Watchers Woods

Deep in the western woods of Calibar, on the continent of Isalia there is a small thick forest known as "The Watchers Woods." The woods are famous for the creatures that inhabit it, known as watchers-small stump-like beings covered in vines and deep cuts that are filled with a deafening darkness. Rarely anyone has ever escaped with his or her life; only one man in fifty years offered him or her valuables in exchange for his or her life. "Do not mock them offering products made from the forest's minerals or materials, if you do you'll lose your human life and be given eternal life as a watcher " says elder Gade Galdyr the 2nd, 1420.


Part One

One foggy unpleasant morning in the dreary but quaint town of Calib, a dark figure is lurking about doing nothing in particular but waiting. The town is ever so quiet, it is still early in the morning, and most of the townspeople are still sounding asleep in their beds. The large man standing in the dense fog is known as Jonas Stockholm A.K.A Stockholm the great, he is the blacksmith of this small town. He awaits the arrival of a message from the king of Galdyr. For some reason he believes that his assistance is needed, he is the best blacksmith in the land. Armor, weapons and shields, these are the things that he specializes in forging, like art to an artist, he takes pride in his work. Jonas is a strong man, built like a mountain tiger, once he had slain a dragon reeking havoc on a village, and suffered a wound that impaired him from using his full strength, his right arm. Now in his mid-forties, he is but a figure in the history of quality artisanship. He got up around three o'clock in the morning to await the kings message, He does not know why he knows this, but he just does. His eyes move back to face the north road to see a figure galloping toward him in the thick foggy air. Finally, the waiting was not pointless the figure grows ever near. A few minutes pass... until a hooded man on a fine stallion comes to an abrupt stop in front of him. His face is shrouded in the denseness and darkness of the fog, He opens his mouth to speak, "Jonas Delva Stockholm I presume." Jonas opens his mouth to speak, "I am he who you speak of." He pulls off his hood to reveal his pale gaudy face, "I have a message here for you from the king Galdon Von Galdrinon, and will you accept it"? "Yes, I will accept it," answers Jonas. "I assure you, the seal is of the royal family" replies the messenger. The man hands the scroll to Jonas; he reaches out and retrieves it. He looks at the scroll, just as the messenger said; the royal seal is encrusted on the scroll. He pulls the flap of paper up ands unrolls the scroll, and begins reading the message within it. It reads as followed:



Dear Sir Jonas Delva Stockholm,


I am deeply in need of your service. A few days ago my son prince Aslar was going on a journey to your small town in need of supplies for his nobleman. Unfortunately, though, he has yet to return. One of the noblemen accompanying him has returned but a few nights ago to report that my son was last seen entering the watchers Woods. The man said that some thieves robbed them and my son being of noble blood could not stand to be robbed by mere commoners. I recently have sent scouts there to search for any clue to what happened to him, but to no avail, he was not found. They said they did not see anything at all, but according to them, they said that the lost there concealed valuables searching the dreaded woods. I am informed that some fiends that live in these woods may be holding him captive, if you are willing to accept my proposal and find my son, you shall have whatever you in reason. Bu, if you fail, I shall have you thrown into the dungeon. I beg of thee, I know that you were once a great warrior of legend that slain countless beasts, and the dragon that impaired you from using the height of your strength. You survived with a wound; this should not be any trouble for a hero of legend such as yourself. I believe that you can accomplish the task I so humbly ask of you with ease and determination, return my son safely, and you shall have your fame and fortune as you had once had long, long ago.1

                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                  King Galdon Von Galdrinon 1st

                                                                        Galdon Von Galdrinon


  Jonas rereads the letter again, and then looks up to the messengers face. "So Mr. Stockholm, what is your answer" asks the messenger. "Tell your king that I accept his offer and I shall have the prince returned to him within three days time" exclaims Jonas. "I shall give your message to his highness, May Saliba shed her light upon thee and lend you strength, good sir," announces the messenger as he rides of into the dispiriting fog. (Saliba, she is the goddess of the world of Halisia, she is the creator of the earth the stars and the heavens and is said to have sacrificed one of her arms to create the creatures that invade this mystical world of Halisia.) The sound of a rooster crowing in the distance reaches his ears, as dawn begins to break. The fog steadily clears up in to a light thin mist of water vapor soaking his neck in sweat. Noises come from one of the houses; the villagers are waking up to another glorious morning. The small town of Calib is known for its hard working locals and for their high quality meats and weaponry. Everyday they work night and day, rain, or shine. A decent man named Timus Corrigan runs the small town. Mr. Corrigan is a man of many passions, he is a favorite of the people, a good politician and economical leader. A plump man he is, food is his joy, a long mustache protrudes from his upper lip under his cherry red nose and spreads to the corners of his mouth, eyes full of wisdom, and a face as old as time it's self. He is a beloved man, a favorite of all who encounter him. Once he was a most loyal knight to a king of a land long since gone. "Mecula the great city it once was, but now only ruins remain of this massive city. Of all the structures, only one remains intact, The Great Chapel of Worship. The chapel is still used by the people, although the meculites have long since perished. About sixty years ago during the Flame war (A war that occurred between the great nations of Galdyr, Calib, and Mecula. Galdyr and Calib joined forces to obliterate the Meculian army and its generals. The previous king of Galdyr defied the laws set up by the nobles by releasing a dragon onto the unsuspecting city. The dragon devastated the city destroying homes and torching the town. By dawn, the capital of Mecula had flourished along with the many people of this vast city. No survivors were found; the royal bloodline was severed at last. By the end only Galdyr and Calib remained, over time the cities expanded their territory and villages. Now nearly sixty-three years later the cities prosper even more than they once had. (Sorry…I tend to ramble on like that sometimes, let me formally introduce myself, I am Tomas Melvin Alexander. I have gathered these bits of information from the towns and cities, and have pieced them together in a book known as "Isalia's Legacy". Isalia is the continent in which these events occurred if you never have been here. Saxon is the city that was established in the center of Isalia after the so called "Grand War". All kingdoms were destroyed; the continent was nearly obliterated by the fierce war. It...?...sorry, I got carried away. I shall resume the story...We last heard of Jonas after he accepted the king's proposal..."

The noise grows louder as the men come flooding out of their homes to begin their day of work. The woman will soon be pouring out as well, going to the market buying clothing and food. Most of the women of the village are housewives, except for a very select few. Anyway a large man by the name of Dalak Wellington pushes past the crowd with his large round belly; they say that he almost killed a man when he was knocked over. Just stories to entertain the public I suppose. He makes his way up to Jonas smithy with a grin about his face. Jonas sees him coming and immediately steps out to talk to him. "Good morning Jonas" announces Dalak shaking his hand. "Good morning to you Dalak" he exclaims back. "What can I do ya for" asks Jonas. "Well, my wife sent me here to see if you could sharpen these dull cutting knives, she says they do not cut as they used to" answers Dalak. "Alright then, lets have a look see shall we" says Jonas. Dalak reaches into his pocket and removes a small bundle of dull knives. He then carefully hands them over to Jonas and places the bundle into his large outstretched hands. Jonas pulls the string off and places the bundle on his worktable, he then unrolls it, revealing the dull knives within, He picks them up and examines them closely, then he pokes his fingertip, the knife is too dull to even cut his skin. "Hmm..." says Jonas, "What can you sharpen them?" asks Dalak. Jonas pauses for a moment then speaks," Of course I can, I can fix almost anything except a broken bone. Come back in an hour, they will be ready for you to pick up". Dalak's face fills with joy, Bless God; you have saved me from a fate worse than death". (In case your wondering what he means, he means that his wife has a nasty temper when things are not done like she wants them to be, and she is really strict, she seems more like the man of the house than Dalak.) Jonas lifts his hand and extends one finger and wags it, "Anyone with a grinding wheel can sharpen theses knives, it's a cinch" exclaims Jonas. "I shall return in one hour, until then good day" he announces as he leaves the smithy and heads home to his strict wife, Matilda. Jonas pauses a moment, then grabs the bundle and takes it over to the grinding wheel. He places the knives on a small table situated next to the grinding wheel, then grabs a stool and sits down on, it's actually a trunk of a tree, he broke all the stools that he had by sitting on them. Lifting his hand he brushes off the metal shavings that are scattered on the surface of the wheel. He opens the bundle and removes one, he puts his foot on the pedal and presses on it as light as he can, and the wheel begins to spin. He lays the blade slant ways on the stone, the room fills with the noise of stone and metal colliding and grinding in rhythm. He does the same with the other knives.


Part Two

Evening glides in like a vast black sheet enveloping the countryside in shadow. The creatures of the night chitter and chatter, as they move through the night seeking shelter. Jonas gathers up the knives and places them back into the bundle. He lays the knives on the cloth, and then rolls one end around the end like a burrito. He finally ties the bundle up and puts it in his pocket. He walks to the door; he opens the door and walks out into the barren village grounds to take a walk over to Dalak's house. As he passes by the houses he hears murmurs through the closed doors, some yelling and cheering are heard. Suddenly a figure slides out of the dark in front of Jonas. It is an old man with a mug, he stumbles toward the nearest house, he approaches Jonas and says, "Merv outta my...hic...way...hiccup!" exclaims the old man. He does as he's told, "Thank you...hiccup...sir..." grumbles as he goes into the house and slams the door shut. Jonas forgets about the man and continues on. Small figures (rats) dash about into the darkness into the shadows thrown by the houses. At last, he reaches Dalaks house, he knocks on the door, once...twice...three times..., "Who is it? And state your business" exclaims a voice from behind the door. "It is I Jonas the blacksmith" answers Jonas. The door slowly creaks open revealing a man's face between the cracks, "Good evening Dalak, as I promised here are your knives, they are sharpened as you wanted them" says Jonas removing the bundle from his pocket and placing them into Dalaks outstretched hands. "Thank you very much, I am terribly sorry that you had to come out here to deliver them, I just got caught up working that I lost track of time" explains Dalak. "Who is that, is that you Jonas dear" calls a voice from within the house. "Yes darling it's Jonas" he calls back to her. "I was not talking to you, I was talking to Jonas" she exclaims. In an instant a woman's face appears in the doorway like a phantom appearing out of the shadows. "Oh Jonas, how are you doing dear "asks Dalaks wife. "Well I am doing just fine I guess" he exclaims. "Well that is good to hear. We were just about to sit down to dinner, would like to join us, please it would make me so happy" she asks. "No thank you, if only I had the time I would love to have a piece of your apple pie, but I have to get up early tomorrow, I have a matter to take care of" he says. "Why do you have to get up early" she asks. "I cannot say, but it is of great importance, it's a matter of life and death" explains Jonas. "Well it is none of my business anyway, well goodnight Jonas, and may the gods protect you" exclaims Jonas wife as she goes back into the house. "Goodnight "says Jonas as he turns around and hits the road again toward home to get a good nights rest.

. . .

When he arrives home, he gathers up his gear and sets it up for himself to allow easy access by morning. He moves toward the back room where his bed sits and drops down on it with a loud thud. "It's been a long day, time for a bit of sleep". He stares up at the ceiling as he recites the letter again. His eyes slowly close as he drifts into darkness.


Part 3

The next morning, actually it was still dawn; the sun had started to rise in the east. Jonas was awoken by something crawling across his big burly arm. He opens his eyes and stares face to face with a large grayish-brown rat sitting on his chest. "Vile vermin be gone" he shouts at the pest. The rat jumps off him and scurries out into the smithy. He lifts his head up and his body follows, he sits up and pushes his legs over the side of the bed. He sits on the edge rubbing his irritated eyes and scratching his large foot against the floor, and rubbing the back of his hand across his forehead. "Pheew! What a night, well, I guess I'll get ready then" speaking to himself. He gets up out of his bed and sets a pan with eggs over the small fire in one end of the smithy. He eats quickly and gathers up his gear, all the essentials necessary for a traveling knight. Most could not even wear his armor because of how heavy it is, it is a tunic made of dragon skin and mythril. His leggings and wrist bands are made of a combination of mythril and a very rare metal, adamantine. His helmet was forged from a skull of a demonic warlord who he slaughtered quite brutally. About every piece of armor was forged by legendary blacksmiths, all who are long since dead. Seeing knights clad in armor fighting with swords, spears, axes, and lances as a small boy inspired him to become a warrior as well as a blacksmith.

    Finally, he takes out a large cloth and lays it out onto the table, he moves to where he keeps his salted meats, bread, and vegetables are, and removes a few and places them on the cloth, he wraps up the bundle and ties it with a small rope usually used for hanging chickens. He takes the bag out to the back of the smithy with his other supplies to the stable where his black stallion Megiddo awaits. Many voyages these two have been on, no one was as close with an animal as Jonas, and he understood the horse and the horse did him. Some six or seven years ago is when he found Megiddo, he was badly bruised and as wild as a beast could be, he was like a demon, thrashing about in a rage unmatched by anything Jonas had ever seen in his life. At first the horse began to attempt to stand up, but to no avail, the horse collapsed and neighed in pain. He approached the horse and rubbed its head calming it down, the horse felt no threat only kindness, the rest was history. (Megiddo is different than other horse in some way, he never ages, he remains strong as ever, some scholars believe that the horse is a demonic beast from the underworld that was banished for some unknown purpose, whatever the reason we may never know.) The horse gallops up to the fence to meet him with a saddle already on its back, the strange thing is that Jonas only removes it, but somehow it is always on the horse when he needs him. He walks over to the stalls gate and opens it, Megiddo runs out and gallops around the stable once then returns to where Jonas awaits. He straps the satchel to the horse's saddle and the rest of his gear, he removes a sugar cube from his pocket and gives it to the horse and gently pats him on the head. He closes the gate, and then heads back into the smithy to get his last necessity, his sword. Sitting above the hearth rest a blade of extraordinary craftsmanship, no one knows who crafted this legendary blade, but there is something that tells us that it was not human crafted, but crafted by a demon god. Svaltin, the sword that slayed a hundred beasts with one mighty swing, with rough edges, steel razors embedded in the tip of the blade, adamantine body with an unknown element and a handle crafted of demon bone, dragon hide, and a claw of a king griffon. Tis the sword that vanquished the demon lord of the western town of Diesal. He grabs old reliable and pulls the band over his shoulder keeping the sword from falling off his back. He leaves the house and bolts the lock; he pins up a note on the front door. The note explains that he has gone on a journey and will not return for about two to three days time. Jonas travels back to the stable and pulls Megiddo by the reins and leads him to the front of the smithy. He climbs onto the horses back and gives it a light kick on the side, the horse jumps into gear and begins to gallop towards the western woods in search of the prince.


Part 4

The western woods, known by the villagers of both nations as "Watchers woods", it's filled with creatures of known as dredks, nymphs, and sprite of the forest, they inhabit the dark outreaches of the forest. (They call it woods, but in reality it is a large forest, a map was never made until quite recently, most of it burned down some time ago.) It is believed that a shrine is erected somewhere within the woods shrouded in trees and the thick foliage and vines. Jonas and Megiddo approach the semi-dark woods with a slight feeling of fear. Jonas pulls the reigns bringing the horse to an abrupt stop next to a tree that is facing the forests entrance. He quickly climbs down off the horse and wraps the reigns around the trunk of the tree, then rubs the horse along its neck and removes a carrot from the satchel and gives it to the horse to nibble on why it waits for him to return. He turns towards the woods and begins towards it. When he reaches the path, he stops to take a deep breath and enters the darkened woods.

Darkness as far as the eye can see lies before him, only the outlines of various trees are visible. Sounds of toads chirping, crows cawing, twigs snapping, and the sound of Jonas heart are the only noises that can be heard in this Petrified Forest. He waits till his eyes focus to the dim lighting, and then continues on deeper into the woods. The path is lined with cracked rocks, fallen tree branches, small scampering creatures, and the lush foliage lining the entire woods. You would think it is a forest from it's size and the fact that it has lush plants and lack of light, but still it is woods, even though from the outside it may seem small, it is larger inside. Bramble branches crack beneath his heavy boots, some tangle around his leg slowing him down a bit. He takes out his dagger that is concealed in his boot and gives the vine a good whack, it gives way and splits perfectly in two, he puts the knife back and continues on. After many painstaking hours he arrives in a large cleared out opening, in the center sits a large tree wrapped in vines, logs also covered with vines surround them. This must be the so-called shrine of the watchers that he heard so little about. Curiosity causes Jonas to approach the massive tree. There is a clicking sound coming from somewhere close, he looks around and listens for the noise, he wheels around to find that the clicking noise is coming from the large tree. "Hey get me out of here, please someone help me" cries a voice from within the tree, "Hello, your highness is that you" asks Jonas. "Who are you" asks the terrified prince, "My name is Jonas" he exclaims. "Are you the legendary swordsman that father praises so much" asks the prince, "You can say I was once, never mind that now, I have to get you out of there somehow" shouts Jonas, "Be careful, the logs are watchers, they may appear inanimate at first, but when you cut a tree, they will awaken and attack. I never should have chased that thief into the woods, I was A fool" replies the prince. "Just hold on, I'll have you out of there in a few minutes, can you duck down so that i don not cut you in half" replies Jonas. "I'll duck, but please hurry up, i really need something to eat" replies the prince still crying. Jonas reaches behind his back and clasps the handle of the sword and slides it out of its sheath, he holds the blade, lowering it so he can admire the dark blade coated in demons blood, it gives of an ethereal glow. He grasps the long handle with both hands and turns his upper body to the left scrapping the sharp blade along the crumbling earth. "Here it comes" hollers Jonas as he throws the weight of the blade forward. The blade hits the tree with a loud swish splitting through the tough looking weathered bark. The tree groans and topples over sending an earth-shattering quake that the people of both nations can feel. Jonas looks into the hallowed out tree, a figure trembles and begins to moan. "Your safe now your highness. You can stand up now if you want, or do you want me to help you out" asks Jonas, "I can manage" exclaims the prince. He lifts his head off his knees and stares into a large dark figures face. "Are you hurt, do you need any kind of treatment" asks the figure. The fog that clouds his vision dissipates bringing the large figures face into view. Jonas backs away giving the prince enough space to climb out of the hollowed stump, "are you alright" asks Jonas. "I'm fine, but, however you found me "he asks,"I was hired by your father, I was informed that you were last seen entering these woods" he says. "Father hired you, of course he did! Did he say that you could have whatever you desire" asks the prince, "As a matter of fact he did' answers Jonas."Very typical of him, he always acts as if he cares for me that much, but really he does not care about how I feel. He wants me to follow in his footsteps, but what he fails to see is that once I am king I would rather rule my way not his" announces the prince. "Well I think you'll make a fine king either way. But there are more important matters at hand, like getting out of here" exclaims Jonas. "Right, let's get out of here, I m really starving" exclaims the prince laughing, Jonas joins in too. Jonas turns away from the large tree that has been cut down and begins walking back through the forest, the prince tags along behind him. They only get a few feet when there is a loud noise that freezes them in place, creeeaaak, snaaaap, craaaack. "What was that noise" asks Jonas. "It's just as I had feared, they have awaken, and here they come" exclaims the prince with fear in his voice. Both whirl around to face the creatures, the prince becomes dizzy and almost falls over. "Are you okay" asks Jonas, "Yeah, I'm just a little dizzy that's all, I guess it's from lack of food" replies the prince. Both look up to face many small stump-like creatures covered with vines and two holes cut into them revealing nothing but empty eternal darkness. The woods seem to come alive in front of them and the eerie feeling creeps into them, the watchers have awaken.2

Part 5

The small stump-like creatures begin to gain on them, "Run" cries the prince nearly out of breath. Jonas nods his head in agreement and turns around and runs as fast as he can. The prince glances back; the creatures seem to crawl like spiders towards them at an incredible spread. He turns back around to look ahead; he notices a dim light a few miles off in the distance. He glances back again, "Hurry, they are gaining on us, we have too hurry or you'll become one of them. They can turn you into one of their kind" exclaims the prince. "How do you know that" asks Jonas huffing and wheezing almost out of breath also. "I read reports about these creatures, and heard stories from the people who escaped these woods. They had to give up their possessions to leave the forest as a human" he exclaims lowering his head and cupping his hands around his eyes to clearly see the entrance ahead of them. "Do you have anything of value" asks

Jonas, "No, they already took everything from me when they trapped me in that tree" the prince claims. He begins to falter, Jonas picks him up and lays him across his shoulder and continues running toward the entrance, so close, only a few more feet to go. Suddenly a vine shoots out of a thicket and wraps around his ankle throwing him to the ground, the prince is sent flying toward the entrance. "Go now" yells Jonas as he lays on his face, "I can't, I can't leave you here" he screams, "Go now, it's too late for me, get out, you have your whole live ahead of you, there is no use wasting it" yells Jonas. The prince gets up and starts to advance toward him, Jonas shouts at the top of his lungs, "Go now you fool". The prince turns around and runs the remaining feet out into the cool fresh air outside of the woods. The hot sun hits a piece of metal on the horse reflecting bright light into his face. He places his hand over his brow and stares into the shining light, a black figure paces back and forth next to a tree. "Is that...a horse" he says to no one in particular. He runs toward the horse and stops a few inches from it, the horse lets out a loud neigh sending a gust of air into the prince's face. He pats the horse on the snout and tells it that Jonas is gone. The horse seems to know, it rears its neck to its side motioning for the prince to climb on its back. He looks back into the woods and makes out a large stump looking back at him. He stares into its hallowed eyes, suddenly a voice is speaking to his mind, "take care of Megiddo and go back and get the supplies that you need. Oh and tell the townspeople that I was killed by a falling tree, I cannot bear to be thought of as a watcher. Farewell your highness and you too Megiddo", the horse seems to hear this and gallops off into the setting sun towards town. "The rest of the legend is lost, I am the only remaining survivor, and they say that the prince carried on Jonas legacy, I am the great grandson of the prince. The legend will be passed down until time takes it toll, and the legend will be lost. But with every legend there is some truth, and the story of Jonas the great shall live on even after his death."3

4

The End5