Information

Slagathor has a minion!

Weirwood the Shadowglen Dryad

Slagathor
Legacy Name: Slagathor

The

Nightmare Charlie
Owner:

vuilgeboost

Age: 9 years, 8 months, 5 days

Born: August 30th, 2014

Adopted: 9 years, 8 months, 5 days ago

Adopted: August 30th, 2014

Statistics

Level: 167
Strength: 419
Defense: 380
Speed: 350
Health: 350
HP: 347/350
Intelligence: 378
Books Read: 295
Food Eaten: 165
Job: Topiary Tender

They are not fully merged as one, yet Robin and Slagathor can no longer be considered two separate beings.

Their meeting was by chance. Robin's deep-seated love of the world of growing things was always compelling her to explore new forest environments, regardless of the threats involved. What was the danger of being devoured by a man-eating orchid or catching some rare virus from a cluster of Shadowglen Poison Dart Daisies next to the thrill of documenting some plant that even Esther could not put a name to?

It was somewhere between the borders of Shadowglen and Darkside that Robin's study of a cluster of Lunar Blossoms came to an abrupt end due to the unfortunate placement of her foot. Her startled cry was muffled by the depth of the fall. She was fortunate enough to land on an enormous mushroom that smelled of rich earth and decay.

In the far distance, a sound that was half snarl and half grunt alerted her to the presence of another creature. He emerged slowly into the weak light that entered through the hole in the ceiling.

He was the most astonishing creature she had ever seen. His glossy black fur was surrounded by an aura of darkness and there was a depth to his eyes that would not allow her to look away until he blinked. She did not know what he saw in that brief span of time, but she could almost swear he was trying to communicate...

The next few hours blurred into a vague memory of crawling through dark places and plucking clumps of rare plants from impossible heights. Though some part of her shrank with the natural human fear of death, a greater part was captured by the sheer euphoria of having the use of slender fingers that could reach into the small crevices where a paw would become trapped.

When she gained full control of her mind again, Robin was seated in a small but tidy cave, held by the bemused gaze of the creature that had shown her parts of the world she did not know existed.

"Slagathor."

The name had somehow been implanted in her mind. The creature stirred, the fur of his ruff bristling then falling flat. Just as he had made a claim on her, so she had named him.

Robin gradually learned to recognize the presence of Slagathor in her mind. Her own impressive knowledge of botany and mycology, combined with his unrivaled knowledge of Subeta's forest granted the two of them a unique opportunity to work together both for the good of others...and for profit. They could track down those rare spell ingredients that would tempt mages to raid a dragon's hoard in order to possess the ability to prepare spells of extreme power.

They do not sell all of their finds, however. Slagathor's fascination with the dark arts made Robin uncomfortable at first, until she came to realize that few things are fully good or evil. A spell capable of burning down a large section of forest helps that same forest to renew itself. Slagathor provides the knowledge to compliment Robin's hand dexterity, allowing both to do more with magic than either could hope to accomplish alone.

There are times when Slagathor's grim fascination with death makes Robin uncomfortable. He also has a twisted sense of humor, one that causes him to change landmarks in the forest to confuse travelers. While no creature has ever come to great harm for his pranks, there are times when Robin does not like the gleam in his eye and the subtle curl of his lip over a half-exposed fang. No matter how many adventures they share, she never lets herself forget that he is a creature of the night.

Of all the activities they share, though, both agree that the best one is relaxing in some secluded portion of the forest, studying the unique and complex ecosystem with its epic battles and fantastic struggles lived out in the course of an hour by the small life forms often taken for granted. Life falls to death only to provide sustenance for new lives. They share a belief that life is never truly lost, only transformed into the means for new life to grace the earth.

Story by Pureflower