DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3Y.A1 - Shadowtop Cathedral

DM

The rabbit drinks of the offered potion, and the visible bite marks vanish, the leg able to move again. The companion thumps its foot repeatedly, moving in an excited circle nearby.

And then...

The golden light that crowns the central tree seems to ripple outward, spilling like liquid sun across the circle of stones. From the trunk of a tree nearby the party, the same kind but perhaps a few centuries younger than the ancient one at the center, the bark parts silently.

A figure steps forth as if woven from wood and light together. Her hair tumbles like living leaves, green threaded with autumn gold. Her eyes are deep pools of amber, steady and timeless. The bark closes behind her, leaving no mark of her passage.

She raises her hands, palms open, and her voice is soft, like wind through summer branches.

"You have given, as the forest asked," she speaks, looking approvingly at both Jaliera and Pavel. "Water freely poured. A potion of healing shared. Gifts not demanded, but offered. This is the way of balance. This is the way of those who may walk deeper."

The language is dryadic, but the entire party... and even the animals and awakened foliage... understand her perfectly.

Her gaze returns briefly to Jaliera, and there is the faintest curl of a smile. "Call your feathered friend. Here, where truth binds and shadows fall away, she will not know the fear of others like her. What serves your heart may stand beside you."

The dryad then turns her attention to Davroar and Zindra, hands coming together and then parting, one toward each of them offering a small cluster of berries glowing faintly, their scent bright and clean. OOC: Goodberries!

"Children of the Enclave, not all is complete. Take these fruits of the forest. Share them with those who have been brought here to test your companions. Feed them, and then bring them to stand as witnesses when word is bound to deed." To Davroar, she offers a knowing look, the corner of her mouth curling up. "Should you wish to assume a form to witness with them, it would be quite appropriate."

Finally, after the berries are taken, she turns her attention away from the party and walks to the sapling Jaliera had watered, kneeling to touch its thin trunk with fingers that glow faintly green. A shimmer passes through the young tree, leaves uncurling fully, color returning in a rush of living strength. OOC: Druidcraft!

She rises again, her gaze sweeping the party.

"The circle awaits. Step forward when you are ready."

Jaliera

"Th..thank you."

Her words are soft and full of wonder. She was glad that the sapling is no longer struggling. But there is a bigger lesson here. Humans shouls learn to be this way for each other too.

Her heart swells and she calls mentally to Whisper to return, reassuring her familiar that there is no danger any more.

Davroar

He feels a bit embarrassed for thinking wrong about the situation with the animals and the sapling. The embarrassment is short-lived though when the dryad appears and he shares the berries as instructed. He nods to the dryad and says a quiet thanks to her.

Taking the dryad's offer to shape change, Davorar thinks that he should not change into a carnivore, like a wolf or bear that he has used multiple times before. Instead he shape shifts into a large male reindeer with a mix of light-grey and white fur as it signifies his tribes ancient ancestry as a Nar. He will then follow behind the three of his friends.

Zindra

"Thank you. We will share your gift as you ask."

Her heart was racing and when the passage opens, the scout steps forward leading the way into the circle.

Pavel

Pavel was petting the rabbit that he'd just helped when the Dryad appeared out of the tree. Taking his cue from the rabbit he remains calm and continues to pet the bunny.

He pauses briefly to break open a pack of rations and feeds the bunny some of the dried fruit from the package of rations. Seeing that the fox is interested he tosses the remainder of the fruit to the fox.

Listening close (OOC: and reading DM OOC notes) Pavel picks up the rabbit and follows Zindra.

DM

The path funnels the party toward an opening in the ring of ancient stones. The circle stands like a wall of giants frozen in time… massive uprights of weathered granite, their tops linked by broad lintel stones. They rise in an unbroken ring around the great tree at the center; except at the near end, where the path brings you. Here there are no verticals, only two of the lintels spanning low, flat, like short platforms waiting to be stood upon.

As Zindra and Davroar (in reindeer form) reach the lintels, they feel guided by the forest's matic to stop there, their places completing the circle as living posts where none of stone were set. The companion of the hare healed by pavel hops lightly after them, before pausing near the gap, watchful as Pavel carries the other creature inside.

The fox slinks forward at last, emboldened, circling once around Jaliera before sitting at Davroar’s side, the balance of predator and prey acknowledged.

Whisper alights on Jaliera’s shoulder, calm at last in the presence of the grove.

Beyond the boundary, the interior waits: the roots of the central tree rising through the stone floor, a shaft of golden light pouring down upon it from an unseen break in the canopy. The air hums faintly, alive with the magic of ages.

Then the bark of the great tree itself parts, and the dryad steps forth again, crossing from trunk to circle as easily as stepping through a doorway. Her presence here is stronger. Less a visitor, more a keeper of this place.

Her amber eyes sweep across the gathering. Emerald Enclave members and forest creatures along the ring, guests within.

"Now the ring is whole. Witnesses are gathered, and the forest is listening. When word is given, it will be bound," the dryad intones quietly, her voice carrying like wind through branches. She turns to Jaliera and Pavel, her amber eyes steady.

"I will speak the words of the oath, and you will repeat them. But understand: balance wears many faces. Some find it in truth spoken plain and the honor of the spoken word. Some find it in wisdom of what lies beneath, some in the respect shown to the wild, and some in the way they tread the land itself."

Her gaze softens slightly, almost encouraging.

"You need not feel balance to swear to keep it. You need not be a druid to honor it. What matters is that you bind it in your way. Speak with honesty if that is your strength. Speak with wisdom if you see beyond the surface. Speak with reverence if your heart leans toward respect. Speak with steadiness if you know the ways of the wild."

The dryad raises her hand, a curl of green light tracing her fingers like vines.

"But above all, be true to yourself. The forest drinks intent, not only sound. If you cloak your heart, the oath will wither. If you speak as you are, it will root deep."

The dryad pauses to ensure Jaliera and Pavel understand the instructions.