In the beginning there were many treants. Humanoid creatures made of vines and wood that guard and protect nature from any and all threats. They were numerous and powerful. You had to be careful when taking from nature or you would call down the wrath of the treants and surely parish.
Then came the demon lord. Revived from the dead after thousands of years. There was no record of the last time he was defeated and so he was forgotten by all. The only trace from those times were given to the treants in the form of a powerful sword to protect over the years.
The last hero used the mighty and sacred sword to fell the great demon lord after a battle that lasted a great many nights and days. It was said that this sword is the only thing in existence that could even scratch the demon lord as he was protected by the god of fate.
The god of fate is the reason the demon lord is resurrected every few thousand years. He aims to destroy the world and reset it to its most basic form.
The demon lord started out by tearing open rifts in the fabric of space and sent through it hordes of his servants. Demons so vile and dark that they would corrupt the very earth they walk on. Every tree they touched and every step they took would spread the darkness in the world once again.
The treants heard the forest calling out in pain and suffering. It hurt their very souls to hear such a sad sound coming from the forest they were oathbound to protect.
They reacted swiftly and clashed with the demons personally. At first it seemed they would be able to fight of the intruders. But when the demons started emerging from the rift, they never stopped. An endless amount of darkness and demons flowed out of the rift and one by one the treants fell.
After decades of fighting back the hordes of darkness only one treant remained. He was the last and maybe the strongest of them all but even so, the forest was slowly being overtaken by the corruption.
That is where the story begins.
Emrys is the only remaining treant in the Deep Woodlands.
He opens his wooden eyes to the beautiful view of the sun shining through the leaves of the tall trees. When he sat down against a tree the previous night to sleep he almost blended in to the environment perfectly. His body was made up of various branches and roots.
He had moss growing all over him and his eyes seemed to be made of pure emeralds. He stood up with his body letting out a wooden creaking sound.
Emrys started his day by walking to a nearby stream and extended the roots from his right arm to suck up a large amount of water. Water is the only thing he requires to function. He doesn't need to eat like normal creatures.
After he drank his fill he started walking deeper into the forest towards a spot that he calls home. Once he arrived after only a few short minutes one could see a small cabin made up of a few tall trees connected to each other with a wall of tightly packed roots.
It was something Emrys had made from his own body a very long time ago. There was also an area next to his cabin that he used to cultivate many different types of plants that would struggle to grow normally.
He does this to help them grow and to protect them. There was one particular large plant that stood out even among all the other rare plants. This plant was covered in the most threatening looking thorns Emrys had ever seen.
Turns out this is one of the fabled Shea Thorn bush. In all of time there had only been three in recorded human history. Although Emrys is ignorant of the world outside the forest, he could tell that this was special.
He found in a grove being overtaken by other plants growing very close to it. It was still in its infancy, so Emrys decided to take care of it and replant it in his garden where he could keep a close eye on it.
Emrys approached the plant and knelt down in front of it to inspect the stem and the leaves. There was not a single repeating color among the leaves and they were all in good condition but a little dry.
"Good...Morning...Thoko." Emrys spoke with great difficulty. In all of the hundreds of years that he has lived there was hardly a reason for him to speak. At least until he cultivated this plant that could surprisingly speak and had a certain level of intelligence too.
"Same as any other I suppose." The plant named Thoko replied.
"Would...you...like...some water? One...moment." Emrys released some of the water stored in his body and sprinkled it on Thoko.
"Ah, thank you kindly. That really hits the spot." Thoko said while greedily absorbing the water.
"Of course...friend." Emrys gave Thoko a warm smile and turned to leave. There was much for him to take care of in the forest today.
He knew the forest like the back of his hand and started straight to the western side of the forest. The woods opened up to a clearing filled to the brim with flourishing Erdem berry bushes. He began picking some of these berries as they are a favorite of the Pixies that live in this forest.
He extended his hand and manipulated his body into the shape of a small bucket and filled it up with Erdem berries.
He then continued to the west until he started to see brightly glowing moss here and there. The tall trees blocked out most of the sunlight as he kept moving so even though it was early in the day one could mistake it for night time in this part of the forest.
He came across a tree with a strange mark on it and hung the bucket from one of the low hanging branches of the tree.
He does this every morning as a way to help the pixies. Because of their small size it was always hard for them to gather enough food. They are quite numerous and very good at using magic.
Emrys takes his responsibility very seriously. His race was one that was supposed to guard and support all the life inside the forest. So when his race all died, he took on their responsibility as well and does everything he can to preserve the forest and the creatures within to his last breath.
It weighs heavily on him but he does his best.
Soon after Emrys moved on, a small pixie flew up to the bucket hanging on the tree and peeked inside with gratitude painted clearly on its tiny face.
Emrys's next goal was to check up on the griffin's in the east side of the forest. He started heading in that direction, only stopping to take in some more water.
When he had arrived on the east side he could see a few baby gryphon's playing in a small clearing.
One of the griffin's spotted Emrys and rushed over. "Emrys! Your back! Do you want to play with us?" The baby griffin said with hopeful eyes.
"For...a little...while." He said while giving the griffin a pat on the head.
"Come on!" The griffin grabbed Emrys's hand with its beak and pulled him into the clearing. They each ran around laughing and tackling each other for a few minutes until one of the adult griffin showed up.
Emrys said his farewells to the kids and went over to speak with the adult griffin. Its name was Ratna and they were well acquainted at this point living in the same forest and all.
"Greeting my friend. Making the usual rounds I see?"
"Yes...any...trouble?"
"If I may. We've actually had quite the issue with some of the harpy's recently. I don't know what's gotten into them but they have been stealing food from us for the past few days."
"I...see." Emrys nodded his head in understanding. "I...will...look into...this."
"As always, thank you very much for your help." The griffin bowed its head. They have always had great respect for the forest guardians. They have always done their best to help the ones that live in this forest. Even though there numbers have dwindled, they still protected all they could from the demons and corruption.
Once, far in the past, the griffins worked with the treants to protect the forest from a great evil. What that evil was at the time, no one can say.
As for now, the sky was beginning to darken so he would have to investigate the next day. He wanted to make sure that all the creatures that live in this forest are safe and protected. With slow, powerful steps, he made his way back to the cabin to get some rest.
The reason he was asleep on the forest floor the previous night was because he had run out of energy and couldn't make it back to the cabin with the small amount of mana he had left.
All creatures in this world have mana somewhere within them. In Emrys's case, he uses a small amount just by existing. Normally this would not be an issue, except his total pool of mana is barely enough for him to make it through the day, and that's if he doesn't use any mana for anything else.
It's the cost of living as long as he has unfortunately.