fancymel
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Magic Council
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Post by fancymel on May 31, 2016 16:42:42 GMT
Whooooooooo! Whistled the train. As Mel made her long trek all the way from Headquarters in Era, she situated her hat. A lot had happened from the time that Acnologia attacked the city. They eventually rebuilt and Mel was not very pleased with her promotion from simple Rune Knight to Magic Council. Especially since their excuse was "You're a friendly face to the guilds. You'll do great." She situated her hat on her head and stared at the city. Her red eyes widened at the sight of the giant tree. She raised and eyebrow and then sighed making her way out of the train station and into the town. The tree was located in the center of the town. The council had sent her off to the place because she drew the shortest straw. On top of that the rest of the council's groupies had spoken to Mel and stated that she needed to look into the return of Kyll Vie. If Kyll was back, that most certainly meant that the mage Zeno was back. She shook her head. Kyll and Zeno were on a watch list because they had an interesting approach to solving terrorists in Era.... destroy everything. Their way of going about it was far worse than Fairy Tail back in the day. She shook her head and walked toward the center of the town.
Her heels clacked on the ground as she saw loose roots here and there. She put a hand on the tree root and then began to wonder about it. Something about this tree seems a bit familiar. It just looked too old to form in such a period of time. She wanted to see what she could find in the exposed root with her kit, but she felt something that told her to walk away from it and move on. She finally made her way into the city. The red head looked up and down the tree. She crossed her arms and tapped a toe to the ground. Finally a passerby made his way. Mel grabbed him by the sleeve while she was staring up at the tree. "Excuse me..." she said. "Can you please explain this tree?"
"Oh you didn't hear? There was a group of mages here that took out a rather large factory. We thought it was a heist, but it turns out that they saved us from a drug run."
Mel blinked. She had remembered she was being yelled at by one of the captains of the Rune Knights about this situation. She had blurred most of it out, but then it hit her. "You mean the drug sting that the Rune Knights was working on to begin with? What happened?"
"I'm not so sure... You need to ask them, they would be more than happy to tell you." The man walked away and left Mel with no questions. Apparently the Magic Council was not liked here either.
Mel put her hands on her hips then backed up to the tree. "I can't go back HQ with nothing. They will skin me alive. Especially as the last chair of the council." She crossed her arms then began to pout a bit as she thought about how the higher ups would treat her. Well maybe not, the town didn't seem to mind about this giant tree. It could add more tourism here and it would be fine. However, this was not her department. Her department was guild relations.
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Girana Spiritflower
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Yggdrasil
Posts: 36
Likes: 1
Gender: Female
Magic: Gaia & Elemental Dance
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Post by Girana Spiritflower on Jun 5, 2016 13:44:07 GMT
Some time had passed since those events which had resulted in Hargeon Town being dominated by a giant tree. A lot of things had happened since then, both in the outside world and in the town itself. Of all the people who were responsible or partially responsible for the presence of the tree (depending on whether you counted 'trying to run a drug sting and fighting back when a group of mages infiltrated your base' as being partially responsible of what said mages did in their attempts to stop the drug sting) the only one who had remained in the town was the one who could also be said to be at the centre of it all. The mages who had put a stop to the smuggling had all left to pursue their own quests and missions, and the smugglers had decided that the profits of smuggling weren't worth dealing with the kind of opponents who would do things like summon forth a tree of which the base was as wide and long as the warehouse that had been used as the headquarters of the whole business. For the sake of making money while avoiding the law people were usually willing to do quite a lot of things. However there were limits, and one limit was when you were dealing with situations which changed the landscape.
Regardless, the one who remained after the dust had settled was the dryad known as Girana Spiritflower, the one who had called forth the tree (with some help from a more enthusiastic companion). She had stayed behind because she had to make sure that the tree and its surroundings would adapt to each other without any incidents. When the tree had begun to grow at its frenzied pace it had caused a lot of structural damage to both the land and the town which was build on top of it, and since Girana was responsible for that she had to repair the damage done so far as possible. The land actually wasn't that difficult: since her raison d'etre was to look after nature and protect it she had the skills required to remove any ravines or scars that the abrupt growth had caused. She also could pacify both plants and animals and reorganize the system so the tree functioned as the basis of the ecosystem rather than being an abusive intruder. What helped was that the way that she and Ryu had created the tree it was a source of both magic and life, so honestly all she had to do was make the land and the creatures that lived there accept the presence of the tree and the tree's own influence would do the rest.
Repairing the structural damage to the human settlement was...not quite as simple for her. Well, at least in the way of restoring things to how they used to be. Girana could restore and shape the land, but to shape stone and metal into houses was a bit of a different matter. After trying to figure out how she was supposed to do that the dryad had given up and proposed that while she was not able to bring back the structures that were damaged beyond repair, and also could do nothing but apologize for both that and the lost heirlooms, she could create new houses for the people to live in, if they were willing to adapt to a new type of home. There had been some commotion at first, since there were plenty of humans who weren't too happy that a dryad suddenly appeared and wrecked half the town and made a mess of the rest, but Girana managed to persist in her attempts to help long enough that they conceded and allowed her to do what she could rather than demanding she would restore everything to what it used to be.
With their permission Girana began to create homes...which looked like they had been grown rather than built. The dryad did not know how to create using stone and metal (she could shape stone, but her way of handling stone was more shaping it like clay. The real problem was the metal), but she was a dryad who had an archtree nearby to support her, which meant she had both a lot of power and a lot of materials at hand. From the buildings were formed, although after showing the first of these new homes Girana altered her design according to what some of the more knowledgeable humans pointed out so the humans could put in some of the stuff they required like drains and other mechanisms. Once it was deemed a successful combination of dryad-grown foundations and human-made construction she began to 'restore' the town at a grand scale. Her help was not needed on the outskirts of town, where the damage was only minor, but pretty much the entirety of the centre of the town and most of the surroundings were now populated by rather strange grown buildings that both the humans of Hargeon Town and outsiders would have to get used to.
Girana's relationship with the humans of the town was...a bit of a hassle. At first of course they were mad, upset, frustrated, despaired or plain shocked. There were only a few who from the very beginning had no animosity towards her, who helped her explain what had happened and that she wanted to help repair the damage she had caused so far as she could. With the way that she had introduced herself to the town there was originally a lot of distrust, but after she began to help them all out on a grand scale, both with restoring the town and by healing wounds, illness and disease the humans became a bit more welcoming, or at least grateful. It also was a great help that she could use the power of the tree to remove fatigue so the humans could keep working for extended periods of time. Once the original distrust and animosity had been softened and quelled they gave way to curiosity and interest, especially to those who were more focused on the strange things of the world. Girana had no reason to hide herself or act secretive, so when people began to explore the tree itself she welcomed them openly. Most of the humans only displayed a bit of curiosity before they tried their best to return to their daily lives, but not everyone was like that.
At first it was only a few, but as time passed the dryad noticed that more and more people were flocking to her new home, the archtree which now dominated the town. From the humans it was mostly mages, druids, shamans, herbalists... Humans who had an interest in the tree, how it had suddenly appeared, why it was there, the fact that it produced both magic energy and life force with seemingly no signs of stopping, and the owner of the tree herself. Humans who had a true interest in the more mystical and unexplained aspects of the world, who could use both the abundance of magic energy and life force that was now filling most of Hargeon Town. They wanted to stay inside the tree and study it, or merely liked being there. Girana had no reason to refuse, although she did tell all of them that if they harboured any intentions of harming the tree they would regret it very quickly.
And then there were the non-humans. It looked like the presence of the tree was strong enough that it attracted creatures from far and wide. There were already a couple of dryads who had joined their sister in taking care of the tree (the tree being big enough that more than one dryad could afford to call it home), although Girana still was the one in charge. There were also harpies, feys, and lots of other creatures who had a notably tight bond with nature. The humans were not quite as happy accepting those, but since all of those settled inside the tree without exception there wasn't a lot they could do about it. Because Girana didn't want any machinery or metal inside the actual tree (the other guardians of nature were also very adamant about it) making it so that all who wanted to live inside the tree had access to everything they needed was more of a challenge, but eventually they managed to accommodate all the creatures, both the humans and the others. With the size of the tree space was not the question, but if you didn't want anything like pipes making it so that the creatures who wanted water in their homes had access to water could take some thinking. Eventually they solved the problem using the fact that with Girana around there was guaranteed to be a lot of rain, and they could have the tree take in and purify any water it didn't need itself and store it, and they could create pathways for the water in the wood itself. It took some work, but eventually they found solutions so everybody had access to what they required.
Now if only Ryu hadn't followed Vierra. Girana now had a lot of new allies and friends (it had been quite a while since she last had been able to hang out with other dryads), but not having Ryu here still made her feel somewhat lonely. Looking out over Hargeon Town and how her arrival had altered it so drastically she noticed that there was another creature with magic power approaching. There were a lot of those, since news of the tree was spreading, but this one possessed more magic power than the usual. That and the person themselves just felt strange. As the dryad bonded with the archtree Girana had some very impressive skills when it came to detecting and sensing things in town. This newcomer somewhat sensed like a human but a lot more...well, mature was the only way that Girana could explain it if she was asked. Not mature as the difference between a child and an adult: the difference was more just that this person felt like they had a lot more time to develop without actually becoming much older. It wasn't something that was easy to explain. Regardless, it was a rather powerful magic creature who had managed to draw Girana's attention. Concentrating on that area the dryad picked up on the fact that the woman was asking about the tree. It was most likely another creature who wanted to study the tree, and it wasn't like Girana would turn anybody away just because she wasn't sure what exactly they are.
As Mel was thinking about what she was supposed to do now she would be able to feel a small surge of magic coming from the tree in front of her before it headed for the root closest to her. From that root more wood sprouted, which quickly took on a humanoid shape and became more detailed and refined until eventually the strange expansion disconnected from the root, the development continuing for a bit longer until Girana was standing in front of Fancy Mel, still in her more mature form as she bowed deeply before the Council Member.
"Greetings. I am Girana Spiritflower. I assume that you have come here because you want to know more about the archtree?"
She straightened up, still smiling as she indicated the tree in question, her lupine tail swaying gently behind her.
"There have been quite a lot of people who have been attracted to my new home. I have to admit I was not expecting anything like this, but I can't say that I mind it too much."
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fancymel
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Magic Council
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Post by fancymel on Jun 22, 2016 4:45:59 GMT
Mel looked up at the tree with awe. Still in shock that the plant was there. She watched as the magic surged and then the dryad literally grew right in front of her. She took a couple steps back then tripped up and fell right down on her behind. She stood back up and then brushed herself off. "Well... I should have expected that," the witch said with a grin. It had been far too long since she got to meet with any mystical beings. She giggled and then looked at the plant girl right in front of her. "I am Fancy Mel. I am the representative for guilds here in Fiore. However I was sent on a mission out here to figure out how much damage was done to this city... and who is responsible."
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Girana Spiritflower
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Yggdrasil
Posts: 36
Likes: 1
Gender: Female
Magic: Gaia & Elemental Dance
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Post by Girana Spiritflower on Jun 23, 2016 12:28:18 GMT
With Mel falling back onto her rear the matured dryad blinked, somewhat surprised that she would incite enough of a reaction for somebody to actually fall down. Then again, usually she was in her petite form, and usually she didn't just appear out of the roots of one of the biggest trees that any human would ever see. In fact she was quite sure that for most humans her Archtree was already far bigger than any tree had right to be. However before she could offer to help the woman up she had already picked herself up, and it looked like she was adapting to Girana's presence quite quickly since she was already grinning and commenting on how she should have expected something like that. Which made Girana giggle before shaking her head briefly.
"I doubt that you are expected to expect a dryad appearing in front of you. We aren't seen very often, after all."
She nodded as Mel introduced herself and explained why she was here. The dryad looked both curious and confused at the mention of guilds. She knew what the word meant, but she wasn't completely sure what kind of guilds Mel might be talking about. Guilds for mages? She did possess magic power, and quite a respectable amount, so it was plausible. Although her being the representative of the guilds (another thing which was confusing the dryad. Regardless of what kind of guilds Mel was talking about, if she was the representative of all guilds who was she representing them to? Other countries? Why was she here in Fiore then?) didn't really tell Girana why the woman was here. She could understand that the people of this land would be curious about what had happened here (after all, she already had many visitors and new friends because of that), but unless she grossly misunderstood what Mel's actual job was it really sounded like the female in front of her was doing something completely unrelated to her actual responsibilities. The dryad looked rather thoughtful as Mel finished speaking, staying silent for several seconds before eventually bowing again, ears twitching.
"I'm sorry, but could you tell me a bit more about what your job is? It's been a while since I last talked with humans other than a brief meeting, so I don't really know much about being a representative of guilds or things like that. But I can answer both of those questions. I'm starting with the latter though."
The dryad's ears drooped as she looked both embarrassed and guilty, once again indicating the giant Archtree that now dominated the town before she spoke again. From the way that she talked and acted it was clear that she wasn't entirely comfortable talking about this, but pressed on nonetheless.
"As you probably already figured out I'm the one at fault. Not too long before we arrived in Hargeon Town Wolfy and I met a female mage who called herself Vierra. She wanted our help in finding some creatures called Arcane Aspects. Wolfy and I agreed. However when we came here Vierra wanted us to first help get rid of a group of humans who were enslaving children and using them to make drugs which they would then sell. Once again Wolfy and I agreed. After we found where they were making the drugs we fought, but then Vierra told me to make a tree as big as possible. I don't know why, but Wolfy convinced me to do it. This tree is the tree you are now looking at, standing at the spot where the smugglers used to have their hideout. After Wolfy and I created this tree the smugglers were all either fleeing or captured, so Vierra wanted to continue the hunt for Arcane Aspects. As a dryad, however, my duties are closer to keeping an eye on how nature interacts with the rest of the world, so while Wolfy and Vierra continued the hunt I've stayed behind to look after the tree."
He ears perked up somewhat as she looked a bit more positive, her tail wagging behind her as she smiled at Mel.
"But you don't have to worry! I made sure that no-one got injured by the tree and I've also made it so that the tree won't cause any more damage to its surroundings. I admit that a lot of buildings were destroyed, but I think I've finally managed to repair everything that needed repairing and make replacements for the buildings that could no longer be repaired. The humans at first were angry but now they all seem happy having me around, since I can help heal their wounds and cure their ailments, and some of them also seem to like finally having a building which is part of nature instead of constructing one of those square blocks out of metal and stone. I'm really sorry for causing you trouble, but I've been trying my best to help the people here recover from it! And I'm no longer a bother to them either. There's lots of you human mages and other animals that have come here because they were attracted to the power of the Archtree, and they are also helping the people of the town. So you don't have to worry about things here."
Girana bowed again, slightly this time, still smiling as her tail wagged and her ears twitched. She wasn't trying to make Mel go away, she just wanted to ensure the girl that the town was no longer in any trouble and that she didn't have to worry about anything. The dryad had felt really guilty after she had seen what she had done to the human settlement, so she had done her best to make up for it in any way she could, healing, curing, repairing and constructing. The humans of Hargeon Town of course had been forced to adapt to the fact that there was now a very powerful dryad in their midst (not even mentioning the tree), but humans could adapt quite quickly and easily. Especially when not given much of a choice.
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fancymel
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Magic Council
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Gender: Female
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Post by fancymel on Jun 25, 2016 18:55:52 GMT
Mel sat there with a look on her face. She smiled and looked at the dryad. "I think I should be more conspicuous about my experiences. Let me look around more thoroughly now that you have told me the Arcane is involved." As Girana talked, Mel smiled and looked around the town. She then pulled a pair of glasses from her cloak and began to look about the area of the town. She placed them on and looked about the area while Girana spoke to her. She stopped to look at a couple of the roots. They glowed green and orange. She looked over at the dryad. "Ah yes, nature magic has a different glow from an average mage's magic." She looked at the trunk and leaves. Then she noticed up in the leaves were a strange glow a whitish blue. She pointed her finger at the ground and the word "FLOAT" appeared beneath her feet in the shape of a cloud. "Hmm..." Mel looked at the tree leaves and then took out a notepad from her cloak and pulled the pencil from the spirals. She began to scribble a few notes. Then she pulled the leaf off the tree. "I need to collect this sample." She said aloud then placed it in the notepad and shut the spiral book. She then floated down to Girana and put the pad back into her cloak. She snapped her fingers and the word disappeared into a puff of mist.
"A tree like this is beautiful. " She said with a smile. "It would be perfect for mages who are attracted here to find a place to call home. Sort of like... a guild." She stopped then looked at the tree. "So... This is where things get a little gray." She stopped for a moment. "As the Representative of all Guilds to the Counsel, I must keep record of all guilds who register with us and find guilds who are not registered with us. Mainly because we want our guilds to be legal. Those that refuse to register are called 'dark' guilds by the common people around here. They are known to us as Illegal Guilds. These are people who have no respect for our laws. Now there are good illegal guilds just as there are bad legal guilds." She crossed her arms. "It is my job to let the bad legal guilds to understand that they are either having some of their mages incarcerated or the guild itself is being fined due to the negligence of their actions." She waved her hand around the area and the words 'repair' appeared in the shape of tools around all of the buildings that were damaged in the area. The words surrounded the buildings then magically poofed into walls and windows. The stands were repaired and the roads around the roots were paved back to being flat, but not impending on the tree itself. "Now that I know the Arcane was involved, that means that Eclipse Soul was involved. What makes it more interesting is that Kyll Vie was spotted." She smiled and looked at the area. "I do say that I helped out with out having to really fine any of the parties, as there was a drug sting that our knights had been working on for years to find out who was in charge. So, yes, this entire situation would be partially our fault for letting this get out of hand. Doesn't mean that I will not use the threat of fines to the other guild to get the answers that I need, though. So do me a favor and keep the fact that the town is now repaired a secret." Mel looked at the tree and then looked to Girana. "I try to keep my relationship with the mages who are trying to better themselves good. So I want to be able to provide a good cover story to the Magic Council as to why this tree is here. Seeing that the people are happy and they love it. Let's get this ball rolling." Mel knew she couldn't tell Girana what would be a good idea, but she had hoped that her hint to her about making this tree a focal point for mages would be a good way to help her job further.
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Girana Spiritflower
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Yggdrasil
Posts: 36
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Gender: Female
Magic: Gaia & Elemental Dance
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Post by Girana Spiritflower on Jun 29, 2016 20:20:36 GMT
Girana nodded as Mel noted that nature magic had a different feel to it than most types of magic used by mages. The reason, of course, being that nature magic was taking the magic that already existed in nature and using it to achieve your goals instead of warping and twisting magic to create spells that didn't reflect things that already existed in nature. Nature magic was a lot less intrusive on its surroundings and was usually also harder to notice unless it was present in very strong amounts, like what was happening here now that Girana had created an archtree which acted as a focal point of life and magic. And Girana herself already functioned as a source of life... When Mel flew all the way up to check the magic in the branches the dryad frowned. She had been paying close attention to the tree and keeping it healthy, but she wasn't sure what the human mage might have noticed. Regardless she didn't see the problem of allowing Mel to take one leaf to study it, so she only nodded and smiled when Mel said she was taking the leaf with her. A normal tree already had hundreds or thousands of leafs, and with how big this archtree was any branch which directly grew from the trunk already had as many leafs as a normal tree if not more.
Hearing Mel voice her approval the dryad practically glowed with happiness, although she became somewhat puzzled when Mel once again talked about guilds. Girana was a bit naive and didn't know a lot about modern humans, but she certainly wasn't an idiot. Ryu was the smarter one of the two of them, but ancient spirits which had encountered the strangest and most fantastical of things weren't very fair competition in regards to knowledge, wisdom and intelligence. Girana still was plenty of smart, so when Mel began to explain about how her job worked and the deal with legal and illegal mages it was pretty clear to the dryad what the human in front of her was trying to propose without saying it out loud. It's not like Mel is being particularly subtle about it either, first noting how the tree would work as a good gathering spot for mages similar to a guild, and then explains what her job actually is.
Seeing how quickly Mel repairs what damages still remained to the town without even harming the tree the dryad is clearly impressed and happy, bowing deeply before Mel.
"I'm very grateful for your help, and I'll definitely keep it a secret for you. I don't know much about this Kyll Vie. Wolfy said that he heard Vierra mention that name, but I don't know why that is important, otherwise I would tell you more. As for your suggestion one what we should do so you can give the Magic Council a good answer, I'll see what the others think about it."
With that Girana turned back towards the tree and closed her eyes, clearly focusing for a moment. Mel might be able to sense a small surge of nature magic flowing from the dryad through the roots back to the tree, and that after a couple of seconds there came a surge back. If she could sense this and even more accurately she might be able to figure out that Girana just communicated with another nature-attuned magic creature using the tree as a medium. It would take about a minute, but then four figures would approach, although not all from the same direction. One of them used the same method as Girana, emerging from the closest root and taking a (somewhat) humanoid shape. In contrast to Girana though this one stayed clearly made out of wood. Another one emerged from high, high above, amidst the foliage that covered most of Hargeon Town in shade, and flew down. Two others actually walked over to Girana and Mel, although like the other two they clearly weren't fully human. Once the four newcomers had assembled (forming a half-circle behind Girana) the first dryad smiled back at Mel, this time her bow being followed by the other four, albeit with different levels of enthusiasm.
"These are the four oldest dryads who have joined me in taking care of the archtree and making sure the humans aren't harmed and don't harm the tree. I'll introduce them. This is Miirik Grassblade. She's not the most talkative but she's very friendly and helpful. Next to her is Urin Forestlight, who is good at making people feel at ease and welcome. She's also very good at curing ailments, so the humans don't have to worry about diseases. Nimah Autumnleaf is the one who refuses to take a form made of flesh. She's really dedicated to looking after the forests and a lot better at staying on track than me. Last is Kansho Sunmirror, who is good at dealing with problems that we dryads are usually bad with."
Each of the named dryads gave Mel their own greeting when they were named: Miirik gave another, smaller bow, Urin smiled brightly and waved, Nimah tilted her head to the side slightly, and Kansho gave the human a warm smile.
"This here is Fancy Mel, who has come here because the ones who lead the magic using humans of this land want to know why we have called forth the archtree in this place. To avoid trouble with the humans she suggests that we declare ourselves to be one of the mage guilds, so she can explain to the Magic Council why the archtree is here and so those who are attracted to the archtree do not have to worry about trouble with the other humans. I want to know if the four of you think this is a good idea, but I myself think it would be a good way to gain recognition so the humans won't try to harm the tree. What do you think?"
The four other dryads exchanged glances, after which by silent agreement they spoke up in the same order that Girana had introduced them.
"If becoming one of these guilds would help avoid problems with the humans... I am in favour."
Like Girana had already stated Miirik wasn't very expressive. She simply stated her piece and then fell silent again, looking down at Urin. The smallest of the dryads was still smiling brightly as she enthusiastically nodded.
"Sounds good to me! If we're a guild others can join us without problems, right? Well, I don't think we're going to find many more dryads, but more friends is always good!"
Nimah shot a look at Urin, who seemed way too enthusiastic at the idea to notice or care. The most treelike of the dryads folded her arms, her large branch-like fingers curling around her upper arms as she reluctantly nodded.
"Our duty is to protect the archtree and the plants that shall grow around it. If becoming a... guild... would help appease the humans we do not have much of a choice to accept. Although I am not that happy at the idea of getting more involved with the humans."
The last one, Kansho, chuckled softly as she placed a hand on Nimah's shoulder, whose frown only deepened. The motherly dryad looked kindly upon Mel before she spoke up, her gentle but strong voice matching her appearance quite nicely.
"If the others have already made up their minds I do not have much of a choice, do I? Well, not that I would oppose the idea anyway. Girana has already explained why she called forth the archtree, and I agree that what's done is done, and this is just part of dealing with the responsibilities. I hope you will be able to convince the Magic Council to not chase us away. I don't often get to meet my sisters so freely."
With all four of the dryads having given their agreement the first dryad smiled almost as brightly as Urin as she turned back to Mel and bowed again.
"I believe we have reached an agreement. We shall become a legal guild who will follow the rules of the Magic Council. We'll accept anybody who wants to join our guild and learn more about life and nature, although as dryads we will be unable to tolerate the presence of undead or necromancers. In case you need more help with the cover story, the truth should work. A dryad passed through Hargeon Town and learned that smugglers were using children as slaves. In her anger she destroyed their hideout and saved the children by calling forth an archtree. Afterwards she decided that to make it up to the townsfolk she stuck around and provided aid and healing, and once she learned that there were plenty of humans who showed interest in the archtree she decided to make it a guild where all those with an affinity and interest with life and nature can join. I can't imagine that the Magic Council would object to this, especially since we're willing to become a legal guild and help others."
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fancymel
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Magic Council
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Post by fancymel on Jun 30, 2016 2:41:58 GMT
Mel stared at the dryads as she introduced each one of them. Her eyes widened when she saw the appearance of Kansho before her. "You know... I'm glad you agree..." She put her hands behind her back and then turned around to look out toward the city. "Before, humanity wasn't ready to deal with things like dryads, demons, gods, dragons, and more." She smiled. "I believe we can make a change this time. A better place for everyone." She then spun around and looked at the treefolk with a smile. "But they aren't ready to deal with finding out that there is a secret that could change humanity forever." She pointed herself. "And Kansho has proven this to me." Then she heard about the thought on death mages and those that control the dead. She sighed as she folded her arms. "You know I have a belief on that," she said aloud. "I believe that if a mage just so happens to want to join a guild, you should give them a trial run. Set up rules." She put her hands on her hips then looked up at the tree. "A mage on the brink of a criminal life. Misunderstood. Why? More than likely because people held a disdain for his or her magic." She looked at Girana. "What do you think would happen if he was turned from the last place that he would ever go? A guild of mages... somewhere to call haven. Not like that guild Eclipse Soul." She sighed and put a hand on her hat. She pulled the hat off slowly to reveal her pinted ears. The side effect from her magical mishap hundreds of years ago. "I have seen the disdain I get whenever I take my hat off, and when I tell them why, they are scared to even approach me."
She looked up at Kansho with a smile. "This time I'm not going to let this tree destroy every human life." She gave a blank look at her. "Even if I couldn't explain to them why or how I wound up this way. You still had no excuse to allow your forest do your dirty work, Kansho, but what's in the past between us is in the past." She put her hat back on and then situated it. She then looked to Girana. She reached into her cloak and then pulled out a pen and a stack of papers. "I'll fill out the paperwork. What is the name of the guild going to be Girana?"
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Girana Spiritflower
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Yggdrasil
Posts: 36
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Gender: Female
Magic: Gaia & Elemental Dance
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Post by Girana Spiritflower on Jun 30, 2016 20:37:05 GMT
If Kansho recognized Mel she wasn't showing any sign of it, keeping that motherly and warm smile as she watched the human mage explain more about the situation together with the other four dryads. Then again since that smile could also be used to welcome an old friend who you hadn't seen in a while maybe her appearance and natural demeanour were hiding the fact that she was showing recognition. Regardless all five of the dryads listened attentively. Well, maybe not all of them were very attentive. Nimah wasn't even looking at Mel, instead looking back towards the large tree that she now called her home and giving the strong impression that she wasn't really paying attention. She was actually listening, but she didn't care a lot. She was only here because she had to look after the archtree and the plants that would grow around it. That included protecting them from the animals that would no doubt try to harm the tree. They usually did, especially these humans and their like who only had endless greed and impudence to define them. She had heard humans talk about how they were special and how they deserved to have everything they wanted to take, but it was clear to her what they actually were: animals who had received more power and ingenuity than they deserved or could handle. It had gone to their hands, and now they believed that somehow they were the chosen species and that anybody who would deny them what they wanted should be forced to learn their place. Nimah wasn't about to go along with that idea. However as much as she disliked and looked down on humans for their arrogance she had little interest in their actions amongst each other, and also wasn't going to bother to get too closely involved now. As a dryad she was supposed to protect and care for all life, but in the case of animals and certainly humans her only display of affection was that she would wait for them to harm the tree before she would return them to the earth.
The other dryads looked at Kansho when Mel mentioned the dryad, clearly surprised that the human girl would single out one of them and mention her as if she had met Kansho before. Kansho herself, however, retained that placid smile, and before one of the other dryads got to actually asking her Mel began to talk about them having to consider accepting mages who would toy with death and creatures whose existence was a result of the perversion of death. Nimah shot Mel a vile look which gave the strong impression that she was considering doing something nasty to the girl, while all the other dryads made faces which showed discomfort and reluctance. Miirik narrowed her eyes, her mouth turning into a thin line, while Urin look at the ground and her long ears drooped. Kansho's smile disappeared as her face became carefully neutral, and Girana herself looked surprisingly sad. None of them spoke as Mel spoke, but after she finished speaking the leading dryad slowly shook her head before speaking.
"I understand what you are trying to say, but no. We will not change our minds on this. As dryads our most important duty is and will always be to protect nature and nurture life. To be born, to grow, to live and to die is all part of the cycle of life. Those who lived before will serve as food for those that come after, they will remain part of Gaia even in death. Undead, and those who toy with death, are not part of the cycle, and perverse it. For the humans necromancy might be disgusting and misunderstood. We dryads understand it very well, and also the results. And we can't tolerate such a thing in our guild. Asking us to accept those who practice the art of death is the same as asking an animal to accept a parasite sucking all their life away. We are always willing to accept those who want to learn more about all forms of life and become closer to nature and Gaia, but what we are and what our duty entails means that we can never tolerate necromancy. The most we can do is tell you that we will not actively hunt down any necromancer or undead if they leave Hargeon Town quickly. I realize that sometimes someone just needs to find people who are willing to accept them and help them, but if any necromancer or undead needs to find a guild willing to accept them they will need to find another. I know this may sound harsh from the human point of view, or maybe a sign of us being cruel, ignorant or hateful, but for dryads necromancy is one of the worst and awful things to ever have been created. It only serves to twist and perverse the cycle of life that we protect. Its entire existence is harmful and an insult to us who protect life. Encouraging its existence and its results in any form would be a direct contradiction of our duty."
Nimah nodded firmly, still giving Mel that exceedingly vile look. Miirik's glare was also quite clear on the subject, while Urin refused to look up and Kansho sighed. Mel would have to realize that so far as necromancy is concerned, there is simply nothing to discuss here. For dryads necromancy was something which shouldn't exist, and which they could never acknowledge or tolerate. This wasn't something born from lack of understanding or an instinctive repulsion as with humans. This was simply part of what a dryad was and what they were supposed to do.
Eventually Kansho broke the silence by speaking up, her warm smile returning even as she shrugged somewhat helplessly. The most motherly of the dryads had so far displayed the strongest mental and emotional stability, being able to shrug off even the depressing and sickening talk about necromancy for the sake of pulling the conversation away to something a bit less likely to make the other dryads do something they would undoubtedly regret later.
"That was a whole lot you just said, Girana, but to summarize it for our guest here: as dryads necromancy means much more to us than to any human, and what it means has as result that your request to allow necromancers to join our guild, even if it's a trial run, is impossible. It might not be fair to them, but then again, life isn't always fair, and it's not very surprising that someone who reveres and toys with death would not find kindness in those who protect and nurture life, is it? Call it a conflict of interests, if that would help you explain it to the Magic Council. As for letting the trees do the dirty work, would you blame a man for using his hand to slay a deer instead of ripping out her throat with his bare teeth? For dryads of our age and strength the forest we live in is the same as our own body. I can guarantee you that I did not avoid feeling the results of my actions because I used the trees rather than this hand."
The motherly dryad's expression soured for a moment as she raised the indicated hand, then lowered it again. Shaking her head and sighing that warm smile returned, even warmer this time as she beamed at Mel.
"However I'm glad to see that you're still around and doing well. Of all the humans back then you were the only one who thought of talking to me and helping both sides instead of only furthering the goals of the humans. I still do not regret the choice I made that day, and I'm genuinely happy to see you again."
Once again the other dryads shot Kansho a look, whose smile turned perfectly innocent as she looked at them. She might tell them the details later on, but for now the four of them would have to still their curiosity, as the human mage before them still had one request left for them. The five dryads looked at each other, each of them now taking on a thoughtful expression until eventually Miirik spoke up.
"...Yggdrasil."
The other four blinked at that, Nimah opening her mouth, clearly planning to object. However this time Urin grabbed Nimah's hand, shaking her head quickly to keep the treelike dryad from immediately scolding Miirik. The most silent of the five dryads took a couple of seconds to gather her thoughts before speaking again.
"This tree... can't compare to the great Yggdrasil. And it might be seen as an insult, to give it the same name. But humans know of the legend of Yggdrasil, and if we are going to work together with the humans from now on... we need to give them a strong symbol. By calling our guild, and the archtree, Yggdrasil, we will make it clear to them that we... will serve as the guild for those who wish to understand life and become one with nature. Humans... put great value in appearances and names, just like... the spirit Girana loves."
It was clear that saying even this much already took quite a lot of effort from Miirik, and she closed her mouth in a rather definite way once she was done. The other dryads looked at Miirik (who definitely didn't enjoy the attention given), and then at each other, before Girana looked back at Mel and smiled.
"I guess that is decided then. Our guild and the tree shall both be called Yggdrasil, to show how we are a guild dedicated to life and nature. Although now that Miirik has mentioned it..."
The dryad fidgeted, looking a bit nervous now.
"You might encounter a... strange creature at some point. His name is Ryu Hinote, even though I always call him Wolfy. You should not have any trouble recognizing him when the time comes. He doesn't really follow the same rules as anyone else, but he's a good person and will help anyone who needs help. I beg of you to try and convince the Magic Council not to treat him with hostility because of his strange nature and demeanour, and not to show disdain at him not behaving like the humans might expect or desire. If he actually commits a crime he should of course be apprehended, but it would be much easier for everybody if the Magic Council would not try to do anything to him just for being... him. I know that this isn't guaranteed to happen, but there have been plenty of examples in the past where humans were unwilling to tolerate things that they didn't understand or which were just different from them. Wolfy is a very nice and laid back person, but he would not take the Magic Council showing disdain for his strangeness well, and I do not think a creature more potentially dangerous than him has ever existed in these lands."
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