The Elder Forest Of Shadows

Authors note

Welcome to Oblitus. Let me tell you the story of how a single spark of hope led to the founding of what was soon to be a great empire, and how a single Fae changed the fate of an entire race.

If you climb up over the looming craggy ridges of the Ferox mountains, and cross the great frozen wastelands of Frigus, you will reach a peaceful and harmonious land where mysterious magic lingers and hides away in the darkest of places, as if waiting for the right moment to emerge from its silken chrysalis. This mysterious land has a dark and tumultuous history, woven deep into its very bones, as it was once a place where magical creatures existed in harmony with humans, helping each other through hardship and times of glorious peace.

In this land, there were many creatures, from the elves, who lived in splendid cities, with towers reaching up into the azure sky and watched the world from above, serene and detached, to the faeries who cultivated the giant sprawling forests, creating living cities from trees that created a canopy so thick that it creates eternal darkness, lit only by the light created by their lanterns, like thousands of stars amongst the dark tree trunks. The human villages dotted around the planes, farming rich fertile soil for crops to trade with the other creatures for magic and cures for devastating diseases that ravaged their populations, were isolated from such creatures and grew in number like rabid cephulli.

These 3 races existed in peace and harmony, almost never interacting, and slowly the humans began to group together into cities, then towns, then countries that waged war for resources whilst the isolated faeries and elves watched with disinterest as humankind built cities of stone, walls, and towers, yet none of them had the efficiency and order of the elves or the skilled hands of the faeries who crafted spells with such speed and delicacy that was impossible for the rough tools of the humans.

This angered a human king, a callous man named Malum, who wanted their powers for himself. This king started to build an army so strong that he slowly pushed back the other countries, taking most of the resources and power for himself. He was a tyrant who cared not for his subjects but only to feed the greed growing within his corrupted, twisted mind.

Soon, conquering the humans became not enough to feed his hunger, and he set his sights on the faerie forest of Alron. His soldiers, trained in the heat of battle and christened in the blood of so many innocent lives, marched with torches of flame and set it alight.

The fae retaliated without much fear at first, believing the humans could not possibly pose much of a threat, and yet the evil king's army kept coming. They felled many of the faery warriors, and the fae retreated deep into their forest sanctuaries. After many days and nights, a brave young fae came up with a cunning plan to solve their problem. She would find their weakness, and when she did, she would exploit it. The elders agreed that even though it was risky for all involved, it might just save them from extinction.

Now, the human army was led by a powerful warrior who went by the name Tigris Bellator. He was a soldier trained to withstand even the strongest fae magic, wearing armor that no sword had ever penetrated. One night when the young fae was sneaking into their camp, he caught her. When he saw her ethereal beauty, he fell deeply in love with her, keeping her close by his side and refusing to let her leave. Each day, as the fae girl languished in her cage of iron, she pieced together a plan in her mind.

The general became impatient, angry at the fae for ignoring his advances, and he asked her why she refused to even acknowledge him. The fae replied, with great anguish:

"I cannot love you, you have destroyed my kin and my home with your army, you have carved great gashes in the forest my people worked so hard to protect. You are pure evil, how can I possibly love you?"

At these words, the general became silent, and brooded for many days and nights, locking himself in his quarters. The fae became worried, praying she had done what was right, and hoping he would return, so she could continue her plan.

Eventually, he emerged, returning to the cage, and spoke.

"I do as I am ordered, without orders I am useless. If his orders are that evil, what would you have me do to remedy that? Who would you have me kill?"

No one knows what the fe said, but soon after, General Bellator led an uprising, the fae woman by his side as he turned on his master, destroying his evil bit by bit, his army following him till the bloody battle was done. As winter drew close over the land, the reign of corruption ended, and it retreated to the shadows. The fae stayed by the generals' side to see it through, but once it was over, she slipped away, returning to the forest where she was greeted; not with the happy cries of gratefulness for their newfound freedom, but with anger and suspicion. The elders, once kind and understanding, claimed she had become evil and corrupt whilst around the human army, spilling blood that was not hers to spill, and that the sentence for such a crime was exile.

They sent her far away to a remote village far from Alron to stand vigil and to protect them for 100 years. Soon after, the general, now crowned emperor, came looking for her. He entered the forest with a vast army and demanded she be returned to his side. When he discovered she was exiled, he begged the elders to tell him where she was, but to no avail. In pure desperation, he searched the entire forest high and low to find her, but it was too late, she was gone. After 3 years of searching all seven great forests, he gave up and returned to his kingdom, heartbroken and drowning in despair, he continued to rule, bringing prosperity to the land, but he was always searching for the fae, right until his last breath. His reign brought peace between the faeries and the humans once more, and licentia was born.