Ottokath's Journal: Siegwood #1

It's been cold. Not unpleasant, my cloak is elven made and the elements warn me of danger. Yuki might be cold, but they do care for those that travel through their domain. Usually. It'd been three years since I left home. Was cast out by the father for who I cared from the people I swore to protect. The lack of purpose has been trying on me. It strains the soul as badly as any malignant affliction of the mind. What had I been doing here? Why did I linger in these stinging winds and forstaddled humans? The stories they told me were fine, of course, of a past filled with horror and great heroic triumph born from inovation. But that was then. No glory awaited those travelling these lands. They merely forstall what lurks beyond. It is, of course, not glory I seek anyway, but I have seen purpose in glory in the eyes of men that makes my heart ache.
Then I heard the cries. Not the cries and whales of the yuki that surrounded me in the blizzard. Not the cries of that anguished frigidity they embodied, but the cries of suffering. Yet not the suffering of the physical. It was the suffering of nature itself. Suffering of such sort I had never yet come accross. I did the only natural thing to me and investigated, my sword in hand, shield in the other. I had fashioned the thing some months before when the previous one I made finally gave way. Protecting oneself was vital in these parts and the shield made that easier. Sadly my bow had been lost to me for some time now and fashioning a new one would take more time than I cared to have.
I followed the cries to their source. I found anguish there. Luckily it was not to be my own, but the forest that surrounded me found itself afflicted with great rot. Yet not rot of root, albeit the manifestation were there. This was rot of essence. Corruption of the core. The komada of this region were thick with it to such degree, they almost failed to think of uttering their cries. Forgotten their anguish, replaced by new... being.
It wasn't long before I came upon humans here. Of course they were here. Humans infest most corners of the places I have been to, being able to procreate in and adapt to any environment I have come across. Note, I do not blame them for what surrounds me. I doubt humans would generally be capable of such wickedness, much less humans of their common disposition. They recognised me for what I was and told me of their purpose. Within I saw a glimmer of my own. A way to spend life, unbound from my aimless affliction. I dare say I may have been happy then.