In the presence of Death, Dag's true purpose had become apparent. He is to be the Equilibrium; the restoration of balance the forest and the God's needed. The stag had exposed Velocity's hand - he had taken not just Summer, but all 4 seasons from the world in the hopes of securing what he wanted - Iaurdagnire's very soul. In order for Dag to do as he promised the Red and Gold... he would need to surrender his life and forsake himself for a greater good.

However, Dag's freedom alone would mean mortality, that was always the crux of his journey. And so he defined the terms of the release of the Season Spirits as well as his own. He made his case to Velocity that in his mortality, death is an inevitability... And that fact of true life was all he ever wanted.
"There will be a time I will walk with you, and you have my word... as long as I have yours."

It was done. But nothing is as simple as it seems.



Objective:
A thick fog has descended...
Dag's body lays crumpled on the hill. He had been delivered back to the forest in an indiscreet and thundering crash, followed by a bright light as if a spark had fallen from the sun. His body bruised and broken from his year long war in the underworld where suffering was nothing, but it all felt real now. Disorientated and overcome with sickness and fatigue, the stag could not move let alone open his eyes to see where he was.



If one is to look closely, they will notice the ground becoming saturated with blood around his chest. The deadly wound that had ensured his journey had returned with his life... Velocity knew this.

Time of of the essence, for his suffering is too great to overcome... Your objective is to protect Dag from Velocity's demons, now stronger than ever; they will happily make his death quicker and painless...

Objective #1 - text/roleplay response. This is an option if you haven't been able to make it to any of the in forest parts, but still want to contribute somehow. You can do this even if you have been to the in forest parts if you want to - it's completely optional!
Shout, scream at him for his selfishness if he is to give up now after everything he has put you through. Tend to his wound and tell him stories of what he's missed in his year of absence. Tell him what he has to live for. Whatever you want your character to say, you have until 11:30pm UK time to do it. You can reply in this blog or make your own blog with your response and link to it here.

Objective #2 - In forest
The demons still come flying through the fog thick and fast, their roars filling the forest... you must be the ones to stop them.
Keep going, your warrior spirits are sure to put fire into Dag's bones...







Though he gave no real response... He listened. To some, he had no choice but to, screaming at him to stop his nonsense. The very least he could do was open his eyes... But he couldn't. All he managed was a twitch of his ear - he hoped they knew. Numb from blood-loss, everything felt like a dream. The smell of sulfur... perhaps he was still in battle. The yelps and hyena chatter as they fell, and those triumphant roars... That is him roaring, it must be. But the voices? Were they with him? Were they fighting with him?

No, that wasn't him fighting. He could feel it. A gentle wind.
This was a natural place.
He was home. After all this time... His heart ached, and not just from the wound. What could he do? Nothing seemed to move, no matter how much he tried to tell it to. The realization that he was done had sunk in.
Will... Will isn't everything, after all. He always thought will surpassed the state of your own body, but it wasn't true. He understood how an old friend must have felt, at the end of the line, because that is all the body wants to do.

Fortunately, he wasn't the one who built him. The forest did.
There have been hard times, here and there. But they taught him right from wrong, they taught him to fight, and taught him to be... well, who he is. That's why his pictogram - his soul - could never leave.
Hah, his very name doesn't even belong to himself; there are creatures in this forest that forged every little bit of it, in their own way.

And who would have foreseen that one of them - a very small, celestial creature - would zip its way through the mayhem... to be the one to secure his fate to live.


"... It is time now. We'll be okay, Dag."