CHAPTER 1
You have reached the heart of the 'forest'...you see now: a great dead tree...
"THIS WAS ONCE THE LAND OF CENTAURS...WORSHIPPERS OF RA" the tree creaks "ONE BY ONE...SLAUGHTERED...TO THE LAST!"
The wind! What is this?
"I SAW THEM...THEIR BODIES SPLIT! TURNED...TO THE LAST...MEN AND CHILDREN OF RO-DHENG...EARTH! TURNED INTO WARDHAR AND OARDHAR!"
"Spirit...Calm yourself! I am here to help you!"
"I HATE THEM...OGRES AND FELL-BEASTS..."
You're knocked flat! A thunderclap rings!
"Tell me, spirit, tell me how to reach Mildrich's tower!"
"THE WHITE MAGE...HAS SENT YOU HERE...YOU HAVE THE BLADE...I WILL HELP YOU!"
"How?! How do I climb the river?"
"RAASANTI...MY DEAREST WIFE...POISONED...THE WATERWAYS ARE CORRUPTED BY HIS STENCH...SPIT OUT HIS SEED UPON ALL OF THE LAND...AASANTI...THE MOST TORTURED...IS BEYOND SALVATION! BUT YOU CAN...HUMAN...YOU CAN CLIMB UP THROUGH OARAASANTII..."
"BUT YOU MUST BE CAREFUL...OAR...ONE OF THE BROTHERS...MAD HAS HE BECOME...DRANK TOO DEEP FROM THE POOL...NOW IT HAS BECOME A TERRIBLE LAND...A GARGOYLE...THE TERRIBLE OLDEN THING ANSELDHAR...AND AN ANSELMAN...TWO BROTHERS OF GREAT ANSEL ROCK...GREAT LONE MOUNTAINROCK...NOW TWISTED...EATING AWAY AT HIM...GREAT OAR...THE OGRES OF OAR...NOW IT HAS BECOME SUCH...SUCKING ON THE TEAT-ROOT OF OAR...MAD HAS HE BECOME...THAT HE DEALS WITH THE TERRIBLE TWISTED THINGS WILLINGLY!"
The tree...is it crying?
"How can I deal with such a spirit...and you tell me of an army of things?"
"FOOL!" the ground shakes..."OAR LOVES HIS WIFE...AND LOVES OUR DEAR MASTER...YOU WILL NOT DEAL WITH HIM! FOR HE IS AN ENDLESS THING...YOU WILL ANGER HIM...IF TREADING ON OARASANTII...HE WILL BE ANGERED..."
"BUT IT HAS BECOME CLEAR...TO ALL OF OUR BROTHERS...THAT MAN WILL NEED TO BE EQUAL...LONG HAS IT BEEN...TOO LONG...BUT NOW IT MUST BE THAT MAN WILL HAVE TO CHALLENGE NOT ONLY HIMSELF...BUT THE POWERS OF OLD...THE SWORD...IT HAS BEEN GIVE TO YOU FOR A REASON! EQUALITY!"
"You..."
"BUT YOU WILL NOT KILL OAR...SUCH AN EQUALITY...IS IMPOSSIBLE...IT WOULD SADDEN OUR FATHERS..."
"You have told me nothing! I know it to be true...that now I have the blades...but these things...give me permission to kill them, for I do not know what they truly are!"
"PERMISSION? IMPOSSIBLE! YOU WOULD DO IT REGARDLESS...THAT IS THE NATURE OF MANKIND..ALL HAS BEEN SEEN...I DO NOT GIVE A BOON..FOR I HATE YOUR KIN...WASTEFUL THINGS...DO YOU STILL NOT UNDERSTAND?"
"However much that is true, you must help me! You, spirit! How am I to pass the river that is watched from all sides? If that is the only way..."
"YOU ANGER ME...WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT? I DO NOT NEED YOUR HELP...GO..AWAY...DIE! DIE, THE ONLY WAY TOWARDS YOUR GOAL IS DEATH! ONLY IN DEATH...YOU WILL FIND HIM..."
"Death..what is it that you are telling me? You tell me...I need to plunge the sword unto my body? You are telling me I need to shed away all things? Is that what such equality means?!"
"THE ONLY WAY HUMANITY WILL LIVE...IS IN THAT THE WAY THEIR IMPERFECTIONS...ARE HINDERING...SO FAR...SO FAR STILL THAT NO SUCH A PURE THING EXISTS ON THE REAL OF MAN...MANKIND WILL NEVER BE KING OF THEIR OWN THINGS...FOR HUMANITY IS A RACE OF SLAVES! THAT IS KNOWN....THAT YOU ARE SLAVES TO THE KING OF SPIRITS...CREATED YOU...TO SEE...FEEL...NOT IN THE WAY THE SPIRITS OF THE EARTH FEEL...BUT TO FEEL...NO MORE THAN FEELING THINGS..."
"ALL WITH EYES TO SEE...NOW TO DIE...O KING OF KINGS...FORSAKEN US HERE...TO LIVE WITH SCOUNDREL SUCH AS THESE...WHY?
The tree croaks a last time...it is now silent...Things have become impossibly difficult...