Stories from the Island 1 - The witch.

Off the coast of the Duchy is an island of pirates and traders and craftspeople.

These are some stories.

In the eastern most edge of the island is a thick forest. This forest is old and dark and filled with things you don't want to meet in the night. Or on Tuesdays. But in this forest has lived a coven of witches for a very long time. They weren't sisters but they were close. Finishing each others sentences. Spending weeks fighting and not talking. Creating magic that has never been seen before. After the former tribes were wiped out and the island went silent, the witches still were. They understood what had happened. The disease, the disaster. But it was too quick to stop. They studied and they experimented and they knew that it would never happen again. Then the boats arrived. They watched as the first group settled in for the cold season and almost succeeded until succumbing to the disasters as before. Then as the last three crawled their way into the forest, the last witch made a pact. She would keep the settlers alive in exchange for a tax and a promise. Products she wanted or needed, and one of their own as an apprentice, a sacrifice, a security.

That first apprentice was never seen again. But the settlement survived it's first cold season. The next summer the second apprentice became a go between and began learning the secrets held by only one for years and years.

One of the simpler lessons was how and why you would speak to the trees. One morning the witch woke the apprentice up and pulled her outside. They had found a rhythm of speech that when the witch needed to teach, she referenced the apprentice as "worm" and the worm would call her "hag". For some reason this worked for them.

"Get outside worm, I need to show you something" The worm got footwear on and clambered outside. The hag had already started walking toward the dark glade and worm needed to rush to catch up. Somehow, this old ancient sour old hag could move fast when she wanted to. Worm caught up to hear the beginnings of the lesson.

"These trees have seen and understood more than you will ever know. They understand the wind and why it blows or not. They understand how sun creates life and how disease can destroy it in the blink of an eye. They regulate the soil and hundreds if not thousands of other beings live and die within its branches and skin. Do you understand how much you do not understand"

Worm knew it was a trick question, but also knew not answering would also be wrong so she shook her head and said "Not yet"

The hag giggled under her breath and nodded. "Good". Walking up to the nearest tree with a thick trunk she put her ear to the tree and breathed in deeply. As she breathed out she made a guttural sound, almost beastly but beautiful. Breathing in again the second time she breathed out another similar sound seemed to come from the tree itself.

Stepping back the hag turned to the worm and said. "I am about to show you something that no other living person has seen. I have kept this secret from you until I thought you were ready. Both in capacity to understand and in loyalty to this land and me and now.... them" Stepping to stand next to the worm they could both see a face forming in the bark of the tree. A very plain face but definitely a face.

Worm stared at it for a moment and then looked at the hag, asking "What is it?" The face in the tree continued to make the guttural sound followed by some percussive slaps. "She says not it, them. They are the spirits of the trees. They are not many, but they are connected throughout the island. The protectors, the judges, your people might even call them gods."

Worm felt confused. This wasn't the weirdest thing that the hag had shown her but then it dawned on her that maybe she didn't really understand. She took a step forward. "Can I touch them? How do I speak to them? Do they speak to you all the time?

The hag again laughed, understanding the wonder and confusion. "Yes you can touch them, just be nice about it. You will need to learn their voice, it isn't simply a language, but it is learnable. And no, they rarely speak to me unless they really need to. They are a quite community, but a powerful one. They are the reason that this island is thriving right now. Strangely enough they trust your kings more than the last ones."

Worms eye went big "Do they reside in the boats made from their wood? Or the houses? Do we kill them when we cut down a tree?"

The hag nodded "So you do get it. You understand the importance more than I thought. Yes, they can reside in boats, and some of them have. They rarely reside in houses. They require a balance and if it unbalances, they will step in."

The face went back into the tree and the worm and the hag walked back to their hut in the middle of their corner of the woods.