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Druid Enigma of the Valley (#3676)

Owner: 0xaC3B…074F

The Caduceus of Hermes Trismegistus

Enigma was a young swamp witch who lived in a small, but tidy hut, somewhere in the forest of the Fey. She was not like any other swamp witch, for she was born of light. Her soul, known as a Lightborn, was one of love, light and true goodness.

Now, this didn't mean she wasn't capable of bad or stupid mistakes, she was mortal after all! What it did mean is she was way more likely to be a gentle, kind person, and her magic, unlike many others, was itself, pure light.

It would be this very distinct quality that would cause her much trouble at a young age. Shortly after birth, her entire coven turned on her, treating her like an outsider and a servant. They would often torture and humiliate her, and refused teach her the tradition magicks of the coven.

This was all well and fine as the thought of using any type of blood magic made Enigma's skin crawl. She'd rather just be friends, instead of murdering and hollowing out their insides for some generic power from some generic god.

At the tender age of 9, she snuck off into the night, using the foggy Fey as cover. Her innate powers of light really began to manifest once she ran away. This was a key factor in her survival, as she ended up getting lost in the Thorn basically right away.

She would survive (and eventually thrive) as she wandered the Runiverse. She was quite aggressively helpful in her teen years, as she learned to master her light magic. She could heal any wound, prevent any loss, except death of course (that's necromancy and ya girl doesn't dabble in the dark arts) and also learned she had quite a knack for gardening!

Her naivety in the world often got her in trouble, as bandits and scam artists are always looking for a tender soul to offend. She would wisen up, with each encounter, without ever losing her compassionate demeanor, if not being just a bit worse for wear!

The years would pass, as they do. Enigma has settled into a place she felt at home, far from her old coven. She's since mastered her light magic, trained in the art of the wild with the Druids of the Valley, and is now considered a proper protector of the woods.

She would have a most fateful encounter with old gods, artifacts of great power, and ultimately start down the path of her destiny of being one of the Great Lightborn Heroes.

That day would start like any other. She'd wake up just as the sun would start peeping through the curtains in her tiny, yet tidy, hut. She'd slip out of bed without waking Fred (her delightful slime familiar), grab her trusty walking stick, and head out the door into the woods.

Her morning routine consisted of foraging for mushrooms in the local area, as she and Fred were both vegans, and were the tastiest thing one could eat around here. She would gather just what she intended to eat, and then stop by a small waterfall hidden in the swamp.

She'd wash the mushrooms, and collect some of the flowers that grew on the banks of the pool that the waterfall fed into. These were the key to her special mushroom magic. When sauteed for just the right amount of time, the flowers would give just a hint of magic to whatever they were added to. (In Enigma's case, it just made them super tasty!)

She'd get back home to her little hut, get a fire going, and within moments the entire glade where she had set up shop smelt delicious. This, of course, would attract all means of wildlife. Enigma would eat just enough for herself, and give the rest out to all of her woodland friends.

Once the morning ritual was complete, she'd grab her trusty red hip pouch, her walking stick, and would head off in a new direction to find whatever adventure might come her way! What with it being the Runiverse and all, it wasn't a long walk to said adventure.

Her travels on this particular day would lead her to Kelpie's bay, where she would often go to forage for lobster and seashells. The day's journey to the beach would be another mundane one, as the roads were well maintained and had lots of traffic.

It didn't take but a few hours for Enigma and Fred to reach Onikki Beach, a tiny private beach hidden along the shore of Kelpie's Bay. This particular location was a favorite to the swamp witch, as it rarely saw any other visitors. She'd also swear to anyone willing to listen that the cutest seashells were found here.

The tide was unusually low, but Enigma paid it no heed. "It's most likely just one the wizard capitals up to something hinky," she thought to herself. Although it was much, much lower than she'd ever seen.

So much so that some of the ancient ruins were sticking out of the sand. Not a new discovery, but they were usually underwater! Not being much of a swimmer, she had very little interaction with any of the ruins of Atlantis, though the remnant technology scattered the Runiverse.

That would change very soon, though. Enigma may have been responsible and thoughtful, but she was nothing if not chronically spontaneous. This time, however, it would be mostly Fred's fault, as the little slime took right off towards one of the recently-revealed ruins in the coastline.

"Fred, what ARE you doing?? Ugh." Enigma, in no hurry, heads over towards what was clearly a shrine to some ancient god. When she caught up, Fred was sitting on the shrine, staring blankly at the idol affixed to it.

It was a statue of the Messenger God, Hermes Trismegistus, this time, depicted as a female. The trademark winged feet, and holding a staff high above her head, the remains of the shrine lay before Enigma.

Who, by the way, was in absolute awe. While educated in many things, such as the druidic arts, how to be your best friend, and how to make delightful fried mushrooms, she was woefully ignorant of the previous cultures of her home continent.

She was immediately taken by the shrine, and busted out her charcoal and parchment, and began furiously recreating the shrine via drawing. Within moments, she had a crudely drawn image of the statue. It looked nothing like what she was standing in front of.

With a little giggle, she whispers a few words, taps the parchment, and suddenly a small shower of rainbow sparks erupts. After they clear away, the parchment is no longer a doodle, but a lifelike recreation of the statue. Some would say it looks like it was a photograph, whatever that was!

After taking a moment to admire her handiwork, she folded up the parchment and put it back in her pouch, before returning her gaze to the statue. It was quite masterfully crafted, and had weathered the erosion quite well. The facial features were defined, almost realistic, and the body looked as if it were truly draped in Greecian silk.

The base of the shrine, there lay a small alms bowl, carved out of the marble, as well as a small cutout that looks like it was meant to fit a humanoid hand.

"Well now...that's strange, what on earth would you put there?" Enigma wondered out loud. Fred responded by rolling backwards and making eye contact with.

"I mean yeah I know, it's for a hand, but why?! You don't think that's odd?" The swamp witch responded (Fred was telepathic, thanks to the alchemical accident that created him).

"No, Fred, it IS odd! Wait, what?? Why should I put MY hand there? You put your hand there!!" Enigma said, slowly realizing she was talking to a slime. "Ugh fine, but it looks like something should go in the bowl, so...hop in." She said, with a smirk and she stuffed her familiar into the marble bowl.

Not really sure what to do, but always seemingly coaxed by her slime, Enigma placed her hand on the dias and waited.

"YOU do something! What the heck am I supposed to do?" Enigma and Fred went back and forth while the two argued over the statue. While this was going on, the entire shrine started to hum quietly and began to glow.

It was reacting to her hand! Fred quickly hopped out of the bowl and into Enigma's hair, all the while encouraging her to stay put. Which, duh. At this point, she was enthralled! Magic shiny things were a notable weak point, and this was getting really shiny really quick!

Well, glowy, really. Eventually, Enigma took her hand back, and stepped back, but the statue only continued to glow and hum, as if it were charging up. She could feel the energy coming off the statue, but this only enticed her more.

Then, suddenly---ZZZZAAAPPP A loud crack and a bright white light fills the sky, and the two are gone. Onikki beach is once again empty, the Shrine of Hermes nowhere to be found…

“What the HECK?!” Enigma screeched, as she and Fred came tumbling down from nowhere into a hard granite floor. One minute standing on the beach, the next, she was falling, discombobulated and unsure of where she was.

It took her a moment to get herself together enough to stand up, and take stock of her new situation. After doing a quick check on Fred, she cast a small ambient light spell on the slime, to give herself some kind of visibility. It had been quite dark when she landed, and she feared the worst.

And just like that, the darkness faded and gave way to ruins unlike any she’d have ever seen. In the distance, she could see large towers and spires of marble and glass, and the sound of water rushing could be heard somewhere nearby.

Where she had landed seemed to be isolated from the rest of…wherever it was she ended up. The ground was overgrown, and the trees looked like they may have had leaves on them once upon a time.

She didn’t even really have time to think about how she got there, when a small dias in the center of the clearing caught her attention (but not before she scooped up Fred and gave him a big hug).

The dias itself was made of marble, and it housed a large, glowing glass cube. Enigma had very little exposure to the tech of the old worlds, and was mesmerized by the glowing light slowly pouring out of the glass cube. 



The light didn’t seem to permeate very far, even though it seemed to be glowing quite brightly. Unable to resist the call of adventure, Enigma approached the dias and scooped up the glowing cube without a second thought.


It was quite warm to the touch, and seemed to react to her, the light pulsing ever so slightly where her hand made contact. After a few seconds of fiddling with it, it began to vibrate, and suddenly a mechanical voice filled the air.

“Please state your request.” The voice said, emotionless, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

“Um what?? I’d uh…like to go home?” Enigma asked, unsure of what to do next.

“Unable to comply. Please state your request.” The voice repeated, as emotionless as before.

Now, Enigma was really confused. All she wanted to do was collect some seashells and go home with a snack! Now she’s in this strange place, with strange voices asking her strange things. 

“Ugh, what do you mean ‘unable to comply’!! What kind of request can I make?” She asked, somewhat exasperated with the situation.

The cube responded to her question by changing colors from the soft white to more of a lavender. Once this change was complete, the voice spoke once more.

“Initiating help routine alpha. This is an Atlantean Forge Model 12 ‘Hermes’. Designed to fabricate and empower personal artifacts for the followers of Hermes. Please select from the following models”. A few seconds go by, the cube makes a brief whirring noise and changes color once more, this time to a pastel green.

Some text appears before Enigma, in a language she was very much unable to read, and floating magically, as if made from light. It indeed was! It was a hologram being projected by the cube, but Enigma wasn’t keen on these facts.

As she sat there, staring at the unfamiliar words, trying to formulate what she could possibly do, a loud screech emanated from the cube, and it suddenly turned bright red and fell to the floor.

Enigma scooted back instinctively, as a new hologram spit from the cube. This time, it wasn’t words, but the outline of a person! After a few seconds passed, the outline became a full image. Standing before Enigma now was a beautiful woman made of light.

“Enigma, please do not be afraid. I have been waiting for you!” A new voice echoed through the chamber, but this time it sounded as if it came from an actual person. It was soft and kind, almost familiar.

“Uh…how do you know my name?? Where am I? What is going on here?!” Enigma’s emotions finally got the best of her, and she broke down in tears (mostly from stress, but also from the fear of a random ghost lady in the middle of nowhere knowing your name).

“You are safe here, sweet druid. I am Hermes Trismegistus, and I have waited a very long time for you to find me. While I’m just a vision of what once was, I have left for you the only weapon you will ever need to wield. My caduceus…” The voice’s words tapered off, as if sad.

Moments later, the dias where the cube had been resting slid to one side, and revealed a small chamber underneath. A dazzling blue staff rose from underneath, and floated over to Enigma, as if guided by magic.

The staff, known far and wide as The Caduceus, was Hermes’ personal staff, and had been the subject of much magic and many miracles. If it was at all like the legend says, it would make her healing magic something of legend.

“This is and always has been meant for you, my child. For you are Lightborn, the last of the true Atlantean bloodline. With my staff, your destiny shall begin. It has been foretold since my time that the Lightborn would be the last defense against the encroaching quantum darkness.” The lady of light stopped for a moment, almost as if giving Enigma a moment to think.

“You must find others like you, and prevent the darkness from taking over. If your light should be tainted, all will be lost. Now, there will only be enough power to send you back, so I must end this recording now. I am certain of your success, Enigma, be strong.” The lady of light fades to darkness, and suddenly…

ZZZZAAAPPP A loud crack and a bright white light fills the air, and the two are back at Onikki beach.

“WHAT THE HECK!!!!” Enigma screamed, stomping her feet in frustration. “What do you mean ‘What?’, Fred? HM? You don’t think it was a little weird that we got zapped twice in less than 10 minutes, had some ancient god tell us some nonsense, and then stuff this funny walking stick into my hands, and send me out the door?” Enigma said in one breath, clearly trying to process what she had just experienced.

Fred, on the other hand, seemed very unphased, and went back to the original plan of digging up seashells and snacks from the coast. Enigma just stood there, staring at the statue of Hermes, wondering if this had all just been a weird hallucination (she had been known to have very little worry about what kind of mushrooms she ate). However, the humming blue staff in her hand was a reminder that it indeed was not a dream.
After staring for a few more seconds, Enigma headed over to Fred, and joined him in his search for beach treasures. She’d spend the rest of the day figuring out what the heck did really just happen, and then, after coming up empty handed on both snacks and seashells, she decided it was time to end this adventure.

“Come, Fred, it’s time to go home!” Enigma beckoned the slime, who hopped on over and right into her free arm. “Let’s see if this staff has any real oomph shall we?” She giggled, muttered some magic words, and began to softly glow. The caduceus matched her glow and gave her Lightborn powers a serious boost of power.

The swamp witch began to glow brighter than ever, and with a quiet little poof, teleported home with the help of her newfound powers. This wouldn’t be the end of Olympus and Atlantis sticking their noses into our poor swamp witch’s life, but that’s another story for another day!   

Entered by: 0x4Dbb…04d3 and preserved on chain (see transaction)

Chapter 2 - The Druid of Light

My name is not important, but my story is! I am but a humble chronomancer, someone of no consequence. However, I met one particular druid who was truly something.

As you know, most druidic powers are granted by the earth itself unto the caster. This bond with nature is crucial to connecting and working with the forces of life. As such, druids almost always have an animal companion of some sort.

Well, I had thought this was the only way, as did most other people. How else would or could you be a druid?

I would get the answer to this in the most intriguing way. It happened to be a beautiful fall day, the trees were well on their way to changing their colors, and every wizard (and even most warriors) wore an extra layer or two to hold off the impending cold.

I had been preparing for a pilgrimage into The Thorn to acquire some necessary ingredients for some LSD (it was not something I had managed to conjure up via magic, so I knew making it by hand was the only way).

Travelling into The Thorn is always hit or miss, as the ever-shifting thorn can make it challenging to find an entrance (however, the reader should note that fire is extremely effective).

It so happens that this was the method I used this time as well. It was effective at clearing the brush around the entrance of the forest, but it had also woken up some very unhappy (and probably very hungry) shadowbeasts.

This was not my best moment, you see, as shadowbeasts can't be harmed by anything that's manifested in reality. Magic, weapons, insult, nothing. They were only vulnerable to sunlight (or so I thought) and since it had taken much longer to get here than expected, there was not much to be had.

I was quickly outnumbered and overpowered, but thankfully not outwitted (though, if we're being candid, it's really hard to outwit someone who can stop time). With but a fleeting thought, all movement around ceased. A disturbing quiet set over forest's edge, the shadowbeasts stopped in their track.

This trick would not last long, unfortunately, but would be ample time to scurry away.

Now, had I just given up and gone home, I wouldn't be here telling you this story. Fortunately for you, I made the terrible of mistake of trying to continue my journey. I sprinted into the forest with every fiber of my being, and managed to get about 500 yards away before the spell stopped working and life resumed.

The shadowbeasts caught on within moments and took after me. I pushed myself as hard as I could, this time employing my very ample time-bending skills, which gave me just the edge I needed to get out of sight.

This came at a steeper price than I had really considered, and ended up extremely lost and disoriented (and it goes without saying, this is one of the last places a wizard would ever want to be lost).

Thankfully, we chronomancers are a witty type, and I had a resolution on the ready. Simply rewind time til the sun starts un-rising, and use it to establish direction. From there it's just a simple walk home!

Taking a seat on a nearby stump, I closed my eyes and began to focus on the quiet within. It felt like a year, a month, week, all in the span of a second. I had done this so many times, that it was muscle memory at this point.

Quite suddenly, however, I was interrupted by the unearthly roars of shadowbeasts, forcing me from my meditation, and leaving me weary and motion sick.

Before I had time to really process the situation, the shadowbeasts had caught up. The forced break of my meditative link had taken so much out of me, that by the time they found me, I had passed out.

When I finally came to, I was back in my home, in my bed. No wounds, and I felt fabulous. It would take me almost 10 years to figure out exactly what happened during that time.

It turns out a druid had been wandering The Thorn for the very same reason I had gone, for necessary and magical ingredients. She had heard the shadowbeasts, and came to my rescue.

To figure this out, I spent years combing the forest, trying to find where that exact moment happened. After having ended up mapping out the entirety of The Thorn, I managed to come across the stump where I had lost focus that day.

See, it's important to find the exact location. With a little bit of chronomancy and a dabble of alchemy, I was able to create a very crude playback of that day. I'm pretty certain it was a swampwitch, but they're not often altruistic, so it's really hard to tell.

She must have been born of light, as she quickly dealt with the shadowbeasts without even raising her weapons. Once they were taken care of, I was able to see that she tended to my wounds, and then leaves the area (but without me??).

I have been able to come up with this illustration depicting what I think she may look like, and I hope to one day come face to face with the person who took time to save an old time mage's life.

(kudos to Wise Sam for the beautiful art!!)

Entered by: 0x4Dbb…04d3 and preserved on chain (see transaction)