in my ventures; please help me in these darkened days. Do thy wish me to aid them or am I to fight them with my whole body? Is there that spark within me that makes me able to become a true servant of thy woodlands?

The dreamer prepared himself for the forming or shaping as the Dryads put it. The details eluded him even he did not know if he was goddess send or not. If he had to fight it likely was not going well, three against one and he was hurt most at the moment. He was willing to listen to their ‘pleas’ while he was calm. Hoping… Wishing that the maiden would help him in his ordeal, he would need her help with utmost dire. He did not wish to die a futile death…

[Finley Ward]

Sesan had begun to speak - and perhaps they were listening, but then again... their eyes were dull, the pain and hunger burning inside. They did not seem to care what he said, as they had never seemed to care. They were beyond caring, mortal concerns - their very forms echoed their twisted state, and all they knew now was hatred, and hunger, and death. His words were not enough to quench that hunger, and their humanity, if they had ever had any, not enough to listen. Their nominal leader leaned in closely to him, taking his arm in her tight, gnarled grasp. Her sharp teeth were only inches from his face, her monstrous, distorted face so close to his he could smell her acrid breath - and she hissed at him in a tone like timber, falling.

"Ahhh, yesss.... you will ssshhape our trees, with your body and your ssssoul.... Little dandelion... isss that not what you wanted...? We hunger for you... and we know what you can do for usss.... you can die for us.... yessss... this issss what will have..."

And she reached forward, and in one rapid, heartstopping moment pulled him backwards - towards her, and towards the stinking of the pit, and then... a tumbling. A moment of confusion, a spray of fine earth and whirl of sunlight and shade, and a... a soft landing.

Beneath the earth, it was dark, and the stench of rotting flesh was strong enough to make eyes water. Sesan's soft landing was a cushion of corpses, their twisted and mangled forms heaped upon one another. The dryads had killed before, and they would kill again, but nothing could stem the tide of hunger that washed through them, or stop the aching of it. Around the lip of the pit - a tiny circle of light, far above - their shadows lurked, watching him. For a long, long moment, they watched him, silently. And then, in a terribly final, silent, deliberate way, they began to fill the hole in.

Pain was what they knew. Pain, and fear, and a hunger that never ceased. A hunger that clawed, that cried to them and their trees for death and for decay, and was never sated, never was filled. The grip of the nether on them was a tight as death's grip would become for Sesan, as the earth pounded down upon him, showers of it covering his clothes, and falling in his eyes, and gritty in his mouth. The corpses were covered, and the three twisted, demonic dryads shovelled silently, willing this last death to be the last but knowing - with rage and hatred and fear, they knew, it would not be. The roots of their trees twisted in, and pulled Sesan down, gripping his ankles as roots of iron might.

And the earth closed above his head, the last ray of sunlight shut out. The demoness had come, and the nether came with her.

Sesan's body was unable to breathe beneath the earth, it was suffocating - and the life faded from it as the light faded on an autumn day - with a terrible finality, and with darkness as the end. His limbs would become the earth, the soil - and the leaves and trees that his body would feed would someday feel the sunlight again - but his face would not, his skin would not. For his body, at least, this would be his final resting place. Here, in the forest he had longed to shape so much, this mortal vessel became the soil.

But for Sesan's soul... this they had said they would take. They had wanted to take it, with all the fury of a demon's rage inside them. But they could not - the nether had no claim on that last spark of life. That part of Sesan that was truly him they could never touch. As his frail body breathed its last, his soul broke free to spin away, out from the earth and into the wide bowl of the open sky.

And freedom.