Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Tycoed

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Coeden:

Race: Dryad Amalgamation

Size: 400 feet diameter at base, 1600 feet diameter canopy, 2,000 feet tall

Alignment: nature

Class: Druid

Rank: B

Description:

Coeden is an amalgamation of thousands of Dryads who sacrificed themselves to create a mana well. If one looks closely, they can still see remnants of a few individuals who make up her being.

Atop her branches rests the city of Tycoed, the first Elosian Dryad colony.

Her leaves are bright green most of the year, but turn multicolored during the fall season. Her branches are never barren, and even self-heat during the winter, providing year-round comfort for the Dryads who call her both home and mother.

As a nature druid, she has the ability to see and affect spirits, as well as the woodland around her. For centuries, she has used this power to create the ideal conditions for other Dryads to be born. Within the reaches of her power, Dryads are born over 1,000 times as often as they would be otherwise. Since she had a hand in creating them, most Dryads born in the area call her mother.

Personality:

Coeden does not speak often, so there are more rumors about her personality than factual stories. However, every story agrees on two basic facts: she loves her children unconditionally, and woe betide those who endanger them.

Diet:

As Coeden is composed of tree-based Dryads, her diet is consistent with other members of her species.

Combat:

Due to the fact that Coeden was created by thousands of Dryads, her body and soul is fractured. Though she has a class and alignment, she has no specialization nor Deprivation.

Coeden has the ability to create and use mana equivalent to any B rank nature druid . In addition, as a sentient mana well, her reserves are effectively limitless.

Due to the fact that Tycoed rests atop her, her combat power is effectively that of the entire city, stacked on top of her own incredible might.

Origin:

After the war of Dryad independence on Husaram, a great many Dryads sought new lands to call their own. In the year 3,960 A.C, 20,000 of them found their new home on the newly colonized planet of Elos.

In order for any society to survive on a monster-infested planet, one of two things must happen: there must be high ranks willing to protect them, or there must be a mana well.

A B rank Powered is technically enough to fulfill the first condition, but that is generally inadvisable. B rank monsters are uncommon, but most well-less cities will still have to fight them off at some point. If a city’s sole defender is injured or killed, the city rarely survives. Several B rank powereds can fill that first condition, but for the Dryads that would establish Tycoed, they had only one.

That only left the Dryads the option of a mana well. Mana wells are the cornerstone of modern civilization, and their creation was what marked the start of what historians call the age of wells. These wells absorb the vast majority of neutral mana in several miles radius, allowing humanoids to create towns and cities where very few monsters would spawn, no monster could grow in, and most monsters would avoid. In addition, they produce massive amounts of mana crystals using the neutral mana they absorb. These mana crystals would be absorbed by powereds to augment their mana recovery faster than they could through mana in the air, and assist them in increasing their own ranks without the need to venture outside the mana wells.

Most mana wells, especially those known in the year 3,960 A.C, were excessively complicated and resource intensive to make. Those that weren’t tended to absorb all types of mana, which has its own set of problems. Firstly, if a monster from outside strolled in, it may take some amount of time for the monster’s mana to drain. In the meantime, the Powereds that live within the mana well’s area would have no way to defend themselves. Secondly, Dryads were fae, and their spirits were made of nature-aligned mana.

For the Dryads on a newly inhabited planet to make a mana well, this left one option. Using the same techniques the dwarves originally developed to create the first mana well, thousands of nature druid Dryads sacrificed themselves in the process of merging into a super-being. This super-being, an amalgamation of thousands of compatible Dryads, was capable of absorbing ambient mana at a level multiplicative, rather than additive, of those it consumed.

This mana well was not sapient for decades, but the Dryads who built their home atop it knew that it would be one day. And as she would one day do for each of her children, they would do for her. On the day of their sacrifice — the day of her birth — they granted her a name. And they would call her Coeden.

'

I moved towards Tycoed, and stopped at a small pond on the way, viewing my reflection. I saw curly green tendrils for hair, hanging down just past my shoulders. I saw blue eyes, and tree-bark where skin was supposed to be.

The significance of my Deprivation finally dawned on me. This was not my face. These were not my limbs. But I would forever be deprived of them. From now until the end of my life, I would have to settle for a borrowed body.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and started drinking. I don’t think I need to drink water, but Rhannu certainly would. The animals would. Likely the spiderilla too. I spent an hour drinking, thankful that I could do so without water intoxication. Having my subspace integrated with my digestive system was rather handy at times like this, even if it didn’t stop the pond water from tasting awful.

I arrived at the base of Coeden an hour later, bowed at the waste, then shouted into the air "Coeden, I beseech thee! Carry me into thine branches, so that I may join with mine brethren!"

A massive branch lowered towards the ground, beckoning me to climb on. I complied, and the branch raised me up towards one of the lower entrance platforms of Tycoed. About halfway up, the branch abruptly stopped, and I felt an overwhelming presence make itself known.

"Ohoho, what have we here?" The very air shook as Coeden spoke, and onlookers froze and stared.

Coeden rarely spoke, other than to grant a newborn Dryad a name. Besides that, something important had to have happened for her to speak up, like an important guest showing up, or imminent danger. Did she think I was dangerous?

A mass of thorny vines shot up and tightly wound around me, answering my question. I stood still, making sure not to resist and potentially aggravate the great tree.

"I know your form to be one of me kin, but I don't sense no spirit in ya. Who do you think you're foolin' lookin' like that, mon? Come out with it, before I turn ya into fertilizer for the rest of me kids."

I'd never heard my grandmother Coeden speak more than a word, but I didn't expect her voice to sound quite like this. It certainly wasn't a local dialect, and none of the other Dryads sounded anything like it. Maybe her accent is the original Dryad accent, and ours has changed in the thousand or so years since she's been born.

More importantly, how did she know I wasn't Rhannu? And why is she saying I don't have a spirit? Do I not have one, even as a half-Dryad in a Dryad's body? Even if she can't detect Rhannu's spirit within my subspace, I should still have my own; Same as any other half-fae.

Maybe it's gone, like my body. But spirits are a Fae's soul. If I don't have one, then wouldn't it suggest I only have half a soul, if even that? I should get back to that when I'm not in danger.

"Oh great mother Coeden, I seek not to deceive you, nor do I mean you harm!" I shouted in alarm. Since she knows I'm not Rhannu, I may as well spill the beans to her. I spoke at a more normal volume "I am not Rhannu, this is true. I recently came into my powers, and as a result, Rhannu was…" I trailed off as Coeden growled. The unbound spirits in the air glowed brilliantly, blinding me.

I want to tell the whole truth, but I don't think she'll believe everything, or even listen all the way through when she's this angry. I skipped my explanation to its conclusion. "He's alive now, at least. But I don't know how to bring him here, if I can at all."

The vines tightened further, threatening to crush me. She clearly didn't believe my hastened explanation. “Please don’t hurt me. Please don’t kill Rhannu.“ I cried.

Coeden was evidently confused by that, and called out for someone. "Seer Gweledydd! Come out here now, try to figure out what this bumbling buffoon is blabbering about."

A minute later, another Dryad approached the entry platform before being gently lowered down by a branch.

Seer Gweledydd was a dream-druid. B ranked, with a specialization that allowed her to envision the past and future of an individual. People would come from all over Elos to ask her to grant them a prophecy.

Seeing through time is also a spell usually reserved only for time-druids, which is the rarest of all class-alignment combos. Specializations that emulated this effect were unheard of before her. If a person didn’t have the gold to shell out for one of the A-rank time-seers like Zachary on Husaram, or Nabee in Kyhun, then she’s the best there is.

"Oh dear Rhannu, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" Gweledydd asked.

"Rhannu just ain't got no luck, now do he? Always getting himself inta trouble. All thanks to those mischievous li'l wood sprites that hang 'round him, I say. That and all the wine he drinks." Coeden commented, and knocked on her wooden self with a branch. "Now do ya thing and tell me what he got 'imself inta this time."

Gweledydd let out a sigh and walked about a foot away from me, handing over an hourglass. "Hold this, and please, no funny business. Just let it happen, and this will go much easier." She turned to Coeden. "Past or future?"

"Past." Mother Coeden requested. "I want to know what happened to 'im."

Gweledydd sat down cross-legged, and began to work her magic. I started to drift off, going into a dream-like state, and felt a flow of mana churn within me. Mostly my own mana at first, with a little of hers to guide it. Slowly, my own mana was phased out, and hers began to take over the process entirely on her own as she poured more and more in. The sands of the hourglass rose as if they were defying gravity, or time itself.

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Vague feelings and images formed in my head. I'm guessing they're my own experiences, happening in reverse order, but they're too fast, blurry, and undecipherable to me. Though, I'm sure Gweledydd understands them at least partially.

A minute or so later, Gweledydd seemed to get what she needed. I woke up as the churning within me stopped, and the hourglass's sand resumed falling in its normal direction.

"Sylas, I'm sorry for what you had to go through. I’m sorry for everything." She spoke softly, then turned and shouted up at "Mother Coeden, it's alright. He may not have a spirit, but he's not a doppelganger. He’s one of us."

Coeden grunted in affirmation, muttering something about "No Fae should be goin' 'round without their spirit. It's unnatural," and lifted us up to the entry platform. We said our goodbyes, and Gweledydd went her separate way. I could feel the villagers of Tycoed staring my way for a little while after the show, but it eventually faded.

With half the village staring, it didn’t take long to find my parents. It helps that Hald is one of very few humans in Tycoed, so it's easy to pick them out from the crowd.

"Gettin' up to trouble again, eh Rhannu?" Hald laughed.

“Rhannu, what is this about you losing your spirit?” Olewydden asked in concern.

It's a little depressing hearing my own parents talk to me as if I were someone else. I would have to tell them about what had happened. About how Rhannu had died. About how They would never see my face again… I’m not sure if I’m up for that.

"I'm not too sure about that. I'll have to do some investigating. Speaking of investigating, can you remind me what you found out about the rising mana levels? I'm a bit concerned about why Coeden's mana-well isn't working. She's not dying, is she?"

They looked pitifully at me as if I had two heads, both of which were empty. Rhannu already knew what was up, and it was most likely significant enough that he shouldn't have been able to forget.

My father broke the silence, thankfully. "You seem to have lost a bit more than your spirit, eh? I can't blame ya. I'm losing my mind a bit over this, too. It's not just Almer Forest. Not just Ostea, either. Heck, I'm hearing rumors of similar issues outside of Elos. It's all over. I’ve been told the neutral mana cycle has reached a point where the ambient mana is overwhelming mana wells. Some are claiming that another cataclysm may occur if the ambient mana gets too dense."

I blinked. There had been only one other cataclysm in history, and it changed the fundamental structure of the universe. Galaxies were erased, constellations realigned, and mana and monsters were brought to existence. If not for the proto-powereds, reality itself would have shattered, the last vestiges of sapient life with it. For a second one to come…

"What does a second cataclysm mean for us? Mana is already part of our universe. Would a second cataclysm just mean more mana, or is it something to worry about? How is neutral mana causing the second cataclysm, anyhow? And why would that make Coeden's mana-well fail?"

"Damned if I know, and no species I know of with the kind of a lifespan to know about how it happened existed pre-cataclysm. I think a second one is just baseless speculation, personally." Hald said.

"As for why Coeden's mana well isn't working, there's just too much ambient mana in her effective radius for her to absorb it all. Ambient mana levels have remained within recommended radius to rank ratios for mana wells until now, so she's never had to increase her capacity. We've been… discussing the idea of it." Olewydden explained.

Increasing her capacity? That's a bit ominous, considering the origin of Dryad-based mana wells. Dryads were sacrificed in the thousands just to create wells big enough for a small town. Coeden was an amalgamation from over 3,000 nature-druid Dryads. For Coeden to increase her capacity, she'd have to sacrifice more of them, which would include…

I stared at my mother. I wrapped my arms around her, shivering in terror. "You can't! Please mom, I can't lose you! Not you too!" I screamed.

She hugged me back and responded "Don't worry, we decided against the merge. It's too barbaric a practice for this day and age. Besides, the ambient mana levels are only just barely above recommended thresholds, and should remain that way for a while. She can just lower her own radius to compensate."

"Whatever comes, we'll take it. Come hell or high water, I'm not giving her up, don't you worry." Hald added. "And what the hell is this about her being your mother? Did you actually lose your marbles?"

I slipped up, but maybe it's for the best. I caved, and told them everything.

---

"It's not your fault, son." Mother tried to console me, but I didn't listen. I'd made too many mistakes, gone over this too many times in my head, to think it was anything but my own fault.

Hald changed the topic. "So, what are you going to do now that you got those powers you always wanted?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure I trust myself right now. Maybe I'll go back to tending the farms —" I was interrupted by Hald flicking me in the forehead.

"Son, you've been talking about being an adventurer and seeing the world since you learned to talk. What kind of bullcrap are you spouting on about?" Hald scolded me. "You aren't the first to get someone killed due to newfound powers, and you certainly won't be the last. Everyone makes mistakes. You did what you could. Don't give up on your dreams because of it. If you give them up, then your mistakes meant nothing. Don't do that to yourself, boy. Don't do that to Rhannu."

I'm still not comfortable with myself, and I don't agree with how he's just dismissing what I did to Rhannu, but he's right. I can't give up at the starting line. It wouldn't be right.

"So, I ask again. Where are you going, boy? What will you do?"

"I'm going to—"

"look me in the eyes, son."

"I'm going to Aurelius to be an adventurer. But I have one thing to take care of first…"

"Do I get any say in this?" Olewydden asked.

"Olewydden, it's his dreams. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." Hald remarked. Olewydden rolled her eyes.

“Besides,” Hald continued in a hushed tone I could barely hear. “You know as well as I do that we can’t shelter our children forever. Not here. Not us.”

---

After making a few preparations, I descended from Tycoed and shifted into my new owl form. As I opened my eyes again, the entire forest lit up like I was staring directly at the sun. I tightly shut my eyes until the burning sensation went away, then cracked them open only a sliver. The grass directly below my feet was blurry, but I could see the trees far in the distance in incredible detail.

I unfurled my wings and flapped them once, feeling the turbulence in the air as I pushed against it. I did so again and again, faster and faster, until I started feeling weightless. My body shifted forwards and I pushed off against the ground.

I’d learned from my time in cockroach and locust form, and spent some time low to the ground so it wouldn’t hurt when I inevitably crashed. A half hour later, I felt comfortable enough with myself to go higher.

I rose one foot, ten feet, and broke through the forest’s canopy. 100 feet, 200, I continued my ascent until even Coeden was beneath me. From here, everything looked small, like ants, but still crystal clear.

I did a twirl and screeched in exhilaration, completely forgetting the parchment I was carrying with my beak. It dropped towards the earth, and I circled around to catch it. I furled my wings and dove after it, reaching out to grab it with my talon, but missing by a hair. I circled around once more, caught it on my second try, then stored the parchment within my subspace. I should get into the habit of doing that. There really isn't a reason to carry things anymore, now is there?

Finished embarrassing myself with the needless theatrics, I spotted Norbury in the distance and flew towards it. I hadn’t even reached the village when I spotted my target.

---

Johnson was in the middle of his graduation ceremony when an owl flew up to him, materialized a rolled up parchment into its claw, then let out a dozen hoots that sounded suspiciously like laughter. The owl dropped the note and flew off north. Johnson picked it up, and unfurled the note.

'

Dear Johnson,

Suck it.

Sincerely yours,

The powerless freeloader

'

Johnson looked quizzically in the direction the owl had flown. “Sylas?” His expression turned to a scowl. "Fuckin' Sylas."

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