Aethelgard: Rootbound
Book 1 · The Dying Roots
Loading page…
Page descriptions & text
Page 5 · Whispering Paths
Chapter 1 opens in a sunlit forest beside a stream. Birds fly through the canopy. Caelan Veyr walks confidently along the Whispering Paths in his embroidered cloak and leather armor, carrying the Rootfang Spear. He smiles at a small bird.
CHAPTER 1. THE FOREST GOES SILENT. Whispering Paths · Sylva’s Reach. Caelan: Morning.
Page 6 · Stepping stones
Caelan crosses a stream on mossy stepping stones. His boot slips, but he catches himself by planting his spear against a stone. He straightens with a sheepish grin.
SKT. Caelan: Graceful, Caelan. Very graceful.
Page 7 · A small interruption
Caelan studies deer tracks on the far bank. A squirrel investigates his travel pouch. He closes it gently, amused, before continuing through the lively woodland.
Caelan: That’s my lunch.
Page 8 · Empty branches
Birds suddenly leave the trees ahead. Caelan pauses and looks after them. Branches that held birds are now empty, though the stream still runs and insects remain.
Caelan: Hm?
Page 9 · Stillness
Insects have disappeared from the grass and flowers. The healthy leaves hang strangely motionless. Caelan stops alone on the trail and listens.
Silent page.
Page 10 · An unfamiliar impression
Caelan steadies himself beside living bark and an exposed root. Disjointed impressions interrupt his senses: pain, below, run. They seem to come through the vegetation. Startled, he withdraws his hand and studies it.
Environmental impressions: PAIN. BELOW. RUN. Caelan: What was that?
Page 11 · At the forked oak
Caelan enters a clearing with a stream along its near edge, a mossy boulder to the left and a forked oak at the back right. An injured, unmutated doe lies beneath the oak. He approaches slowly, lowering his spear away from it.
Caelan: Easy. I’m not going to hurt you.
Page 12 · A sound behind him
Caelan kneels beside the doe and places his spear within reach. Before his outstretched hand touches the animal, a branch snaps behind him. He freezes, looks back and reaches for the spear.
Caelan: Easy… SNAP.
Page 13 · The second deer
A severely sick stag emerges behind Caelan. Its antlers are asymmetrical, with an inward-curving branch piercing near its skull. Swollen eyes strain above a trembling body. Faint vapor escapes its mouth and damaged skin. It cries out and charges toward Caelan.
KREEEH.
Page 14 · The charge
The stag charges from the left across the clearing. Caelan dodges toward the foreground stream. The animal crashes into the brush on the right while Caelan regains distance near the boulder on the left.
CRASH.
Page 15 · Keeping distance
The stag tears free of the brush and turns toward Caelan. He keeps his spear between them near the mossy boulder and exposed root. A probing thrust misses as the animal jerks sideways. Its antlers catch and lift the shaft, upsetting his stance.
Caelan: Stay back.
Page 16 · On the ground
The stag knocks Caelan backward beside the boulder. His left cheek scrapes against a twig or rough ground, leaving two shallow diagonal scratches below the eye. His spear falls within reach. He braces himself and recovers it as the stag prepares to charge again.
THUD. Caelan: Ghh—
Page 17 · An unexpected foothold
As the stag lowers its antlers, the crystal in Caelan’s spear flashes. An existing root beside his boot rises into a small arch. He instinctively uses it as a foothold to dodge out of the charge. His cheek scratches and dirty cloak remain.
Caelan: What—?
Page 18 · The counter
Caelan steps from the raised root toward the stream, grips the spear with both hands and braces on solid ground. His desperate counterthrust strikes the charging stag high on its front flank. He withdraws the intact spear as the wounded animal staggers past him.
THK.
Page 19 · Falling quiet
The stag stumbles beside the boulder and stream. Its forelegs buckle and it falls on its side. Caelan steps back with his spear lowered. The animal’s trembling weakens, and its jaw starts to relax.
Silent page.
Page 20 · A last breath
Caelan approaches cautiously and kneels near the fallen stag, his spear safely beside him. The animal’s strained expression gives way to exhaustion as its last breath escapes. Caelan watches with grief and compassion, his cheek still scratched.
Caelan: I’m sorry.
Page 21 · Afterward
At the stream, Caelan cleans the small blood mark from his spear. His cheek scratches sting. He checks beneath the forked oak: the injured doe has gone, leaving departure tracks. The stag remains beside the boulder. Nearby, damaged leaves and strange residue mark a root.
Caelan: Good.
Page 22 · The residue
Caelan studies the stained root and damaged plants with a fallen twig. The substance looks unlike sap. He follows its traces uphill from the clearing, carrying his clean spear. The scratches beneath his left eye remain.
Caelan: Not sap.
Page 23 · The overlook
Caelan climbs through the forest and parts a branch at an overlook. Beyond him, a thin plume of strange gas rises between distant valley trees. The surrounding woodland is still beautiful. He stares in silence.
Silent page.
Page 24 · Below
Caelan’s scratched face tightens as he steadies his hand on living bark. A faint impression returns through the forest: below. The final panel moves close to corrupted vapor drifting between tree trunks. Chapter 1 ends.
Environmental impression: BELOW.