Your ears still ringing, you struggle to stand... and fail. Your lungs are burning; there's so much smoke! You begin to drag yourself, on hands and knee, through the shattered remains of the corridor. Your hands find a book, bound in blue, still gripped by the bloody hand of the dwarf. The rest of the vile creature's arm is nowhere to be seen.

You grab the book - which is still burning - and crawl free of the smouldering ruins of the hallway. Somehow you find a room, and lock the door behind you. Away from the horrors of the dungeon at last, a chance to rest...

You look at the book you picked up. After removing the hand, and blowing out the flames, you examine it. The book has been badly damaged, and portions are unreadable... The cover depicts a tree. Silva. You never were much of a fan of those tree-hugging bastards, and this "missionary" hasn't changed your opinion much. Still, considering the state of your remaining leg, you might be here a while. You open the book to the first page...


   In the beginning, there was only TIME. He passed many eons in silence and solitude.
   Then came VOID. TIME entered into VOID, and they begat CHAOS and ORDER. From CHAOS
   and ORDER came the six elements; and from them, the Great Tree Puu, which carries
   all the Cosmos upon her [...]

   [...]

   [...] the Sixteen Saplings, which came to be known as the Divine Trees, each from
   a seed created by Puu:
   The greatest of these was the firstborn: Paha, the great ebony tree.
   The second born was named Kunin, who others call Va[...]
   Third was [...]
   [...]
   The youngest sapling was called Pyha, the mighty sycamore.

   As the Saplings aged, Paha grew envious of the others; for though Paha was mighty,
   her domain was home only to rot and death, while the other Divine Trees were tended
   by mortals and spirits alike. Paha's hatred grew, until it began to manifest upon
   the branches of Puu as a foul spreading blight which corrupted the Cosmos.

   The blight of Paha spread first to the Kuolema, [...] the other [...] to this day.
   Neither the Divine Trees nor their spirits could stop the blight, and as it spread,
   all it touched - even the Divine Trees themselves - became consumed by Paha's hatred
   and rage; they became twisted and diseased, their wood darkened, and they became
   themselves pits from whence the blight spread further.

   Pyha saw this, and watched as his brothers and sisters turned foul and evil. He sat
   silently as his unblighted siblings and their spirits fought tirelessly against
   the darkened Divines, and observed the destruction their war caused to the Cosmos:
   stars were destroyed in incredible fireballs, planets were laid barren and stripped
   to the raw stone, man and beast and plant alike fell victim to the unending battle.
   And yet the corruption spread, until six Divine Trees lay in dark mockery of their [...]

   So, Pyha called her spirits to her, and spoke to them:

   GO INTO THE COSMOS AND FIND ME A CHAMPION, INNOCENT OF SOUL AND PURE OF MIND, STRONG
   OF ARM AND STOUT OF HEART. BRING THIS MORTAL TO ME.

   And so, they did as he bade. As centuries passed, his spirits brought before him six
   mortals in turn. Each in turn he turned away and sent back to their land. Then, one
   among them called Nux returned with a man: a ranger named Mestari, who lived in
   the forest of his world, who ate no flesh of beast nor bird nor fish but only the food
   freely given by the trees and plants. To this man, Pyha spoke:

   MESTARI.
   I GIVE YOU FREELY THIS GIFT OF MY FRUIT. EAT OF IT, AND I WILL FILL YOU WITH MY STRENGTH.
   I GIVE YOU FREELY THIS GIFT OF MY LEAVES. WEAVE THEM INTO A GARMENT, AND I WILL SHIELD
   YOU FROM OUR ENEMIES SIGHT.
   I GIVE YOU FREELY THIS GIFT OF MY BARK. CARRY IT ALWAYS IN YOUR LEFT HAND, AND I WILL
   GUARD YOU FROM HARM.
   I GIVE YOU FREELY THIS GIFT OF MY WOOD. STRIKE OUR ENEMIES WITH IT, AND THEY SHALL BE
   DESTROYED.
   TAKE THESE GIFTS. FIND MY SISTER PAHA AND DESTROY THE CORRUPTION THAT PLAGUES THE COSMOS.

   And with these four gifts, Pyha withered and died. Mestari took her gifts, and left,
   as Nux and the other spirits guarded the site where Pyha once stood proudly.

   Mestari went first to [...]
   [...]
   [...] the way.

   At last, Mestari stood before Paha. With a mighty cry of vengeance, he struck Paha
   with [...]
   [...] but she would not yield. He then [...]
   Finally, exhausted and on the verge of death, Mestari plunged the weapon into Paha's
   trunk and killed her. Mestari himself quietly slumped against the trunk of Paha and
   succumbed to death.

   But even in death, Mestari still played a part. From the weapon embedded in Paha's
   trunk sprouted a new Divine Sapling, fed by the flesh of Mestari's body, which he
   willingly and happily gave. The sapling called out, and Pyha's spirits came to Her;
   and Her name was Silva. She named Nux her archangel, and Mestari Her Champion Eternal.
   Silva, Most Holy Divine, Goddess of life and death, of nature and the Great Cycle,
   who watches over the wild places and protects us all.

   PRAISE BE UNTO --


Ah, crap. You forgot to lock the other door. That goblin doesn't look too friendly... You manage to regain your foot, and grab your spear... only to discover that it has burned to the point of uselessness.

As the goblin approaches, sword drawn, snickering with eager laughter, you look to the heavens, and start to pray... 
