The Girl in the Forest
There once was a young girl who lived near a forest. She liked to run into the forest, to play and pick berries and whatever it is that young girls do. She was a happy girl, and she had a happy family. Her mother was a chef, cooking with all the berries that the girl collected. Her father was a lumberjack, making a living by chopping down all of the trees in the forest. He always replanted them, but it was his livelyhood.
One day, when neither of her parents were home, her mother at the market and her father selling wood, the girl decided to venture deeper into the forest. She had heard of the many mystical secrets of the woods, and she wanted to explore them for herself. So she headed into the woods, happily skipping along. She found all sorts of new flowers, picking them to bring them home. As she went to the centre of the forest, the trees got bigger and bigger, and they began to croak and groan in the wind. She soon reached a clearing in the centre of the woods.
"Hello, little girl, what are you doing in my forest?"
The girl looked around, to look for the source of the voice, but there was no one in sight. She only spotted it when the tree spoke again.
"Little girl, have you travelled far?"
She looked in wonder as she saw in front of her, that the tree was indeed speaking to her. It took her long to find an answer to the tree's question.
"Not terribly far, no. I come from the village, at the edge of the woods. Who are you?"
The tree gave her an answer, "I am the eldest tree of this forest, and my roots are dying. Little girl, could you do me a favour?"
The girl nodded. She could help the forest.
"That is great to hear. I have a seed that I have been protecting for ages, but adventurers keep trying to steal it. I need it to be planted, so that the forest can keep growing. Can you do this for me?"
The girl nodded, wanting to help the tree. She accepted the seed, and she went to find another clearing. She dug a hole in the soil to plant the seed, and covered it in dirt so that it could grow. She left the forest to go home, just as her parents were getting home. She welcomed them, hugged them, and gave her mother the flowers she had collected. Her mother looked at the flowers, and asked the girl,
"Where did you get these flowers? I've never seen flowers like these before."
The girl grinned before telling her parents the story, how she had found the tree, and planted the seed. Her parents thought she was making up a story just for them, and found it adorable. They tucked her in for the night, and the three slept.
In the morning, however, something was off. The air was cold, the atmosphere seemed almost dead. The girl and her parents stepped out of the house in confusion, only to witness a horrific sight. The entire forest has just died, seemingly overnight. The ground was coated in what could have been ash or snow. The mother and father wept, for their livelyhood was gone, but the girl ran back into the forest to find the tree.
"What did you do?" She yelled, as soon as she found the clearing.
"Me? I didn't do anything, little girl. This was all you."
The girl was confused, before the tree spoke again.
"You are the one who planted the seed. They will blame you for all this, not me."
And the girl ran off, knowing that she could never return home.
In this story, you, reader, are the little girl. You are young and naive, and you are told to plant a seed. You don't question what you are told, you never do, and so you plant it. And through your actions, you have caused calamity.
Notes from Saibra
This story appears to be a reference to Sha'Ren's own actions. His then patron, Yxjun, gave him a seed to plant and a location to plant it. When he returned years later, the forest was dead and covered in snow. He asked his patron about it, and the conversation depicted in this story was near identical to the one he had.
The Lost Boy
There once was a boy who lived in a magic forest. The magic forest was very chaotic and bright, and each day it held something new in store. He never knew what it would be, but he always knew that there would be something. He had made the choice to live in the forest years ago, when his original home was destroyed and his family killed. He did not particularly like the forest anymore, but he felt obligated to stay, feeling as though he could not leave.
And one day, the forest made the decision for him. He woke up, and he was teleported into a strange land. He was surrounded by people that he did not know, and even if he had the skills to interact with strangers, he soon discovered that they were all speaking what sounded to him like gibberish. He thought at first that there was something wrong with his ears, but he soon realised that he had in fact been teleported somewhere where everyone was speaking a language that he did not know.
He did his best to navigate the land, but he found himself continually lost, with little guidance from the forest that he had come from. He tried to find someone who would be able to speak his language and give him some directions, but he instead accidentally instigated a fight. He ran away, but the rest of the people fighting got a lot of injuries.
He continued his search for a person who would be able to speak his language. He was having very little luck, and then, a woman on the street thought that he was a lost child and wanted to help him find his mother. He tried explaining and miming to her that this was not the case, but she kept going anyways. When he tried to push her away, she fell onto the ground and twisted her ankle. A mob began to form, yelling at him for pushing the woman, and he ran away. The few that caught up to him, he needed to fight for his own self preservation. At the last moment, when it looked like he was about to lose the fight, he blinked and was returned to his forest.
He was now grateful for the peace of the forest, and he was fine with his life. He knew that he would never return to the village that now hated him, and he was relieved for that.
In this story, reader, you are the boy. You don't like your current situation, but you quickly learn, that if you anger the situation, you could just make it worse. Maybe your situation is not as bad as you think it is.
Notes from Saibra
In this story, Sha'Ren seems to be referencing an incident where Yxjun sent him to a different continent to steal an item. He did not speak the language, and this resulted in a city-wide fight that he could not get himself out of. It ended in tragedy.
The Cursed Sword
There once was a sword that held great power. It was a sword that would strengthen the weilder, giving them immense might and power, rivalling that of the gods.
The gods did not want the mortals to get a hold of this weapon, as it posed a threat to them. So the gods sent one of their angels to destroy the sword, getting rid of any chance that a mortal would be able to wield it.
The angel did not find a way to destroy the sword, however. Instead, the angel buried the blade of the sword deep into a rock, confident that no one would be able to pry it loose. He set this stone in a forest in the middle of nowhere, confident that no one would find it.
But someone did find it. A boy named Arturo found the sword, and the strength gained from wielding its hilt allowed him to pull it out of the stone. He ran home to his friends, and became the ruler of his village due to the immense power of the sword.
The boy grew up to become king, and he used the absolute most of his power. He declared wars, he excecuted his own people for daring to question him. He was rude to his people, knowing that no one could stand against him.
He conquered the land around him, and his eyes soon turned to the heavens. He knew of the gods, and he wanted to overthrow them. He wanted to take their place.
Because he was not wielding his power correctly, the angel had to return. The angel killed Arturo to prevent him from misusing his power, and had to destroy the sword as he had originally been told to do.
In this story, you are the angel, reader. You were told what you needed to do, but instead of going the right path, you did not complete your job. This lead to war and strife before you had to return and fix your mistakes
Notes from Saibra
This story seems to reflect a similar story from Sha'Ren's past. He is the angel in this story, while his patron is the gods. The boy in this story was a real one, by the name of Arthur, who Sha'Ren did retrieve the sword from.
The Tyrant
There once was a king who ruled a kingdom. The king was not a very nice king, and ruled his kingdom with an iron fist. His people were terrified, and they despised him, but they could not do anything about it.
The king was a warmongering king, declaring war on all of the neighbours and villages that he could. He was very good at these wars, enlisting all of the fighting-age soldiers that he could grab from his populace. The people were saddened that their families were split, but the king won the war, and so he did not care.
The king stole the crops and food from his people, eating his own luxurious meals. He was eating while his people were starving. But the food was good, and so he did not care.
The king was very greedy, and wanted all of the gold in the war. And so he taxed his people for more and more, and he took their life savings from them with no remorse. The people were begging in the streets and losing their homes. But the king was rich, so he did not care.
And the king got into another war with a neighbouring kingdom, one ruled by democracy and not tyranny. He was winning the war, and his people were scared that he would subject his poor rule onto others.
But one of the members in his kingdom saw a chance. To win the war, the king was sending out all of his troops, and the barracks for his personal guards were all empty. The man decided that he could end the war then and there. He crept into the palace, sneaking his way through the halls, until he found the king's quarters. He slit the neck of the king as he slept, and the war was ended. The king was dead, and the chaos in succession caused the kingdom to lose the war. The king's family was in mourning, but the kingdom was no longer subject to his rule, so they did not care.
In this story, you, reader, are the assassin. You see the suffering of the people, and you are able to do something about it. You fight against it. And it is for this reason that the kingdom is good.
Notes from Saibra
This is definitely based on Sha'Ren's assassination of the Vorogan king, but the reality is a bit different. Yxjun sent Sha'Ren to kill the king, but the people were not suffering under his rule. In fact, Reuni, the opposing side of the war, was much crueller.
The Potter
There once was a potter who crafted all sorts of things. He was a great potter, and his clients loved him. He made pots and pans, vases and cups, and decorations to fill the home. He was the best of his craft around.
He had an employee, one who would help him in his pottery, who would collect the best clay and spread word of his shop to the people.
One day, however, a new potter came to town. She was seen as magnificent and graceful, but the potter knew that she was putting on a facade. Still, she began to gain a patronage, much faster than the potter had. And so the potter got jealous.
She had made a beautiful vase, one that sparkled in the moonlight as though it were the sun. It was her prized posession.
And so, the potter sent his employee to destroy it.
The employee did as he was told, as he would lose his job otherwise. He made his way into the new potter's shop at night, and found himself before the vase. He smashed it, leaving it in pieces on the floor, and left the shop to return to the older potter.
The potter thought his plan had worked, and waited excitedly for the day to come. However, come morning, what he saw instead outraged him.
The new potter had put her vase back together, using gold to repair its cracks.
This got her a great many new patrons, and was invaluable to her. She knew that the other potter had sent his employee to smash it, but she did not care. In fact, in only aided her.
The potter was beyond horrified. His plan had backfired. He no longer could do anything about this, and had to resign himself to the situation.
In this story, you are the employee, reader. You do what your boss tells you because you have no choice otherwise, and the boss' plan blows up in his face.
Notes from Saibra
This story is referencing the shattering of the Pallid Conduit. Sha'Ren was sent to destroy an artifact of the Pallid Forest to prevent its new archfey from rising to power. However, in doing so, this made her a god.
Oh, come on! These aren't even original stories, these are just things that I've had him do! And I'm the villain in at least half of them! This is ridiculous.
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