“Heyla, Stevie,” says Bert as he enters The Jaunty Mug.

“Hello, Bert.” Stevie brews Bert’s double macchiato.

The group trickles in.

“Did Dave forget?” asks Mac when everyone else has arrived. “Or is he going to bail on us?”

“Again?” asks Sandra. “We should have expected it.”

“I’ll play his character. He told me what he had in mind, and I’ve worked Beiron into the plot already.”

Stevie brings drinks to the table. Bert begins the session.

“Since we have a new player, I thought I’d refresh everyone on the lore of the Western Wood. Besides, it’s been awhile since we’ve played on this side of the continent. I thought I’d start with the nature goddess, Ashta’Qi because she’s been mentioned a couple of times already.”

“Sounds good to me. All I remember is waking her up in the eastern Dragon Claw archipelago a while back. We barely made it out alive!”

“Me too.”

“This should refresh your memories. It’s the Legend of Ashta’Qi.”

###

Early in the second Common Era (CE2), the goddess Ashta’Qi was born. Born of Elves and Man, a young mortal woman named Ashta lived among the elves of the Western Wood. When Ashta grew into an adult, she spent more time in the forest with animals than with the people around whom she grew up. Over time, she learned not just to speak with the denizens of the forest; she learned to become one of them.

During her life, she learned that good and evil, and law and chaos were constructs required by civilizations to survive. She strove to live her life as nature intended—in a state of balance. Dark needed light as much as light needed dark. Nature was neutral to life and death. She learned that death needs life to thrive as much as life needs death to live. As she reached her elder years, her reputation grew until the Elves forgot her Man-half and worshiped her infinite wisdom.

Ashta lived almost three centuries, nearly twice as long as half-elves usually lived. Legends say she still lives in a beaver-built hut at the edge of a hidden pond deep in the Western Wood. Some say her presence permeates the Wood, that the creatures of the forest bring news to her of everything that occurs within her purview. It is said that if you listen closely, you can hear her voice. To leave an offering is to feed her soul.

The elves say that the trees carry her essence through the forest. Humans have learned to harvest only those trees marked by the elves, and no more.

###

“Cool. What happened that made the humans learn?”

“A group thought there was nothing the elves could do if they went in and cleared a section to build a farm” says Bert. “Nothing went right. The few survivors that made it out alive spoke of the trees themselves exacting revenge on the farmers. Something hunted the crews that took more than the elves marked and left their bodies as examples of what happened when they defied the forest. At least that’s what the legends say.”

“Ooh, a sentient forest?” asks Yvonne.

“Maybe,” responds Bert cryptically. “I’ll have more about that next Thursday.”

“Yeah, I need to go,” says Julie. “I still have to study for my Biology exam.”

As the group leaves, Stevie once more sends the Blessing of the Jaunty Mug with them.