Through The Forest

Deserts with no end stretch before me,
beasts with no names and strange faces,
the Tall Lands call me,
Mother sings from her tower, her words,
I hear in still nights, and peaceful morning,
the journey has begun.

With blade Ignis I depart from home,
what trials await me, I do not know.
The sun falls and all is still,
and again in deep dreams I hear mother,
her words comfort me.

In earliest, darkest morning, before the sun,
I hear a sound most dark and fearsome,
Erryg.

Erryg, the foul beasts,
with mouths like wolves and wings like eagles,
they descend upon my camp, 

the multitude of darkspawn devils.

I rise to strike them down, 
Ignis unsheathed strikes fear, the devils cower,
but one is brave to test my blade,
gnashing teeth and bony wing descend,
struck down in one fell blow,
the creature, vanquished.

The remaining darkspawn Erryg flee,
the sun is coming, I must continue my journey.

I pack my belongings and continue onward,
the thick forest proves to be a formidable foe,
I find that Ignis is unsheathed often,
strange sounds like whispers, I hear.  

I find a small pool of water and stop to rest,
the trees with limbs stretched up high as the eye can see,
the light between the leaves dances in and out of view in the gentle breeze,
the smell of the ancient trees and the forest spirits is strong here,
the water is a clear blue, I cup some in my hands and drink,
it is sweet as anything that I ever tasted, 
my body becomes light, and my spirits are lifted,
I fill up one of my water satchels with the sweet drink,
I fear that once I leave, I shall never taste it again.

Refreshed, I stand up and I am on my way,
the sun is almost out of sight as I leave the forest,
I arrive at a small town on it's outskirts,
Umrah, is what the natives call it,
in their tongue, it means 'forest eyes'.

They are hospitable, welcoming me with opens arms,
they do not see many visitors through the forest,
they haven't seen one for almost a hundred years,
at least that's what the elder of the town, 
a man who has lived a long five hundred years, tells me.

I offer them the waters I took from the forest as a gift,
they laugh, they tell me that the water is a gift for me from the forest itself,
not many pass through the forest, and fewer still have been offered it's life water.

I am offered a place to spend the night at the village's Inn,
tired from my journey, I fall into a deep sleep,
I can feel Mother's voice in me, calling me to the Tall Lands.

I awake the next morn', ready to continue my journey,
the locals send me off with some food and drink, I am grateful,
with the smell of smoke and cooking breakfast, I leave Umrah and make my to the Tall Lands.