(2025-04-20) Surwich: The Tainted Forest

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Author:	Alli
Summary:	Adamantia, Callyna, Merelda, and Ozzy head out of Surwich village into the forest to the north, to check on Marl Wormthorn in his great tree. There is something a little off in the forest today… ~3300 words.
Rating:	T for Teen

The village of Surwich, founded several months before, is beginning to look much less like a construction site and more like a little slice of Gilneas away from home. The cluster of buildings nestled at the shore of the sea are all the narrow, dark-wooded, peak-roofed structures one might have seen in Gilneas City itself. The largest building – but not by much – is the inn, a multi-storied and located in the center of town. Surwich is well off the road to most travelers, but there must be some place to put up settlers before they have their own lodgings built. The rest of the buildings are a small smattering of houses, evidence of their inhabitants visible in the billowing clothes drying on laundry lines and the haphazard front-yard storing of the daily-life tools of a fishing village – buckets and rope and bait boxes and the like.

To one side of the town is a large paddock with several chubby horses milling around and nosing the ground. There’s not much labor for a beast of burden here, so these are likely the communal horses for local travel. Not far from the paddock is a little smithy, nothing next to the Great Anvil, but a reasonable place to fashion horseshoes or hooks. A small dock, to which several fishing craft are carefully secured, rests along the coast, water lapping gently against the wood. Nearby is what looks like a small shop or workbench for fishing-related supplies.

The low grass at the sides of the footpaths is still glistening with dew this morning, and a faint mist lingers that might be banished later by the sun. Past the lake to the north, gnarled trees with spiky, drought-resistant leaves form a large forest, one which seems entirely too established to have sprung up in a matter of months. If knowledge of origins is not enough to highlight the unnaturalness of forest and greenery, one need only to look east, where mere paces away from the bounds of Surwich the life gives way entirely to the bare, fel-scorched orange stone of the Blasted Lands.

Merelda Veyne, wearing a dark purple dress that contrasts with her wild red hair, leans against a tree by the paddock. Her gaze is pensive as she looks over the lake, towards the forest and the low, morning mist that wreathes the trunks of the trees. She straightens, settling a basket on her arm, and mutters to herself, "I suppose I'd best get to it. I wonder if he'll be awake today."

Moving into the mist-shrouded forest, Merelda can't suppress a faint shiver, though the area should be safe enough. There's an odd feeling in the air among the trees sometimes, as if she's being watched. She usually chalks it up to her own reasonable sense of caution in a dangerous world, and to the fact that she is being watched, though by nothing with malevolent purpose.

She rests her hand on the rough bark of one gnarled tree as she passes, and says quietly, "I wonder if Caspis would be pleased to see such life. It all grew so quickly, though. The Plaguelands took years to heal… perhaps it is simply that human druids live faster, and so our magic takes root more rapidly."

"You talkin' to me or to y'sewf?" says a large tawny cat as it apparently materializes out of thin air from some nearby foliage. It pads over to Merelda's side, looking up at her with luminous eyes. Its markings reveal it as a fellow druid, even if its speech did not already do so, and the wolfish cast of its snout and ears marks it as a fellow worgen.

"Maybe to you," Merelda says with a slight smile. "I'd say there's a good chance you're about, whenever I speak, whether I see you or not, Ozzy. But honestly, I was just… musing. I know we're using nature magic, but doesn't it seem a little… unnatural for things to grow so quickly?"

Ozzy sits back on her haunches and scratches at an ear with her hind paw.

"Oi'm a bit new at all this," she says, "so mos'ly I jus' do wot the others teww me. It does seem a bit… impatient-loike, though, don't it? But no one asks me nuffing."

"It does," Merelda says with a nod. "I was expecting more… gardening, perhaps? But it does seem effective. I was just going now to bring more food to Marl in the tree." She hefts the little basket. "I hope he's awake this time. It can't be healthy for humans — or worgen — to simply sleep for weeks at a time, after all. Maybe it's better for kaldorei."

Ozzy looks around, keeping close to Merelda's side. "It'll be noice, though, roight? To 'ave a place that feews a bit more loike 'ome. Nuffing against the big tree, it's real pretty an' peaceful, but it's awfully… elfy, innit?"

Merelda nods, her shoulders relaxing. "Yes, that was what I wanted here, even though it is out in the middle of nowhere. Darnassus is Darnassus, and it seems every project I take on it is… please, do this in the Stormwind style. To be fair, I am designing things for Stormwind, so it makes sense. I just… miss Gilneas, sometimes."

Ozzy's feline face takes on a slightly sad expression, ears folding and eyes widening as she nods. She bumps her head against Merelda's hip with a gentle purr.

"We deserve somefing of our own," she says quietly. "Noice of 'em to let us come live in Stormwind, but tha' don't make us Stormwind f'rough an' f'rough. Even if we could just forget who we was, we shouldn't 'ave to, roight? It ain't Gilneas' fault, wot 'appened, it was dumb old Graymane an' 'is toadies. Not roight to just… woipe everyfing tha' was good an' pretty about a place away all because some barmy old man ran its guv'mint to ruin."

Merelda reaches down her hand to sink it into the fur on Ozzy's head. "Yes, there is so much I want to preserve. So much of our people that might be lost to history. My House, even, with Wallas gone…" Merelda pats Ozzy gently. "It's the people who make up the nation of Gilneas, not the land. But then sometimes the people can build Gilnean structures or dance Gilnean dances, and that's good too."

In the distance, coming just into view, a tree larger than the others looms ahead of them, glistening water running down its massive trunk and pieces of kaldorei-style rock embedded in it.

A (human?) woman sits a short distance from it, studying it. Adamantia glances over as the others approach. She waves in greeting, reddish brown hair poking out of her green hooded cloak.

Ozzy shifts into a her human form and waves back enthusiastically. She's dressed in ragged leathers, her hair a wild brassy tangle of curls.

Merelda raises a hand in greeting. "Ada, is everything well?"

"Oo's that then?" Ozzy says affably.

"Ah, you may not have met yet," Merelda says, turning to Ozzy. "Ada's been staying at the Veyne residence. She's not Gilnean, but she's one of us."

It's probably clear what that means.

Merelda turns to Ada, and adds, "May I introduce Oslynn, former ward of House Veyne."

"Owdyedo," says Oslynn with a… curtsey?

"Hey," Ada says. "What brings you both out here, then? Tree?" She points at the massive tree.

"Tree," Merelda confirms. "I was bringing more food for Marl inside. He hasn't been coming back to the village lately — too absorbed in the plant-nurturing I suppose. Have you had a chance to meet him yet? Though… he may well be asleep. That seems more often lately, as well."

"Is 'e in the Emerald Dream, loike?" Ozzy asks. "I ain't know 'ow to do that yet."

Ada shakes her head. "Haven't met him. But I'm going to, I guess? If he's awake?"

"I hope," Merelda nods. "And I assume so. I confess I haven't been to this 'Emerald Dream' myself before, either. The druids do make it sound very impressive. Shall we?"

Merelda gestures to the shadowy entrance to the massive trunk. It looks like they can walk right in. Ozzy shifts back into cat form and pads alongside Merelda. Ada gets up and follows along. A tree house, neat.

The area under the tree is surprisingly immense, and at the center a worgen man lies, fast asleep. The roots arch down on all sides to the ground, and a faint green life magic casts flickering shadows over the floor.

Merelda considers him pressing her lips together. Then she says in a normal-pitched voice, "Well, we can leave it for him at least. He won't wake when he's like this."

"Oi could try'n wake 'im," Ozzy says, her feline eyes glinting mischievously.
Her tail swishes back and forth.

Ada smiles at Ozzy. "What by pouncing on him?"

Merelda laughs. "If you'd like to try — though he might be angry if it works. I'm not really familiar with how this… growing trance works. Have either of you ever seen anyone do this sort of thing?"

"I wasn't a… witch? Where I came from," Ada says. "Just a huntress. I'm still learning all the…" She waves her hand in a sweeping gesture at the life magic around them.

Not hearing a no, Ozzy crouches down, rear end wiggling… and then gently pounces right next to the sleeping man, nudging him and giving his face a lick.

"I wasn't a witch either," Merelda says, watching to see what will happen. "That was more Ozzy's thing — so your people had witches, then?"

Marl's face moves with the lick, but he doesn't stir. One might think the worst, except that his chest continues to rise and fall rhythmically with his breath. Merelda moves over, setting down the basket, and then lifts his paw and lets go. It simply falls back to the soil. The shadows seem to shift at the edges of the tree-room, and for a brief, fleeting moment they seem to darken.

"Of a sort," Ada says. She jumps at the brief darkening of shadows. "That was supposed to happen, right?"

Ozzy's hair puffs up a little, and she slinks closer to Merelda.

"I don't know," Merelda says, looking at the unconscious worgen. "Surely he knows what he's doing, right?"

There is no answer from the sleeping druid, and Merelda reaches down to touch Ozzy before she takes a breath. "I do wish I understood all of the rules this druid business worked by. An awful lot of it seems mysterious, if you ask me. In any case, I suppose we can leave this here for him when he wakes, and perhaps then we can ask him if he tried to spook us with shadows."

"Dangerous thing to do, spooking worgen," Ada says, but she wastes no time making for the exit.

"I'd like to think people should be no more cautious of us than of anyone else," Merelda says, nudging the basket closer to him and turning to leave. "It would be terribly difficult to do business if my clients were frightened of me."

Ada shrugs. "Spooking a hunter or an assassin isn't smart either," she says. "Some people you just don't wanna startle."

"I'll keep that in mind," Merelda says, raising an eyebrow at Ada. "Though I think you'll be safe at Veyne House. Ozzy can tell you exactly how mischievous my parents are." They aren't, says her tone.

The three of them pass back out of the tree trunk, but Merelda pauses just outside and sniffs once. Then twice. With an expression of mild annoyance, Merelda's form shimmers, and then there's a worgen in a purple dress scenting the air. "There's something in the air… faint. It smells rotten."

Ozzy's fur bristles, and she leans against Merelda's legs.

Ada sniffs as well and makes a face. "Look for it?"

Ozzy switches into her worgen form - possibly her sense of smell is slightly keener in that form than the cat. She's dressed the same as in human form, ratty leathers, but her mane is a darker color, a true brown, and it's braided in a way that looks like it took a lot of time, even though it's random and messy.

She lifts her snout and snuffles the air, trying to determine where the smell is coming from.

"I might trust the tracking to you two," Merelda says, dropping to all fours. "Keener senses help, but I'm still not exactly an expert, despite the feral years."

A barking mastiff rushes through the woods and stops dead in his tracks when spotting Ozzy. He wags his short tail. What did we just say about surprising hunters and assassins, Finley?

A voice calls out to him - Callyna's - a voice that stops immediately as Callyna begins to smell the other worgen around. That, and the smell of rot. She hides behind a tree, in her worgen form. What are those worgen doing here? The smell is familiar, but even people you know may be doing some shady stuff in the woods. Her heart is racing, pounding in her chest. What is happening right now? Why has Finley abandoned her?

"Cor!" Ozzy-cat exclaims in surprise. "Oi know you, don't oi?" She appears to be addressing the dog.

Merelda looks down at the dog as well. "Is your master nearby?" She looks up at the surrounding trees.

Callyna perks up at the sound of Ozzy's voice. Finley barks. "I'm here." Callyna says stepping out from behind the tree.

"Callyna," Merelda says with a smile. "Out to explore the new forest?"

Ozzy shifts back into human form, perhaps to be more recognizable to Callyna. She gives a slightly flaily little wave and a grin.

"I suppose you could say so," Callyna approaches Finley and places a hand on his head, calming him down. He's happy to see Ozzy, and from the courteous nod she gives, it looks like Callyna is too. Friend! "I'm looking for inspiration."

Callyna, still in her worgen form, turns to look deeper into the forest. "Do you feel this too?"

"Somefing's off," says Ozzy.

"Inspiration," Merelda repeats, shifting back into human form herself, for familiarity. "And… yes… there has been something that felt… uncomfortable in the forest. I can't quite put my finger on it. I was hoping Marl might be able to allay our concerns, but… he remains asleep."

"Could it be demons?" Ozzy pipes up. "I dunno from demons, really, but I 'eard this place was full of 'em before." She looks almost eager. Demons, cool!

"That would be… troubling. The druidic work is meant to keep them well outside the bounds of the forest. But yes, there were demons here before," Merelda nods. "I suppose the safest thing to do would be to look for the source."

Ozzy nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, I got your back."

Merelda shifts back into worgen form, trusting none of those present will be alarmed, and sniffs the air again. She heads off into the misty forest, pausing to sniff every once in a while. They come to a little clearing where a treant is pacing back and forth, its tree-face turned away from them.

"I think the scent is coming from…" Merelda stares at the treant curiously. "The treants are usually a good sign for the health of a forest."

Ada wrinkles her nose at the sight of the treant and hangs back. "What's it doing?" she asks.

Ozzy makes a wide-eyed, tight-lipped face that suggests that if she were in cat form, her tail would be puffed up and her ears flat.

"I'm not sure…" Merelda says, peering at it with wolfish eyes.

The treant slowly turns, and then the worgen can see there is something very wrong with it. Its eyes are filled with green fel fire, and the foul energy drips from the open mouth in its bark. It spots them and starts walking towards them menacingly.

"KILL IT!" Ozzy cries, and shifts into bear form to protect the others.

The sudden tree horror startles Ada enough that white fur begins to sprout over her body. After a moment of grappling with it, she manages to force her form into a large wolf-cat, rather than shifting full worgen. She pounces on the treant.

Merelda stays in worgen form and takes a step back, but she raises her hands and pulls down beams of light from the sky to attack the foul creature.

The treant rakes its branches across Ozzy's thick bear hide.

Ozzy ROARS in pain but redoubles her attack, trying to keep the foul thing focused on her and not her companions.

Merelda leaves off the attacking light and green magic blooms from her hands, encircling Ozzy.

Callyna shakes in fear, and is barely even able to bring a hand to her mouth, in fear of the terrifyingly corrupted treant. Once she does, however, she freezes in fear, her muscles all tensed. Finley, on the other hand, doesn't hesitate and throws himself at the tree, biting at its bark aggressively.

Ozzy continues to throw herself into the battle, emboldened by the presence of Merelda's healing magic and the backup doggo.

The treant is soon reduced to kindling. Not the sort of kindling you'd want to use, though, because it would probably stink of the fel.

Merelda stares at the shattered wood, aghast. "What… what is that doing here? Marl's protective barrier…"

"…Ain't work," Ozzy finishes. Still in bear form.

"Ain't work," Merelda echoes weakly. "Or at least, it isn't effective enough. Maybe that's why he's unconscious, trying to hold off too much power." She frowns. "We may need to ask the Cenarion Circle to send someone here to help."

"Oi could ask me shandoe," Ozzy says, mangling the word horribly. "Immy," she clarifies(?). "She cares about the worgen a lot."

"That might be a good idea," Merelda nods. "Immy… Imrolane seemed very knowledgeable, when I spoke with her. And I can ask my own shan'do Caspis as well, though he is quite busy in Hyjal."

"Is that what demons look like?" Ada asks, returning to her human form. "Tree demon? That a thing?"

"I don't think so," Merelda says. "A treant is a forest protector — I've seen them in the kaldorei lands. This one seems to have been corrupted somehow. Do you have these where you come from?"

Ada shakes her head. "I think we had kal-dor-ei visitors a long, long time ago — they planted an evil tree, but I never saw any treants."

"An evil tree," Merelda says, faint worry in her voice, as she turns her head back towards the large tree at the center of the forest. "Well, this is the first such thing I've seen in the forest, so it might just be some demonic creature wandered in through the barrier and infected the treant. Let's gather up the wood, head back to Surwich, and contact the Cenarion druids, shall we? It's likely nothing to be alarmed over."

"I ain't touchin' tha'," Ozzy says, backing up from the dead treant, still in bear form.

Callyna is still frozen in horror at the demonic tree, staring at its remains in fear. That is, until Finley comes to nuzzle his face against her leg, slowly waking her up from that fear.
"Nowhere is ever safe in Azeroth, right?" she says, blankly.

"We'll make it safe," Merelda says firmly, moving forward to start stacking the fel-infused wood in her own hands. "We'll talk to the Cenarion Circle, and they'll know what to do. They have thousands of years of experience, right? They'll be able to make it right."