The Tale Of The Beast

[Omega_mnm]

(This tale is told by the Wemic, Aziz.)

  It was late in the summer, when I was nearing my nineteenth birthday. I had been studying for several years, to be able to acquire the knowledge I would need to pass the Test of Adulthood. I felt that I was nearing my goal.. but with only a year left to train my skills, and gain the knowledge I needed, I was beginning to doubt if I would be ready in time.


  I wandered back to the rest of the tribe, and lay under a tree to cool myself from the afternoon sun. I was lying there, cleaning my fur, when Njau Wolfsbane, one of the tribes shamans, approached me. He handed me a leaf, with something wrapped inside it.
I had studied with Njau in years past, and had learned to trust him. After handing me the leaf, he walked away without a word.
I opened the leaf, to see what it contained. A small, plain, white crystal lay wrapped in the leaf. I picked up the crystal and looked at it closely. I raised it to the sun, at arms length, trying to figure out why I would be given such a plain dull crystal.
I saw nothing, but a regular white crystal.
I went and saw Wolfsbane, and asked him what the crystal was for. He responded,

'Make seen through light,
The path to take,
To cure your plight,
The man will wake.'


  I was stumped as to why he would answer me with just a riddle. However, I knew better than to press the matter. It was obvious, this crystal held some sort of secret, or power, that I was to figure out.
I mulled it over and over in my head for days. Till one day, when I was sitting under the shade of a tree, hot from the hunt, when I began running the riddle over in my head again. I mumbled to myself,

'Make seen through light,
The path to take,
To cure your plight,
The man will wake.'

Make seen through light... I had already tried looking at it in the sunlight.. I tried casting a light spell on the crystal.. it glowed beautifully, but it did not reveal any more secrets than it had when I held it to the sunlight. what other light was there to look at it with?
Perhaps the light was not from an outward source, but from an inward source. Perhaps I needed to open my eyes to the light, to see the secrets of the crystal.
I meditated on the thought for a while, and bonded with nature, knowing that nature had always had an answer for me in times past. I slowly drifted into a transic sleep.

I walked through a calm meadow. The blossoms were all in bloom, and the aroma wafted through the air. I could feel the warm mid day sun on my back, and the soft cool earth under my paws. A meadow lark sang happily in a tree a little ways off, and a deer chewed on some grass quietly in the corner of the meadow. There were squirrels dancing about in the trees chattering away at each other, and a fox darted after a little hare. I felt the peace of nature all around me. There was no place such as this, that I had ever seen.
The desert is a beautiful place, yet somehow, I felt more at home in this meadow than I had ever felt before.
I laughed heartily in spite myself, and rolled in the grass and flowers, and breathed deeply of the sweet air around me.
I lay in the grass, looking at the clouds in the sky, and drinking in the scene around me.

After a time, I arose, and began crossing the meadow. I came to a very large white crystal, jutting out of the ground, in the middle of the grove. I looked it over, then proceeded on my way.
As I approached the south edge of the meadow, I saw 2 dryads playing in the forest beyond. I went into the forest and approached them.

Aziz - "Excuse me, good Dryads."

Dryad1 - "Yes, how can we help you?"

Aziz - "Where is this place?"

Dryad2 - "Well you're in the Great White Stag's forest of course!"

Aziz - "The Great White Stag? Who is he?"

*Both Dryads looked at each other and burst into laughter*
*Both Dryads replied in unison*
"Why, he's the lord of this grove, and the forest, and all the creatures of this wood!"

*Aziz smiled*
Aziz - "Well where IS here? I awoke in the grove a while ago. I haven't the slightest idea how I came to be in this place. I haven't died have I?"

*The Dryads looked at each other with serious faces for a moment*
Dryad1 - "Tell us Wemic.. Where do you hail from?"

Aziz - "From the desert savannas, where my tribe, and my people reside."

Dryad2 - "If you awoke in the grove, then that can only mean, that you were called here for a meeting with the lord of this forest, The Great White Stag. He does not call foreigners to his grove, unless it is a serious matter."

*Aziz thought for a moment*
Aziz - "Well if I am to meet with him, why have I not seen him?"

Dryad1 - "He only comes to his grove in the evening, to meditate."

Dryad2 - "You will need to wait till this evening to speak with him."

The conversation then drifted off onto other topics, and Aziz later found himself, playing silly games, and exploring the wood with the Dryads.


  Before it had seemed like an hour had past, the sun had begun to set. A watermark of colors splashed across the sky, and beams of pink and orange light, shown down through the canopy above. The birds began singing a more peaceful song, and the animals began dispersing from their games, and heading back towards their homes.
Aziz and the Dryads approached the grove. The Dryads stopped at the edge of the forest..

Dryad1 - "You must meet with him alone. What he has to say to you, is for your ears only."

*Aziz slowly nodded and moved into the grove, alone*


  As I entered the south end of the grove, and waved goodbye to the Dryads, I turned back to see a soft white glow at the northern end of the grove. I raised my head, and looked carefully ahead. As my eyes grew accustom to the bright glow, I began to make out the figure of a white stag, walking slowly towards me.
I met the stag in the middle of the grove. I bowed low to the ground, but the stag calmly spoke out..

Stag - "Arise Aziz, I am no more than you. A servant of the forest, and a part of the balance of nature."

I arose to me feet once again, and looked at the beautiful creature before me.

Stag - "I have called you here, as a favor to my friend, Wolfsbane. I owe him greatly, but I shall leave the story for him to tell you, if he so desires."

I nodded in acknowledgment, still trying to find my tung amongst the awe of the creature before me.

Stag - "Our friend Wolfsbane, has spoken to me, and requested that I assist you in training for the test of adulthood, that you will be taking in a years time. He said he felt that you were worried that you would not be ready when the time came."

I nodded, still wondering how Wolfsbane would know that I was worried about it.. as I had said nothing to anyone about my concerns.

Aziz - "My good lord, how is it that I came to this place?"

Stag - "The crystal that was given you, is a shard from this crystal"
*The stag looked to the crystal, that was just a short way to the right of them*

Stag - "The shards from this crystal, are used to teleport the holder to this grove, when they are enlightened, through meditation on the forces of nature around them. Thus being, that they cannot fall into the wrong hands, and be used by our enemies. The shard's power is consumed on use. You will not be able to return to this grove, unless I send for you."

I nodded slowly.

Aziz - "Then, please.. you have called me here for a reason. What do you require of me?"

Stag - "I have watched you for some time now, and your mentor Wolfsbane, says that you rely on your people too much. And while you are a great hunter, you are not accustomed to the life, outside of your tribal lands.
It is my purpose for you, that you should be sent to a far off land, and learn of it, and it's ways, that you may broaden your horizons, and thus obtain the knowledge that you seek, to pass the test of adulthood."

I began feeling worried and nervous

Aziz - "But.."

Stag - "Do not worry, my friend. I will keep an ever watchful eye over you. And your companion Kar will be allowed to accompany you there, to help you in your battles ahead. You will go through many trials in the new land, and when you have faced your destiny there.. You will be allowed to return to your people.
Now I must be going. I have need of rest. You will fall asleep, and when you awake, you will find yourself in the new land. I wish you luck, and my natures hand protect and guide you through these trying times ahead."


  My heart sank.. seperated from all that I knew? All that I loved? How would I survive in such a foreign land? And how was this to help me? But a heavy sleep began to weary my mind, and I soon fell fast asleep in the cool grass, under the stars.


  I awoke in the next day, as a cool breeze blew through my hair. I arose, and walked to the edge of the forest I lay in.....



(This is the end of the first segment of Aziz's story. It's just to lay the background of who he is, and how he came to be in the land of the humans. This doesn't directly follow my character submission bio.. but due to some technical complications, I was unable to follow the storyline I wished. So as of now, this is his history.
Please feel free to compliment, advise, and ask about the story posted above. Let me know if there is something that may conflict with the roleplay of a Wemic, and if there is anything that is done in the story, and does not fit server regulations.

I am aware that you cannot meet deities unless you form a character development quest with a DM, and is not allowed to be included in a Bio as past history. I tried to follow these guidelines.. the stag is not a deity, simply a grove keeper.
I also tried to prevent the presence of items, and custom material, that lasted beyond the meeting in the grove.)

[Omega_mnm]

(This story is told by the Wemic, Aziz.)

  I lay on the ground, listening to my father tell of a tale of a great hunter who once roamed the land. He spoke of a Wemic named, Amina Griffontalon..

  "Amina lunged forth with her claws, and sank them into the flesh of the demon, and pulled him to the ground. She stood on top of him and held him to the ground. She held her spear to the demons throat, and asked him.. 'Why have you come to this place?'. The demon replied with a cold laugh and the sound of gurgling blood in the back of it's throat. She then thrust her spear into the throat of the demon, and slew it.

  Shortly there after, Amina found herself walking amongst the shades of the trees outside the dungeon in which the demon had hidden itself. She paused for a moment, looked to the skies.. and cried out, 'Why have you placed such a burden on me? What have I done to deserve all this? I curse this fiery rage within me!'
For you see.. Amina was blessed of the gods, with the power of a great warrior. But with the power, came a great curse. When she entered battle, she would go blind with rage.. nothing mattered, except total annihilation of her opponent. This had become such a problem, that when she would even get upset about the smallest things, she would become enraged and begin snarling and biting at whoever had offended her. She had become more of a beast, than any Wemic before her time, or even to this day...."

  It was then than my father stopped speaking, and looked up to the horizon, with a worried look on his face. He sniffed the air, for the scent of predators. He quickly told us cubs to go to the cave, where we would be safe. He rose to his feet, and sprinted off towards the head shamans hut.
After that, everything became a blur. I ran with the other cubs to the cave. Only something serious could make my father move that fast, and I knew it.
I poked my head outside the cave entrance, and saw all the warriors, grabbing for their weapons. I saw my father grab for his bow, and run off into the distance, along with several other warriors.

  That was the last time I saw my father. Our tribe was attacked by poachers, no more than  a few minutes later. Several fell, my father was among them.
My mother had always insisted on fighting along side my father. Her body was not found, it was assumed she was poisoned and taken captive by the poachers.
The years following were rough for me. The shaman Wolfsbane, took me in as his own. He mentored me, and taught me the way of the hunt.
It was he who spoke with me of two great legends. He told me of a warrior, who had spent several years, learning to focus his mind on bending and augmenting the outward appearance. He was said to be able to shift into almost any animal he saw. He communed so closely with nature, that it was almost impossible to tell where the powers of nature stopped and the warrior began.
After a few years however, the Wemic had changed shape so many times, that he forgot who he really was. He had taken on so many forms, that no matter how hard he tried, he could not focus on the reality he once knew. The warrior eventually turn rabid, and ran off, after murdering a fellow Wemic.
This story intrigued me greatly, as I could not resist the notion of being able to take on the form of any creature. But what intrigued me even more, was the ability to focus ones self so close to nature, that one could actually become a part of it.
Wolfsbane later explained, that the powers of the druid, can be focused into the powers of shapeshifting, and that if I studied hard enough, and could a mentor who knew of the abilities, I too could obtain the powers of what is known as a Shifter.
But that I should be careful and limit myself to only shapeshifting into a select few creatures, lest I become lost in my transformation and go mad.


  Wolfsbane told me of another legend, that included that of 'humans'. At the time I had no idea what humans were. But non the less, I enjoyed the idea of the skill these humans possesed. For it was said that some humans had trained themselves so well in the art of unarmed combat, that he could go into a battle with not but his shirt on his back, and a rock hard fist, and come out nearly unscathed. I wondered how this could be possible.. And told myself, that if I ever had the chance to meet such a human, I would do all within my powers to learn and obtain these powers.
The idea of going into battle with no armor on, and being trained to use my claws to their utmost ability.. the honor for such a warrior, and the pride he would posses with such abilities, and the respect he would demand... It was the greatest dream of any Wemic warrior.


 These myths and tales have stuck with me longer than any other story. For I find that, one hangs onto things better, when he has a true passion for the ideas which are discussed....