Forest of Night (book)

The Forest of Night
- Asha Viriki

The Forest of Night is the creation of the mage Sithsia, called mad by most people.

Sithsia was a mage unto the self-made lord Ellinton, whom she served loyally and faithfully for many years. When she was twenty years in his service he built her a tower made of black neitrice (see the entry under neitrice) that she might practice her magics in her own rooms. The tower -- in addition to being a generous gift -- became her private place and was enriched with her own mysterious magics. Using a combination of enchantments which have yet to be successfully duplicated, she made the tower impossible to enter without her permission. She also made it harder for mages and certain spells to work within its walls, and expanded the tower extradimensionally.

Twenty five years in the service of the lord, a small war ensued between Ellinton and his adversary, the merchanter Verik. The dispute involved the trading route which lay on the lord's lands, but that Verik (who, it was suspected, earned his fortunes from undercutting people and stepping on others) refused to pay tax on. A failed assassination attempt on Ellinton's life angered the lord, and he gathered his men and launched an attack on Verik, assuming that the merchanter was behind the attempt (which was correct). Both were equally matched, from foot soldiers to calvary to mages.

The war continued for months, draining both sides equally. Ellinton finally called upon Sithsia to call forth the greatest of her magics to aid them. No matter what the cost...anything would cost less than the way his land and resources had been drained.

He was wrong.

The next segment of text is from the words of a Bard who was a witness to what happened at the Keep.

"Stepped forward came she, her sword on her hip and her eyes upon her foes. Pale, pale silver were those eyes -- eyes that bespoke the edge of frost on the leaf, the shine of chilly winter stars. Her hair was a living knot of blackest night, the wind picking a lively step through it as her palfrey rode back and forth behind the lines, her eyes searching and sweeping the opposing foe.

"And then it was, and this I saw with my own eyes, that the lord's son, he whose name in Elothean means 'Beautiful', the name his mother gave him when she died on her bed of an illness that drove a knife of chill into her very lungs, rode forward with a brave troupe of paladins in a desperate attack to drive back some of the opposing enemy. But, lo, and this I saw with my own eyes, though his sword swept up and down like a bird of prey, like a tree bough in a high breeze, and brought with it the head of a foe with each sweep, an arrow from one of the craven longbowmen in the rear caught him full in the throat, and brought him down, and he lay in the grass, his lifeblood leaking into the grass.

"And oh, and oh -- this I saw with my own eyes -- Sithsia raised her gaze to the army, and I saw a madness in that gaze, and I saw silent tears that were tinged like blood streaming down her cheeks, and I knew then what none had known, and that perhaps the lord's son had not known himself. And then she raised her arm and chanted words that no mortal tongue should have heard, and *from the earth itself* rose up a dozen of the fallen foes of both the enemy and her own comrades to stand in battle. But they did not slaughter only Verik the Craven's -- aye, no, they turned upon the very people they may have once called 'friend' in life. A mist of dark silver rose from the earth, and, screaming, I heard the men from both sides screaming as they were dragged down into death, and damnation.

"And so I admit, readily and freely, that I ran then. Ran far and ran long. Ran through a forest that is now called the Forest of Night, ran until I felt free and safe, and finally collapsed, and wept for my dear soul.

"But one last thing I saw before Ellinton and his men fell. One last being I saw before Verik and his folk toppled into the arms of that clinging, terrible mist. And it was this: Sithsia, kneeling beside the fallen lord's son, her tears of blood falling onto his still white face, and her madness a ragged wound of grief upon her face.

"This I saw all with my own eyes, and can never forget, for I still hear the cries of the dying...when -- *when* -- I sleep."

From an accounting by the Bard Kalius -- later in life known as "The Silent" -- surviving witness to the Fall of the Keep of Ellinton.

Very few people escaped Ellinton's Keep, and those who did bore white hair and haunted gazes for the rest of their days. When the screams of the dying had faded and the shadows had drunk their fill, Sithsia walked back to the Keep. She entered her tower and there stayed to do the gods only knew what.

Years passed. The Keep grew overgrown. Sometime after the battle that had taken out Verik and Ellinton, the trees around the Keep changed into the twisted creations they are today. Made of a type of tree never before seen, they could not be cut down and grew so thick and dark that it became impossible to pass through. Small bands of adventurers and soldiers sometimes entered; few have returned sane.

It is rumored that there is a shortcut within the Forest from the trade route to the Elven City of Leth Deriel, but few find the risk worth the saved miles.

The Forest of Night -- as it became known -- sits between the Elven City and the Crossing. Dark shapes move within it and shadows linger under its eaves. Creatures -- twisted by the warped magics of that area -- scamper over its dark green grass. The Keep lies within, never staying in the same place, moving forever from spot to spot by some magic of Sithsia's.

Of Sithsia little is known. After over a hundred years, and since she was of human descent, many assume her dead. But some creatures -- especially mages -- can outdistance time. And one whose soul has been sold has no reason to look forward to death.

As accounted by the Elothean Bard, Asha Viriki