Ah, to be back in Moonveil Forest again. All of the world is home to someone like Galvynn who subsists on the land and lives among it, but like any animal being back in its home territory is something special. The rush of smells and the familiar sounds are hard to beat.

Today, Galvynn finds himself sitting under a tree as midday breaks overhead. Sunlight trickles through the tree tops in the cool spring afternoon. Birds chitter on the branches above as the mingle above the spring buds. In the druid's lap a fawn has nestled into place with his arms gently cradling it.

"It is OK little one...this is how nature goes...I am sorry." His smile softens as he gently holds the deer. It seems it had lost its mother to some predator. Despite his fondness for all animals, he also knows how the circle of life works. He was not so bold as to think his place as a guardian was interfering in this natural balance. Wolves need to eat just as much as any other creature.

"You seem pretty quick though...you have to be careful to listen for the sounds...if you listen for Her voice, She can always guide you....She guided you to me didn't She?" Galvynn smiles down at the fawn that has fallen asleep.

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SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Lost in the Woods
Participants: Two or more
Location: Anywhere
Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown
Description: Travelers along the main roads have reported losing their memories while traveling: forgetting where they are going, where they have come from or in extreme cases, who they even are. There is not enough data to explain why their memories have faded, with it eventually returning after a few days, but there are dozens of lost citizens out there that need to find their way. Assist someone struggling by helping them remember any details that they may have forgotten, ultimately getting them to their destination safely.

The sound of snapping branches and rustling foliage disturbs the peaceful silence. While it may be expected that all this noise is coming from something moving through the underbrush, it instead comes from the tree tops before being followed by a loud thud on the ground nearby. 

With the sudden ruckus also comes the scattering of the birds in the trees. Peace and quiet had been thoroughly eviscerated by whatever had just landed, or rather, fallen, right out of the sky. 

Everett can be found lying on his back in the dirt with twigs and leaves stuck in his hair after having tumbled down through the canopy to the forest floor. His back hurts from the poor landing, but other than that he survived what was a fall from a decent enough height to kill the average man. How he survived is beyond him...

Come to think of it...

Why was he even up there to begin with?

How was he even up there to begin with?

Sitting up, the half-elf groans and rubs his back with his only arm. It hurts more than his head, so he doesn't think a concussion is why he can't remember anything in the past... 

Oh gods.

Nothing is coming to mind at all. Not even his own name.

"Shit." 

The sudden noise snaps the fawn awake and she kicks out of Galvynn's lap and into the forest. He just laughs softly as he rubs the impact spot, that might leave a little mark. Oh well, it happens. He had enough cuts and scars all over him from working with his forest friends.

As Everett crashes through the trees, birds vacate their branches as quickly as possible. A pair of blue jays speed towards Galvynn to quickly take refuge in the druid and tuck themselves under the collar of his coat. They peep furiously up at him.

"Hold on, hold on, slow down little ones." He smiles fondly at them.

Peep...peep peep....peeppeeppeep!

"From above you say?"

Peep! Peep!

"Interesting. Can you direct me too them?" The birds peep once more and Galvynn heads to where they direct. He puts his absolute trust in these ordinary birds.

As Everett starts to wake up, Bucky has started to make his way to the half-elf. He was out foraging for grubs, but the loud noise had him interested. The rune badger toddles towards the source of the sound, snuffling at the ground as he did. He would rustle the underbrush as he emerged from it, tilting a head at Everett. Bucky steps forward to sniff at the man curiously.

Everett rubs the back of his neck. This was not a good situation to be in, but it could be worse. He could be lost in the woods being hunted by ferocious beasts. 

The bushes in front of him rustle and he catches the sound of something sniffing about. 

Of course. 

He pats his coat and armor to see if he has anything on him to defend himself with before he notices that he has a snapped belt. Holding the broken piece of leather, he furrows his brow then looks up to see a rapier in a scabbard hooked up in the broken branches. 

Seems he must have done something real dumb to put he whole world at odds against him. 

Skooching backwards as the rustling gets closer, he presses his back against the trunk of the tree and brandishes one of the broken branches as a makeshift club for the time being. 

Then a wide, wet, black nose attached to a furry snout pokes through the bushes. He blinks as the snout becomes a head, and the head becomes broad shoulders, and those shoulders are attached to thick legs and end in long curved claws. 

Ooooooh, this is bad. He's not entirely sure WHAT this thing is, but what he does know is that it's way bigger than him and looks hungry. His stick isn't going to do much against something this size. Not unless this thing like to play fetch. 

As it approaches and sniffs at the toe of his boot, he debates with himself if it will be more or less painful to just accept his fate of being a meal. 

Bucky stares at the man curiously, ears flicking lazily. He does look at the stick with interest for a moment. He stretches out just a bit further to sniff at Everett's legs. The snuffling rises higher, sniffing at the pockets where Bucky has seen other humans hide food before.

"Whatcha find Buck?" Galvynn comes in from the other side of the tree. For the moment he can only see the badger's hind end up in the air.

The druid steps out from around the tree to give the badger a scritch on the head. The bluejays start to peep again and Galvynn picks up his gaze to notice the half-elf. Galvynn straightens up and puts his hands on his hips as he gives Everett a serious stare down for a moment.

"Hm? He doesn't look like a scary monster." He looks down to the blue jays who peep again. Galvynn seems to consider their peeping very thoughtfully before looking to Everett, "Are you a monster?"

The question is genuine, the birds seem to think so which means Galvynn is going to take their word seriously. Why would birds lie to him? Do birds even understand the concept of lying? Does Galvynn understand the concept of lying? Bucky certainly doesn;t.

"Uh, no, not a monster," Everett replies as he lowers the stick.

At this point, he's basically pinned between the tree and Bucky's broad head as the badger sniffs at his pockets for any spare rations he has stashed away. Everett fishes out a few bits of dried meat from one of his pockets to satiate its foraging.

Judging by Galvynn’s appearance, the badger must be a pet of theirs. That's a relief, he may yet be able to negotiate not becoming the fuzzy creature's next meal if he can appeal to its less fuzzy owner.

"I don't really know what's going on,” he tries to explain to Galvynn in between slipping Bucky snacks. “I…think I fell out of a tree? But I can't remember being in a tree or…anything.”

He looks at Galvynn, getting a better look at the young man. He doesn't look familiar, and all in all fairly ordinary. But as a breeze passes through the trees, scattering sunlight bounces off his youthful skin and makes the gold rings around his eyes glisten like molten metal.

Huh.

Weird.

A wet nose presses up against his neck as Bucky searches for more tidbits of food.

"Ack!" Everett uses his one hand to try and keep the giant rune badger from smothering him. His efforts are in vain.

“Well, I’m not fully sure what’s going on either if that helps.” Galynn laughs as he comes around to put his arms around Bucky.

The druid lifts him up like a kid holding their teddy bear to pull the badger off Everett. His paws idly swat air as he tries to get more food. Galvynn doesn’t lift him off the ground, just enough to give Everett space.

“Come on Buck, I don’t think he has grubs in his pockets.” With concern, Galvynn looks up to the half-elf. “You don’t have any in your pocket, right?”

Bucky tilts his head back to look up at Galvynn as he speaks, then down to Everett awaiting an answer. Assuming the answer is no, Bucky plops back down and waddles over to push a log around and begin foraging again.

“You hurt? I know some healing...not enough to fix your arm if you were hoping for that.” Galvynn certainly powers through that with not a single shred of common social etiquette. Though from his general look and vibe it was becoming clear that Everett is probably the first humanoid he's seen in awhile. At least a couple days. "I can fix scrapes though...maybe the headache."

"Uh, not that I'm aware of." Everett turns his pockets inside out to reveal that Bucky has already inhaled most of his rations already. 

He sighs with relief as Bucky finds something else to investigate. Seems like he will avoid being badger chow for the time being.

"My back hurts, but other than that I think I'm okay." Pushing himself up to his feet, he dusts himself off before looking back at Galvynn. "Sorry for any alarm. Do you happen to know where we are?" 

Then he remembers his manners. "Ah, sorry, I would introduce myself but...I don't remember my name." 

He feels a deep dread settle in his gut at that admission as if losing that piece of knowledge has grave consequences. However, what those consequences are is beyond him at this time.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he offers a sheepish grin in response to the offer for some healing. "I suppose I wouldn't say no to some healing. Maybe it can help me remember what I was doing."

It probably is pretty risky to accept magical medical help from a stranger in his condition, but he has few other options and Galvynn looks fairly harmless. Looks can be deceiving. 

Judging Galvynn solely based off his looks would probably lead to an equal mix of wrong and right assumptions. Some of the villagers around these woods already had plenty of legends and stories about the spirit that wanders the forests. The so-called "Guardian of the Moonveil Forest."

"We are here." He gestures for Everett to take a seat so Galvynn can help, taking a moment to realize his answer wasn't really an answer. "Right...uh I call it home, but Moonveil Forest I believe is the more accepted term."

When the half-elf is settled, the druid will go to his back to check. At a glance, he didn't see any blood or cuts. If there were any injuries, then they were likely internal. There is a brief moment where Galvynn almost just starts moving Everett around to check, but realizes the man is not in fact a wounded animal.

Instead he just opts to gently touch his palm to Everett's back with a dull green light pulsing from his hand. Slowly the healing starts to knit together any injuries and numb any pain the half-elf was feeling. So far the healing was pretty minor, if the pain continued he might have to pick things up a bit.

"Just wandering through then? Do you hear Her voice too then?"

"Moonveil?" He thinks that sounds somewhat familiar, though it doesn't immediately jog his memory on any other specific details. 

As Galvynn uses his magic to soothe the ache in his back, he tries to think harder about what he could have possibly been doing up in a tree in the middle of the forest. It's strange. He's just drawing a blank no matter how hard he tries to remember things. 

But his head doesn't hurt. 

Was there something else responsible for his memory loss? Why would something do that but then not show itself while he's vulnerable? His thoughts are interrupted by the young man's questioning. 

He's caught off guard by the question. Did the young man not hear him? He's pretty sure he mentioned that he doesn't remember what he was doing in the forest. 

"Uh, I don't know. I think I was...looking for something?" 

That seems right, but it's the second question that really gives him pause. 

Her?

With that, something in his brain clicks. He remembers someone. A woman. Her silhouette against the verdant green of a lush forest and her pale hand reaching towards him with an open palm. His memory of her face is still fuzzy, but that hardly stops the prickle of familiarity nagging at the back of his mind. 

"Yes...I think so."

"Then you're more perceptive than most." He smiles and offers a soft laugh. "Most people seem to have lost the ability to hear Síochánta even if She is beside us."

When the healing is done Galvynn leans back to rest against one of Bucky's haunches. The badger looks back to him a moment before looking back at his feast. The druid gives the badger a pat and a smile. He gives a little wave to a group of rabbits that hop past through the brush, then to the birds passing overhead.

"Looking for something? Like? You don't seem to be a hunter or poacher and don't seem particularly equipped for foraging." Galvynn is gentle in trying to prod more information from Everett without pressuring him.

It wasn't often he did it, but Galvynn did sometimes help secret people through the forest. Escaping capture was a lot easier when someone knows every secret path the forest offers. He was clearly comfortable with the surroundings and his history made him pretty sympathetic to people who needed escape.

"You're welcome to rest here until you feel like you are ready to move again. I can let everyone know you are a friend here and they should leave you alone. Just do not wander too far West. Beithir's cubs are probably starting to roam and she's a protective mother"

"Síochánta?" He tilts his head in confusion. Was that the woman's name? He can't recall right now, but that doesn't seem quite right to him. 

Everett stretches his back out a bit after Galvynn is done healing him. It aches significantly less which is a relief considering they're still sitting on the hard ground. He catches a glimpse of the animals moving through the forest and how Galvynn gives them all a friendly wave. Seeing someone so in tune with nature is fascinating, but also a bit weird. 

"I'm not sure," he admits as he rubs the back of his head. "You're right though, I don't have anything on me that suggests I'm out here to hunt or forage."

Quite the contrary, he doesn't have any big packs, traps, or weapons that are conducive to hunting or even just surviving in the forest. All things considered, he looks completely ill-equipped to be trekking through the forest alone. 

He glances back up into the tree and points out the rapier still stuck in the branches. "I think that's mine." 

Regardless of if Galvynn helps him retrieve it or not, he offers his gratitude to the druid for all his help so far and the promise of safe passage so long as he avoids what he can only assume is a bear and her young. "I certainly don't intend on causing any alarm for whoever "everyone" is."

As he considers what he should do next, it dawns on him that the young man never gave him his name. "Oh, what is your name?"

The confusion at the name hints to Galvynn that Everett may not actually be as kindred a spirit as he hoped. That's fine though, like he said, nearly no one else seemed to recognize her voice anyways. It made more sense that he didn't.

"Are you running from something then? Or perhaps someone?" Galvynn tilts his head, eventually looking up to where the sword is.

He gives a little whistle seemingly summoning a owl to his shoulder. Galvynn smiles brightly, "Hello friend, can you help us? My friend left his sword up in the tree."

The owl hoots before turning to look up where Galvynn points. It hoots again as it looks at the druid and Galvynn nods. Whatever reassurance he gave seemed to convince the owl to take off onto the branch. The weight of it landing on the branch shakes the sword loose and sent it clattering to the ground.

"Thank you friend!" Galvynn has some strips of old, dried meat he offers to the owl. It happily comes back to the perch to get feed.

"Everyone as in...everyone. Ulchabhán here...Beithir...everyone." The druid vaguely gestures to the surrounding forest. "Oh right human greetings, Galvynn. And yours?" As he ask the owl turns its head to the stranger with a hoot. It, too, is seemingly curious about the man.

"I don't think so." He doesn't feel like anything is in pursuit in him. No fear or lingering dread or paranoia. He's pretty calm all things considered. 

He gathers his rapier, tucking it into his belt loop since his belt is very much snapped. Luckily the blade seems to have survived the fall without getting bent into a pretzel. 

"Oh, right. Everyone. Of course." He pretends that's a sufficient answer as Galvynn doesn't strike him as the kind for specific details. That's proven even more so as the young man asks for his name.

He makes a bit of a face and lets out an exasperated sigh. "As I said before, I don't remember." 

Losing one's memory is a terrifying thing, yet it's oddly familiar, as if he's as used to pieces of his past and identity as he is used to missing a limb. There's a numbness to it all, like he's floating in a small rowboat swallowed whole by a thick bank of fog. 

"I'm sorry I don't have more answers for you. Know I appreciate your kindness regardless."

He looks about the forest, contemplating where he should go. His best idea is to head to the nearest town to seek out someone who has more powerful healing magics. Even if he has no luck there, he might be able to secure transport to a bigger city with more options, or at least some food and a place to sleep until he figures things out. 

"Do you happen to know which way the nearest town is in?"

"Just hoping something might help get the memory going, most people I shepherd through the woods have a specific reason....others ran afoul of a hag or tried some mushrooms they shouldn't have." He gives a very gentle shift of his arm to send the owl flying off into the woods.

Galvynn immediately picks up a loose feather to add to a pocket. On his trip down to pick up the feather he is distracted by some pinecones and leaves that also get added to his pockets. All things he could make something with or offer as a gift to another friend in the future.

"It may surprise you to know that I am not familiar with many of the towns." The druid laughs a bit, pleased with his own joke it seems. "Since you don't know what you're doing out here I will phrase this a different way~ which direction would you *like* to go? I can get us back to the road and out of the forests if you are well enough to walk....if not Bucky can carry you."

He grins and pats the furry would-be bus. Bucky pulls himself up to his feet to stand proudly. Riding a badger wouldn't exactly be comfortable, but it is doable.