Auris

Auris did not stand out from her fellow enirii when she was born or during her childhood, simply noted for her cheerful demeanor and capacity to care for her fellow villagers. She was well-liked, was a skilled shaper, and seemed to enjoy her home territory enough that she didn't entertain the idea of leaving to join or found a village of her own. Home was simply home.

This changed when the Ancient Star village was shook by a tremendous impact that essentially carved the village in half with a cave in that severely damaged the ward stone. For many Dimlight villages an incident like that isn't a simple catastrophe but the beginning of the end as the village is forced to scatter and frequently end up joinin other villages while looking for their former fellows..or worse. It was Auris, flush with power from pregnancy that begged patience while an alternative was sought out and ventured to the surface to see what had caused the impact. One of the floating rocky islands that orbit the Opal Peaks had fallen from the sky to hit just above the village's home but in doing so had revealed a secret bounty. A vein of resonating crystals that had somehow managed to go unnoticed by the Enirii below and the perfect amplifiers for the power within Auris and other pregnant members of her village.

When she returned to her sisters, those capable of the sorcery required traveled with her to the surface to commune with the Green and in so doing managed to lift the rubble that separated the villagers from one another to heal the wound in the earth. And with the cache of crystals found, Auris was able to repair the ward stone to leave the village stronger than it had been before the incident. After that point, many of Auris' fellows heeded her words more closely than they had before and when the former chieftess met her end, there were many who spoke up in the strawberry blonde's name that she would do well in the position. Her first declaration as chieftess caught many by surprise.

She was going to leave the village. Not permanently, of course, but she embarked on a long journey while leaving the Eldest to lead in her absence. The purpose of this journey was to meet the chief of a large village from each of the tribes, all in the name of learning their basic customs as well as creating an in-road to those cultures incase mediation was required in the future. By the time she returned, the Ancient Star's lands were flush with new spirits and life, even a few enirii and satyrs thanks to the Eldest's guidance and Auris was able to ensure a good relation with their many 'neighbors'. She was, in essence, a bridge builder.

The Ancient Star tribe, despite its name, is not one of the old sects of the Dimlight and owes the moniker to an unusual phenomena that has persisted since the village's inception. Dimlight enirii noticed a falling star and when they traced the path to its source discovered a recently opened set of caverns flush with metals, crystals, and the bizarre animals of the underground. It was a bounty and so, of course, the Enirii broke ground to begin shaping a village into the bedrock as is their custom. However, for each new building finished, it seemed to age overnight until it looked as if it had been there for generations though there were no ill effects for the enirii or satyrs themselves.

Thus the Ancient Star village was founded. Like most smaller Dimlight tribes they have a small village in the Opal Peaks were their most important residents and most vulnerable members dwell, but have established a wide-ranging system of small camp sites and outposts below the surface of the Shrouded Woods where young Enirii and satyrs have a chance to sate their wanderlust in relative safety. Back at the central village, the aged buildings are betrayed by an eagerness and energy of a relatively young village that is flush with riches to trade and study on their own. Their satyrs have even been able to carve out a more permanent dwelling inside of the geode-like interior of the falling island where they say the song of the depths echoes.

This added security has certainly helped establish the village's future as the disturbances topisde and the bullish satyrs being so close by has deterred the worst and largest of the underground's predators, leaving the primary threats to be seismic disturbances, smaller predators, and raiders from other tribes. By Enirii standards, the Ancient Star is a paradise!

Ancient Star NPCS

The Eldest - A title carried by the oldest and thus mightiest satyr among the Ancient Star, the de facto leader who spends his time trying to deepen his pack's understanding of the Green's will or organizing hunting parties and patrols to provide for his ilk. Auris' most frequent mate, as both hold the highest tribal position in the village.

Despite what 'common wisdom' that would tell outsiders that it must be difficult to eke out a living below ground, the Shrouded Woods is a very different sort of place and there is just as vibrant an ecosystem below ground as there is above..albeit one that is rather peculiar considering the environment and the effects of strange energies below ground. Many creatures that would be considered carnivores normally are in fact omnivores with a preference for meat while many herbivores can also function as terravores during lean times to survive as best they can in the barely lighted depths. As could be expected, many creatures below ground either have poor or vision based vision assuming they have eyes at all with luminous crystal growths both being sources of activity for the plantlife that grows around them and avoided by those unuused to such 'bright' illumination.

Perhaps the most commonly seen herbivore are the morue, or 'cave stags' to surface worlders, majestic if alien looking deer that seem to be equal parts glowing fungus as they are animal. Wild herds, albeit small in number, roam the tunnels beneath the woods but some enterprising Enirii have taken to nurturing larger herds in contained caverns with exposure to the night sky so they can get the moonlight they in part subsist off of. While these animals are sometimes butchered for their meat, this only tends to come at the end of a morue's life as herbs and mushrooms can be plucked from its antlers and bodies thorough out its life. It is no small wonder that the qualitiy of a village's morue is often directly linked to how prosperous the village is.

Probably one of the most dangerous beasts that dwell in the Opal Peaks are the massive ygoron, tusked apes of substantial size that wander between the airy forests covering the Opal Peaks and sprawling dens below ground with impunity. There are few beasts that can challenge a ygoron's sheer might and even fewer that see a need to since the majestic apes prefer vegetation to meat and while they are very territorial, they stick to themselves. Seen as embodiments of the Green's will, the Dimlight revere the apes and nearby tribes will go out of their way to shape 'cities' for the ygoron or leave offerings of fruit and meat for them to find. Its unknown how the ygoron view the Enirii but they have at least come to begrudgingly tolerate their presence.

Not all animals are as benevolent as the morue and ygoron though. Many dangerous animals stalk the tunnels below the Woods in search of food or new territory, leading to the defensive attitude of the Dimlight. Whither its the humaniod night gliders snatching up morue from an lax sheperdess (or the sheperdess herself), the towering saurian ravecs, or the aggressive tunneling beasts called 'cave hounds' that hunt in vicious packs, the underground is far from a save or unpopulated place to travel. Oftentimes its simply a case that one is unaware they are being watched by some chitin covered, eyeless predator gauging if this meal is worth the trouble of bringing them down..

-Someone new has wandered into the Shrouded Forest and found their ways to the Dimlight Caverns. Hello newcomer..
-Auris, through mishap or ritual, has found her way from her home to some alien environment.
-Some beast is stalking the tribe, Auris leads the efforts to capture or slay the threat to her sisters.
-Explorers are seeking to exploit the Enirii and their vibrant land. Who will come out on top?
-A new tribe has been founded, time for negotiations!
-The Green is a fairly laid back faith, at least as the Dimlight see it, but they still have their holidays! Time to celebrate!
-Time to initiate a new sister..