Charter: Maplewood

"There shall come three travelers and a bleeding man

To know the sacred prophecy".

Amongst the many countless fantastic places in the Netherworld, the bright orange sun could be seen behind the dull gray clouds, telling any wandering traveler that night was coming and illuminating with its bright rays the large red area where the trees for future maple syrup and jam would grow.

This place was called the Maple Forest, the colorful large leaves swayed in the majestic wind and fell to the ground, where new trees could have sprouted, unfortunately you could see a worse picture, with the coming of the bandits, some of the trees died, not even given time for healthy growth, it was all down to the oxygen the trees used to breathe.

It changed its composition to poisonous atmospheric emissions coming from the west, there was illegal mining of precious metals during their collection, those who do not know how to process metal are exposed to these atmospheric poisons, it affects humans with bright red rashes all over the body in small doses, but for nature it is death. The maple forest was one of the last refuges for many rare animal species, including bats with emerald wings and colorful birds that could catch fire.

They found their home here and tried to protect it from destruction, but atmospheric phenomena did not allow it. The sick trees could not withstand the frequent pumping of the maple syrup and withered. This often happened after a ruthless pirate ruled over the conquered Kingdom of Morsalia, led by a tamed pirate with a demon dragon. No one yet understands how the last king, now in prison, could have made such a mistake, but no one dares to overthrow him because this pirate is protected by a creature from the Closed World, on the other side of the sea, protected by giant sea monsters.

In the center of Maplewood is the Diamond Lake, famous for its azure clear waters, where all the creatures in the area come to heal their wounds from robbers. But this lake is not simple, it heals those who have a heart as pure as a diamond, and those who are angry with the soul leave it as it is without further help, the lake has long lost its properties, but now came the moment when it awoke from its eternal sleep, when from its depths swam out wounded and unconscious Herod Stan, Athena holding him, Dolan and Francie.

Once on the shores of this mysterious lake, the boys immediately realized that they had been drawn into something unimaginable. The shores of the lake exuded purity and freshness, as if the air itself were imbued with healing energy. They were awed by the beauty of the place and at the same time felt a strange sense of unease. The boys, soaked to the skin and in a panic, climbed ashore and pulled Herod Stan, exhausted and wounded, unconscious on the shore of the lake, his body seeming to radiate despair and pain. Athena, holding his hand, looked worried, as if she didn't know how to help this man. Dolan and Francie, lying nearby, exchanged glances of determination and courage.

– Francie! Help me, he's bleeding.

– Athena, what happened to Stan? – Francie saw the torn tights wrapped around the man's shoulder.

– He was shot by my father.

– Uh-oh. Let me at least rewind it properly. – As Francie looked at the wound, the wet Dolan gazed with admiration at the red trees, which he thought looked like living fire, while the boy moved away from them, Francie untied the bandages, confused.

– Athena, are you sure your father shot him?

–Yes! I had his blood on my hands!

–Well, either you're imagining it or it was a miracle. Because there's no bullet wound. – Francie moved closer to his shoulder and touched the spot where the wound had been moments ago.

– Really... miracles. – Athena felt a kind of magic and an unusual vibration hovering around her, making her heart beat louder and her mind cackle. She realized that she had witnessed something unimaginably great, and that her future actions mattered to everyone here.

Athena let her head slip: – Stan pulled a gun on me to stop my father from taking it.

– Well then let's drown him, the bastard! –Francie got angry, but Athena stopped her.

– No, I don't have to, when he pulled out a gun it was a fake.

– OK, then I won't touch him.

– All right, then. Let's leave him like this, I think he's just unconscious, especially the way he's breathing, he'll be like a cucumber.

–You're right. – Athena looked around and saw Dolan a short distance away from them.

– I don't want him to get into trouble! – Dolan came back here for now, we don't know where we are, we have to wait for Stan to wake up!

Dolan approached the maple trees, he was amazed at what he saw, they were twice the size of a normal tree: – Why are you suffering in such a beautiful place?

He wanted to touch the dried tree but was stopped by the voices of the girls calling him back.

– Okay, I'm coming!. – He ran back to the girls. The boys sat in a circle around the unconscious Wall and decided to discuss what had happened. Athena started the discussion.

– So, what do we know?

– Probably... It's my fault. – Francie replied hesitantly.

– No, it's me. – Dolan suddenly replied. Athena was confused: – Let's take Francie first.

– When I was clearing out the bookshelves, I found an old photo album and there was a picture with a poem on the back, but as I realized now, it was a spell....

– And you read it. – Athena covered her face with her hand: – What did you do?

– While we were hiding in different rooms, I decided I'd rather hide in the toilet. I heard a woman's voice in my head.I looked through the keyhole and saw the sea and here we are.

– So I didn't just hear it. When we were flooded, we all heard a woman's voice. Athena, who was talking to the boys, realized that she wasn't the only one who had heard someone else's voice. The girl was confused.

– Could we have been stolen by aliens? Or maybe we've all been shot by the police.

– Francie! – Athena didn't like that.

– What? – Francie kicked Stan's foot, he felt a sharp pain and jumped up like a man on fire:

– Ay! I'm dead, where am I?

Athena tried to calm him down, but Dolan couldn't resist making some bad jokes: – We're really dead...

– No, don't scare him... we're alive and conscious. – So Athena wanted everyone to have a fresh head, especially as the awake Stan was still adjusting to the maple forest he was seeing for the first time.

When they heard an unfamiliar female voice from the depths of the forest, they were suspicious, as they didn't know anyone here: – You should at least wait for the next night somewhere else, bandits might pass through here...and more.

– Where are you? – Dolan asked.

– What do you think? You'll have to find out for yourselves, but I'll help you. – A dark-skinned girl, covered in a white robe, with an empty leather water bottle in her right hand, came out of the fiery thicket to meet the boys. To avoid scaring them she approached slowly, but not towards them. She calmly approached the lake and filled the leather bottle with azure water.

Athena looked at her and saw that the woman had no hair on her head and bright red eyes similar to a maple leaf.

– Who are you? – Athena asked with a note of incredulity.

– My name is Lan, I'm a dark elf and an apprentice of the Shaman, I'm here because he sent me for you. – She answered coldly.

– Good! – Dolan immediately agreed, but Athena had a question.

– Can we trust you? – The elf repeated her own words.

– You'll have to find out for yourselves. – She slowly started to walk deeper into the forest, Stan encouraged the girl: – Just relax. If we're gonna get out of here, we need someone who knows, and this is our chance.

– Especially since I know Shamans know literally everything. – Francie added.

– Ah, good, you're right. – Glancing at the departing shaman's apprentice, they all slowly followed, and the elf saw that and nodded her head in agreement.