1 - The Willow does not Weep
Jeboboid
Draconic GM
- Location
- United Kingdom
You wake to both sound and sensation unfamiliar. Throughout your life, you had become accustomed to the aches and pains of being alive, of hunger and thirst as you travelled between dwindling oases across the Godsbone desert. Of blisters and sores from walking for days across the rough sands. And of that last time, when the agony you felt became so great that you became numb.
They are gone. All the familiar aches, pains which had marked your soul so indelibly, have vanished. For the first time in your memory, you wake free of pain or even discomfort. You are not hungry or thirsty, neither too cold, nor too hot. If it weren't for the alien sound nearby, and the soft material on which your body rests, you might have thought you had died and gone On.
Opening your eyes, you are confronted by a roof unlike any you have seen before. A deep brown material, high above you. You are reminded of the sparse desert trees which sometimes clustered close to the larger oases, but this is bigger, much bigger. Beneath you is a bed of soft green material, gentle on your skin.
As you rise to your feet, you note the feeling of strength in your limbs. You feel agile and strong, even mighty as you take stock of yourself. Your rags are gone, burnt away in the pyre of a goddess' rebirth, as is all of your hair. Your skin is unscarred and unblemished, all the marks of your previous life erased, except for one. From the hollow of your throat to the top of your groin is a line of pure gold that gleams in stark contrast to the rest of your skin. As you run your fingers across it, you know that it will never disappear or fade. It is a Mark left from whatever happened to you, and it is a part of you now.
Looking around, you find you are in something like a cave, created from this strange darkened wood. Now that you're up, you can hear two different sources of that strange sound. The first is from the wall of the cave, close to where you were sleeping, and as you look, you find yourself staring in wonder as you see water, perfectly clear and glimmering like the crystals your mother wore, flowing from a hole in the wood. It trickles into a pool grown into the floor, deep enough for you to submerse yourself.
A rumble, deep and angry, as if the sky itself were being sundered, causes you to jump and turn, startled out of your reverie. Cautiously, you move towards the entrance to the cave, looking for whatever might have made that last noise.
Even as you grow closer to the mouth of the cave, the sound grows louder and clearer. It reaches back through your memories to the last time your clan had found an oasis in the deep desert. It reminds you of the pouring of water from the great storage vases you carried to the small clay cups you drank from, but on a much greater scale.
But as you reach the mouth of the cave, it proves to be much greater than anything you could ever have imagined.
Water falls from the very skies themselves. It drops in waves from grey fluffy things, soaking the world below. And while the sight of the water may have stopped your breath, it is what you see next that steals it completely.
You stand at a great height, far above the endless sands. From this great vantage point, you feel as if you can see the world in its entirety. You stand near the top of a tree so large it simply defies imagination, on a patch of warm, dark earth cradled high above the world below. The branches of this colossal tree stretch for what must be kilometres in all directions. And as they grow further away, they droop, getting closer and closer to the ground far below.
And close by, standing with her face to the skies, her eyes closed, stands the golden woman who was birthed from your chest.
She is entirely golden in form, her body perfect and radiant as she stands motionless as a statue. Though she wears a face almost exactly like your own, it is utterly without blemish or mark, and her hair, swept back into long, tightly wound curls, reaches down her back in a waterfall of glittering gold.
Unconsciously, you find yourself moving closer to her. Before you even notice what you're doing, you are stepping out from beneath the shelter of the cave-mouth and into the rain. It is only as another rumbling roar comes from the sky above do you snap out of your reverie, flinching as you glance fearfully up at the sky.
It is then that you notice the water on your skin for the first time, and marvel at the feel of it. You have never even dreamed of so much before. Cupping your hands, you watch, entranced as rain fills the hollow, crystal clear as the water in the pool. Reverently, you bring your cupped hands to your lips and drink deeply, and as it flows down your throat, you feel energized, filled with even more vitality than you had before.
Looking up from your cupped hands, you see the golden woman has turned her face you, her eyes kind as her mouth curls into a small smile. Raising a hand towards you, she beckons you forward even as she offers it.
Your heart thunders in your chest as you approach, your breaths deep and filled with a scent you cannot recognise. As she steps forward to meet you, strange plants gleaming with brilliant, vivid colour, spring from the earth in full bloom.
Face to face now, you find she is much taller than you, head and shoulders taller in fact, and as you take her offered hand and look up at her face, she smiles more fully, and drawing you close, you begin to dance.
---
Eventually, it ends, and breathing heavily, you find yourself standing hand in hand with a goddess in a great meadow of wildflowers. The rain has stopped, though you are both still soaked through, but you realise that though she has not spoken to you directly, she has said a great deal to you through your dance.
She is the only one of her kind in existence, and she has lived many lives. Her purpose, as she sees it, is to spread life and help it to flourish wherever it can.
And she was betrayed by those who sought power for the sake of power.
But she is also sorry.
Sorry for the immense pain and suffering you felt, for the agony of walking alone through the desert without food, water or shelter for so long. For burning pain of dissolution that came over you as your soul allowed for her rebirth. For her failure to stop something called the Void-that-Devours.
In recompense, she has gifted you with a rebirth of your own, free from pain, hunger and thirst, you have become an immortal, free to wander a rejuvenated world as you wish, or to stand at her side as she gives your world a rebirth of its own.
"I would like to stay." You say, "and I would like to help, if I am able." In response, she smiles, a simple gesture, filled with such joy and life that you cannot help the laugh which bubbles up through your chest.
She steps close again, and gently, oh so gently, presses her lips to your forehead.
And you know that your new guardian will do all she can to make a world worth living in for you, her new family.
---
As plants and water begin to return to the world, so do animals. But which ones return first?
[] The Great - Huge beasts begin to roam the land. Supported by the great abundance of food, they spread widely by both land and air. The abundance of power in the land allows them many abilities, the greatest of these being the burrowers, who swim through the earth as easily as they do water.
[] The Small - Swift and silent, these creatures are only obvious once they have passed by. Of great variety in colour and hue, many possess the ability to change these aspects of themselves at will to better adapt to their environment.
[] The Winged - Of great variety in shape and size, all of the creatures that spring into being are capable of flight to some degree. Spreading far and wide, their world is both upon the earth below, and upon and around the mighty branches of the World Tree above.
They are gone. All the familiar aches, pains which had marked your soul so indelibly, have vanished. For the first time in your memory, you wake free of pain or even discomfort. You are not hungry or thirsty, neither too cold, nor too hot. If it weren't for the alien sound nearby, and the soft material on which your body rests, you might have thought you had died and gone On.
Opening your eyes, you are confronted by a roof unlike any you have seen before. A deep brown material, high above you. You are reminded of the sparse desert trees which sometimes clustered close to the larger oases, but this is bigger, much bigger. Beneath you is a bed of soft green material, gentle on your skin.
As you rise to your feet, you note the feeling of strength in your limbs. You feel agile and strong, even mighty as you take stock of yourself. Your rags are gone, burnt away in the pyre of a goddess' rebirth, as is all of your hair. Your skin is unscarred and unblemished, all the marks of your previous life erased, except for one. From the hollow of your throat to the top of your groin is a line of pure gold that gleams in stark contrast to the rest of your skin. As you run your fingers across it, you know that it will never disappear or fade. It is a Mark left from whatever happened to you, and it is a part of you now.
Looking around, you find you are in something like a cave, created from this strange darkened wood. Now that you're up, you can hear two different sources of that strange sound. The first is from the wall of the cave, close to where you were sleeping, and as you look, you find yourself staring in wonder as you see water, perfectly clear and glimmering like the crystals your mother wore, flowing from a hole in the wood. It trickles into a pool grown into the floor, deep enough for you to submerse yourself.
A rumble, deep and angry, as if the sky itself were being sundered, causes you to jump and turn, startled out of your reverie. Cautiously, you move towards the entrance to the cave, looking for whatever might have made that last noise.
Even as you grow closer to the mouth of the cave, the sound grows louder and clearer. It reaches back through your memories to the last time your clan had found an oasis in the deep desert. It reminds you of the pouring of water from the great storage vases you carried to the small clay cups you drank from, but on a much greater scale.
But as you reach the mouth of the cave, it proves to be much greater than anything you could ever have imagined.
Water falls from the very skies themselves. It drops in waves from grey fluffy things, soaking the world below. And while the sight of the water may have stopped your breath, it is what you see next that steals it completely.
You stand at a great height, far above the endless sands. From this great vantage point, you feel as if you can see the world in its entirety. You stand near the top of a tree so large it simply defies imagination, on a patch of warm, dark earth cradled high above the world below. The branches of this colossal tree stretch for what must be kilometres in all directions. And as they grow further away, they droop, getting closer and closer to the ground far below.
And close by, standing with her face to the skies, her eyes closed, stands the golden woman who was birthed from your chest.
She is entirely golden in form, her body perfect and radiant as she stands motionless as a statue. Though she wears a face almost exactly like your own, it is utterly without blemish or mark, and her hair, swept back into long, tightly wound curls, reaches down her back in a waterfall of glittering gold.
Unconsciously, you find yourself moving closer to her. Before you even notice what you're doing, you are stepping out from beneath the shelter of the cave-mouth and into the rain. It is only as another rumbling roar comes from the sky above do you snap out of your reverie, flinching as you glance fearfully up at the sky.
It is then that you notice the water on your skin for the first time, and marvel at the feel of it. You have never even dreamed of so much before. Cupping your hands, you watch, entranced as rain fills the hollow, crystal clear as the water in the pool. Reverently, you bring your cupped hands to your lips and drink deeply, and as it flows down your throat, you feel energized, filled with even more vitality than you had before.
Looking up from your cupped hands, you see the golden woman has turned her face you, her eyes kind as her mouth curls into a small smile. Raising a hand towards you, she beckons you forward even as she offers it.
Your heart thunders in your chest as you approach, your breaths deep and filled with a scent you cannot recognise. As she steps forward to meet you, strange plants gleaming with brilliant, vivid colour, spring from the earth in full bloom.
Face to face now, you find she is much taller than you, head and shoulders taller in fact, and as you take her offered hand and look up at her face, she smiles more fully, and drawing you close, you begin to dance.
---
Eventually, it ends, and breathing heavily, you find yourself standing hand in hand with a goddess in a great meadow of wildflowers. The rain has stopped, though you are both still soaked through, but you realise that though she has not spoken to you directly, she has said a great deal to you through your dance.
She is the only one of her kind in existence, and she has lived many lives. Her purpose, as she sees it, is to spread life and help it to flourish wherever it can.
And she was betrayed by those who sought power for the sake of power.
But she is also sorry.
Sorry for the immense pain and suffering you felt, for the agony of walking alone through the desert without food, water or shelter for so long. For burning pain of dissolution that came over you as your soul allowed for her rebirth. For her failure to stop something called the Void-that-Devours.
In recompense, she has gifted you with a rebirth of your own, free from pain, hunger and thirst, you have become an immortal, free to wander a rejuvenated world as you wish, or to stand at her side as she gives your world a rebirth of its own.
"I would like to stay." You say, "and I would like to help, if I am able." In response, she smiles, a simple gesture, filled with such joy and life that you cannot help the laugh which bubbles up through your chest.
She steps close again, and gently, oh so gently, presses her lips to your forehead.
And you know that your new guardian will do all she can to make a world worth living in for you, her new family.
---
As plants and water begin to return to the world, so do animals. But which ones return first?
[] The Great - Huge beasts begin to roam the land. Supported by the great abundance of food, they spread widely by both land and air. The abundance of power in the land allows them many abilities, the greatest of these being the burrowers, who swim through the earth as easily as they do water.
[] The Small - Swift and silent, these creatures are only obvious once they have passed by. Of great variety in colour and hue, many possess the ability to change these aspects of themselves at will to better adapt to their environment.
[] The Winged - Of great variety in shape and size, all of the creatures that spring into being are capable of flight to some degree. Spreading far and wide, their world is both upon the earth below, and upon and around the mighty branches of the World Tree above.
