The forest sprawled across the continent, nearly a landmass in itself. Trees stretching anywhere from forty to one-hundred feet upwards and creating a dense ceiling of foliage and flora. Oranges, reds, and yellows mixed in among the normal green to make a grand picture to those looking up. The density meant that very little to no sunlight or moonlight would manage to peak through. Carpeting the forest floor was flowers and plants of any color, some blooming as tall as a person, with mushrooms and other fungi climbing the thick trunks. Roots and vines spruced and snaked their way across the ground as they pleased, making for a network of thick tubes going every which way. As well as many forest creatures living their lives, milling about to eat, mate, or simply play about in a gleeful way. These animals would show very little to no aggression if happened upon by a lost traveler. However, at this point in the night, everything had laid to rest, the only sound being the faint song of the crickets.



Then there was bright orange light. Flickering and roaring orange and yellow flames engulfed his view. Shrill, high, and piercing shrieks filled the air, as if scores of thousands of infants had been torn from their mothers and held above a chasm. Aredis couldn't make out anything coherent with his senses so overloaded.



"...dead...is...Gods!" A forlorn voice begun to break through the wails in pieces, although Aredis still couldn't hear the entirety.



"The world...Gods...is..." Attempting to work his way through the blinding light, the voice grew in volume.



"Dying! The world shall perish! The gods have fallen and we are lost! The Gods are defeated and the world shall follow suit!" A chorus of voices chanted and screamed variations on this phrase, yet they all meant the same. Aredis began to feel the metal of the trinket hanging from his neck heat to an immense temperature. Tearing it off in a panic, he didn't realize what he was doing until the symbol of his God was snatched up by the sudden presence of bloodied priests in front of him and thrown onto a pile of other burning idols. How could they be doing this, why was his happening? Aredis was given no answers, just continued wailing and shouting.



Darkness yet again, Aredis began to panic and thrash, until he remembered. A wave of his hand was all that was required and the darkness began to split down the middle to reveal a slightly brighter darkness when the sleeping pod he lay in began to open. The cocoon of leaves peeled back in layers and finally opened in an almost flower like configuration to allow Aredis to sit up and see that, as expected, it was the middle of the night. Remembering his nightmare, a hand flew to his chest to grasp the necklace hanging there, it's immense warmth a great comfort to him in the moment. The small natural seeping hammock was situated about ten feet off of the ground against one of the massive tree trunks. 



The edge of the forest was only about forty yards ahead of him, so more light reached this area than the rest of the forest, with many smaller trees making the ceiling of foliage less dense. Aredis gazed out upon the cloudy night to the east, patches of stars visible through the overcast weather. It smelled like it would rain. Rain was welcomed, he could use a bit of washing anyhow. Then, the sky far to the east seemed to clear up, clouds parting. Aredis initially smiled as he always appreciated the weather permitting him to stargazer when waking through the night. His joy was short lived as almost blinding light, even from so far away, pierced through down to the earth. A mass seemed to almost rocket down from the clouds and follow the path of the light, and a feeling of sickness rose in his stomach for a reason he did not understand.



As the mass plummeted to the ground, his trinket burned immensely against his chest, causing him to cry out in surprise. With a fierce wind whipping into and through the forest, bending some of the smaller trees, Aredis heard a voice and his heart sank.



"My disciples, I am lost, we have failed you. Make way without-" At the same time the mass seems to reach the ground, the voice stopped, and the amulet immediately grew cold. Aredis grew stiff and his breath caught in his chest, that feeling in his stomach growing so terrible that he felt he might vomit.



"No...it cannot be." He muttered over and over. Within the same. Instant, a cacophony of madness erupted in the forest from all directions, cries and calls from ever animal sounding through the night like a massive trumpet. Glancing down, he saw gruesome scenes of violence. No longer wishing to look at it he stepped into the air and his body began to change. Feathers sprouted from his arms and moved towards his back at the shoulder, his legs thinned and shrunk. Aredis' bones lightened and compressed while his lower face hardened and stretched forward, the rest of his head shrinking down. In another instant he was a crow flying at breakneck pace towards the now fading light from the Heavens. Less than a minute of flight however, and the whole process happened in reverse, and Aredis dropped to the ground, everything going dark as the ground came up to meet him quickly.



Two Days Later
Aredis had awoken in agony. Immediately realizing that his arms and legs must have been broken from the fall. Calling upon every name he could think of for his God he spoke the prayer he had previously that would've brought him instant relief from any ailment. However, now it seemed to work, but not properly. Feeling his bones crack and pop and attach back to become one piece, he was technically healed, yet it didn't feel whole. Aredis developed a limp and it brought him great pain to hold his arms above chest height for too long. Even so however he began his journey towards the nearest town, which was a good five or so days away. Reciting his healing prayer over and over, he would find only minor success across the entire journey and would still be left with a very noticeable and impeding limp.



Five Days Later
Aredis had found himself in the tavern out of necessity. He had found some coin along the trip from some individuals who pitied the dirty, broken looking man. What had previously been very bright and colorful green and red robes woven of vines, moss, animal skins, and tree fibers, was now mottled and rotten looking brown and grey. He looked a right mess in what appeared to be brown and grey trousers that cut at the knee and a vest that did not cover his arms or shoulders and hung down just below his waist. A belt made of plant fiber was cinched about his waist, with vines intersecting. The entire outfit at various points. Aredis' skin had taken on a green and brown hue with speckles across his arms. A meager meal of bread and salted fish was half eaten when Aredis looked up through his shaggy mop of dirty hair.



A man was recruiting it seemed. This would be his only chance he could see that would lead him to uncover the mystery of what had happened to his God. Aredis shoved the remainder of the fish in his mouth and pushed back from his chair in the corner to approach the person near the entrance way.



"Hello. I shall join you." Aredis stated in a very direct and stiff manner. Nearly twenty years of pure isolation from other people would make it quite hard for you to speak to others as well. He would simply look directly at the man as he awaited for a response, thin lips pulled tight and amber eyes blank.