Me and Gigla have been working on a shared backstory.
Here's my side of the story. Gig is working on the prequel...or the sequel.
@Gig: This is cleaned up version, btw. Fit for release to the public! No major plot changes, tho.
Sokratei was 7 years old, an adventurous and wild little girl by nature. She often took long walks in the forest by herself, though she was-at her mothers advice-always back before sunset.
Her favorite place was the small meadow by the little stream, with the comfy rock, on a tiny hill.
It was the perfect rock for sitting on and looking up at the sky, or using as a table when having a picnic with her dolls and toys, or pretending to be a Forest Princess. Buried in soft grass and dirt, it was her favorite place in the world. Mostly because it was just hers. A secret place, only she knew about. Sokratei spent many days of her youth playing in that meadow, but eventually she grew bored, and moved on...there were other meadows, and other rocks...
And so, the Tiger slept.
...
Sokratei was 11 years old, an adventurous and wild young girl by nature. She often took long walks in the forest by herself, though she was-at her mothers advice-usually back before sunset.
She happened, one day, to come back to what had been her favorite grove-a long, long time ago. The stream was still there, the grass was a little longer, but the hill under the rock was gone. A recent heavy storm had washed away a great deal of the mud, revealing that the rock...was actually a head. A stone head! And, not a normal head-the crown of a great and ferocious Tiger peered dully, up from where it's neck sprouted out of the ground. It's mouth was opened as to roar-though, it's face was frozen in time. A curious bit of metal was in it's mouth. With excitement, she plucked it quickly, afraid the stone teeth would suddenly clamp down on her arm...excited, she bore the arrowhead away, to add her collection of precious things...
It was the most curious thing she had ever found, and though she spent some time studying the history of the area-idly finding that a powerful Sorceress had made her home in a tower near here many eons ago, and, spent a fruitless afternoon with a shovel trying in vain in unearth the rest of it's body-it quickly ignited a wanderlust in her heart to find other strange and curious things. After a few weeks, she bid the head goodbye, and promised to come back 'soon'.
And so, the Tiger slept.
...
Sokratei was 18 years old, an adventurous and wild teenager by nature. She often took long walks in the forest by herself, and she was-contrary to her mothers advice-rarely back before sunset.
In a sort of a wild mood, she found herself back at the old grove, with the old Tiger's head still stuck in the ground. She had learned the burgeoning art of Spellstealing by then-her first target had been a Local Druid, her first result a nature spell for digging away earth...by chance, she had remembered exactly the perfect thing to try it out on.
Using the spell, she unearthed the Tiger entirely. It was a truly massive beast-much larger than her. The soil had mostly protected the statue from the worst of the elements, and Sokratei decided, it was only right she stick around to protect it from now on. She built a canopy of leaves and cloth to shelter it from the rain. She made a small stone wall around it to keep the roots she had pulled from between it's mighty toes away. She even did a few spot repairs, mending it's crooked tail with a bit of magical glue, and patching up the left ear which had begin to crumble away.
The next few months, she practically confessed her whole life to the stone tiger, idling in the grove and thinking about the future. When she was sad (usually over boys) she cried into it's stony hide. When she was angry, she tossed (mostly ineffectual) stolen magic spells against it's pelt of stone, though they had no effect. When she was happy, she could recount for hours her tales and adventures to it. She still liked sitting on the tigers head, though she in truth clambered all over it, practicing her balance on it's back-she even sat in the tigers mouth sometimes, legs dangling idly over it's stony tongue. That the Stone Tiger was the perfect listener (it never talked back) was the greatest part-and, it's stony fangs were great for popping the stubborn metal caps of glass bottles. Drinking, dancing, singing, laughing, crying, falling down, getting back up...the only witness was the Stone Tiger.
However, one day-as usual-she again left the stone tiger, her roiling emotions sending her off once more. She was angry at everything that day, even the stone tiger-and, she promised she would never return.
And so, the Tiger slept.
...
Sokratei was 21 years old, an adventurous and wild young woman by nature. She often took long walks in the forest by herself, and she was-contrary to her now deceased mothers advice-never back before sunset. She in fact, could never go back home again. Her mother was gone, and her daughters grief was too strong, too fresh-the roads called to her.
Sokratei made what she assumed was a final visit to the Stone Tiger. Her last bit of business, before she left for good...had been to steal a powerful magical dispelling charm from a local Druid. The same one she had stolen the digging spell from years ago, but that's another story. She had always wondered if the statue was really a statue. The history of the area (which had taken her many years to fully uncover, if only because it was boring) indicated there had been a powerful Elven Witch who resided near this place, a very long time ago. She already knew that, but now she know it was one who had been reputed to have a very impressive collection of statuary-mostly collected of those who peeved her, or were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sokratei decided it was worth a try to undo the spell, if spell it was...after all, she would love a giant Tiger as a pet.
So, she said...
"...Stone Tiger, you have been my friend for many years. This is the last time, I think, we will meet. I am sick with grief over my mothers death-she fought one Dragon too many-and, soon I will leave these lands forever...but, since you have always been there for me, I think I will try this one last thing for you. If you were ever a real Tiger, then surely you can be one again...I stole this spell just for you, my old friend..."
Sokratei danced around her stone tiger, sang, and fluted.
♫An ode to you, oh Stone Tiger!
Here you fought, and here you fell-defeated by an evil spell..
Long ago in ages gone, you were sadly turned to...stone...uh...
Morning comes, and all must rise-from root and earth, I have you prised...
Now for all you meant to me-I, Sokratei, hereby set you free!♫
Thus, she applied the Dispel charm, which was really all she had to do...
And, the Tiger woke up.
...
She was surprised when it actually worked, though the resulting being was somewhat smaller, perhaps weakened, after so long as a statue. Sokratei was further surprised to find the Tiger was actually a Weretiger (which contributed to not being eaten whole, something she hadn't considered beforehand) and, had a whale of a tale to tell...
Needless to say, Sokratei wasn't alone anymore, when she set out.
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Topic: Domurinn: An Open-World Adventure (D&D 3.5 OOC) (Read 13376 times)