The UmU Chronicles

Chapter 2

The Dryfus forest, indeed only fools and the brave tread into it. Even if an Adventurer is highly experienced, one has no guarantee of survival in the forest full of dangers & natural traps. The forest serves as a barrier for both, the races as well as the monsters occupying it.

But indeed, where dangers lie, so does the gold, The Forest is very famous for its rare herbs like Herbes dze Feuin or Fire Herbs which is known for it's fire like appearance, orange leaves & red stem. It's leaves are used to create a paste for soothing burns, it's stems are inflammable, yes indeed, when the stems are in contact with fire, it burns with a loud burst of fire & sound. 

For best use in warfare, one crushes the stems & puts them into leather pouches which are connected from inside & outside with a string that is lighted up with fire before being thrown. This type of warfare is believed to be made by the People of Huang He, who during the Second War of the Ages had used against the foreign invaders who tried to ransack their country.

There are a few more plants who have rare commercial value one such flower is the Moon Flower which is a rare material used to create high grade potions which buffs strength & stamina & increases your senses tenfold during the night which is highly valued by Adventurers & Mercenaries alike, Alchemist will pay millions to get their hands on it for atleast every Alchemist dream of creating a potion using an ingredient such as Kweur dze Kweune. 

The Moon Flower is said to bloom every 29 Days & every 4 years the flowers burst & the moon glooms. It is highly valued as getting hands on the potion is really tedious & the places where it grows are the Ogrodin dze Kweune in Zmerizcesule Forlas, the homeland of the Dark Elves & the Dryfus Forest in Aesnia.
The Water Mushroom or L'Weau Champigyzb is a really important fungi for adventurers, why one may ask? As the name suggests, the upper part i.e., the cap of the mushroom is surrounded by Gills which closes a pouch filled with water. It acts as a natural pouch of water & thus highly valued by Adventurers as the shelf life of the fungi is also high. The Stalk of the mushroom is also a delicacy in many parts of the realm due to the rich taste.

A Lone maiden walks along the path back to her home, for indeed it is tiresome to do chores which are to be done without the help of magic. Chestnut Auburn, perfectly groomed hair slightly reveals a round warm face. Shining eyes like the emerald, adorned her pale golden skin. Her pointy ears certainly point out her elven heritage. A Brown dress adorns her slim frame. She wears a belt, full of glass vials & a small pouch in which she stores ingredients. A dagger is also sheathed in the belt. Her name is Aradriel, Aradriel Iarrona.

She sighs exasperatedly, "Where in Gaia's name, is the Kweur in this godforsaken forlas? Seriously Teacher! just when I delivered the book!" Her footsteps crunch the fallen leaves & branches beneath on her path as she follows a luminescent light which seems to quiver & shake as it moves through a clearing ahead. She quietly whispers thanks to the light & moves on ahead.

In front of her, on the side of a cliff lay a moon-lit patch of Moon flowers flaying in the winds of the night, guarded by what seemed like a pale moonstone wall. She was rather ecstatic to find the flowers without any hitch & just as she stooped to pick a flower, touching the wall, she heard a snore. It turns out to be that, the so-called wall was a huge snake spanning the whole cliff, it lay it's head, with eyes like molten sapphire & it's body & it's tail yet to be seen, hidden in the woods.

The Pale Albino Guardian of the flowers, lay snoring & here, Aradriel starts to back off quietly & suddenly she steps on a dried leaf which almost wakes the snake. As soon as she breathes a sigh of relief, out of nowhere, came the tail which flicked her to a certain distance, due to which she rolled & almost fell down the cliff. But somehow, she was able to grab with all her might, the edge of the cliff & climbed up. She watches the area in front of her & saw that the snake had certainly changed it's position & still lay snoring, she quietly moved towards the flower patch & plucked a few of them & stuffed them into her pouch, she grumbled, "Damn Kweur & Damn Serpwaz"

Just as she was inching towards the exit of the 'walled' garden, The Serpwaz moved it's forked tongue & just as Aradriel turned behind, under the moonlight shone the scales of the pale albino guardian as it stared with it's sapphire eyes at the elf whether to discern whether she was a prey or a nuisance. It lifted it's head up slowly & glanced at the creature in front of it, it's forked tongue slithered hither tither & it's breath visible in the dark night. A single bead of sweat formed on her forehead & as it trickled down & hit upon a moon flower's petal, The Snake opened its mouth showing its jaws, white, did the elf run in the woods deep, to hide.

The Snake chased its fleeing prey, slithering in the woods, passing through the trees. Aradriel did her best to shake her pursuer off, but to no avail she was finally backed into a corner, with a stone wall behind her, She screened the forest floor as well as her vials, seeing something with which she could fight back against the snake. The Albino Snake slithered towards her & raised its head, it stared at her & opened its mouth to devour its prey.