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The World of Georic 1989-Present

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Lost Dispatches of Feraso #80 - The Witch's Legacy

4th of OctDec 1052 - Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
Caton walked into the Blue Wizard this evening as if nothing happened this week.  Was it all dream?  How did my shovels get dirty?

A lone pint in my direction and Caton quietly spilled the beans on everything.

The original witch was the Protector of the Nightwood, a primitive native shaman (of Guya?) long before Eding was even founded, possibly before the Ferasean Empire.   She patrolled the area, helped wandering travelers, and kept the peace.  Except she died during the initial Goblin foray into the Nightwood.
Except she had a whole tribe of primitives that worshipped her like a god, and any mortal god is smart enough to groom a replacements.  These female druids/witches (what's the difference if one turns you into a bird and another turns you into a toad?)  Oversaw the initial encroachment on the Nightwood and lizardman-inhabited swamps by "civilized": people began.  They brokered truces with all sides to maintain peace in the region.

The legends of the Nightwood.  The Iron Citadel deep within the woods?  The temple of the village of Alasku?  The Castle in the Marsh?  All are beyond generations old. Perhaps hundreds? Maybe even longer?  I have a strange feeling that whatever authority built everything, they were arrogant, incompetent and forced the conversion of the natives (to Akana? or earlier...)  and extermination of the population runs along this sliver of road, which parallels the river.

Eventually, the foreign humans took too much and the humanoids and native-bloods who hadn't merged into that culture rose up and everything was abandoned.

The witches could not replenish their numbers and the witch was relegated to a figurehead, the one being no one wanted to mess with.  The newer settlers uncovered the witch and were terrified of her, all the while, she keeping all these violent race at bay.

I really don't believe Caton can pull this off...

Caton's not the first man to secretly hold the role, but never have both mentor and protege been men. The job's the same.  Largely symbolic,  to scare the masses.  We ensure the younger generations know how scary the witch is, and issue a few community ultimatums to all groups.

I'm amazed, I'm already referring this as a job that WE, Caton and I need to work together to achieve.

...Eight Years Later....

22nd of DuoDec 1060- Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
W. received a visitor today and a human one at that!  I've witnessed some of the local humanoid tribes (particularly the goblins of G'ba) stealthily reach the hut to deliver messages or meet face-to-face with W, but I've never seen them filled with so much concern.  W. refuses to fill me in on details at this time, but the Goblins have not fared so well inside the Nightwood, and their raiding parties are already hitting the northern border, in exactly the opposite direction as Eding.  But whatever friend, ally, acquaintance there is not capable of stemming the tide, and their demanding assistance.

"It will be a long Summer, but we should rein in the goblins."

Next:  #81 - A Proper Set of Marks

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