EVENTS NEWS #69
Date: 10/3/2006 at 3:51
From: Anonymous
To : Everyone
Subj: The Passing of Viravain

Many dark months passed in the forest of Glomdoring without word from Viravain, Mistress of the Webs, as Her presence had not been felt or seen since She silently slipped back into the shadows upon sensing a great disturbance beneath the surface of Glomdoring's soil. The members of the commune within Glomdoring pondered at Her disappearance, but held strong to the belief that Viravain would return to them should Glomdoring need Her.

One month, as relative calm had settled within Glomdoring, Mighty Crow made his presence known, cawing thunderously into the sky that his very voice shook the forest floor. Dark happenings began to occur soon after, spiders were falling from the trees dead, plants rotting and falling useless to the ground as light banished darkness from the forest. These signs continued on for several months, slowly growing more dire as whole sections of forest fell, murders of crows were dying at an unrelenting rate as an ominous presence stirred beneath the soil's surface causing the ground to lurch from its motionless state.

Members of the commune looked to Brennan for answers as Crow's voice tore through the firmament above the trees and shattered the forest's long settled gloom. Brennan spoke more clearly to the members of the commune than in recent years, openly answering the questions asked of him instead of the riddles that typically plagued his words. Brennan urged those that stood around him listening to look about the forest to see that it was dying and that what they had witnessed was only the beginning of the forest's impending fall. Members of the commune quickly gathered around Mighty Crow, pleading with him to show them what he knew, as it was the shrill caw of his voice that sounded loudest of all over the dying forest, but Crow stood silent, communicating with none and keeping his single crimson eye locked on the forest's canopy.

Many months more passed as Glomdoring's situation grew more dire, whole sections of the forest's floor had become cracked and dry, jutting up in places to toward above trees as the mountains tower above the Basin. Many of those that dwelled within the forest took to sacrificing the corpses of the victims they had slaughtered to the forest's Mother, Viravain, hoping that the essence within their bodies would help stir Her from Her silence and bring Her once more to the forest in hopes that She could heal the dying land. Little did those that dwelled within the forest know, Viravain had been actively attempting to fix the damage done to the forest heal the illness that now attempted to strike it down.

Looking tired and haggard, Viravain finally appeared to those gathered at the Master Ravenwood to assess the forest's state and was pleasantly met with the hopeful faces of those who had not given up on their home and this strengthened Her resolve. She spoke privately with the forest's Dark Marshall, assuring him that She was doing all She could to save the forest and told him that the forest's heart still beat strong. She informed him that She was close to a solution and needed a few more days to find the answers and when She had them, She would return. Her last words to him and to Glomdoring were to "Be Strong" as She passed into the shadows and from his mortal perception. Grueling days passed, with no word from their Mistress as Glomdoring's destruction quickly continued beneath their feet. Many wondered what would become of them and of the forest if Viravain failed, but She was determined to not.

Viravain reappeared at the Master Ravenwood as promised and immediately called to Her Crow, who flew down from his perch high atop the Ravenwood and settled himself at his Mistress's feet. Along with Crow, Viravain called to Her the members of the commune, asked that they assemble themselves at the Master Ravenwood and that they needed to hurry as she had little time to spare. When a sizeable group had gathered, among them the leaders of the commune, Viravain quickly explained that She had discovered a way to heal the forest, time was short and that it was time to act. Viravain quickly rose above the heads of those gathered, heading toward the forest's exposed canopy with Crow in close proximity.

Both figures rose high above the forest's canopy, surveying their surroundings carefully as each let out a noise that once again shattered the still silence that had settled upon the forest. Crow bellowed to the branches below a mighty caw, calling forth his children from the safety of their perches in an enormous murder of swirling darkness that blocked both figures from sight. Viravain called forth the many spiders of the forest with a spine tingling chitter of sound that rattled from Her lips and burst through the once thick leaves to rouse the sleeping beasts below. Many terrifying spiders emerged, quickly covering the whole of the forest in a sticky blanket of webbing as the crows each deposited a single oily feather upon the gossamer strands. Removing from Her robes a great dagger, Viravain pulled the blade across the throat of Crow as well as Her own slender wrist, infusing the webbing that covered the forest with their combined essence, ignoring several pleas from the gathered mortals not to sacrifice Herself. The webbing turned black as shadowy fingers emerged from the forest's flooring and latched onto the web.

Viravain had, at this time, been standing on the webbing along with Crow, watching as the forest began to gorge itself on their essence when the webbing lurched, hopelessly entangling her legs and arms in the sticky strands as Crow fought to free Her from their grasp. The shadowy fingers, feeling the struggle within the webbing, wrenched the trapped Goddess from Her treetop perch to the forest floor as another dozen fingers erupted from the ground all around and latched onto Her helpless body. Viravain's tortured voice echoed throughout the Basin, slicing through the firmament as She let loose a cry of agony that could not be misinterpreted as dagger-like fingers ripped into Her body, feeding on the vast store of essence within and knocking Her into unconsciousness. Crow fought desperately to save his Mistress, but the forest pulled Her and the webbing from the forest and deep within the soil below, consuming Her along with the web and other creatures and plants caught within.

A haunting silence fell over the forest of Glomdoring as the terrified faces of those from the commune along those that had come forth from Celest to bear witness, watched in horror as Viravain, Mistress of the Webs was brutally attacked and consumed by the very forest She had created and nurtured many decades ago. The fissures and cracks that had formed in the forest's floor sealed and the plant life began to immediately show signs of healing as the Merciless Forest settled beneath the feet of those that witnessed the horror and tragedy within the dark forest. Crow's shadowy outline remained circling the forest's skies for over a month, continuing his search for his creator as the citizens of Glomdoring were now faced with the question of "What now?" as the last few words of Viravain rang loudest of all...

"Be Strong."

Wonder what's happened to Squibbles...

Never fear! Squibbles is alive and well, being made fat on cookies in the Havens by ole Gorky here. Soon Squibbles will return a mammoth of a hamster and all shall fear his name!

I've got a lovely comic about hamsters here somewhere, let's see...



Hello squibbles.

You're also missing the beginning half...

And this is why we should remove Celestians from the Forest!

Yah, Fain's been active since the return of him and Terentia due to the combined efforts of Lacostian, Elcyrion, and Raezon. (Interestingly enough, I wonder if they were fighting Morgfyre in the void).

As far as Viravain goes, I was trying to cheer up Moralis the other day. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the commune.

Speaking OOCly, your character is the Marshall of Glomdoring. If you didn't want them then why did you agree to let them in? I'm just saying you had a choice didn't you.

Because I wasn't being all that serious? "They'll post on the forums" isn't exactly a valid reason to kick someone out in-game... though "our goddess just died" is.

I dreamt that Auseklis came back and became Glomdoring's partron.
Really.
I did.

Keep dreaming.

Auseklis, if He ever comes back, and stays true to His old character, will probably end up being part of Glomdoring's consulate. They embody His beliefs faaaar more than Serenwilde.

Auseklis

A good divine as in, good at what he did? Yes. He was great. Glomdoring doesn't necessarily embody his beliefs any better than Serenwilde does though. Auseklis thought Glomdoring was spiffy though.

Auseklis believed that Nature could and would take care of itself. And that everything 'bad' for nature would and had always been assimilated into it. Serenwilde has never been able to handle that. Everything not their way is unnatural.

Serenwilde has never been able to handle that. Everything not their way is unnatural.