Almivu
Speaker: "I follow her steps..."
Chorus: "But she is not there."
Speaker: "I call out her name..."
Chorus: But she is not there.
Speaker: "Yet when I look through the trees..."
Chorus: "I see her calling me."
The first thing any mage must learn is this: wyr is far more than simple 'magic'. For all our study, all the knowledge passed down through the ages, the force that animates this world can never be fully predicted or controlled. In places, it seems to have had a mind of its own.
Almivu - more commonly the Ashwild - is one such place.
Once an ordinary forest, time and war have twisted it into something... unrecognisable. The tree canopy is the colour of ashes, permanently altered by the magic lying thick over the woods. Wanderers inevitably lose their way amongst the winding paths, or are entranced by the figures that dance between the trees - only to vanish the second one gets close. Even the passage of the heavens above is unreliable at best.
There is only one predictable thing about Almivu: that the greatest liar is always oneself.
Silk and Ashes
"Mortal minds weigh out the truth in light, and perceive reality through vision. But if blindness is 'ignorance', and sight is 'enlightenment', then what is a lie?"
In the distant past, the forest which would become Almivu was only an offshoot. In a city long buried by the Wastes, one may find records of a sacred grove. The lost folk of that civilisation were famous for their lush Gardens, but this forest sprang up with neither aid or guidance, filled with many great lights. Even then, many believed that one of the Exalted - Arvus, immortal demigod of illusions - held court within these woods.
However it must have looked in that era, no one living today can say.
Almost no one.
Divine Devastation
"The more I uncover about this place, the more I fear that it was merely an experiment. Which then begs the question... to what end?"
Like too many lands, Almivu was deeply scarred during the Endwar. The Endsworn besieged it for years, trying to prevent Arvus from devoting attention to the rest of the world. Survivors from the southern plains and the eastern desert flocked beneath the canopy, where Arvus' divine power could protect them.
It was no foreign blade or faraway sorcerer that laid waste to Almivu.
Rather, it was human sin, turning nature against itself.
Around fifty years after the Endwar, a mysterious wanderer led a band of rogues to a ruined city in the Araen Wastes, supposedly full of enchanted weapons. But those ruins were a prison - and when the rogues found what was sealed within, the ensuing explosion turned the surrounding desert to glass.
Relics of the Wastes' great tragedy had found their hosts in wandering animals. These corrupted, transmuted beasts hungered for power to sustain their new forms - power that Arvus possessed. By chance or dark design, they made their way to the forest's edge. And, because they were once natural creatures, the wards let them pass through.
The ensuing battle drove out or killed almost all the forest-dwellers, and their sparse descendants do not speak of it to outsiders. Wandering desert tribes reported seeing hazy images on the horizon - yet these supposed mirages stretched up into the sky and burned long into nightfall, as if the forest was aglow with a shard of the Sun.
Ultimately, the Veiled Lady triumphed over these monsters. But even her divine wrath could not alter the fate Almivu was doomed to.
The Grey Canopy
"Do not fear those unseen things that watch with golden eyes. In this place, only your own eyes will lead you to tragedy."
Wyr does not inherently interact with most living beings, unless we directly impose our wills upon it. So while the ley lines usually flow without incidents, a casting gone astray, a magic-infused item left activated, or simply strong enough, can affect the local wildlife.
In Almivu's case, the blend of the Grey Spider's divine retribution and the beasts' unrestrained magic settled onto what few saplings survived the battle. And as the trees grew, those stray enchantments grew with them, until all the forest was changed.
Now, the Ashwild lies in shades of grey. The ash-filled canopy and the dense undergrowth conceal all manner of creatures. Okapi glide between the trees with ever-changing coats of camouflage. Bird-shadows pass over the ground, yet whatever animal casts them is completely invisible. Invasive foyari were changed to be able to bear lights above their body, luring travellers into their cavernous mouths.
Navigation is nigh-impossible in Almivu, even with a sun mage present. The paths and roads are... inconsistent at best. Often, one will look down to discover they had long stopped walking on any trail, and that there are no more paths to follow. Perhaps the trees stretch on endlessly, or perhaps the exit is only a few paces ahead.
Even the sky itself can ring false here. Noontide will often last longer than it should - only to slide into sunset within what feels like an hour. Whether it is the true weather or merely the power of suggestion that scorches travellers' skin and raises clouds of mist, none can say.
Truesight
"She prays beneath the moons, and communes with the Lady's messengers. If the path ahead is uncertain, listen for the bell-song. She will find you."
Despite the dangers, some still brave the shadowed eaves of the Ashwild, whether searching for strands of Arvus' divinely-imbued silk, or seeking the fertile soil to till. They often find aid in the few people who live within the forest. But no inhabitants dare to venture into the heartwood, especially not to guide foolhardy outsiders.
Yet even to those who find themselves lost and alone, there is still hope: in the sky, on the earth and among the trees.
In other places, travellers welcome the sunlight. But within Almivu, only the light and shadow of the moons may cut through illusions. Lies disperse during the night - and though it comes with its own dangers, it at least allows one to find their way.
The 'Caretaker' is an ulfar who appears in no records, a remnant of a long-gone order. The forest's inhabitants say that the trees listen to her and her bell-song. That she is a servant of Arvus despite being an earth mage. Some believe her guidance leads to hope. Others, to peril - for there are many who never return from beneath the shadowed eaves.
And of course, Arvus has eyes in the forest.
What the spiders are watching for, none can say.
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