Raguel,

You say that recent years have seen debate 'raging' about the essence of
the Fallen Forest, yet for the life of me I cannot recall it. Perhaps
you speak of the so-called philosophers of broken earth and drowned
lands, as they quibble behind their walls - yet surely their small
thoughts are of little consequence to the important peoples of the
Basin. For centuries we in the Serenwilde have indeed known exactly what
has become of our beloved sister wood, Gloriana's might and majesty
little more than a memory daily desecrated and pillaged by the Spawn
that infest her rotting corpse. Debate? Debate implies that we were
uncertain of the truth of your Glomdoring.

Rest assured that we were not.

This Wyrd though, the Spawn speak truly when they say that it is
something new, something different. Our ancestors did not foresee such a
working, nor do they choose to reveal the effects that it will have upon
the natural wilderness. The impact of this foreign force upon our future
remains unclear, and much has yet to be determined by our present. For
this reason, I cannot yet judge any change within the Fallen Forest by
this Wyrd, of which even the Fae urge us to 'ware.

Yet you challenged us to answer of our crusade against the Taint. I fear
you have not understood the teachings of the Serenwilde, if you believe
that our oaths set us merely against a label. Our valiant blades defend
the forests from that which threatens their survival, that which causes
poison and unnatural rot to fester within the Living Realms. The Taint,
yes, it is one of these things. Yet it is not the word or name we fear -
it is the reality behind it.

Therefore, let us instead consider the reality, if not the words, that
form the truth of the Fallen Forest.

Tell me, is it true that you still honor two corpses who defy the
natural cycles with the power of taintmagic? Two rotting and leprous
demons that wear the masks of those who were once revered by our
brethren in the southern Forest? Do you still bow before the one that
calls itself Rowena, defiler of the Fae and unrepentant rapist, she who
gorged her unholy lust by devouring the innocence of the gentle spirits
and birthed the ravenous hordes of Spawn?

Is it true that the High Priest of Ackleberry Wood, beloved Gib
Gladheart, remains in thrall within the form of the terrible beast that
is the Wyrdling? Is it true that his gentle furrikin form and spirit are
still broken and perverted into a mockery that is ravaged and tortured
for the amusement of your warriors? Have the unnatural corruptions of
the taint with which his body was raped been undone, or has the Wyrd
instead committed again this atrocity?

Is it true that the spells of the Gloom-mages have little power when
spoken in healthy, living forest? Must they still infest and sicken the
woodlands in order to dominate it unto their will? Are not the Children
of Hart lured back again and again into that rotting mire, only to find
themselves starving to within an inch of their lives? Are they are not
often butchered for sport by the Spawn and their allies? Is it not true
that the corpses of once-glorious Ravenwoods still wander your forest,
bound in their death to a poor imitation of ruinous life?

I could go on, yet it is clearly not reality that interests the
'academics' of the Glomdoring - rather it is the semantics of words, and
the 'truth' of their imaginings. When you are prepared to demonstrate
your worth to the Living Realms, rather than merely boast of it, then
perhaps we can progress to debate.

So, what have I to say for our crusades against the Taint? They shall be
justified as long as the Forest is threatened by corruption. Corruption
not only by Taint, but by all unnatural forces that would poison the
Spirits of Nature.

Only time will tell if the Wyrd itself is one of them.


With reverence of the Forest,
Elryn Greythane.

Penned by my hand on the 6th of Avechary, in the year 134 CE.