Torchlight
Legacy Name: Torchlight

Once upon a time...

In the dark dwellings of Shadowglen forest, a mysterious creature fate was forever changed. Shadowglen is known for being home to the dead. As essentially every square inch entombs a long lost and sometimes forgotten corpse. Even so, Shadowglen would still bring visitors from Morostide festivities, to simply hanging with Quentin for amulets to exchange with the Mage. So it stands to reason that the forests at certain times of the year can be heavily populated with those who are brave, stupid or curious, perhaps a mix of all three.

So a horde of Subetians descended upon the forest, sometimes they split up, other times they travelled in little groups. The forest had a way of separating people though. From the thick branches, the gnarly root system that seemed to spring from the ground with the intent of tripping you, to the crazy sounds that often made one imagine the worst. The forest was also very adapt at making it feel eerily chilly at all times. Scarves would be blown away and hung from the trees out of reach, and discernable visual sight.

On one foggy Morostide eve, a traveling influencer came to Shadowglen to hopefully get a picture of themselves with the infamous Dungarde. With their latest and greatest tangerine cellphone, they walked into the Forest with a false given confidence. ?Surely my phone can guide us through? they thought. But there is no signal in the forest and quickly the navigation app flashed a warning. So they ventured on with their designer outfit, pristine traveling boots that looked awesome but felt like vice grips on the toes, a rather large but light in weight backpack and now useless cellphone.

TWACK! A vine out of nowhere swung from the treetops and came slapping down with force knocking the influencer to the ground. Luckily it was more shock than true damage. Still they felt they could make it to see the Dungarde. As they continued, what appeared to be a glowing orb would flit and dart through the fog.

"That has to be Dungarde." So onwards they pressed.

Following this flickering and endless moving light, many turns were made that there was no way to retrace one?s steps. Thankfully our influencer had some foresight, as it was a cold trip. Rummaging through their backpack they find a thermos. Within this probably too expensive for you to even consider purchasing thermos was the most incredible smelling coffee. As whiffs of the perfectly heated coffee beans wafered in the air, the once way ahead of us glowing orb began to dart towards the influencer.

As the light got closer and closer, so did a startling image. What looked to be like a skull encased in vines began to appear from the shadows. ?That?s definitely not the Dungarde!? Yelled our fabled influencer who quickly began to turn to run.

CRASH! Those darn boots caught a root and sent the poor influencer face first into a trunk. With a loud moan, the influencer ate bark and was sent quickly to a dream. From behind was a small feline like creature skeletal in look but with a lovely glowing tail and flowering vines slithering in and out of the bone.

"Oooo, I am sorry," it said as it tried to paw the influencer awake. Yet despite not having a proper nose, it was into the smell of the thermos. More and more whiffs of this intoxicating drink was all but the more tempting for this creature. So after ensuring the poor influencer would make it, the little mysterious feline took the thermos and brought it back to a clearing in the forest.

In this clearing, sat this small but inquisitive creature. More whiffs of this thermos and the instant feeling of warmth spread within its little body. With more curiosity it brought itself to lap up a bit of this fantastic smelling beverage only for the vines across its skull to temporarily shrivel only to burst out again with such vibrant foliage and flowers.

"Whoa? This stuff? It's MAGIC!?" This lovely creature after finishing the coffee began to twitch its tail. "How can I find more?" And so this fairly friendly sprite, believe it or not, would venture in the forests eyeballing whoever traveled with a thermos or cardboard cup.

Art

by Flight Rising user Chuchuana

by CORE

Credits

Profile design and Code by Ringo | Leaves from freepik.com | Overlay by CORE | Thank you Permanent for the profile & story (SSE gift)!