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Reminiscence

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Reminiscence Empty Reminiscence

Post by Mailleweaver Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:11 am

Lately, as I've seen other tree spirits born and grow, I have thought back on my short life as a tree spirit, and am amazed at where I've arrived from such small beginnings. I remember being drawn to my first tree and beginning my journal. Unfortunately, I never continued the journal, but I'll copy, here, that first entry to set the tone for the rest of my story.
Birth of a Dryad
I awoke to find myself in the bottom of a chasm with vague memories of my spirit wandering a new land, unable to interact at all but still subject to gravity and material resistance.

I was achingly hungry and immediately began to grow weaker from it. There was no sustenance at the bottom of this great rent in the earth so my first priority had to be to find a way out. I searched end to end for a way but there was none; all the walls were tall and sheer. Venting my frustration and helplessness, I started to punch the walls until one finally broke. This gave me an idea and I began to explore the chasm once again, but this time with an eye to its material rather than just its shape. I found a small deposit of gravel and scooped it all up. It looked like it might just be enough to reach the top if it were all stacked up. So I began to pile it up underneath me until I had none left. I was wrong; it didn't get me out, but close enough. I had reached a small pocket of soil just beneath the surface and was able to dig the rest of my way into the bright light of a nice,........ dull, rainy day.

I began to wander aimlessly -- as my spirit had the night before -- and nearly stumbled into the sight of the restless bones of some ancient archer that also wandered the pine forest I had emerged next to. Quickly I realized that just wandering would only get me into more trouble, so I ducked back the way I came and tuned in to my inner spirit. I found there a tenuous connection with the earth that drew me in the other direction, across to the other side of the deep chasm that had already tried to claim me.

After a short while I spotted a light up ahead and decided to investigate. I found there a small surface pool of lava and thought what a danger it would be to anything growing nearby, so I began looking around the immediate area to make sure that nothing was close enough to catch fire from the dangerous radiant heat of this liquid stone. In my search I found another pool, but this one of water rather than lava. Something about this spot told me that it was my home. There was something unusual about it.

These two contrasting pools were right at the junction of a desert and a grassy plain, and the trees... Oh, the trees! They were so out of place! They had the look of swamp trees but the closest water was no more than this one small pool. Had the desert claimed their home? I just had to help them.

I went from tree to tree, communing with them and learning their thoughts and relationships. The one that closest touched me was the one nearest the water. It enjoyed its position but wasn't content to just reap the benefits that fate had bestowed upon it. It also wanted to share the wealth of life-giving water with its brethren but had no way to do so. This was the one, this one was Me. Our spirits resonated with the same tune and so, were one. For life as long as we continued to support and protect each other, we would both thrive -- and so would our helpless brethren.

And hunger forgotten, our toil began...
From this beginning, we worked alone for a couple weeks, slowly growing -- sometimes listening to the chatter of the other spirits, and sometimes just completely ignoring them for focus on growth. During this time, I was gifted another tree by Ano, the strongest spirit among the rest. This one could not grow any further than it's original meager size, but it did have one special property that was a great benefit to me; it dropped apples. This became my main sustenance while my arboreal half was still in its infancy.



Last edited by Mailleweaver on Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:52 am; edited 1 time in total
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Reminiscence Empty the first tree

Post by Mailleweaver Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:34 am

After the first small expansion on the surface to grow shoots for greater growth, our roots dug down into the earth, searching for more water and material and a safer place to grow the shoots. At this time, I remember a few sheep wandering into the small pit we had hollowed out as we absorbed the material of the land. These sheep became both valued companions and hated annoyances. They were a source for rare wool, but they made constant noise. I also came into posession of a chicken that had been lured by the light of the pool of molten lava and trapped by the sheer walls surrounding it. I managed to rescue it from the fiery pit, and in return, it layed fertile eggs for us. With these eggs, I soon had a small flock and I went through the learning process of how to keep them without them escaping and how to efficiently gather the eggs.

In addition to the animals, I managed to coax some grass into a more bountiful form that could be cultivated for its seeds to eventually produce bread. We fed it with water from the surface pool, drawn down into the safe embrace of our roots underground where we prepared a nice farm. After this, I never wanted for food again.

Eventually I became lonesome off by myself in this swamp, kept company only by the silent trees and the constant bleating and clucking of our animals. I began to pay more attention to the voices of the other spirits, and learned of a place where we could all walk together. So as my tree grew, I also directed it to send out a long, thin root in the direction of this so-called "market" where spirits could socialize and trade. It took several days, but I eventually reached it.

Slowly, I became part of the community and added my voice to the converstions. The market root became a path to useful resources, not only from the other spirits, but from the creatures that wandered near it. With our growth, my tree provided me material for weapons that I could use to defend us, and I became bold. Along the length of the market root, I would hunt the malicious monsters of the night.

We grew. More and more, we spread water out to the rest of the trees near us, and with the water, other flora thrived as well. Melons and tall grasses, flowers and vines, and nourishing mushrooms spread everywhere around us, and the swamp came to life. We also tamed fire in response to a challenge from the powerful Ano. We grew a containment for it in one side of the trunk and used the flames to warm our heartwood. As we grew and the swamp spread, we bacame strong enough to begin reaching farther afield.

There was a small river that ran through the desert near the market, and we used it as a seed to start another swamp. We sent up another shoot from our root near the shore of this river, and grew it into a small tree to be the heart of the new swamp. It slowly transformed the surrounding sand into nutrient rich soil where grass began to grow. The greenery fed water into the air, and with this increase in humidity, vines were able to take hold in the branches of the small tree. The new swamp was born. The other spirits could now see and admire the beauty and potential of what used to be considered a stagnant, unhealthy biome.

We continued to grow in this manner for a while. We grew another shoot on the grounds of the market to serve as a trading center and began to thicken the market root underground, as it was becoming a frequent travel path. I saw other spirits take up home near me -- first at the very edge of sight, and later up close. Some stayed and grew their trees; others drifted away into other worlds. My tree started growing it's large lower branches where I could look out over the swamp and see the other spirits. Life went on.

One day, as I was directing the growth of the market root, disaster struck. The world came to an end. Literally. The magic that sustained it was suddenly emptied. I was cut loose from my tree and cast adrift into the darkness of the void -- as were all of the other spirits.


Last edited by Mailleweaver on Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:16 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Reminiscence Empty purgatory

Post by Mailleweaver Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:12 pm

For several days, we spirits were cut off from the world, and some moved on. Eventually Ano created a new world, but this one was not the same. We weren't drawn to the trees, and there was a strange corruption spreading over the land. Spirits just went their own way and built what they would -- unlimited by what resources they could gather. All could magically create whatever material they wanted.

I tried making another tree, but this just wasn't a good land for them, so I abondoned it.

All of this undirected freedom eventually led to disorder and near-chaos. Unhealthy spirits came who felt the need to destroy. I did my best to correct what others destroyed, but I was just one sprit among many. One honest spirit grew angry from the destruction of one of his creations and was corrupted, himself. He vented his anger on the world, destroying the land around where new spirits join the world. This left the new spirits cut off from everything.

I first depaired of ever being able to fill the huge crater he left. But eventually I realized that not all destruction need be undone, it can also be harnessed for creation. I used the crater for a base to create an interesting spawn rather than a jail. I first tried to build a brige to connect the spawn with the outer rim, but was thwarted by the protection that lay directly on the spawn area. So I pulled back the bridge and turned it to the side to make a walkway all the way around the outer rim of the crater. Then I made a stair going down into the crater at its shallowest point and leveled out the area at the bottom. From there, I made a walkway going as far into spawn as I could go. The Great Spirit, Oceanous, finished the effort by completing the walkway into spawn and building the bridge that I was unable to extend, myself.

Ano saw my efforts and appreciated them, so he granted me the extra abilities that raised me up to join the ranks of the Great Spirits: Oceanous, Alkaro, and Dragon. It was then that I decided to make it my mission to defend the world from those angry spirits that sought only to destroy. Dragon got himself caught in the clutches of a parallel world of eternal night and couldn't escape, Oceanous was kept busy in the depths of his bedrock bunker praticing the arcane arts of alchemy, and Alkaro and Ano were rarely seen, so I was nearly all the world had.

I kept a lookout for dangerous spirits and monitored the new spirits that joined us as I worked on building a small town where the stair rose up from the crater. A few other spirits saw what I was doing and joined me in building the town, so it was soon finished. This town so close to spawn seemed to draw in all of the malicious spirits that joined, and I had a big job to keep it defended. I had to banish several spirits from the world as they attacked.

I couldn't watch all the time, though, and one night when I rested, more evil spirits came and destroyed what we built. So I once again had to spend my time repairing and rebuilding. To preserve the world, we Great Spirits cut off all the others from the world when we could not be present for its defense. This was no way to live as a tree spirit. We finally had to just completely cut off all but a very few trusted spirits while we toiled to bring back the magic of the trees.
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