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All of a sudden, the underbrush surrounding the path vanishes, and you are standing beneath pines. Ahead is a small pavilion-like structure with the following words on it:
Peace be with you, and with us all.
May She catch us if ever we fall.
Carry our prayers to the lofty sky
That we may join Her when we fly.
There is a faery sitting on the railing, gazing back at you. "A traveler that can enter my lands? Very interesting... then you must be willing to listen to the story of how I ended up here." You realize you don't really have a choice, as she barely pauses before continuing.
Once upon a time, in the dustiest vaults of memory, I lived in a village to the west of the Hydra Marshes. Those were the happy days, when the sun smiled upon us with his warm gaze, and the silver moon set the nighttime dew afire with crystalline flame, frozen in perfect beauty. The village was a short distance southeast of some waterfalls, which made the perfect place to get away from daily life.That's where I was one day. When I came back to the village afterward, everybody had been slaughtered by something! It was so horrible... I learned what had happened from a dying faery. Dwarves had come, screaming about adopting the human ways of killing, striking anyone their axes could reach. All the commotion awoke Jenjarv, who was normally on guard against the bigger creatures of the jungle. He stormed into town and took out a dwarf or three, and then the dwarves fled southward.
Brrrgh... I still can't think of Zelyla there, wings torn, silver-green blood oozing from a slash that had hit all her ribs and another chop at the collarbone. All I could do was ease her pain. I couldn't save her, or anyone. I almost died that day myself. I was the only one left there, and the loneliness was almost tangible. As I was searching for a knife, a portal opened. Figuring it couldn't be worse, I jumped through, and landed here.
"Here there was nothing, until I wished for it. I had (and have) absolute power. I wish, and it is. I made the forests, this meadow, the paths leading into the neighboring realm... it's all mine. Well, almost... there was a sapphire cat in here one day who actually made the gate between the realms and took a picture of me." She walks to the pavilion, taps the word 'lofty' twice, and the poem is replaced with this scene:
![[Faery flying at night]](faerymoon.jpg)
She closes her eyes, smiling, and sighs deeply. The poem returns as she opens her eyes. "I only have two regrets," she says dreamily. "The cat couldn't build a gate back to El Nido, and there's nothing here to love but that picture. I can reach across to my homeworld and bring someone here, but I don't want to trap anyone." She sighs again, shallow and aggravated.
"Anyway, I'm beginning to ramble. I've kept the paths consistent with the Dreamtree realm's geography, so west goes to the moonflower gardens, south to Dlenia's den, and north..." She pauses a moment, then whispers, "North to a fear-place." After another brief pause, she says, "OH! I almost forgot! My name's Kalily. Come back anytime."