The calm of Kiani was broken when a strange whistle reverberated
throughout the Basin of Life and the skies churned with light and
energy. Soon after, a gentle weight swept into the body: the heaviness
of sleep. It was like a momentary lapse into a different world as
everything lost its colour, shape, and distinction; it was like falling
into a dream that was suddenly, quietly cut to black.

Then creation shook.

The world became sharp again, waking slowly, and when it did the forests
of Serenwilde and Glomdoring witnessed an incoming horde. Nightmares
from the Dreaming invaded through the treetops: monsters known as
episukh, nyryn, lukoje, dysberus, and others. Even the trees themselves
quarreled with their inhabitants, weeping sleep mist as they birthed the
nightmarish beings. Alerted to this curious turn of events, Manteekan,
the bound Traitor, ventured into the Dreaming Himself - using all His
strength to overcome the tide of nightmares. He discerned quickly that
these were caused from the Forest Dreamer's stirring, which prompted the
hazy God to hatch a terrible plot.

Unbeknownst to Serenwilde, who were valiantly fighting off nightmares
which plagued their fellows like Tokota, Dain, and Miakoda, Manteekan
drew the Glomdoring close. He promised to help the dark forest stave off
the influence of the Dreamer, pledging His full allegiance to the wyrden
woods; however, to do so, He must take on the guise of a mortal. With
the aid of Xenthos, Kraai, Rancoura, and others, the Nightmare's mists
were fed and a great illusion was cast. No longer was He the Elder God
Manteekan, but now a humble hermit: Gianam. Manteekan-as-Gianam ventured
into the Serenwilde and offered the Shelterfolk insight to the origin of
the nightmares. He bade them to listen, saying that He was, in fact, a
servant of the Forest Dreamer. Those of the northern forest took Him to
the nightmare-infested realm of Hoaracle, where Gianam said He would
meditate and contact the slumbering God. Returning to Glomdoring,
Manteekan explained that His manipulation was coming together before He
ventured back to contain the nightmares that were spilling out into the
physical forest

A month passed and more nightmares swallowed the forests in their
ravenous fury. Manteekan returned to Glomdoring as Gianam, explaining
His plan: "We shall collect the baubles of Hoaracle!" His audience was
mostly Glomdorians; however, among them was Iytha of New Celest who
frequently shared her concerns to the northern woods. Could this not be
Drocilla in disguise, she question? Though few took seriously the
worries of a city-dweller. Manteekan-as-Gianam deftly manoeuvred with
subtle half-truths, and in private, He and Glomdoring devised a ritual
to steal the sacred bells of Hoaracle, culminating in the sacrifice of a
doe. And so, Manteekan returned to Glomdoring to bid them to gather
these bells. Serenwilde, led by Turnus, Astrasia, Sondayga, Mnemosyne,
and others were busy aiding the nightmare-plagued Isotta, themselves
helped by the dream body of Dain, Nature Guide (who fell to sleep the
month previously but was able to leave his body to combat the invading
dreams). Those mentioned gathered together the necessary ingredients for
a ritual, where Manteekan succeeded in stealing the bells of the Forest
Dreamer under the Shelterfolk's noses.

However, as Manteekan's plans slowly came into fruition, Maylea, Bloom
of Serenity's attention fell upon the Serenwilde. Suspicious about this
Hermit Gianam, She revealed the hermit for who He really was. Indeed,
Hermit Gianam's true identity was written into his name and title, an
anagram for "I am Nightmare." With a mad cackle and swirl of mist,
Manteekan fled back to the Glomdoring, regaling the dark forest of His
dark trick and thinnest phase of His plans. Meanwhile, the Serene
Goddess plotted a feasible counter.

When the two Gods reappeared to their respective communities the next
month, the people of the forests made quick work of the tasks set before
them. Manteekan urged Glomdoring to build the Eisenglass Needle; this
instrument, made of ice, metal, and the Hoaracean artifacts, would be
thrust into the mind the sleeping God - causing Him to stir (but also
steal precious essence). Meanwhile, Maylea called upon the Shelterfolk
to brew a poison that would debilitate the Nightmare, made from aerial
stalkers, merbloom, cloud essence, and man-eater plants. Once finished,
She coated Her lips with the finished product and went to challenge the
Traitor. Her intention was devious, as Manteekan had been plaguing the
Goddess for months with obsessive affection, and She used that to Her
advantage. Coming before the Nightmare with the 'intent' to follow Him
into the embrace of the Wyrd, Maylea learned of the Eisenglass. She
gifted Him a parting kiss that wracked the God in pain, speeding back to
Serenwilde to rally the northern forest.

Enraged, Manteekan ripped a hole into the Dreaming - finding an ancient
tree amongst the fluctuating reality. There, He activated the Needle,
which began to drill its way into the tree's bark. His creation, Ravila,
of the Mists, aided the dark forest to transform dark essence and
corpses to fuel the Needle. Maylea's rallying was aided by Her Mahin, a
silvery fox that worked to transform silver essence and corpses to break
the Eisenglass's structure. In the end, Glomdoring prevailed.

As the Eisenglass drilled through the ancient tree, the God Hoaracle was
woken with pain and violence, His essence so thoroughly twisted and
broken that His shrines throughout the land erupted in a subtle boom. As
the tree's bark sloughed away to reveal a very different and haggard
Dreamer, the Nightmare snarked about His triumph. Though weak, Hoaracle
made chase and a divine battle ensued. The Nightmare won in the end,
severed the Forest Dreamer's hand and tossing Him into the depths of the
Serenwilde. Manteekan returned to Glomdoring, shouting "Glory be to
Glomdoring!" Maylea and the Shelterfolk found the weakened Hoaracle, but
the story was not over.

Indeed, sensing Hoaracle's return, the Enchantress appeared and demanded
knowledge of the thing She desired most of all: the Hyringex Key. But
from the onslaught of everything, Hoaracle's memories were jumbled and
lost as He could not recall the Enchantress at all. Drocilla took flight
to reprimand Manteekan for His incompetence, and the Nightmare only
laughed at Her, for His intention was never to assist Her at all. With
the fury befitting a Goddess, the Enchantress terrorized Mount Avechna
with a divine storm, day in and day out for the following months.

And so, the Forest Dreamer has returned. But what was the cause of His
initial troubles, for it is clear that Manteekan's interference was only
a second torture that the Tree God experienced these past few months?
And what does the Nightmare plan to use of Hoaracle's severed hand, now
an artifact in its own right? Or the Eisenglass Needle, which resides in
the shadows of the Master Ravenwood Tree? However, the most important
question has only been whispered by some: if the Dreamer cannot recall
the Enchantress nor the Hyringex Key, then where could it be and who
will find it?


Penned by My hand on the 8th of Dvarsh, in the year 418 CE.