The Withering Pt.1

  On the road to Nohkanda, I happened upon a village and paused from my journey at an open air public house. As I sat enjoying a dark brew and resting my wayworn feet, I studied a painting of a castle with a wind-blown old tower high on a crag of rock. An old fellow reclined nearby in the most comfortable looking chair, possibly as old as himself. I ambled over and asked the old timer if he knew any tales or lore about the castle in the painting.

  He seemed to slowly unwind from a torpor as he adjusted his spectacles and peered over at the painting, as if through a haze of morning fog. A glint came to his eyes as recollection struck that foggy old mind. He said it was Castle Vidasvard, so named as it was the home of Duke Mourn. Or had been. The Duke had passed and it was now held in stead by his daughters, Riga and Jena Vidasvard.

  I said that it seemed a lonely, isolated place for them to live. At that, a dark aspect came over his face and he looked me over a bit before he replied. He said I must be from a Land Very Far indeed to be unaware of the role played by the Castle and the Dukes of Mourn; that role now fallen to those daughters of resolute demeanor.

  I said as much, and that I was from Beyond this realm, and quite new to the Lore of these Lands. Yet, I was eager to know, for I collected tales and whispers, sagas and rumors, and transcribed them for folk in other realms, other places far Beyond.

  I introduced myself and he told me he was a guide named Kob, of the Tolbin clan out of Tume-Nor. His folk had spread out over time and some ended up in the land of Nok, which was where we were. Or to be precise, we were on the western edge of Nok-Hnar. The Castle lay further east on the waters of the Skardfloe, and in sight of the misty Witherwold.

  He said that with a gruffness, and yet a hushed tone manner. Witherwold. Like a curse.
I asked him why and he looked away for a long moment. He turned back and his eyes seemed unwilling to release the tale.

  I bid him pause, as I acquired a hearty stout for each of us. After a few sips of strong bitter brew, a renewed vigor came to his face; cheeks flushed and brow set firmer.

  He began to tell me of a land covered in a most glorious woodland cloak. From Tume to Far Beyond in the East, even to the Sea, there was the great wood Shahda; known to some in those older days as the realm of Shadhagam. Many lived within the embrace of Shahda; men and beast and those that sit somewhere between. Or somewhere beyond as well.

  One such middling was Old Gantu, the badger sage of Ohkin, and high mage of the great wood. Gantu traveled the realm tending tree and rock, path and field; talking with flowers and bees about ages past and trending weather patterns, as they affected the years pollination and future honey reserves.

  He guided meandering streams of melt water from high in the craggy Tol Senif in the north, toward Over Yond. Gantu gathered fact and fable as he roamed and aided all he encountered, be they lost woodsman or ravenous wolf, sleepy bear, in need of honey, or young maid on the way to granny's cottage. The wooded realm was known to Gantu. The leafy green was a cloak he wore.

  Bark and stone, nut and root, earth and sky, berry and brook - This was his world. And he knew it intimately.

  So it was no surprise that the forest called out to him when it first felt the dark fingers creeping through from the east. At first uncertain, and then frightened, the great wood trembled as the changes crept in, altering leaf and limb, trunk and root.

The Withering had taken hold.
[to be continued...]
copyright 2019 John Stevenson

  This story started life in a rather odd way. I'm on Instagram, @jstevensonart, and there was this castle challenge that I jumped in on, #wvcastlechallenge, and as I was working on my castle I started to come up with a backstory for it, as i often do. That grew and kind of got out of hand. That's part of why this blog is here right now. Because I said that I was going to share the story that went along with the castle, but I didn't have anywhere to really put it.

  Then as I thought more about it, I realized I needed somewhere to put many other things, stories and pics and ramblings about backstory and other nonsense. So here we are.

  I'm trying to improve my writing as I go. I'm more of an artist/illustrator, but I've been creating little stories for many years. So I have a backlog of stuff to refine.
I hope you enjoyed this first part and the castle. I'll post on social media when new things are coming up. I still have stuff to learn about how this blog works and blogging in general. ;)

Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers, J