Chapter Two: Two Paths
As you journey further into the forest, something catches your attention and beckons you in a different direction.
Perhaps...
Feeling no danger, you stay - for now. Every part of this forest sings with life, but that doesn't mean it isn't hiding secrets...right? It takes you a while to figure them out, though. Everywhere you step there's new distraction: it's thickly wooded, here, and even the undergrowth gets in your way sometimes. It takes some ducking in and out between strong branches to understand how to navigate. Harmless as it is here, it's much easier to follow the paths that the forest sets out for you. Earlier, you remember hearing running water somewhere nearby. It isn't so simple as following the sound to your destination: there are trees everywhere, and being an Esk doesn't mean that you automatically understand the geography of a new location. Eventually, after a few turns, you come across the source: a small, sweet, twisty creek, babbling away happily. The water in it is clear and crisp, ice glimmering along its edges. It runs over a rocky bed, with tiny fish rushing downstream. There's a clear path alongside it, where early spring flowers have begun to raise their heads from the earth, and the foliage is thin enough to navigate easily where the clover and thin shoots protect your paws from the cool ground. You're not sure where the pathway leads: it continues for a while, and then tucks itself around a bend of the creek, where you can't sense it past another thick copse of trees. It looks peaceful, branches spread out over the creek under a canopy thick enough that sunlight only barely manages to turn the world dappled with light. But the creek's twists and turns could lead anywhere, as far as you can tell. What could you find here? |
Or perhaps...
You feel there are many secrets here. Even though winter made the forest gaunt and thin, you need to duck through ferns and icy briars to find them. Or perhaps you're large, and you need to make your body fit the forest's open spaces cleverly, and intentionally weave your head through the barren canopy to navigate where you're going. It is a surprise when you see it: so much that it seems, to you, an illusion. After all, this forest seemed at first to be entirely untouched by humanity. This low stone wall tells otherwise, though it's old, encased in a thin layer of ice, and clearly abandoned. You're not sure what its purpose could have been, and it's hidden away. Around it, humans must have cleared a pathway once upon a time, although of course now the forest is well on its way to reclaiming its territory once more. Still, there's enough room to walk alongside the wall. The intact portion of it seems to point away from civilization, though: the trail ahead is guarded by even more trees. The forest there seems even colder, sheltered by towering pines. The canopy is so thick that walking along the trail for even a few seconds turns the light dark. The wall would be the best guide for you, but you don't know why it's here. There's no hurry - you can dally here as long as you'd like. But eventually, it'll become clear to you that all other pathways only reveal more of the muted spring forest, quiet as it is. |
To continue on this Quest, you must draw or write about your Esk participating in something inspired by one of the scenes above. Your Esk must make a choice - do they follow the creek, or the stone wall?
For some reason, you cannot manifest your specialized powers - accessories, familiars, enchantments, and elementals will not be present here. If your Esk is not from the Forest Biome, they will not manifest their nature features. Abnormal Esk will manifest their nature features regardless of biome.
For some reason, you cannot manifest your specialized powers - accessories, familiars, enchantments, and elementals will not be present here. If your Esk is not from the Forest Biome, they will not manifest their nature features. Abnormal Esk will manifest their nature features regardless of biome.