The Forests of Light and the Keepers

[Allanon Creel]

In the vast expanses of foliage that occupy the central area of Darasum, the Forests of Light can be found in the north-western regions of the Deep Woods, and are easily identifiable by their unique ‘Lambent trees’. The forests are of an unknown age, as no tree seems to have ever fallen and no tree has ever been seen sprouting yet have been talked about by many different races and nations of past in scrolls and old texts as a place wherein time seems to stand still, as the time that people enter and exit never seems to have changed a minute. Even more confounding could be upon entry, to the instant one’s foot leaves the forests, mortal concerns such as hunger, famine, sickness and even some fatal wounds seem to be warded off and sometimes mended, as if the place in itself rejected the notion of allowing anything but sleep to affect its visitors.

The forest’s roof is so compacted with intertwining, thick branches and leaves that during day hours,literally no light has ever touched the forest floor, casting upon the place a pitch black that no hour of the night could imitate.Yet not all is dark during the day, as there are moderately sized pockets of light provided by the abundant spectrum- all but golden and yellow- of fluorescent flowers dotting the whole area. Yet at night the entire forest is lit up as bright as any city, by the flowers of the Lambent tree coupled with the flowers, casting a beautiful light upon the darker green of the Lambent’s trunks. The floor itself is a dark turquoise coloured sand, though it is nowhere near a beach, with a calf-deep calm stream criss-crossing and overlapping at some areas, the expanse of the forest. The stream itself is known as the ‘Nitid Current’ for its dazzlingly bright coloured trout and minnows which spawn and live in the waters.



During the night especially, yet during the ‘day’ hours as well, the sounds of life echo throughout the forests, from the chirping of countless species of birds to the stalking growls of wolves on the chase to the splashing of the fish few places match this utopia of noise and sights in beauty and tranquility. The creatures themselves, predatory or prey, rather than act weary, fearful or oblivious to the few visitors they receive, act welcoming towards them, in curiosity or expectation of easy food. Going beyond this, there seems to be a coming of terms between the creatures of the forest that the pockets of light provided by the flowers during the day hours be considered ‘safe’ zones, where species from wolves, bears and chimera could be spotted among unicorns, jackals and sprites.

The Lambent flowers serve more than just bright lights to the world, as fallen flowers, and only naturally fallen flowers contain a juice that aids in quickening sleep, mending skin as well as acting as a very potent pain killer. Once a year, never on the same day as the previous year, the trees perform an act beyond the comprehension of all scientists and their studies; on a day in the forest known as ‘The Day of Rain’ the trees rain down from the highest reaches of their canopy, shining gold and yellow life-fluid down upon the forest floor and its creatures. This phenomenon has been noted to be the source of the forest’s vitality, as the liquid seems to have the capacity to heal or cure any wound or sickness. On this day, and this day only the entire forest is silent but for the falling of the fluid, not a single creature in sight, leaving only a sweet aroma resembling honey and cinnamon to sift through the forest until the fall has ended.

A tradition had started after a baron had brought his son to visit the forest on the day the young man was expected to die of an infected cut to his liver, which happened to be on The Day of the Rain. The barons son's cut had healed before the teary eyes of the old lord beyond words, whose years seemed to shed off him before his men's eyes as he looked a man in his 30's rather than the old age of 50. The baron felt obliged to return blood for blood with the forest for what he saw a blessing of the trees, walked to the nearby stream of the Nitid and cut his wrist to give back what he could for what he'd received. Thus it is a common practice that before leaving the forest to draw blood upon either land or in the Nitid, else bad luck befall those that not repay the land. The baron of past, however, went further and swore that after death he'd serve as a keeper of the forest, to which his son pledged to take up the cause after his father's will faded, -meaning his guardian's post became vacant-, and it became the tradition for the family to serve the forest after passing away, resting in death until need arise and ruling the city during life.