Chapter I: Rude Awakening
You wake up with a jolt from the pounding of drums in the distance and find yourself lying on a cold, hard dirt floor. It was dark, and your eyes hadn’t yet adjusted. You sit up and rub your eyes, thinking back on what had happened. To your chagrin you can’t seem to remember how you ended up in this predicament. As your eyes slowly adjust to the low light of the environment you notice you are in what appears to be a cell carved into a tree, wooden bars caging you in. There were a few braziers illuminating the surrounding area with a warm fiery orange glow. Occasionally a fairly tall figure would walk by. They looked almost human, with the exception of their ears, which you liken to Tolkien’s image of elves; and their tails which resembled different animals. You only saw a few variety of tails those ranging between lion-like tail, a wolf tail and a tiger. They seemed to be dressed in armor, but it seemed minimal, covering only their shins, their shoulders and chest, and their forearms. It didn’t seem to be made of metal as one would expect, but leather and wood. Their attire confused you and as your eyes adjusted further you could make out more details. It appeared as if they carried swords and bows and their skin was painted in what appeared to be tribal markings. You went back and sat against the wall of this cell you were in trying to make sense of everything around you. What are these creatures, what do they want and how did you get here? Despite having just woken up you feel very tired, and as you try to figure out what exactly is going on you find yourself drifting to sleep. Unable to keep yourself awake you lie down and sleep once more.
When you wake you see a figure crouching outside of your cell. You sit up slowly trying to see who it is, however they are shrouded in darkness, the fires from the braziers seem to have been extinguished. Once again you have to wait for your eyes to adjust so you can make out the features of this character before you. As your eyes readjust to the dark you can make out softer features, no armor, no weapons. A pretty face unlike that of the guards that were patrolling an indeterminate amount of time ago stared at you from just outside the wooden bars which confine you. “A girl?” you think as your eyes fully adjust. It was definitely a female crouching down just beyond your bars. She put her hands up and grabbed the bars, continuing to stare at you silently. It was mildly unnerving as she just sat and watched quietly. Finally you speak up. “Where am I? What do you—,” she cuts you off with a harsh shushing. She looks around and finally stands up. Judging by her height and figure you guess she is about 20, or at least looked it. She went to what appeared to be the door of the cell and fumbled with the lock before the door opened silently. She stepped inside and crouched down in front of you and looked you up and down, examining you closely. Feeling unnerved again you move away but do the same to her. She appears to be young, as you had guessed before. She has long black hair brushed to one side and tucked behind her small pointed ears. You couldn’t see the color of her eyes but they seemed normal. Her clothes seem minimal, a leather top which doesn’t extend past her ribs and what appears to be a cloth dress which wrapped around her waist and upper thighs and draped down in the front and back. A leather belt held it all together. She quickly stands, revealing only leather wrapped around her shins but nothing covering her feet. She motions for you to follow, you hesitate and she motions again this time moving back to you and pulling you up. You are reluctant but obey; she seems to be friendly and trying to help.
She leads you through what appear to be streets of a city, one built in the very tall trees which grew hundreds of feet tall. You look around and are amazed with the sight. An entire city built into the trees with wooden walkways and bridges connecting the trees and buildings and homes built both around the trees and carved into them. It was dark and you assume it to be night but you don’t see any stars or a moon. You keep walking with the girl until she stops and turns to you. In a soft whisper she tells you directions to get out of the city, she tells you to keep going in that direction until you see a large dead tree fallen on the path and to stop and wait there. She then says that she’ll meet you there and then runs off. You try to stop her, still wanting questions answered. She keeps running though and doesn’t look back at you. You notice unlike the others she doesn’t have a tail. You sigh quietly and follow the directions she gave you and start to head for the tree she told you of. It seemed like a far walk but you manage to make it without incident and wait by the tree as instructed. You wait for what seems like hours before you hear footsteps coming toward you. Relieved you turn to the path to look for the girl and instead are met by a garrison of guards. You turn to run but are grabbed and quickly taken to the ground where you are bound with ropes. They lift you to your feet as you struggle to get free and run but the ropes are too tight. One of the guards approaches and puts a bag over your head. They push you along and guide you back to the city.
You are suddenly surrounded by light and pushed to your knees as the bag is removed from your head. The sudden brightness hurts your eyes but you adjust quickly and see you are in a large circular room lit by numerous torches. In front of you a rather wide creature sat. It was the same as the others, except this one appeared to be old and horned. Though as you stare at the horns you notice it is only a headdress and you move on to the other features of his face. He had a thick white beard and unlike the other creatures you’ve seen he had very fine looking cloth clothing. If you had to guess you would say this is their king or chief or whatever they called him. “So this is the prisoner who escaped?” The old one asks. Without waiting for an answer he leans forward and examines you, much like the girl did. He then leans back and speaks to you. “Who are you?” he says, and you answer quickly, giving him your name. “Another one with a strange name!” the old one exclaims. “Another?” you think and ponder the possibility of there being more people like you there. “I will treat you as I did the others, though most of the others didn’t try to escape. As such you will be allowed to roam freely, however you have yet to earn our trust and so you will be escorted back to your cell every night by my guards where you will stay until morning, then you will be allowed to roam our city but you are not to leave. Is that understood?” The old one asks. You nod and say yes, as you look to the side you see a cloaked and hooded figure move along the outside of the circle behind the guards and other people who had been standing and watching. The figure removes the hood and looks over at you and you see a familiar face. It was the girl who let you go. You go to say something but decide not to and instead allow yourself to be taken back to your cell where you are kept until morning.
Still tired you decided to sleep this time you are given a bed and a more private cell, it was more like a room than anything. You examine the room quickly; there is a sconce on the wall which held several lit candles. You watch the smoke rise from the candle and leave the room through a small hole in the ceiling. There are what appear to be a desk, a chair and a wardrobe along one wall and your bed along the other. Upon the desk there seem to be some devices, not like anything you’ve seen, which based on their design you guess they are for lighting the candles. A book was also on the desk; the writing was unfamiliar and looked nothing like anything from Earth. Given what you’ve seen so far you assume that you are no longer on Earth. Still left with unanswered questions you move to the bed, tired and confused. You lie down upon the surprisingly soft and comfortable bed and drift slowly to sleep. You awake the next morning as a guard comes and unlocks the door. You sit up and look in the wardrobe and to your surprise there are clothes inside for you. You wonder how they were able to make them fit but you put on what they gave you. There wasn’t much, two leather wrist guards which went about halfway to your elbow, two shin protectors like the girl had been wearing last night, and a dress much like what the girl wore only shorter. (If your character is female you also find a top like the girl was wearing. If male you don’t find a top and assume the men don’t wear tops). There isn’t any footwear and you seem hesitant to walk around barefooted but not wanting to stand out more than you already do you take off your shoes and socks and leave them with the rest of your clothes. You walk outside and look around. It was still rather dark but much lighter than the night. You look up and see a thick canopy made by the tree tops which let in shards of light. Some of those shards were caught by strange crystals in the streets which amplified the light and released it making them glow but making the surrounding areas appear illuminated with natural sunlight. You wander around and notice that many of these creatures are staring at you. You are able to ignore them, as they do nothing but stare curiously, and continue on trying to find out about the others that the old one had spoken of last night. Where to begin?
You wake up with a jolt from the pounding of drums in the distance and find yourself lying on a cold, hard dirt floor. It was dark, and your eyes hadn’t yet adjusted. You sit up and rub your eyes, thinking back on what had happened. To your chagrin you can’t seem to remember how you ended up in this predicament. As your eyes slowly adjust to the low light of the environment you notice you are in what appears to be a cell carved into a tree, wooden bars caging you in. There were a few braziers illuminating the surrounding area with a warm fiery orange glow. Occasionally a fairly tall figure would walk by. They looked almost human, with the exception of their ears, which you liken to Tolkien’s image of elves; and their tails which resembled different animals. You only saw a few variety of tails those ranging between lion-like tail, a wolf tail and a tiger. They seemed to be dressed in armor, but it seemed minimal, covering only their shins, their shoulders and chest, and their forearms. It didn’t seem to be made of metal as one would expect, but leather and wood. Their attire confused you and as your eyes adjusted further you could make out more details. It appeared as if they carried swords and bows and their skin was painted in what appeared to be tribal markings. You went back and sat against the wall of this cell you were in trying to make sense of everything around you. What are these creatures, what do they want and how did you get here? Despite having just woken up you feel very tired, and as you try to figure out what exactly is going on you find yourself drifting to sleep. Unable to keep yourself awake you lie down and sleep once more.
When you wake you see a figure crouching outside of your cell. You sit up slowly trying to see who it is, however they are shrouded in darkness, the fires from the braziers seem to have been extinguished. Once again you have to wait for your eyes to adjust so you can make out the features of this character before you. As your eyes readjust to the dark you can make out softer features, no armor, no weapons. A pretty face unlike that of the guards that were patrolling an indeterminate amount of time ago stared at you from just outside the wooden bars which confine you. “A girl?” you think as your eyes fully adjust. It was definitely a female crouching down just beyond your bars. She put her hands up and grabbed the bars, continuing to stare at you silently. It was mildly unnerving as she just sat and watched quietly. Finally you speak up. “Where am I? What do you—,” she cuts you off with a harsh shushing. She looks around and finally stands up. Judging by her height and figure you guess she is about 20, or at least looked it. She went to what appeared to be the door of the cell and fumbled with the lock before the door opened silently. She stepped inside and crouched down in front of you and looked you up and down, examining you closely. Feeling unnerved again you move away but do the same to her. She appears to be young, as you had guessed before. She has long black hair brushed to one side and tucked behind her small pointed ears. You couldn’t see the color of her eyes but they seemed normal. Her clothes seem minimal, a leather top which doesn’t extend past her ribs and what appears to be a cloth dress which wrapped around her waist and upper thighs and draped down in the front and back. A leather belt held it all together. She quickly stands, revealing only leather wrapped around her shins but nothing covering her feet. She motions for you to follow, you hesitate and she motions again this time moving back to you and pulling you up. You are reluctant but obey; she seems to be friendly and trying to help.
She leads you through what appear to be streets of a city, one built in the very tall trees which grew hundreds of feet tall. You look around and are amazed with the sight. An entire city built into the trees with wooden walkways and bridges connecting the trees and buildings and homes built both around the trees and carved into them. It was dark and you assume it to be night but you don’t see any stars or a moon. You keep walking with the girl until she stops and turns to you. In a soft whisper she tells you directions to get out of the city, she tells you to keep going in that direction until you see a large dead tree fallen on the path and to stop and wait there. She then says that she’ll meet you there and then runs off. You try to stop her, still wanting questions answered. She keeps running though and doesn’t look back at you. You notice unlike the others she doesn’t have a tail. You sigh quietly and follow the directions she gave you and start to head for the tree she told you of. It seemed like a far walk but you manage to make it without incident and wait by the tree as instructed. You wait for what seems like hours before you hear footsteps coming toward you. Relieved you turn to the path to look for the girl and instead are met by a garrison of guards. You turn to run but are grabbed and quickly taken to the ground where you are bound with ropes. They lift you to your feet as you struggle to get free and run but the ropes are too tight. One of the guards approaches and puts a bag over your head. They push you along and guide you back to the city.
You are suddenly surrounded by light and pushed to your knees as the bag is removed from your head. The sudden brightness hurts your eyes but you adjust quickly and see you are in a large circular room lit by numerous torches. In front of you a rather wide creature sat. It was the same as the others, except this one appeared to be old and horned. Though as you stare at the horns you notice it is only a headdress and you move on to the other features of his face. He had a thick white beard and unlike the other creatures you’ve seen he had very fine looking cloth clothing. If you had to guess you would say this is their king or chief or whatever they called him. “So this is the prisoner who escaped?” The old one asks. Without waiting for an answer he leans forward and examines you, much like the girl did. He then leans back and speaks to you. “Who are you?” he says, and you answer quickly, giving him your name. “Another one with a strange name!” the old one exclaims. “Another?” you think and ponder the possibility of there being more people like you there. “I will treat you as I did the others, though most of the others didn’t try to escape. As such you will be allowed to roam freely, however you have yet to earn our trust and so you will be escorted back to your cell every night by my guards where you will stay until morning, then you will be allowed to roam our city but you are not to leave. Is that understood?” The old one asks. You nod and say yes, as you look to the side you see a cloaked and hooded figure move along the outside of the circle behind the guards and other people who had been standing and watching. The figure removes the hood and looks over at you and you see a familiar face. It was the girl who let you go. You go to say something but decide not to and instead allow yourself to be taken back to your cell where you are kept until morning.
Still tired you decided to sleep this time you are given a bed and a more private cell, it was more like a room than anything. You examine the room quickly; there is a sconce on the wall which held several lit candles. You watch the smoke rise from the candle and leave the room through a small hole in the ceiling. There are what appear to be a desk, a chair and a wardrobe along one wall and your bed along the other. Upon the desk there seem to be some devices, not like anything you’ve seen, which based on their design you guess they are for lighting the candles. A book was also on the desk; the writing was unfamiliar and looked nothing like anything from Earth. Given what you’ve seen so far you assume that you are no longer on Earth. Still left with unanswered questions you move to the bed, tired and confused. You lie down upon the surprisingly soft and comfortable bed and drift slowly to sleep. You awake the next morning as a guard comes and unlocks the door. You sit up and look in the wardrobe and to your surprise there are clothes inside for you. You wonder how they were able to make them fit but you put on what they gave you. There wasn’t much, two leather wrist guards which went about halfway to your elbow, two shin protectors like the girl had been wearing last night, and a dress much like what the girl wore only shorter. (If your character is female you also find a top like the girl was wearing. If male you don’t find a top and assume the men don’t wear tops). There isn’t any footwear and you seem hesitant to walk around barefooted but not wanting to stand out more than you already do you take off your shoes and socks and leave them with the rest of your clothes. You walk outside and look around. It was still rather dark but much lighter than the night. You look up and see a thick canopy made by the tree tops which let in shards of light. Some of those shards were caught by strange crystals in the streets which amplified the light and released it making them glow but making the surrounding areas appear illuminated with natural sunlight. You wander around and notice that many of these creatures are staring at you. You are able to ignore them, as they do nothing but stare curiously, and continue on trying to find out about the others that the old one had spoken of last night. Where to begin?