Legend: The Black Jungle

Day 49

Today I came across a most peculiar sight. Had I encountered it earlier in my journey in this confounded realm I might have used the word "disturbing," but that word has since lost that meaning after spending so long here.

Indeed, the disturbing part comes later.

What I found was a dense-grown section of jungle, made peculiar for several reasons. First of all, the color of the foliage was what I would attribute to decaying plants, or at least those otherwise not in good health, but despite their odd pigment they seemed in perfect health. Second, not more than one-hundred paces before the area, the land I was travelling was of a harsh, arid climate, certainly unsuitable for the growth I saw before me. Third, the further I went, the more frequently I discovered... I do not know if "ruins" would be the right word to describe them. The stonework seemed impossibly ancient, weathered heavily in some places, but at the same time... there was a certain sophistication to its simplistic, boxy design. I am not a stonemason, so I can not say more than that. Perhaps Jahil¹ could have told me more.

The atmosphere in this grove was... challenging. I speak not of the same type of that gnarled thicket²; in contrast, the air here seems less overbearing and sinister and more... sharpened. Determined. Methodical in its... it is difficult to explain.

For roughly one hour some time after mid-day, any sounds I heard had... shadows. The shadows were words. They said things in a language I did understand, but for the sanctity of this passage I will not repeat them here.

I supped upon the fruits and waters of the jungle, and they tasted well. I have not encountered a single hostile creature in my duration here, and so here I shall rest.

Day 50

I had a dream last night.

I walked among the blossoms of the jungle. Here I saw shapes I did not recognize: statue-like edifices of bronze and silver interwoven with the overgrowth of the forest. Some moved, but I hesitate to describe them as automatons, for none bore the works and emanations of complex machinery I am familiar with.

If I had to put a shape to the atmosphere of the grove it would be them.

At the end of the path, a blossom grew before my eyes in the shape of the head of Nassani³. In disbelief, I reached out to pluck it, and an unseen thorn pricked me. I bled and the blood was light.

The blossom said to me: You are a dead thing from a dead city following the shape of the dead. All you will ever do is kill. You do not belong here. This is a place of life.

I tensed up, believing this to be a creature of evil, and spoke back: What is this dead shape you speak of? Its reply: The one you call god. Furious, but not so much I harmed the blossom (for it was in the shape of my late beloved), I retorted: You are a creature of evil. You seek naught but to deceive me.

But I looked ahead of me, past dense patches of woven underbrush and below vibrantly-lighted canopies toward sweeping slopes of nature in harmony, where colorful fruits threatened to weep with plentiful juices and clear waters cascaded over broad leaves, and I felt doubt.

When I awoke my campsite seemed to be amid the arid landscape preceding the jungle, and there was a thorn-cut in my right hand. It has not healed since.

-- Excerpt⁴ from the journal of Aru-Gahan, Fallen Paladin of Iomedae

1. Jahil Garumhold was a dwarven companion of Aru-Gahan. He apparently met his fate in the Day 17 entry of the journal, but this entry is missing.
2. It is believed the author is referring to the Mistwood.
3. Nassani was apparently a romantic partner of Aru-Gahan. Several times the author refers to her as having passed away, but it is unclear whether this event happened before or after his Waking. It is unknown whether she was ever present in the Beyond.
4. The page this excerpt ends on was filled, but the next several entries are missing. It is unknown whether the Day 50 entry is presently in its entirety.