(over a month earlier)
It was getting to be midsummer in the hamlet village of Mystville. (A tiny logging community, nestled deep into the foothills of a more remote part of Meche, adjacent to one of the remaining primordial forests of the continent.)
Cedar had only just come into town, and sauntered to the magic shop, as was his custom on such a visit. His real objective was with the logging guild steward, but he always made time to visit his friends in town. Flo and her brother ran the combination library and magic shop, and were some of the few people in the town that were friendly to 'somebody like him.' Flo was a half-arachne, while her brother was fully human. The shared life of a fellow demi-human was a thing he had bonded with the pair over, though Flo was much older than he was. His dad had told him it was impolite to ever ask a woman's age, so he never did. She was the bookish type, that spent all her days casting webs in the corners of the library, sorting books, and reading from her collection, waiting for patrons to pay a visit. Though sadly, few did.
Flo's brother, Vanquis, however-- He was something else. In a variety of ways.
He was fully human, and a clever sorcerer, but absent minded, prone to fits of fancy, and tended to skip steps in his projects that he regarded as unnecessary, (Despite often being quite required). He was a typically jovial sort, always happy to have him, or his father come for a visit.
As it had been recounted to him, in the year before he was born, there had been a terrible calamity that had struck the town, as an itinerant magician going by the name of Axios had ventured deep into the forest, and had stolen the embryonic shell through which the local incorporeal forest spirit that resided in the primordial woodlands surrounding the town was incubating to reincarnate itself, as it did every so many centuries. The magician had taken to the fanciful notion that it could steal the forest spirit's powers through a terrible ritual, and attain demi-god status in the process. His father, himself a wandering soul, had simply found his way to their doorstep after being cast out of multiple forest homes over the 40-long year sojourn he had undergone, when he had abandoned his prior life-- or so he had said. At the time, his father was little more than a wandering homeless man, who's rough life experiences had granted him some token measure of connection with the natural world. A thing he had considered hard-won, and precious. After arriving in town, he learned more about the calamity that was going on, in as much as the villagers themselves knew at the time-- and joined in on the local operation to get to the bottom of it, and correct it if possible. Over the course of that year, his dad met his mom, fell in love, slowly learned the art of nature magic, and gently and carefully pried parts of the forest away from the by then entirely deranged and aged forest spirit, as it clawed and bent its forest and inhabitants into twisted and brutal minions, in its desperation to track down its infantile vessel, and reclaim it-- and subsequently-- onto himself. He was not interested in gaining power for himself, he was only interested in ending the unbearable suffering of the forest and its creatures, as the entity at the heart of the wood went steadily and completely mad.
A long story short-- His father eventually learned the horrible truth, then confronted the wizard Axios, culminating in a terrible battle that left wounds on the earth, destroyed part of the edge of town, but succeeded in reclaiming the lost 'seed', before venturing once more into the deepest parts of the wood, confronting the by then nearly completely demented forest spirit. Upon the return of the seed, the spirit promptly died, and in the process, was immediately reborn-- The process of which, his father had helped oversee, after striking an accord with the spirit. The damage to the woods was severe; the animals sick and dying. Even with the successful rebirth, the forest would go into sharp decline, as the infantile scion would not be mature enough to fully oversee the healing and regeneration of the wood. Being already heavily connected with much of it by that time, and having shown a genuine, sincere devotion to that purpose, his father had been bound on the spot. He could no longer properly leave the forest from that day onward. He spent his days spreading seeds, carrying water, tending to the sick and dying beasts of the wood, and pouring the fullness of his craft into healing the wounds that had been carved into the soil by the calamity.
Then, as a surprise to his dad and mom-- He had been borne to them that winter, along with his twin brother, Oak.
Needless to say, when his father "One-eyed Jack", (as he called himself) brought the two of them to the town for the first time, about 2 years later, it had been a scandal. The villagers were not at all pleased to hear that their 'very strong suspicions' about him, and his "relationship" with "That bear of his" had indeed been correct, and not only correct, but "Had borne fruit."
About the only people in town that had any appreciation for this development, were the siblings that ran the magic shop, and the blacksmith in town, who was friends with them. His dad had taken the two of them to see the former, for "Magical aptitude testing"-- which he and "Mama" (His bear life-companion) had underwent the year before, before Jack had embarked down the path that had landed him squarely where he is today.
That was 8 years ago now.
The short end of it-- was that he had been born gifted with a profound affinity for nature magic, while his (technically, by a matter of moments) older brother Oak, had gotten the short end of that stick-- no magical potential at all. Sadly, to the dismay of his father, Oak slowly became sullen, angry, and withdrawn, and essentially ran away from home, first taking refuge with the magic store siblings, then getting essentially adopted by the blacksmith. He works there to this day, working iron into axes, and saws for the sawmill, and plows, rings, fittings, and other essentials for the farmers.
Today however, his intended visit to see his friends and brother in town, took an unexpected turn. Vanquis had apparently gotten another of his fool-headed notions, and had attempted to convert a small bird-bath outside the shop into a lunar scrying pool. He said it was to try and keep abreast of the latest news and happenings, since the village was so remote as to sometimes not even show up on county maps-- and so other than the usual buyers of the wood harvested, there was very little traffic to and from the place, making them effectively cut off. AND-- like pretty much ALL of his little diversionary experiments-- he had neglected a step... Or twelve...
While the pool had in fact "Functioned within reasonable expectations", it of course, exploded-- also "Within reasonable expectations", according to Flo. The issue, is what Vanquis had SEEN in the pool, prior to that explosion.
Despite the isolation of the town, it depended quite heavily on trade with the much more urban and prosperous kingdom of Kinderance, which was the major buyer of its wood products. Wood from mystville was highly prized for its natural resonances with magical phenomena, in addition to its unique beauty and durable qualities, stemming from its deeply magical nature-- what was seen-- an attempt at assassinating the king of Kinderance, by agents that appeared to be agents of Meche-- fortold of a new calamity for the town, as it would be completely unable to endure a war between the two kingdoms it served-- which would be unavoidable, if the plan succeeded.
Being a small town, and only just a few years after a calamity that had killed many of its citizens and livestock, the town was only just NOW starting to get back on its feet again. Everyone was tied up with the essential tasks of harvesting crops, meeting wood cut quotas, and otherwise ensuring the recovery of the village-- not a single man was free to pass on the dire prediction-- and, to put it mildly-- Vanquis' "Reputation", put the "legitimacy" of his prophetic vision at more than just a bit of a disadvantage.
Such was the state of affairs, when Cedar paid his visit.
Due to his being seen as an "Obstruction" to the town's restoration (since he spent his days helping his dad with restoring the forest, and tending to woodland critters-- NOT to assisting the town, like his brother Oak), when he suggested that he could go, and warn the king of Kinderance, or at the very least, do what he could to prevent the war, if possible-- it was settled far more quickly than he would have liked--and was handed a small sack of gold coins, and ushered onto the road before he really had time to have what had happened sink in-- He didn't even really have time to visit with his father about it. (though the magic shop owners asserted they would tell him, when he next came to visit.)
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A week and a half ago
Cedar had finally arrived in the capital of Kinderance, after a very long and mostly uneventful walk up the road. When he arrived, he had wasted no time in trying to determine the status of the king's life, by enlisting the aid of local birds and other wildlife to spy on the castle-- When he had arrived, news of the assassination of the king had been on everyone's lips, and at first, the castle did not dispute the implications. Fearful that he had arrived too late, he had taken matters into his own hands to try and learn whatever he could to apprehend the villains responsible, and to plead before the royal court to not go to war with Meche-- and had enlisted the help of numerous wild birds and small animals--squirrels, rabbits, and the like-- into watching the castle, the city gates, and other prominent areas of interest, whereupon he learned that the king had survived.
What he did not expect, was that the king himself had his own resources, including local practitioners of the natural magical arts, who had likewise, enlisted similar aid-- and they ratted him out, innocently.
One night, as he slept outside the city gates draped over a log, like he was apt to do in the summer, he was ambushed, rendered unconscious, and drug to the city's dungeons for questioning, where he was interrogated, prevented from seeing sunlight, interviewed by the local druid leaders (who were not at all polite), and in some instances-- even beaten. The treatment lasted for days, until one day, without notice or explanation, he was interviewed by a strange orc woman, who had offered him a deal.
Join in a service to Kinderance, or rot in his cell for the rest of his life.
He chose service-- Was given his clothes back, hastily washed with buckets of water doused on him, then released into the orc woman's custody. She said very little, and even admonished him for trying to ask, as she led him toward the castle...
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Present
Cedar was very confused. Apparently, a lot had happened in the week he had been rotting in the city's dungeons. Nowhere in the dire warning that Vanquis had recounted, was there an abduction-- just the assassination. He grunted to himself in irritation-- Vanquis's contraptions never did work quite right-- just like him to only get PART of the message.
At the opening given by the king to ask questions, Cedar took the opportunity.
"Your highness--" he gruffed, in a slow, deep baritone voice that betrayed his heritage (and a very 'rural hick' accent), "I dunno know who is responsible fer yer son's abduction. I don' know if'n yer guards let ya know er not, af'er they beat it outta me, that I came here to warn ya, or in any way, prevent a war between yer lands, an' the kingdom of Meche. The village of Mystville, strongly wants peace between our lands. Any transgres'ion I may have made, I did so to 'at end. I deeply regrets 'at I arrived too late."
"And that is why you were selected." Said the king curtly. "His highness has been fully briefed about you."
He nodded, then looked down solemnly.
"I'll do what I can-- jus..please, do what ya can too.. Don' go ta war..."
