22 Gizmel 816

Atticus’ Adventures, Journal entry 3

As we let the eventful days behind us settle a bit, we came across a realization. As we know now, dryads can be the manifestations of the tree, or a prisoner. So far, we noticed how different each dryad is. Lutea for one, is cheerful and free spirited. She doesn’t know why she was put in Rootgrow, or by whom, and seems unbothered by this. She can freely roam around her tree as well, as she was able to talk to us through the tavern window. Albuca however, her existence seems rather stagnant and restricted. Her tree has her chained with its roots, barely allowing her to move. We may not know much about her origins, nor does she want to open her mouth about them. But we suspect she could be one of those fiendish, unseelie prisoners. I wonder what she could’ve done to deserve such a fate, if it was even deserved to begin with. Being stuck to a tree for her whole life while also being defenceless doesn’t sound like a great time. I’m glad she has Ghor at her side at least. I wonder if he knows more.

The tavern in Rootgrow was pretty busy for a change, with many interesting faces to see. As we entered we immediately noticed a few people of interest. We decided to split off and go ask around for more clues regarding the dryads and Yuan-ti.

There were two hammered thieves swinging their arms covered in various jewely, who were flexing and showing off to a lady while trying not to pass out. She took the opportunity to pocket some of the loot. The moment I approached the bunch, the two thieves had already dropped on the table. I heard from the lady that they found all this treasure in a cellar up north from Rootgrow, and they had killed a bunch of Yuan-ti to get there. Some of the jewelry had beads and charms shaped like mushrooms which stood out to me most. I was gifted a mushroom necklace that the lady had swiped from the thieves. It’s shiny surface resembles something metallic, but it seems to actually be made from porcelain. Quite unique, it might just keep me from eating it.

Raven gravitated to an archeologist looking fellow. They really hit him with an opening that could shatter icebergs. “You like dead people? I like dead people! We have so much in common!”. I’ll admit, I had to contain my laughter overhearing that exchange. Absolutely unhinged, but then again, how could somebody walk away from that? Raven found out that his name was Joe. He was particularly interested in the Yuan-ti, and could talk about his findings without end. He was brought to Rootgrow in particular because of an interesting site nearby, called The Black Cleaved. It lays Southwest from town, and contains very unique ruins of which the top is cleaved right off with no remains to be found. The entire area has also been lifeless for centuries, nothing ever grows there. Joe wanted to see this place with his own eyes, and search for connections with his previous research. He needed someone to come along with him, as he would definetly not survive the trip alone.

Aelin decided to approach a childlike and chipper lady wearing a nasty bloodied wolf pelt, with sharp teeth and lifeless eyes. I was very happy I didn’t have to see that thing up close. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers. Anyway, the girl was joyfully swaying in her seat, singing about her so-called ‘Greatma’ for all of the tavern to hear. When Aelin asked about her song, the girl, Ryder, told her she was visiting her Greatma, who lived in a tree. She was quite forward with inviting us all over to meet her, so we regrouped. Might’ve been a bad idea to follow a creepy little girl who likes to strangle wolves with her bare hands, but in just a blink we were teleported to a clearing in the jungle, a while away from Rootgrow.

In the middle of the clearing stood a huge tree, about as big as The Inkwell Tree. It was completely surrounded by corpses of Yuan-ti. Crawling out came a tall dryad, her hair and stature resembling a weeping willow. She looked quite dangerous, I suppose the ring of corpses around her did make her more intimidating. Ryder happily greeted her Greatma, and sat down on her lap. The dryad was surprisingly welcoming, telling us to gather around. We told her about our intentions and findings thus far, and she was pleased to know that we’ve been trying to help her and all her sisters. The Yuan-ti have been bugging her for a while now, ganging up in large groups around her tree. She could fend for herself thus far, though she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever. To help put us on the right path, Greatma told us of what she knew.

“When the Zenith and Nadir still lived amongst mortals, they had their ways to clash and cause destruction. A young goddess adopted by the Zenith, fought against the serpents threatening The Veilwood Jungle, carrying with her a scythe, The Spine of The Jackal King. She cleaved through armies and structures, leaving death with nothing left to grow. The Shadow Serpent Glycon, the last son of the serpent king, survived the goddess’ rampage, and

The dryads are protectors of The Veilwood Jungle, sealing away what’s known as The Shadow Serpent, Glycon. Before The Shattering, there were two pantheons present on the material plane, The Zenith and The Nadir.