Episode 31

Episode 31: A Night In The Woods.

The Shepherd makes its week-long course for the continent of Felldrift, the largest continent on Velstrana. They dock in the upper northeast area of the continent, where Ras takes Baird, Gem, Scrungus, and Toraleth through the forests. They arrive at ceremonial ground in Highmount, the first town founded by Etherals that traveled here from The Bright Veil. The people here are friendly and inviting, and a little old man named Attalon guides them through. He recommends speaking to the guardians of the weapon, Beck and Amari Amakyrr. After some deep thoughts about the future, and preparing for what is to come, they find two beautiful Etherals having a deep conversation just outside of the forest. Beck and Amari, seemingly polar opposites of each other, greet the party kindly. Ras explains that he has come to reclaim Faelthorn, even though it belongs to the Amakyrr family, and plans to use it for good. Beck, shocked that Ras has brought all of the components for the ritual, allows them to pass through the forest and encounter the trial to find Faelthorn. Before heading into the trial, they are interrupted by a young child bursting from the woods. They explain that many Etherals raise their children to figure themselves out without gender stereotypes or roles, and give them placeholder names until they pick their own. Their kid is called Mikiro, and is full of energy and life. They also claim to someday wield Faelthorn and be a hero. They also claim to run a small business selling snails, and even sell some snails to Baird and Gem in exchange for crystals and rocks. Mikiro notices the top surgery scars on Toraleth and Baird, and claims to want to be like them someday as well, asking if they can be trans like they are. With this, Baird decides on a name for the young Mikiro: Dmitri, named after a man Baird knew from when he was homeless who would sometimes feed him and Railund. Dmitri takes their name in pride, happy to have begun figuring themself out (Dmitri will later on use he/him pronouns).

With that settled, Ras takes everyone into the woods for the trial of Faelthorn. The foggy woods begin to speak to them, asking them challenging, subjective questions that they must answer truthfully in order to reach Faelthorn: “Who are you?”, “Why are you here?”, “What makes you worthy?”, “What will you do?”. Rasmesus and Baird respond with confidence, Gem nervously but honestly, Toraleth confused and lost, and Scrungus apathetic and uninterested. Ras mentions that he will work to eradicate disease, and possibly take the position of the fallen god, Nokdar. He plans to restore the life that has withered since Nokdar’s fall, and retake the throne if he has to. Rasmesus, Baird and Gem make it through the fog, in a dimly lit clearing, but Toraleth and Scrungus end up lost, and find themselves outside of the forest, separated from the others. In the clearing, the fog clears to reveal a large, withered tree standing before them. Ras approaches, spores flying up from the ground as he steps. The tree glows as Ras touches it, lighting up the area for a moment. A crevice is revealed in the tree, looking like a place where the weapon is meant to rest. In the crevice, there is instead a note, which Rasmesus reads.

“Dear Rasmesus, It is finally time for you to take your place. You will come to me. You will come to the Master. The Disciple. Return to the Pras Tree, the last sacred temple. Return to me to claim your destiny.” (The note, Episode 31: A Night In The Woods)

Ras is completely speechless at this, completely unaware of who wrote the note and what it exactly means. He explains that the Pras Tree is located on another continent called Rowindan, and the Pras tree is the last remaining place of greenery on the desolate continent, destroyed by waste and fire. Seeing as it’s his destiny, Ras sees to it that they set out for Rowindan, even despite the suspicions and concerns. A mysterious force pulls them out of the clearing and back to the ceremonial grounds, everyone meeting back up with each other again and getting caught up. Beck and Amari are shocked and disappointed upon hearing about the disappearance of the weapon, having been tasked with protecting it. Ras also explains that Rowindan is a continent fallen victim to a cataclysmic event called The Brenningen, which wiped out most of the life there. This even raises more questions about the author of the note, whoever took Faelthorn. Why Rowindan? How did they get past the Amakyrrs? Who is this person? Despite all of the questions, there’s no choice: Ras and his group head back to the Shepherd, preparing for the worst, and set course this time to Rowindan to get Faelthorn back, and put it into safe, trustworthy hands.