Seobaak

Part 1: Seobaak

Small twigs and leaves blew past Seobaak as he hurried through the Battlebrook forests of Otthocia. He had been walking for days, and his legs were beginning to feel numb, but he had to make it to the outskirts of the forest by sundown. 

Only once the sun was directly above him did he stop to rest on a half-rotted tree stump on the edge of the narrow gravel path. From a soft leather bag he produced a small green apple and a flask of muddy water. If a lone traveler were to look at him in that moment, they would have thought him dull and uninteresting. 

This would be a woeful misjudgment. His black hair was unkempt and speckled with grey, and his golden eyes had a far off sort of look, as if he was not quite here and not quite there. Perhaps he was remembering some distant memory of his tragic past. He was quite old, in human years at least. Some say he was half Tuuruk, which would explain his age. Others say he had a bit of Virok blood, as Viroks have strange yellow eyes. Whatever he was, everyone agrees he was much too powerful, and much too intelligent, which was probably what lead to his ultimate demise.

Seobaak stood suddenly, listened hard, then sniffed twice. After a moment he shook his head, and, discarding the apple core, continued on his way. As he walked he would pick up random feathers and rocks, inspect them cautiously, then carefully place them in one of his many pockets.

There was nothing particularly interesting about the Battlebrook forests, only that some war or another had taken place there long ago. It was one of those wars that no one could quite remember, or rather, no one cared to remember. 

The only notable thing about the battlebrook war was that it brought all kinds of creatures to the forests, many of which never left. The forests were not the kind you would wish to spend the night in. There have been plenty of tales of people who wandered deep into Battlebrook after dusk, many of whom were never the same afterward.