Then came midnight.

A chilling, bestial roar echoed through the city of Ashtan. Soon after,
a massive bull-like demon thundered through the city streets, laying
waste indiscriminately to those who came across its path. When this
creature, dubbed the nychtaur, was brought down by Blujixapug, his
corpse was consumed by green flames and vanished...

Upon the stroke of the next midnight, the nychtaur manifested in the
city of Cyrene and rampaged through that alpine city. Slain again, once
more his corpse was consumed by green flames, to appear again and again,
every midnight, in a different city. Though some, especially the dragon
Landon Stormcrow, enjoyed the thrill of hunting down the fierce nychtaur
nightly, most learned to dread the chilling roar that presaged the
beast's presence.

On the first dawn following the beginning of the eclipse, Druids and
Sylvans saw that their groves, blocked off from the sun by the triune
planets, were unable to regenerate any energy. Further, the spirits of
the forest were missing from their usual places, and none could find
them. All the spirits, that is, except for Urania and Propasia in the
Darkenwood.

The druidess Kaiya Winterwind made her way north to the Darkenwood to
speak with Urania, the Spirit of the Darkenwood. She was soon joined by
Rahum Windsong, Brewster, Seilyn Moonflair, Terra Sa'Rithven-a'Bertal,
Montago Vas'amaen-Ze'Dekiah, Ixin Rousseau, and Thenidiel
Shiva-Ar'thela, amongst others, who questioned Urania on the whereabouts
of her sister spirits.

Unperturbed by news of her sisters' disappearance, Urania calmly assured
them, "My sister spirits are well. They have only gone to do their
duty."

"What duty?" asked Terra.

"To protect their forests, of course," Urania said, smiling softly. She
paused, closing her eyes to commune with her sisters for a moment, then
began to explain: "Within each of my sisters' forests, there lives a
sacred tree."

"These trees are sacred because they are the most ancient of the
forest," Urania continued, "and they store a tremendous amount of energy
that can be tapped. However," Urania paused again, this time with a
frown, "this sudden eclipse has had a jarring effect on the trees, and
they have grown ill."

Urania sighed and said, "My sisters have retreated into the sacred trees
to try to preserve their life from within. But I'm afraid that they will
not succeed in this endeavour."

"Can we help them?" Kaiya asked. "In any manner?"

Urania smiled then, and she reminded those gathered of the existence of
the Essences of each forest, condensed into seeds, which were many years
before gifted to the Lady of the Wildwoods, since become Melantha,
Goddess of the Seasons. If, she hinted, they could procure those seeds
and bring them to her, perhaps she could help.

At the Temple of the Seasons, deep within the Aerinewild, was found
Kalleah, the Spirit of the Hazel. Not a spirit of any specific forest,
Kalleah was a nature spirit in the service of the Goddess of the Seasons
and had been in service to her in her previous incarnation as the Lady
of the Wildwoods as well.

The group who had come from the Darkenwood explained to Kalleah what
Urania had said, and Kalleah revealed that the seeds had been entrusted
to her care. Though she did not wish to give up the seeds to Urania,
Kalleah wandered the Aerinewild forest with the group seeking out the
eldest tree there. They found it finally, an ancient oak tree, withered
and brittle.

Hoping for the best, Thenidiel took the Essence of the Aerinewild from
Kalleah and placed it upon the sacred oak. The Essence was quickly
absorbed by the tree, and a relieved sigh seemed to emanate from within
it. An image of Eupheme, spirit of the Aerinewild, formed within the
tree as she smiled and stretched her arms.

The tree trunk and branches took on the vague shape of the spirit
herself, a woman with her arms held aloft, the withered tree now
beautifully flourishing. The forest of Aerinewild glowed with renewed
health, deriving energy in the absence of sunlight from the spirit and
the sacred tree, their strength revitalised by the essence of the
forest.

Greatly encouraged by this, outriders spread out across the forests,
seeking out the sacred trees in each. Sklaer Danial suggested a location
known as the forest's heart in the Aureliana, and indeed, the
Aureliana's eldest tree was found there. Aelyn Le'Yuet found the sacred
tree of the Western Ithmia, an ancient cedar; Anke Nighthawk-Ka'Tal the
sacred oak of the Eastern Ithmia; Vinceres Ebonheart, the sacred birch
of the Western Ithmia; Hlessiroo, the venerable redwood of the Aalen
forest; Aethele Moonflair-Distara, the sacred black walnut tree of the
Black Forest; Xel Darkfeather, the ancient maple of the forests of
Ulangi; and finally Kaiya, the sacred oak of the Northreach forest.

When these, the eldest forests of Achaea, had each been revitalised, a
green aura softly illuminated the heavens above each forest. Slowly the
radiant auras spread, diminishing in intensity as they covered the
continent. Tendrils of the green light spread outward, touching one
another and blending into a single dwindling glow.

The rustling of leaves echoed upon the wind from ocean to ocean, and the
green light settled into the treetops over every forest and jungle,
leaving the world in darkness once more. The eldest forests and their
protectress spirits now extended their vital energy through all forests
and jungles of Sapience, even those without manifested spirits of their
own.

But this triumph had a bitter aftertaste, for it could only be a
temporary measure in the absence of sunlight. "Be wary, children of the
forests," Kalleah said, warning them that even with the energy from the
essences of the forests, the spirits could not sustain the forests
limitlessly.

Penned by my hand on the 9th of Scarlatan, in the year 428 AF.