Harken and beware. When the earth’s thirst is quenched with blood beware. The Ancients came and went. What is time in this place? The land was green and good, and others came. Plenty for all, yet they fought as if caught in the jaws of scarcity.\n\nGlutted on gore, the earth vomited corpses when the great rains came. Eventually, this land had had enough.

Pages from the book The Queen in Emerald

Harken and Beware

It began as a shift in the air. The murmur of trees. The crackling whisper of crops conspiring in the night. The music of the green.\n\nThe warmongers felt this change, invisible yet heady. Peace and joy grew root-bound in their hearts, driving out all aggression. Warring faction met and reveled. They drank, they ate, they sang.\n\nAnd they danced. They danced day and night. They smiled and danced upon bloody feet. They danced into ecstatic delirium, until they saw the face of god.\n\nThen was acknowledged the presence of the Queen in Emerald. The Verdant Spirit! The Music that Eats! She had come, not as a thief in the night, but in motley of glory green.\n\nOne by one, the dancers died. Then their corpses danced a while longer. They danced until their souls guttered out like worm-eaten stars, until they could never return to life again.\n\nWhen the last reveler rotted away, the Queen in Emerald held court. She holds court still.

The Music of the Green

Fools ignore these warnings, and the wise enjoy this land in quiet. We reap its bounty with respect. We avoid the clang and clamor of battle. We do not sing. We do not dance. We dare not even whistle.\nTo be loud is to kick up her attention, like stomping through pollen-engorged flowers. Every noise echoes back a fragment of Her melody. Then her words find you. Once the earworm digs, there is no stopping it. Once you dance, there is no escaping that grinning oblivion.\n\nHave you heard Her music?\n\nHave you seen the Emerald Queen?

The Queen in Emerald Chapter - NWGuide Database of Lore

Images

Comments