Deep in the jungle of Mumlo, amid the sprawling green vines and towering trees sat an arc of dark stone. Like the flickering leaves of the heavy palmed ferns that littered the floor, the stone arc was wet and polished with an unending mist of rain. The heavenly spittle drenched everything and turned even the brightest reds of flowers and fruits into a damp kaleidoscope of colors. Despite the rain and the stormy clouds long hidden by the unbroken canopy and floating islands above, the forest was anything but quiet. Monkeys screeched and birds crowed at one another while even the insects screamed and chattered. It was an orchestra of nature, only to be broken as a light flickered and an electric hum crackled in the eye of the stone arc. For a moment the forest fell silent as a blasting wave of light flashed and boomed, summoning a rift between the stone fingers of the structure, ripping a hole in reality itself. A nimbus of arcane power followed, spewing an incandescent shower of sparks and otherworldly light - and out stepped a pair of towering metal golems, their vaguely man-shaped steel bodies thundering out from the rift, each wielding a halberd crawling with veins of swirling light. The armored things had no eyes, though they did have faces, heads of metal etched into expressions of permanently, unmoving stoicism. Behind followed a second pair, then a third, wielding massive unstrung crossbows, and between them all, a man-thing the height of a handful of jugheads, its long, pointed ears flicking in response to the sounds of the jungle. A flowing black-gold robe clad its body, and glowing blue eyes stared out from a pale-skilled face rimmed by long hair black as obsidian, flowing as if carried by a breeze. [i]“Pop!”[/i] A small cotton ball of cloud floated right in front of the elf’s face, letting loose curious crackles and pops.The statues froze - and the elf paused, silently reaching up towards the little ball. "Hello there, little creature," they whispered, speaking in a breathy, sing-song tone. [/i]”Crackle.”[/i] “Dumpling?” A hollow, boy-like voice came ringing through the rain. “Dumpling, where did you go!?” [i]“Zzt…”[/i] The tiny cloud zipped away from the elf and spiraled towards the underbrush where it began to pop wildly. As if answering the call, the owner of the hollow voice came tumbling out of the brush, tripping on a root. With a wooden thud, the boy — or rather boy-sized construct consisting of a wooden frame and large claypot head — landed on what might have been a chin. On his back was a plump and overstuffed rucksack, jangling from the impact. Dazed, the faceless jug-headed thingamajig tilted where a face might have been up at the procession. The tiny cloudling — likely known as Dumpling — swirled around the jughead, popping hysterically. Once again, the hollow voice echoed with a meek curiosity. “Oh, hello.” "Hello." The elf replied, their face stretching into a warm smile. Its escort remained silent and unmoving, other than turning their heads to face the jug-headed creature. "I - we - mean you no harm," they reassured him. It, perhaps? "I am a traveler. A scholar, if you would.And who might you be?" “I’m Jasper… wait! Travelers!” The jughead leapt to his feet and clasped his wooden fingers together pleadingly. “Do you know the way to Clearwater?” "I don't know what Clearwater is, even," they chuckled. "A settlement, I assume?" Jasper stood tall in front of the group, or as tall as he could manage. Even with his wooden chest puffed out and fists on his hips, he stood maybe just a hair taller than half the height of his unknown guests. He nodded. “Clearwater has the closest eternal waterfall and bigjug, I was heading there but I got lost after last night’s storm…” He paused. “Can you help me find it? You can see over the bushes better than I can.” "I can help you find it," they nodded, stepping out from between the towering steel soldiers. Lowering themselves to one knee, they held out a single hand. "If you hold my hand, I will be able to find it faster. I can see the path you took to get here." “Oh, okay.” Jasper agreed before taking the stranger by the hand. Briefly surprised by Jasper's willingness, the stranger grasped his hand - and into his mind they looked, delving through his memories in an attempt to divine the location of Clearwater, only to discover that Jasper had never been to such a place, but only had tattered tales of the place told to him by his Grandfather. The Jughead was looking up at the stranger with what one could assume was an excited continence. "...Hmm." The stranger muttered, releasing their grip as they rose to their feet. "You haven't been to Clearwater, have you, Jasper?" They said, still smiling. Strange as this little one was, he seemed friendly, at least - far friendlier than the stranger expected on the other end of a rift. “No, I always stayed in Grandfather’s hut.” The answer came expectantly, as if answering this question might reveal Clearwater. A moment lingered too long and the Jughead shuffled. “You’re still going to help me find it, right?” The boy’s question was punctuated by Dumpling. [i]“Pop!”[/i] "Of course." They smiled again, pushing themselves to their feet after releasing their grip on the construct's hand. "The wildlife here - it isn't dangerous, is it, Jasper?" “Well sometimes the small creatures take off with your spare parts,” Jasper admitted. “Not often though.” [i]”Crackle!”[/i] “Shh!” Jasper hissed. "...Interesting. Where we come from, there are many dangerous creatures - but it is a beautiful place, too." The mage said, glancing about as they pushed themselves back to their full height, searching for any sign of a path. "It seems... Rather pleasant here." “And it’ll be better now that you’re here,” Jasper answered almost cryptically. “You’re not from here it sounds like, so I bet the people at Clearwater were waiting for you like Grandpa. We should get going!” "Let's." The mage nodded, stretching out their hand as they began to walk. "Well tell me more about Clearwater, so that I can... Spot it when I see it." “Oh… yeah I can do that!” Jasper nodded as he skipped after the mage.