Forest Starter

I'm a witch that lives in the woods. You are some kind of dude who gets lost and finds your way to my cabin. You need directions to get to such and such village and I tell you that I can help with that, if you bring me along. What happens is I end up tricking you into helping me steal a magical amulet fron a goblin king, which in turns sends hia hoard after us. We escape, kills lots of dudes probably, and I get us to the town. But now thw goblin is attacking the town so we like fight and kill most of them and you do the thing you were sent to do and I tell you the real reason why I wamted the amulet in the first place. But of course we would roleplay all of this out. And then from there you can decide to come with me on my quest with the amulet OR just go off and mind your own business.

*This begins in the land of Troen.*  

Troen is large, the largest country in the continent, and filled with forests. Sparsely throughout the wilds there are towns and villages, well protected against the harsh wildlands that surround it. They would have to be for any that aren’t protected perish in months, the villages are under attack from gouls and goblins often. Within the wilds there are many creatures within them that seek human flesh, the most popular being the living dead bodies of travelers whom died on their way through the forests going from town to town peddling their wares or simply traveling from one place to the other. That all being said Troen is a human country filled with life, their culture is rich and they’re all together a friendly bunch; the taverns and pubs being filled up with people singing and making merry with even a stranger to their town or village.

In the wilds, though, a select group of people known as witches live in harmony with the forest. These men and women live in the wilds untouched by civilization, minus the occasional trip to a nearby town for supplies, and are a hardy lot. They survive in the wild making magick keeping an eye on the health of their forest by watching the wind, the trees, and communing with birds who act as information givers. Many witches go for weeks without seeing another human soul, being happy to live their meager life as a mage and keeper of the forest, knowing much about the world and its goings on due to travelers who stop at their door for a respite. This is where our story starts. 

It was the middle of summer. The forest had been quiet this year from the beginning, like a peace had settled over it. Everything was a healthy deep green; the ferns were large and strong. Once in a while a rain would settle over the woods and liven the vegetation up giving the entire forest a humid feeling, but an uncomfortable moistness just enough that everything had a deep woodsy smell adding to the enclosed feeling. Troen was an expansive wood filled with many different kinds of trees, the tallest of which were almost impossible to see the tops of and would need seven men fingertip to fingertip all around to embrace it. It was filled with many creatures; the usual like deer, squirrels, and foxes but also the occasional magic creature if you were lucky enough to spot one. At night it would become perilous with undead and other unworldly creatures stalking the woods, packs of wolves was a major culprit of traveler death for any who dared pass through these parts.

Saej had just finished lunch, apple chicken and dumpling soup, and had begun feeding the three hogs which lived on her farm. Hidden away in the Troen was a witch by the name of Saej. Her house was a small cottage with a sod roof boasting only three rooms; a front room where her kitchen and living area was, a bedroom, and a second room which had been her bedroom as a child when Baba was still alive but now it had been converted into her working room and storage. Outside there was a crude fence made from branches and untrimmed pieces of wood, as if they had been cut to fit and nothing more cosmetic than that, surrounding the home with a big enough perimeter to enclose her farm, the surrounding trees had been cut down allowing the sun to shine over it all. Within those boundaries were hog pen and their small shed, a chicken coop filled with 15 or so chickens, and two hunting dogs that acted as guard dogs as well lurking around. Also inside her fence was a large garden filled with vegetables of the season, wheat, gourds, peas, as well as a menagerie of herbs with the occasional wild flower spouted about that she allowed growing with her produce. The hogs were being rather ornery today when she went in a piglet had grabbed on to the hem of her dress and tugged it making it hard for her to walk and she almost tripped into the mud. As he left one charged at her with wild abandon in his eyes. Luckily as he closed the space between them she was safely on the other side of the fence they were encircled in and she gave him an incredulous look as she latched the door shut. Shouldering the empty bucket which had only moments before held their slop she spoke to him, “Thomas, you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” His small, pig eyes regarded her with their animalness and he grunted as he turned his face up to look at her fully, his tucks poking out of his mouth almost comically. She stared at him back for a few moments before her face softened and she patted him on the head, his coarse hair rubbing on her hand, and left the pig pen. ‘He’s going to make a fine meal this winter, the b*****d.’

After her other chores were done, feed the birds, feed the hounds, she finished with her final task of walking the fence. She did this three times a day, just to keep an eye on the woods. There was a lot you could learn from the way the birds sing and how the wind moves. Today things seemed to be normal, nothing out of place. The redhead strolled to the gate and began walking left. It only took her ten minutes to do this if she walked fast but usually she liked to take her time. The forest was dancing today, the trees had a certain sway to them. Her footfalls were quiet as the ground under her feet was soft. Saej brushed her hair back from her face and stopped walking for a moment; she was only a few paces away from the entrance. Using one hand to grip the fence she leaned on it and deep breathed, holding her free hand to her chin with her eyes closed, head cocked to the side. A small smile was on her face as she took this peaceful moment to think.

‘By the stars and by the moon.

I stand here today thinking of you.

What’s done is done though you are not gone.’

She tapped the middle of her forehead twice.

‘This fine day sings a song.

From my heart I sent it to you…

I stand here, alone, thinking of you.’

She touched her heart and let out a slow exhale. A shiver went down her spine. She missed Baba. A few more moments passed in mostly silence, the chickens chuckled and she could hear one of them flapping madly, but she allowed the sound to go through her head and simply felt the nothing and the all, all at once. With her small prayer sent out she continued her walk, feeling lifted and the already great day just seemed to peak. ‘Perhaps I’ll do a bit of bead work tonight’, she thought merrily to herself.

It was a nice stroll around the perimeter and according to her senses nothing was amiss. When she was done she went to her garden and began weeding. It had been two weeks since she had done anything more than water her vegetables and now she needed to get to work. Today she wore a ragged dress so it was no bother to her to get it dirty. The redhead went inside and retrieved a wicker basket before settling down on her hands and knees to get to work.

She had been at it for a quarter of an hour and was beginning to get tired. Her work was a little over halfway done. "By the gods I should not have let it get so bad", the witch said to herself after struggling to uproot a rather stubborn dandielion. Her arms were covered in dirt. And from her waist down was filthy with the green soil. Despite it being later in the afternoon the temperature was still rather warm and she had worked up a sweat. With the back of her hand she wiped it from her bow leaving a brown streak across her forehead in its wake. Heaving a sigh she sat back on her haunches and studied her efforts; the wicker basket was full with weeds and it occured to her the pigs might find them tastey. Ungracefull she stood up, wobbling slightly as her legs were tired from being on the ground for so long, and took the basket to the hog pen. The big male from earlier was laying on his side beside two of the females tuckered out from a long day of rooting earth. As quickly as she could she zoomed in, dumped the weeds in their trough, and hobbled her way out, boots making a SHLUK SHULK sound in the mud, with the door latched before the hogs were even able to get up. Big b******s.

The garden already looked better, at least her efforts weren't for nothing. She sat the basket down near where she would be working next and put her hands on her hips and sighed. 'It's what you get for being lazy', she chidded herself before resigning herself to being on her hands and knees pulling weeds once again, eyeing a particularly big one with disease. 'Great.'