The On the Lost People of the Forests

Book

Written by the scholar Gnaeus, of Chardon, disgraced for using enchanment magic in his research.

“In a book by Chardonian scholar, Gnaeus, written about a generation ago (maybe 20ish years), recently acquired from a book trader, Kassi finds a mention of Rai. The book is a record/catalog of surviving people of the forests of Chardon. He describes a story of a group of people, northerners, who live upriver from Chardon in the great forest, mysterious, few tales of them. But he found a way in, he used magic to convince one to speak of their secret religion, and learned it was a cult dedicated to the Demigod of Magic Rai, who speaks through the dreams of the high priest.”

This book records the details of Gnaeus’ journey to the Elderwood:

“25 years ago, as a young student, Gnaeus was intrigued by the stories and mysteries of the great forest, known as variously Ainumarya (from the original elvish name, meaning the home of the first gods, referring to the whole stretch) and more recently the surviving pieces are named the Elderwood, the Crimson Forest (after the rumors that the trees ran red with the blood of the elves), and the Forest of Dreams, from south to north.

Few tales came to Chardon of what happened in these woods after the Great War; in 1555 a great host of hobgoblins, trolls, cursed beasts of shadow, and other monsters, led by a conclave of dragons, defeated the Chardonians in two battles, the Battle of Kin-Aska on the banks of the Chasa River, and the Battle of Shadowfire, only 250 miles northeast of Chardon. After a hasty retreat, and much sacrifice to slow the advance, this host was defeated in a great battle only 55 miles east of Chardon, the Battle of Metium. Rumors that, at great cost to themselves, many elves at fought a year’s long delaying battle to weaken this host before it reached Chardon persist, although few know the truth.

Since then, the Chardonian Empire has grown as it has rebuilt, but never beyond the confluence of the Chasa and the Kayan, and many stories and rumors persist as to what happened to Ainumarya and what has been rebuilt and resettled in the past 200 years.

Gnaeus grew up in Arendum and thus was draw to exploring the people of the Crimson Forest and the Elderwood. He knew, as a child, of the Baz’aku, a group of the Deno’qai who traded occasionally with Arendum and lived on the eaves of the Elderwood.

As a student, then, he sought out these people, hired guides, and set off into the Elderwood to learn what was there.

He spent 6 months with the Baz’aku earning their trust, learning about their way of life on the eaves of the Elderwood. From them he learned of the shared myths of the Deno’qai, the People of the Gods in their tongue, who trace their ancestry to the first humans to leave Hkar, long before The Downfall, the wars, and the founding of Drankor. They claim they once lived in vast forests that stretched from the mountains to the sea, from the Yeraad to the south, and as far north as the land of fire and ice, where the midnight sun lights the summer sky and the long night of winter lasts for weeks. Now few of their people survive, and even fewer who hold to the old ways, the worship of the tanshi, the spirits of the forest that bring their prayers to Anida, the creator, the first and the last.

The Baz’aku claim the land between the Chasa and the Kayan, but spoke of other tribes, and stranger things, deeper in the woods.

Gnaeus convinced a guide to take him south, across the Kayan, to the territory of Bek’eni. He spent two years living with them, learning about the tanshi and their way of life. They spoke of rumors of lost tribes to the east, in the depths of the Elderwood, the oldest part of the forest. They also spoke of ruins of elven cities hidden in the trees; of scars across the land cut by some evil where trees would no longer grow; of haunted battlefields where the restless spirits of Deno’qai, Chardonians, and elves dwelt.

But none would guide him, out of fear or caution or distrust of outsiders he was not sure. Finally, he resorted to magic, using a powerful chalyte enchantment to compel cooperation of a guide for 30 days. With the guide’s help, and with some additional enchantments, he was able to find the Te’kula in the heart of the Elderwood, near the source of the Kayan, and get them to allow him to stay for some time and learn their ways.

Unlike the other tribes of the Deno’qai he had met, the Te’kula only worshipped one god: Rai. They made sacrifices to him, and he spoke to Jordo, the Godcaller (the chief priest of the tribe) in dreams. The Te’kula believe that Rai is an old god of their tradition, called Aasimti, a god that was associated with the Elderwood, with the ancient spirits of the great trees, who was thought to be lost when their ancestors were driven from their homelands during the Blood Years.

Four generations ago they returned to these woods, but it wasn’t until 30 years ago that Jordo, the Godcaller at the time, found Rai’s spirit, trapped in the heart of a great tree that had fallen in the deepest part of the woods, and revived Aasimti, now calling himself Rai.

Gnaeus never learned or saw what Rai’s spirit was, but from the way they spoke of him, it sounded like a physical thing, something the Godcaller possessed that allowed Rai, or Aasimti, to speak in their dreams.

Since then, Gnaeus learned, Aasimti has kept the Te’kula hidden and safe. They would not speak of what they must be kept safe from, saying that speaking its name summoned it, and then even Aasimti could not keep them safe. But it dwelt in the east, and first came to their lands, in disguise, soon after Aasimti was found, speaking with a honeyed tongue and asking for Rai’s spirit, then threatening utter destruction when Jordo refused. It was only a desperate prayer to Rai to hide them that kept Te’kula alive.

After 30 days, when his guide’s enchantment ceased, the guide turned on him, and the Te’kula followed. Gnaeus fled downriver, barely escaping with his life.”