Our story begins with the declaration of war upon the Order of Gaia, the
Earthmother by Sartan, Lord of evil. As Sartan had exterminated within
the sacred temple of Gaia, He had been declared an enemy of the forest
as per the laws of Oakstone. This so angered Him, that He ordered His
followers to destroy every inch of forest in the known world.

The Children of Nature worked diligently to defend their forest home and
repair the damage done by the Children of Evil. Herbs became rare, and
soon the jungle was completely destroyed due largely to the efforts of
one Avitar. A worldwide herb rationing effort began, drawing the
attention of nearly every citizen of Sapience.

Dresden, the Sultan of Shallam rallied support among her city and the
church for the Children of Nature as did people from varying walks of
life. Soon, nearly every person on the continent had chosen a side.
Though Lady Gaia refused to accept Lord Sartan's declaration of war, the
war waged on for several months.

Xandor, a Child of Darkness, high-ranking in Lord Twilight's Order,
approached Orina, the Lady of Nature, Guildmistress of the Druids, with
a proposal that would shock the world. Orina approached her Goddess for
advice, but Gaia refused to offer it stating that the decision was fully
Orina's and that She would approve and support whatever it was ensuring
her that She and the forests would survive, regardless.

And so it was that Orina and Xandor entered into the rite of the
Darkenwood. Through the unity of these two mortals, the very forest
itself was imbued with Dark essence. Xandor then declared that any who
harmed the forest harmed the Dark Lord Himself and would be struck down
by the Children of Darkness.

The Children of Nature were outraged and shocked. They turned to their
Goddess who seemed strangely ambivalent and refused to aid them stating
that what was started by mortal hands would be finished by mortal hands.
Many lost faith and turned away from their Goddess.

Orina quickly lost favor among her companions and her position was
challenged almost immediately. Several of Nature's allies withdrew
support refusing to fight alongside the Darkness. This pressure, coupled
with the seeming inaction of the Children of Darkness, drove Orina to
publicly declare the deal void after only a few short months. The ritual
would not be completed, and darkness would be driven from the forest.

The Church hesitantly offered to assist the Children of Nature, as the
Light could surely drive out the Darkness. Thaa'lis encouraged this, but
Jallah became outraged accusing the Children of Nature of running to
anyone but themselves for aid. He encouraged to Children of Nature to
look to themselves for a solution. A vision from the Oracle of Valnurana
seemed to support his assertions.

And so it came to pass that the Children of Nature and their allies
joined together in The Great Grove in the holy temple of Gaia and, led
by Halcyon, Kaisar and Aldair, they used the nearly forgotten powers of
Nature to draw the darkness from one forest at a time and channel it
into a vessel of creation.

Thus a mighty beast of pure darkness was formed, and it rampaged
silently through the forest from whence it was created destroying
everything in its path. The natural denizens of the forest fled in fear,
but the Children of Nature and their allies, led by Vorleth slew I short
order every beast created by this questionable ritual, thus dissipating
the darkness.

Strangely, the Children of Darkness put up little resistance during
these rituals, though a full-scale attack was launched by Ashtan toward
their close, but was easily turned aside. Cyre attempted to disrupt the
rituals by stealing the vessels of creation as they were imbued with
Darkness, but Kaisar was prepared for this and quickly replaced them
each time and the channeling was begun anew. No one is sure if handling
a vessel of concentrated Darkness will have any permanent affects on
Cyre or his loyal falcon, only time will tell.

Certainly the Darkness is not completely gone from the forest, but the
sun does shine a little brighter through leaves that are considerably
greener. The Children of Nature and the beasts of the wilderness are
resting a little easier, but certainly our story is not over. For the
Children of Evil continue their destruction, the world's supply of
healing herbs continues to dwindle and Darkness still hovers in the
forgotten corners of the forest.


Penned by my hand on the 14th of Ero, in the year 280 AF.