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."


Penned by My hand on the 16th of Tzarin, in the year 158 CE.