A Song for Winter: Aridin, World of Rain Forest Temples

“As my warden will need to go the Tura Doraci in my place this year in my place,” Violet explained to William as she held their newborn son Liam. “We’ll give you amulets filled with elemental power gathered from the other druids. All you have to do is present them to the proper idols and leave. No fighting anyone.”

 

“What if-,” William started to ask but was cut off.

 

“This is a peaceful planet and there will be too much magic gathered in one place,” Violet underlined sharply. “I don’t care if The Matriarch herself shows up. Just ignore her and complete your task.”

 

As William stepped out of the portal with his raven familiar Viggo, they found themselves in a massive rainforest. Calls of exotic animals and birds echoed around all the massive trees whose canopies blocked out most of the sun. A shower of rain picked up as William began to walk amongst the trees. With a quickly whistled note, William created an air bubble around himself to keep from getting soaked. Viggo let out a little raven cackle before he took off to fly around the trees. William rolled his eyes at the raven before he resumed his travel through the trees.

 

Around midday, William emerged from the trees to find himself in a city of some sort. Houses that appeared to be made from the trees themselves covered the area. Each one appeared to have been manipulated by magic to grow in a rough pyramidal shape. Colors of many different shades and hues decorated these strange houses. People from near and far appeared to be inhabiting the houses in preparation for the Tura Dorcaci. A strange six-legged creature with a blue and green feathered coat scampered up to William. The creature sniffed him for a second before it held out a flyer that William had taken. On the paper was an advertisement for a local cafe. William was hungry from his hike through the rainforest so he decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to grab a quick bite before the ceremony.

 

It took a bit of time for William to find the cafe in the unfamiliar city. As he walked through the city he saw that not all the multicolored tree houses were used as residents. Some functioned as stores of sorts while others were different cafes and places to get food or drinks. Eventually, William found the cafe on the flyer where he could order a sandwich of sorts with a salad of local greens and some sort of tea-like beverage. The food was all delicious and filling. Viggo even swooped down from wherever the raven had been hanging out to steal a few bites. With his hunger satisfied and thirst slacked William set out to complete his task at the temple.

 

Above the town nestled amongst the clouds floated this city's tura temple and site of the Tura Doraci. Pilgrims to the festive climbed the vines that stopped the temple from floating away from the city while the less brave found alternate means to get to the temple. William wasn’t afraid of the vine climb but he had some new magitech he wanted to test out. A quick whistle activated the wind jets in the folf’s greaves. With a quick jump, William began to run through the air as the greaves created little air platforms for his feet as he ran. Soon he was above the trees and amongst the clouds as William ran higher and higher. The tura was below him now but he was having a bit of fun as he ran with the wild wind now. Above the rest of the world free from the cares of anything else. A caw from Viggo as he flew furiously to keep up knocked William out of his trance. With a growl, William began to descend to the tura so he could complete the task he was sent out to complete for the harvest druids. He would have to enjoy a run with the wild wind some other time when he wasn’t on official duty.

 

William stepped off the last air platform onto the steps of the tura temple which called up a small cloud of dust. The stone temple was well-kept despite its alleged age. Flowering vines had been trimmed and tended to give a wonderful touch of color to the brown and grey stone building. On the inside, a single massive room was dominated by a large orb of raw magic in the middle of the room. Around the orb of magical energy were statues placed at four compass points to represent different elemental deities of these lands. Pilgrims lined up to offer elemental magic to the respective deity. None of these local gods looked familiar to William but his mission wasn’t to identify them, just to make the magical offerings. For each amulet of stored power, William held it up to the statue that drew the magic out and stored it in the orb of magic that appeared to grow with each offering. At the statue of the wind god, William offered the amulet before he whistled a few notes of the Wintersong to add a bit of his magic to the orb. There was a flash of light that blinded William.

 

When vision returned to William he found himself in a room of white light. Amongst the light stood the deities depicted by the statues that had surrounded the magical orb. They presented him with a crystal the size of his palm that glowed with blues and yellows. William didn’t understand the words the gods spoke but he felt their intent. This was some sort of crystal to be used in dire times and when that time came he felt he would know what to do. As the vision faded William found himself back in the temple in front of the wind deity. With his task completed and a new treasure of sorts gained he set out to find a place to open a portal home.