[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220818/8e0297e9cce80d3771104ea7bf0e2917.png[/img][/center] “What do you mean you are leaving?” Fernguard demanded to know, the [Warden] of the Darkwoods having been interrupted during a briefing about rumors of mysterious castles popping up on the plains beyond their forest home by her god so he could deliver this news. “Well, not leaving, but, I mean, come on. I am a god of adventure! You can’t exactly expect me to just, you know, sit around here all day every day. I need to get out there every now and then! Find new people, new places. Go to the moon! You know. All that jazz” the god, who had draped himself over her desk the moment he came in, explained. “Well yes but … wait what is jazz?” “Oh you poor poor uncultured elf you” the god said as he shook his head solemnly The elf in question frowned at him and then a touch exasperatedly asked “So are you gonna tell me what it is or not?” “Not till someone invents it and names it wrong.” Ferngaurd sighed and then tried to get back on topic “I, ok, look, let’s go back a step. You are leaving. This is bad. I mean, your already out a lot and this is gonna be worse” “Awww you want me around that much?” “What? No! I mean yes… look, if there are things like that big musical tentacle friend, but, you know, hostile, then we need you around. Because what am I going to do about that? I have a handful of [guardians] and mid twenties level [adventurers] and they can’t take Sanctuary sized monsters!” “Not to worry I’ve got you covered” Jeon said, before rolling off her desk and beckoning her to follow. The god tossed open her door once they reached it, stepped out and cried out “behold!” as he dramatically pointed towards… nothing “What.. am I meant to be looking at?” Ferngaurd asked after she stepped out “What. huh. Where did he go?” Jeon asked the empty air, palm raised over his eyebrows as he scanned around the city, only to find his eyes on Stagstep, the [Ranger], first [guardian] and Ferngaurd’s closest companion. “You wondering where that big leggy snake went?” he asked, and when he got the obvious answer of “yes!” from Jeon, the elf pointed off to the south and informed him that “it went that way as soon as you entered the building to go talk to Fernie…. I mean Ferngaurd” which caused an exasperated god to toss up his arms and yell out “what the fuck” in the direction his surprise had vanished off in. [hr] Grasping claws and a serpentine body traveled through the forest at breakneck speed, yet at the same time the writhing body was agility sliding between trunks without even grazing a twig, it’s claws touched ever so lightly on the ground that ner a flower was disturbed and its great branch like antlers left the canopy entirely undisturbed. Keen senses, from sapphire eyes peering out from between green scales, catfish like whispers and its long keen snout, all of which bade the lung dragon run forth. The call? Well, you only had to ask, as the Shadow Guardian did when the dragon approached the Umbral woods. Then answer? It came in a deep and kindly from the creature’s lips, its, his,mossy beard shaking softly as he spoke “The cries of the small” [hr] Rain was falling in the Umbral woods, water streaking down from the heavens and lashing the leafless trees of its frightening night time visage. There were, however, some leaves still around. Those that fell, lingered, and someone had used them to make a camouflage covering for their home up in the branches of one of the trees, a disguise that worked very well in the day, and moderately well in the night despite sticking out like a sore thumb to anything with a lick of self awareness. Tragedy, however, had struck, as the particularly hard rain storm had weakened the protective walls of the home, and then sent a section of it crashing down when a horrible monster had stomped across its roof. Surrounded by the debris the monster observed the horrified homeowners into whom’s abode it had fallen with its cold uncaring eyes, its twin lenses black as the abysses. Then it raised up a pair of wicked crushing claws and started slowly stalking forwards on far too many barb covered legs. The poor frightened woman scattered away from the beast in a panic. All but one, who instead charged it with a crude rock on a stick that no one in their right minds would be found wielding these days. But it was all she had “Die monster!” she shrieked in just the highest pitch voice, only to be outdone a heartbeat later by an even higher pitched cry of “Cherry, nooooo!” Cherry, headless of the cry, made a flying leap over the monster’s wicked claws and swung her primitive club with all her might right between the eyes, only for the rock to bounce harmlessly off of its thick sunset hued armor. Adrenaline fueled daring quickly turned into panic as the offending arm was grabbed by two smaller ye equally as horrible claws set right next to its maw. It squeezed her arm tight, causing her to drop her weapon. “I’m coming!” called the one who had shouted her name cried, but as Cherry watched as the inevitable occurred, and her struggling arm was drawn into the monster’s maw she took her last moments to call “No! Go! Save babies and treasure! Run away!” And then there was only pain as the horrible beast crunched through her arm with its horrid jaws, leaving the poor brave soul collapsed on the ground, her arm a bloody stump, too shocked by the pain to move or do anything but cry, her tears mixing with the rain pouring through the hole in their home. Then, all of a sudden, the rain stopped as a great green mass suddenly blotted out the sky, and, after a moment of confusion from all within the home, a savior appeared: a great green claw descended, grasping the monster and pulling it up and away. A moment passed, and Cherry’s tears turned to ones of sorrow to ones of joy as her tribe hurried to her side to pull her out of the rain. Outside, curled around the tree, was the mighty lung dragon who had come all the way from sanctuary to respond to the first cries of panic, now held their cause in its claws: A humble orange crab. Not a giant crab, or even a pretty big crab like a Asu’epit. No it was just a regular ol crab. Well, yes, it could fly due to being a Tonnokala, and it did so when the dragon flicked it away into the rain, but that was all that was special about it. Of course, when you were the size of a tennis ball, even a regular ol crab was deadly dangerous. As were about 90% of the other things in the woods which meant that the coin fairies, because that was what these poor wet folks were, had it pretty rough going. Not that you’d be able to tell most of the time. When things weren't awful, such as when a big person came around, they were bubbly and cheery as could be, happily chitter chattering away as they tried to get you to trade a spoonful of jam for a shiny beetle shell. Right now however, their home was waterlogged and there was a big green thing outside which, despite it saving them, was still making them very nervous. It made them even more nervous when a great sapphire eye suddenly filled the hole in their home as the lung dragon peered in. Then the fear dissipated as there came a deep warm voice, “Do not fear, small ones, I am Monpou, friend of the small” “A friend?” one of the fairies asked “A person? Not a monster?” another deduced “A customer!” a third cried out in realization, a cry that was picked up by several of the others who rushed off to the back of their nest in an excited flurry. “Girls, is this really the time!” another, the one who had been so worried about Cherry and was presently holding the bleeding out fairy in her arms, yelled after them, but the fairy in question just patted her with her intact arm and said in a strained and pained tone “let them have some excitement Bon-Bon, don’t let me bring down the mood” “Do not worry, little one, let ol Monpou clean you up” Monpou interceded, before the sapphire eye peeking in briefly flashed a brilliant emerald green, and in a moment Cherry’s bleeding mangled stump became simply a stump of smooth flesh instead. “Ah! Oh? Ohhh. Oh my goddess” Cherry marveled as the pain vanished and her wits returned to her. She started at the closed wound for a moment, and then up at the colossal eye and suddenly looked very embarrassed “Oh. Oh my gosh I am so sorry Mr Monpou! You’ve saved my life twice and I haven't thanked you, or even introduced myself! I’m Cherry, Cherry on Top, and I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for this” the little fairy rambled off, before ducking her head down in thanks. “There is nothing to repay, small one. Helping those like you is simply what I do” Monpou insisted, and before Cherry could protest she first had the air squeezed out of her by a tight hug from an incredibly relieved ugly crying Bon-Bon, and then was drowned out as the other fairies returned holding varicose tiny goods. “Hey, hey, Mr Monpou, look at this shiny rock, don’t you wanna buy it?” the first called, holding up a tiny chunk of copper ore. “Or this butterfly wing” another called out “Or this sharks tooth that I found and polished up real good” asked a third “Little ones please, I am not here to buy anything, I only came to help” the Lung dragon gently insisted “Awww” the would be sellers all coursed, before one asked “Wait, does that mean you're leaving?” and then quickie realized “oh no, but what about the hole in our nest? If you move, more stuff can get in to attack us!” “Even if it doesn’t the rain will” Bon-Bon said through sobs, before hugging Cherry even tighter and making the other fairy wheeze “and it will ruin everything even more” Indeed, the water had done quite a number on their crude construction, and bits of it were gradually falling away right before Monpou’s eye, and that was with him blocking out the rain. If he moved, well, there was a real risk the nest would be completely flooded and collapse. “Can you stay? Please? We’ll pay you anything to give us the time to fix the hole” Cherry asked, having slightly freed herself from Bon-Bon’s deathgrip “If we even can,” the fairy holding her added morosely “all the leaves are gone, or wet on the floor. And we can’t go out to get sticks” “Till.. till it’s dry then?” Cerry tried, very hesitant to ask for even more help when so much had been given freely The Lung Dragon wanted to, but he could hear a distance calling, ever so loud and yet terribly far away. “I’m sorry little ones, but my remaker is calling, and I should best return before his anger turns to alarm or worry” Monpou said, only to swiftly add “but. First, Let me ask you this, little ones. Are you at all attached to this location in particular” “Huh?” “It's where our stuff is” “You mean like, the tree? No, it’s not great.” “Must be out of the way, we haven't seen any people since that Fang guy with his big scary monster” came a string of replies that added up to a no. “Well then, little ones, would you like to come back with me?” Monpou asked “To a place far less dangerous than this” “Back? Back where?” “Why to Sanctuary of course” “Sanctuary?” “oh that place with all the elves!” “with pie so good a god gave away her crown for a slice!” was the chitter chatter of responses he got. It seemed that even these out of the way folks had heard of one of the two great settlements of the area, even if only though rumors “But isn’t it really far away? Really really far away?” Cherry asked Monpou smiled, though they could only see it in his eye, before he told them simply that that was the case “Only for a mortal” [hr] “I swear, that ungrateful big jerk! You give someone the power of a god and then they just… run off with it on you!” “Wait, you did what? You can do that?” Ferngaurd removed her hands from her ears to ask, Jeon’s divine yelling at the clouds having been quite deafening. Then she thought for half a second and added “Wait, you gave someone devine power, and you were going to introduce them as help for my whole [warden] thing.. Why the heck didn’t you just give me that power? It would have made things so much easier!” “Oh honey, because that would have been sooooo boring. Also it would have blown your mind” Jeon told her “so i gave it to someone with a bigger brain, aaaaand more experience with this whole forest guardian thing” Jeon turned to tell her, giving her a patronizing pat on the shoulder, before spinning sound and yelling “Which I expected would make them responsible and not be prone them to run off like this!” back at the forest. Right in time for a mass of leafy green scales to burst from the canopy, as the serpentine form of Monpau soared up into the air with a mighty leap, and then landed delicately as a feather right before them in the branches of Sanctuary. Stagstep practically leapt out of his skin in surprise, and did literally leap over his [animal companion] Doe to land behind her, the cowardly [ranger] ducking down behind the entirely nonplussed redwood deer. Ferngaurd took a half step back and reached for one of her thornblades instinctively, but Jeon seemed entirely non perturbed by this sudden arrival. Actually he was just mad, yelling “There you are, you big jerk! You ran off and made me look bad, so you better have a good excuse” while jabbing an angry fist towards them. “I am sorry, but I heard the cries of these little ones and had to come to their aid” the lung dragon apologized as he ducked his head low, in the process revealing the tiny figures nestled in the grassy mane running along his neck and back. “What in the world?” Ferngaurd asked as she peered closer, and saw ting winged the figures that were wearing ratty and simple clothes reminiscent of what her kind had worn back in the day when the world was young. They carried with them very little: a few crude tools, the odd shiny thing, and a number of babes swaddled in leaves like bee grubs. They also looked absolutely amazed, which, to be fair, wasn’t unusual for someone seeing Sanctuary for the first time, but the way their eyes lit up and sparkled with hope was both unusual and ever so adorable. As was the way one of the piped up with “Please Mr Jeon, don’t be mad at Mr Monpau. He saved us from an awful crab that was trying to eat us, and then offered us a new home here because the rain ruined our old one” her voice the sweetest thing any of them had ever heard. “I... huh… well...” Jeon said as his anger was smothered by cuteness “Ah, I can’t be mad when you put it like that. And it is kinda what I empowered him to do anyway so” “But… who is this?” Ferngaurd asked, her mind tinged with familiarity muddled with nonrecognition she was finding hard to parse. There was a connection there that she could not place. “Do you not recognise me, my dear Fern” Monpau said, as he gently tugged on that very real and magical connection, causing Ferngaurd gasp as she realized who it was that Jeon had changed: it was her druidic patron, and the patron of many of the other elves of sanctuary: the Huwu’idang who had saved Stagstep’s life. “But, I, how! You can talk. And you're a snake… thing…” “Lung dragon” Jeon clarified, before leaving the Avatar, because that was what Jeon had raised the titanic stag into being, and the [druidic adventurer] to their reunion/first real meeting and focusing his attention on the forest creature’s passengers. “So, what are you little guys huh? Or girls, I guess… huh you’re all girls” he asked/noted as he stepped towards the disembarking fairies, who fluttered down to land on a set of waiting tables Fern had outside her [Warden]’s office. Cherry, however, fluttered towards the god and landed, boldly on his outstretched hand, the one armed woman ready to speak for her people. “We’re coin fairies Mr Jeon, and we are ever so grateful to you and Mr Monpau. If you had not changed him, and he had not come, I would be crab food right now” “Eh, you can mostly thank him” Jeon brushed off this thanks he didn't deserve, before asking “so, I take it ms shadows and trade made you,? You don’t seem to fit the vibe I've gotten from her, but she has to have been the one just based on the name, right?” “Miss Ashevelen? Yeah, she made us, or at least that’s what people say anyway” Cherry agreed “Hmmm, half made you more like” Jeon said as he peered close at her “Huh?” Cherry said, confused, before trying and failing to cross her arms while declaring that “That’s very rude to say!” “Nah, it's true. Here. watch” Jeon said, before calling Stagstep over “Yeah hi what can I-” the [ranger] who was mostly focusing on how his boo was talking with a giant forest snake lizard several of times her size with worried trepidation, started saying when he walked over, only to go “ow, what was that for!” when Jeon jabbed him in the forehead “Huh wait, what did you do that for?” Cherry echoed, equally flummoxed by the move Jeon simply raised the jabbing finger and told them to “Wait for it” The elf, who had rubbed his forehead in annoyance, suddenly stopped, as his eyes widened in revelation for a few moments … then he just looked a bit annoyed as he said “..... ok. So I know how to make real nice pots out of clay now? Great?” more than a touch dismissively “See,”Jeon said, not letting Stagstep’s attitude get him down, before saying “now, watch this” and poking Cherry in the forehead too “Owwww” she said at the poke, followed by “oooooooooow” as she got the worst headache “See, she didn’t fully form your minds, so I can't stick new knowledge in there, and you can't really pick it up too fast either. You are doomed to always be 3 steps behind and…. Are you ok?” the god was explain when he realized that Cherry was swaying unsteadily on her feet “Head … getting worse” she complained, sitting down in his hand and clutching her noggin, which caused a very worried Bon-Bon to rush to her own boo’s side for the second time today. “Oh.oh that isn't good um. Let me just. Um. no.” the god half panicked as he realized that maybe he shouldn't have tried to shove the knowledge of pottery into a brain not fit for divine revelation “ahhhh, nuts to it” he suddenly resolved, and poked her again, which caused every single coin fairy in the world to black out for half a second, if not then, then as soon as they were somewhere it was safe to do so. Then they woke up, and it was as if a fog had lifted, and they could finally think clearly for the first time. In many cases, the first thing they thought after ‘wow’ was ‘hey, i could make that thing I saw/got form the big people., only smaller’ Well, except Cherry. She woke up knowing about pots. Which she found about as underwhelming as Stagstep despite how useful it actually was. Bon Bon, who had landed, hugged Cherry, and then fainted, was still in the, ‘gosh my mind isn’t fuzzy anymore’ phase, and so it was she who asked: “what was that” “That is what becoming a proper person feels like!” Jeon replied dramatically, before pausing for half a moment and then back peddling “actually no, a proper person sounds like its pretty offensive to anyone who isn’t that. Um. hmmm. Look we’ll workshop it but basically, congratulations, you are done. You, uh, ah you were like a mass of clay before, but now you’ve been fired and finished!” “What?” Bon-Bon asked, not getting it, which put her in the company of all but 2 mortals in the entire world, to which one of those who did said “yeah, it's a pot joke. Not worth the migrain of divine inspiration to get, trust me.” “Bah, just you wait. Three weeks from now you’ll all wonder how you ever did anything without ceramic bowls, you’ll see” Jeon retorted. Was pottery his most inspired gift? No. But it was something and he was getting in a bit of a mood about how no one was appreciating it. “Yeah, sure” Stagstep replied before focusing instead on the new arrivals and saying “Hey uh, little ladies. If you come with me, I can set you up with a house? “How much?” one asked immediately “Ah it's free, we’ve got like, a tone to spare still” the [gaurdien] replied with a casual wave of his hand to dismiss the notion “Wow, really, you must be rich” the asker said in awe. There came a flurry of thank yous from the fairies before they all set off with the [ranger] (several riding on the back of his [animal companion] and being amazed that that was a thing you could do) to go find their new safe and secure home. “Three weeks and then you’ll see, you’ll all see!” Jeon yelled after them as they took the world’s collective knowledge of ceramics with them, before sighing, taking one look at where Monpau and Ferngaurd were still chatting away and went “ech, nuts to this. I’m going to go have a drink” and then wandered off to do just that while leaving the job of forest protecting in a set of good hands and claws. [hider=summary] Jeon informs Ferngaurd he is going to be getting out and about more, but, not to worry, he has made something to help her look after the woods while he is out and about. Except when he goes to present it, it turns out it has run off. We cut briefly to the thing in question a lung dragon, avatar of the forests, called Monpau, running through the dark woods and to the Umbral woods, before switching again to the view of a Coin Fairy nest that is under attack by a common crab. One fairy, Cherry on top, is introduced when she attacks the crab, and gets her arm bitten off in the process. Then Monpau arrives and saves the day. They talk for a bit, and then Monpau invites them to come live in Sanctuary, which they agree too because their house is wrecked by water and crab damage. He and the fairies then return and the fairies instantly win everyone over and quell Jeon’s anger about Monpau running off like that. It is revealed that Monpau was Ferngaurd’s Huwu’idang patron, who Jeon had ascended to Avatarhood. While she and he talk, Jeon chats with the Coin Faries, realizes that they are kind half baked mortals, and ascends them to be 4 mp people capable of receiving divine inspiration. In this case, Cherry and Stagstep both learn all there is to know about ceramics. Neither is particularly impressed. In the name of camaraderie and shared divine inspiration headaches, and just general kindness, Stagstep then offers to find the Fairies a home (it’s free real estate) in one of Sanctuary's many spare buildings. They accept, leaving Jeon a bit miffed about them not appreciating pottery. [/hider] [hider=mp] Start: 5mp-5ap 3 ap (discounted with forests) to turn a Huwu’idang into an avatar. Monpau is his name, and he is a Lung Dragon (read chinese dragon, one of them long noodle bois) with green sacleas, sapphire eyes, branch antlers, a mossy beard, fun whiskers, a grassy mane going from skull tot tail tip. He is your protective grandpa. Love him. 3 mp: raise Coin Fairies to a fully sapient species capable of receiving divine wisdom 1 mp: to teach the elves and coin fairies of Sanctuary how to make pots (and other kinds of ceramics) real good. Ming vases up in here and all that. 1mp: to teach coin fairies in general how to miniaturize technology of other, larger, species effectively. End: 0mp-2ap [/hider] [hider=prestige] Darkwood Guardians Start: 2 In long post +2 End: 4 [/hider]