Meeting the Neighbors
Mar. 2nd, 2024 09:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lostianvsMeeting the Neighbors
The forest is a diverse and storied environment. It's ripe with resources, but also fraught with hidden dangers. It's sometimes said that you can go your whole life without ever seeing a cougar, but if you spend enough time in the forest, one will have definitely seen you. We might consider ourselves lucky every time we avoid becoming a snack for the denizens of the forest.
First Encounter
On one of my usual treks into the forest, I stumbled upon the den of an entire tribe of "cougars." I had spent some time mapping out the natural fonts of power in the forest. All of these fonts contributed to a natural flow that gathered in the valley and concentrated in a small river. However, one location stuck out as odd. I felt no contribution from that direction and both people and some animals seemed to avoid it. I decided to investigate.
Almost immediately upon making off towards the strange location, I was attacked by fire ants. A minor nuisance at the time that I later came to understand was a warning. The journey to the location was strange and bewildering. Animal trails to seemed to snake and backtrack on themselves and the terrain was oddly flat where it should have been steep and steep where it should have been flat. It was eerily quiet both in mundane terms and ethereal.
After some time, I finally found myself in what appeared to be an ancient bowl-shaped landslide scar. The forest was thinner and allowed sunlight to filter in through the canopy. A small spring was bubbling up at the bottom of the bowl and was grown over with pigweed, purslane, and spurge. The spring was alive, but not fully aware as if it were drugged (in so far as a Naiad can be "drugged"). The area was beautiful, but also uncanny and uncomfortable. Across the site, I could see a series of switchbacks rising out of the valley. The first few meters of this path were lined with small mushrooms of every color imaginable.
Despite all the beauty, I felt an urgent need to leave this place. My other "eyes" could see a thick fog or smoke laid over the landscape. I decided to leave quickly and avoid inhaling too much of this fog.
Follow-up Reading
I decided to process what had happened using tarot. The reading indicated an itinerant tribe of spirits led by a stern queen with a fiery disposition. I was encouraged to leave them alone. I also consulted with some knowledgeable witches who had much the same advice. I took the warning and avoided approaching these "tribal lands" from then on.
Second Encounter
Some time later, I was called in to do some "service" work. An unfortunate young spirit had gotten stuck in the forest and was in pretty sore shape due to the application of broadcast herbicide. Nursing the spirit back to health was easy enough, but pulling him out of his predicament was another matter. I had already planned on opening the local nexus and this was when an idea presented itself. I would conduct 7/8ths of the work required to open the nexus. If the young spirit wanted his freedom, he would have to bargain with the fiery queen for the last 1/8th. The stuck spirit consented to my conditions and I conducted the work as previously described.
Of note, installing Saturn required me to pass by one of the entries to the tribal lands... or so I thought. What previously had been an entrance was now covered with a glamour of invisibility and inconspicuousness. I could also see several blue-cloaked figures in my periphery that were trailing me as I made my way towards the soon-to-be temple of Saturn.
I said nothing of these blue-cloaked spirits to my companion. I finished the operation and felt the nexus open without incident. Once we were clear of the forest, my companion turned to me and asked if I had seen the woman in the blue dress watching me perform the rite. I confirmed that I had and we agreed to never speak of our good neighbors again. Every now and then when I'm in the forest, I'll catch a flash of royal blue out of the corner of my eye or suddenly feel as if I'm under surveillance.
The forest is a diverse and storied environment. It's ripe with resources, but also fraught with hidden dangers. It's sometimes said that you can go your whole life without ever seeing a cougar, but if you spend enough time in the forest, one will have definitely seen you. We might consider ourselves lucky every time we avoid becoming a snack for the denizens of the forest.
First Encounter
On one of my usual treks into the forest, I stumbled upon the den of an entire tribe of "cougars." I had spent some time mapping out the natural fonts of power in the forest. All of these fonts contributed to a natural flow that gathered in the valley and concentrated in a small river. However, one location stuck out as odd. I felt no contribution from that direction and both people and some animals seemed to avoid it. I decided to investigate.
Almost immediately upon making off towards the strange location, I was attacked by fire ants. A minor nuisance at the time that I later came to understand was a warning. The journey to the location was strange and bewildering. Animal trails to seemed to snake and backtrack on themselves and the terrain was oddly flat where it should have been steep and steep where it should have been flat. It was eerily quiet both in mundane terms and ethereal.
After some time, I finally found myself in what appeared to be an ancient bowl-shaped landslide scar. The forest was thinner and allowed sunlight to filter in through the canopy. A small spring was bubbling up at the bottom of the bowl and was grown over with pigweed, purslane, and spurge. The spring was alive, but not fully aware as if it were drugged (in so far as a Naiad can be "drugged"). The area was beautiful, but also uncanny and uncomfortable. Across the site, I could see a series of switchbacks rising out of the valley. The first few meters of this path were lined with small mushrooms of every color imaginable.
Despite all the beauty, I felt an urgent need to leave this place. My other "eyes" could see a thick fog or smoke laid over the landscape. I decided to leave quickly and avoid inhaling too much of this fog.
Follow-up Reading
I decided to process what had happened using tarot. The reading indicated an itinerant tribe of spirits led by a stern queen with a fiery disposition. I was encouraged to leave them alone. I also consulted with some knowledgeable witches who had much the same advice. I took the warning and avoided approaching these "tribal lands" from then on.
Second Encounter
Some time later, I was called in to do some "service" work. An unfortunate young spirit had gotten stuck in the forest and was in pretty sore shape due to the application of broadcast herbicide. Nursing the spirit back to health was easy enough, but pulling him out of his predicament was another matter. I had already planned on opening the local nexus and this was when an idea presented itself. I would conduct 7/8ths of the work required to open the nexus. If the young spirit wanted his freedom, he would have to bargain with the fiery queen for the last 1/8th. The stuck spirit consented to my conditions and I conducted the work as previously described.
Of note, installing Saturn required me to pass by one of the entries to the tribal lands... or so I thought. What previously had been an entrance was now covered with a glamour of invisibility and inconspicuousness. I could also see several blue-cloaked figures in my periphery that were trailing me as I made my way towards the soon-to-be temple of Saturn.
I said nothing of these blue-cloaked spirits to my companion. I finished the operation and felt the nexus open without incident. Once we were clear of the forest, my companion turned to me and asked if I had seen the woman in the blue dress watching me perform the rite. I confirmed that I had and we agreed to never speak of our good neighbors again. Every now and then when I'm in the forest, I'll catch a flash of royal blue out of the corner of my eye or suddenly feel as if I'm under surveillance.