The Weave. A mile-deep ocean of grass, flowing and swaying in the winds, providing for all who live within it. The Magi of the Weave know how to manipulate their surroundings into dwellings, roads, tools, even creatures; anything they need, they can forge from the massive blades of grass that form their home. Though passive, the Weave knows how to defend itself, the creatures of the region capable of channeling their energy into one another as needed, as they are all woven together in the whole of the great grass sea.
This morning, like many others, began quietly, the homes of the Magi lightly rocking in the winds. Yerthe and Kolte had set out early to begin their trek into the sands of D'Resh, seeking the aid of the Magi that lived in the barren wasteland south of their home. After the Shadow Magi had passed through, the Magi of the Weave realized that they were no longer completely safe from the outside just because they did not quarrel with the other regions. If anyone could help them fight the Core, it would be those from D'Resh.
Bo'Ahsa and Rehlya had also left, heading into the jungles of Paradwyn, to provide their tired allies with a little relief against the constant skirmishes with the Bograthians. After Korg was defeated, Olabra reclaimed her title as leader of the stinking swamplands of the east. Since they had not defeated Paradwyn as they had hoped, she had begun to send small parties to the borders of their land to try and keep the Magi of the jungle region stretched thin. Gia, elder of the Weave, decided to send a small group of some of her more powerful Magi to assist in keeping the swamp-dwellers in their bog. Of course, Bazha, Keeper of Paradwyn, had refused to accept anything more than two individuals. He had gone to the Weave and hand-selected Bo'Ahsa, captain of the home guard, and Rehlya, a young but extremely ambitious Magi.
And within the Weave, Iyori was preparing her battle plans.
"If we strike out against the Dark Twins too quickly, we may find ourselves in over our heads. But if we don't act soon, their power will only continue to expand… Zaya, do you have any ideas on how we can get to know our enemy before we actually have to fight?" The old, grizzled healer looked up from the vial she was fiddling with. "Oh, of course. Wence can help you." Staring blankly at Zaya, Iyori couldn't believe the fact that she had forgotten the one man who could get into anyplace and out again to tell the world. And besides, he was very close to the Weave, claiming it as a second home of sorts, since the fall of Naroom. Zaya continued to shake and twirl her vial, chuckling to herself. "You young kids never notice the simplest path unless it hits you in the face."
Iyori shrugged off the remark and went back to reviewing her maps. Under her breath "The problem with that is, how do you find a wanderer?"
"Man alive, it's hot out here!" Yerthe and Kolte had been in D'Resh for about an hour before Kelte started complaining about the conditions. Bearing his task with solemn determination, Yerthe, Warden of Hyrens, had been doing his best to keep from snapping at his friend. "Well, it's just something we're going to have to get used to. This trip isn't going to be short, and no one said it would be pleasant. You know, you didn't even have to come." Kolte grinned and shoved his friend hard. "You don't think I'd let you have all the glory for yourself, do you? Besides, whenever you get sent off on some quest, or just go on one of your own, I always tag along. It's the way we work!"
Yerthe couldn't help but smile at his constant partner. Often overly reckless and headstrong, Kolte had made some of their outings quite difficult. Of course, he had proven to be quite useful when the time was appropriate, as well.
As the two continued to cross the dunes, Yerthe started to think. This was the first time he'd had to go very deep into D'Resh, and word had it that there was a hyren in the region not in his menagerie, the Sand Hyren. If he could find and obtain this rare beast, it would make the journey all the more rewarding.
Sensing the warder's brooding, Kolte started whining again. "Why couldn't these people live someplace more pleasant? Not only am I hot, I can barely walk on these sand hills…" "Dunes," Yerthe interjected. "Whatever. It's hot, I can barely keep my balance, there's nothing but sand everywhere, and my braids are coming undone."
Yerthe just chuckled and tried to ignore the constant complaints from his foolhardy friend, his thoughts on adding yet another majestic hyren to his extensive arsenal…
In Paradwyn, Ookami, who kept telling her what an incapable fighter she was, had harassed Rehlya all day. "Come on! You, fight? You look like you couldn't even hurt a vard!" Getting more and more flustered with each remark, Rehlya became quite defensive.
"Oh, yeah? You just watch! I'm gonna march right into Bograth and fight the first Magi I find. And you know what? I'm gonna beat him, or her, or whatever is unlucky enough to get in my way!" Whirling on her heels, she scooped up her satchel of rings and stormed out the door.
Kioko walked into the room along with Bo'Ahsa. "What was that all about?" Ookami had a look of guilt on his face, and related the story of his pestering Rehlya, and her sudden ultimatum.
Kioko was furious. "Great. So now she's going to go put herself in harm's way just because you had to be a jerk. You get out there and follow her, and make sure she doesn't get hurt!" Ookami made to argue, but then realized it would be useless. He picked up the bag carrying his drums, and sulked out of the hut.
"I'm really sorry about that," Kioko said to Bo'Ahsa. "He just doesn't see why we need the help of 'pacifists.'" Bo'Ahsa sighed and shrugged. "It's not a problem. We get that a lot. She's just young, and a little touchy about her abilities. Maybe this will be good for her, even if it means having to have sense knocked into her…"
Heading into the swamps of Bograth, Rehlya was ready for anything that came at her, all of her favorite rings in place. Unfortunately, she didn't realize that Bograth was as disgusting as this. Pools of fetid ooze, soggy moss dangling from dead trees, dense, impenetrable fog, and worst of all, the stench of decay penetrated everything. Trying not to think about it, Rehlya continued to trudge through the grotesque swamp.
After some time, she sat down at the edge of a lake, if it could be called a lake, to rest. Beginning to feel a little foolish, she thought about turning around. "I can't go back yet! If I quit now, I'll never hear the end of it from Ookami. Guess I gotta keep going." Heaving herself up off of the rock she was sitting on, she saw something moving in the fog. Creeping up further, she could see that it was a tall skulking Magi, his eyes glowing a sickly yellow from under his cowl.
"Hey you!" Rehlya burst from her hiding place in the bushes to confront the scraggly Magi. "I'm from the Weave and I'm here to fight you. Come on, let's go."
He turned slowly and stared dumbfoundedly at the seemingly reckless girl. "You're a little far from home to be picking fights, aren't you? Why not just run back home and I'll pretend that this didn't happen. Okay?"
Annoyance flashed across her face, which she quickly steeled. "No, I am going to fight you here and now. Oh, and so I can have proof of my victory, what's your name?"
"I'm Blygt, the Magnificent Remembering Guy, which is for the best, I guess, because then only I will be able to remember your pathetic attempt to challenge Bograth." His taunt made Rehlya furious, and she dove into action, channeling her energy into her rings, bringing forth a pair of sagaweaves and a paradar. The pair of sagaweaves began to advance on the undefended Magi, while the paradar just stood and watched giving his Magi more knowledge of the environment.
Before the two grass-woven creatures could strike Blygt, he slipped on his rings and summoned an moob, a zungg, and a looph. But, almost as soon as his dream creatures were visible, the sagaweaves thrashed through them. A confident smile spread across Rehlya's face.
"Hmph. So you think destroying them was the last you'd see of them, did you? They don't call me the Magnificent Remembering Guy for nothing." As he finished his sentence, two of the fallen creatures began to rise up out of the muck. Lashing back, they managed to catch one of the sagaweaves off its guard. The creature vanished in a twinkling of animite.
Rehlya's smile quickly faded as she realized anything she destroyed would just come back, weaker, but that meant he had a constant stream of dream creatures at his disposal. "Okay, you want to play that way? Bring it on!" Slipping on a massive ring, she formed the image of her mighty junjertrug, and channeled her energy to summon the monstrous creature.
"Oh, I'm shaking. Sheer numbers will overwhelm it anyway!" Again, more creatures rose out the bog, tearing at the junjertrug. But, just as it was about to fall, Rehlya's forgotten paradar slipped her a bit of extremely useful knowledge.
She gasped, and, as she did, began to move her hands about in a pattern only recognizable to someone from the Weave. As she did, all of Blygt's undead creatures vanished, leaving only animite behind, and the junjertrug was looking stronger than when it had first arrived.
Blygt was stunned. "What?! How did you do that?" Putting on another ring, he summoned a sarazen outcast, which snarled and glared at the junjertrug. Lashing out with its three heads, it tore the junjertrug to the ground. But, as it rose, from its victory, it began to fade from existence. "There's no way! What kind of spell have you cast?" Blygt was now furious at the outcome of these clashes.
He summoned more creatures, trulbs, ainjers, mydras. Rehlya did the same, summoning vuryips, zassyfers, and podys. And once again, after the creatures clashed, hers remained, looking stronger than before.
Blygt tried summoning the largest creature in his arsenal, the tar hyren, which thrashed through the vuryips and zassyfers. And then he saw it.
As his mighty dream creature was attacking, he saw various grasses flowing up from the ground and wrapping around the legs of his creature. "You're draining their energy through the grass!" Then he saw that the grass was also attached to her creatures. "And then putting it into your own?!" The tar hyren came to a crashing halt against the paradar, both creatures vanishing in a twinkling of animite.
"So you noticed." Rehlya walked towards the stunned Bograthian with a calm, confident stride. Summoning her last junjertrug, she exhausted her energy as the beast slammed into Blygt, throwing him to the ground in an unconscious heap.
"Well, that wasn't too bad." She leaned on her furry giant and began to recover from the duel. Before she could even make it out of the clearing, she heard a twisted, unsettling cackle from within the woods…