The Festival Day began, as usual, with Gianno emerging from the Celestial Nexus at dawn. He wore an intricate crown of vines, leaves, and blossoms on his head and hummed a merry tune as he attended to the grounds of the Nexus and Surrounding. Gianio passed the Crown to Cerah Leona, along with words of thanks for their friendship and fierce devotion to the town.
The Crown of Vines had been formed by forces that few, if any, in Quillpond truly understood. It was a token of gratitude to the region’s Protector from forces of nature that dwell in our realm and beyond. It was a circlet of woody roots and rich green leaves, imbued with the power to store the positive energy from simple gratitude. An annual cycle of natural thanks.
By mid-morning the crown had touched nearly dozen heads before finding Murg. Murg always found it difficult to deal with the crown, and was distracted by the missing children of the town. He kept it for a time before happening upon Garm and depositing it firmly on the head of the woodsman. Garm Harris passed it among his loggers and rangers until it came back to him, a slight breach of etiquette (but one that happened most years at least three times).
At noon, Nencio Barthol was wearing the Crown as a warm breeze rose from the north. Uncommon for this time of year. It brought a dry, dusty odor almost like one would find in a desert. Horses and draft animals seemed skittish after this happened, but grooms and stable hands across Quillpond were able to soothe them back to their duties and tasks. Nencio was expecting news from Florian about possible antidotes to the poison mushrooms that Usil had discovered. He paced nervously. When Domenic Vacca arrived with the vials of antidote, he received the crown in thanks.
Alchan was just passing the Crown to Tharvis Rimple when he received Giannio’s call for aid. Alchan hurried to the Nexus to find something sickening: apparent un-healing. Wounds that had nearly been healed or whose scars were barely visible any longer had ruptured, as though their healing had reversed course by days or even weeks! He was trained in battlefield medicine, but hadn’t set a stitch since he’d come to Quillpond decades ago. He stitched furiously to re-close wounds while Giannio and applied bandages and healing herbs.
There was an early and prolonged sunset, flooding the southwestern horizon with reddish pink-orange. Florian d'Arbres, having received the Crown minutes earlier from Louis Marlowe, bowed before Emon and graciously thanked her for continued patronage and interest in his arts. The warm breeze returned, again spooking the animals. The breeze continued while Emon mingled with the assembled revelers. Some were now nervous, rumors of missing children, problems at the lake, and healing being undone.
Acolytes from the Nexus brought down the brazier for the Crown burning ritual. Murmurs passed through the crowd, animals ran amok - unsoothable and fearful. Ciara Danaan was nearly bowled over by the Red-ribbon hog. Gaston d'Arbres had not been seen all day, which increased the worries and the uncertainty. The air felt both empty and oppressive as the conclusion neared.
Giannio hustled from the nexus to the central square where the ritual burning of the crown would occur. Unease hung in the air. He was weary and confused but Murg had called to the Wardens and Seed Seers. The Order of the Teeming Verdant Wood was often the hidden savior of Quillpond and the surroundings, and Giannio hoped that they would be again.