Randibone/Keridwen-Email8

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From: "Jumping Spider" <spiderjumping> 
To: <spiderjumping> 
Subject: Days of the Dark Forest - The Journal of Keridwen Oculet, Part 2
Date: 17 October 2007

CMProtocol@@JStart: Ready 
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Days of the Dark Forest - The Journal of Keridwen Oculet, Part 2 

Day 14: I've finally gotten the terrarium working. The spiders are 
happily wandering about inside. I'm going to have to get a steady
supply of insects. 

I don't know much about politics, I never have. These newcomers say 
that we're trespassing in *their* forest. From everything I've heard,
no one was claiming the forest at all, and that's why we felt
justified in sending a research expedition. I have this strange
suspicion that the only reason the blue-armored soldiers are
interested in the forest is because *we* are. Why can't they leave us
alone? 

Day 15: I didn't realize it, but Davadron has a startling knowledge of 
politics. I guess since he's the leader of this band of hunters, he's 
an administrator, so he would have had to deal with it before. He did 
confirm my suppositions; apparently the Blues have heard tales of the
honey, perhaps from travelers who wandered this way before. They want it. 

Day 16: I'm starting to think it would be a great crime to let the 
Blues have their honey. Davadron wouldn't understand...I'm not sure I
understand it yet myself, but this forest is more delicate than anyone
realizes. 

The spiders *can* spin webs! But they only spin single threads. Before 
they jump from somewhere they fasten a 'safety line' so they can climb
back up. 

Day 17: I've realized that some of the nodules and structures on the 
flower stalks provide starches and sugars that the bees ingest. They 
don't just get nectar from the flowers, it comes from the entire plant.
But this poses a question; How did the nodules evolve in the first
place? What's their purpose? 

We found some bee bushes stripped of their hives today. Davadron said 
it was the Blues' work. It was hard to look at. I know they were just
bees, but to me it was tragic. I can't explain it. Especially not to
Davadron. 

The trees with no hives are also missing their leaves, but Davadron 
says the Blues didn't take them. One of the hunters watched the Blues
harvest and he says the leaves weren't affected. And there was another
group of trees with leaves stripped off but hives intact. I have this
strange feeling there's more to this story than we yet realize. 

Day 18: Maybe I shouldn't hope mysteries get solved. There's another 
faction of beings in this forest. Strange reptilian creatures, but Davadron 
says he can communicate with them. He calls them Hedges, I think, I don't
know why. 

The Hedges stripped the leaves from the bee trees. From what I can 
deduce they get some medicinal value from them. They don't care about honey.
Why are there all these people trying to destroy this forest? Why did we
even come here in the first place? We should go back to our city and leave
them to fight it out. 

Another minor mystery solved; With the hives gone, herbivores eat the 
leaves from the bee bushes. The bees, when present, sting anything that
tries that. 

Day 19: Davadron is trying to negotiate with the two factions. The 
hunters are better at tracking and fighting in this forest than anyone else,
with Zetria's [tricks] helping. Davadron doesn't want to fight, though, and
I don't blame him. When I tried to suggest retreating he yelled at me. It
hurt, but it hurts more to see him under such pressure. I still don't see
why we had to leave our city. Why doesn't anyone know what to do? I've gone
through all my books and they don't have anything useful at all. My head is
spinning. 

[Expletive] I forgot to feed the spiders. There's only one left. I should
have remembered spiders could become cannibalistic under conditions like this. 

One of the hunters left me a gift. A nine-holed flute made from 
beeswax. I know what it can do, and that is not the right path. But I don't
know what is. 

Day 20: I dreamed that all the old teachers and heroes were yelling at 
me for not knowing what to do. It ended with Kallomar Ridditum himself 
berating me. He told me that *he* had no idea what to do, because he was in the
past, and I needed to look to the future. He told me I had everything I needed. 

When I woke up I felt a lot better. 

I know why the bees live in the bushes and why the bushes have their 
bees. I know why the spiders jump. I've figured it all out. I know what I have
to do. 

I just don't know if I can pull it off... 

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Notes:

  • See TheBook, and Coredump for compiled content so far
  • The coded all-caps sections are ROT-17:
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