You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Fair Lady Melpomene,
Spirit of the Black Forest... I greet you."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Have the trees ever
complained of something embedded beneath their bark? A blade, perhaps?"

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "The tree would have
to be hundreds of years old, at the least..."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Milady....?"

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "No, the trees have not had
anything wedged beneath their bark since that evening when you had a
little too much to drink and took your pants off, Delphinus..."

You say, "...."

You frown and say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "That never
happened!"

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Spirits see everything."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest scoffs arrogantly.

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Even that which is
not there, apparently."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "That treekin never
recovered from the event."

You say, "Well, I hope whoever it is that defiled the forests so - and
it WASN'T ME - dies cruelly."

You peer about yourself unscrupulously.

You sniffle softly.

You exclaim to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Have the forests
abandoned me?!"

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Personally, I'm amazed that
the flying squirrels in their burrow didn't scar you up a bit."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "That's because it
never happened!"

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "That was quite a burrow
invader."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "The mother chittered at me
for weeks afterwards."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Poor little
squirrels. I wonder who it was. Maybe you were looking at things from
the wrong perspective? Perhaps you mistook me for someone else."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "There were squirrels
watching you from all angles, horrified."

You look skeptical and say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "It
sounds like the stickmen have been lending you their stash of chaos
tequila, I'm afraid."

The looming trees above sway in disgust at the presence of Delphinus.

You give a horrified gasp.

You sniffle softly.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "So, you are looking for
something within the bark... I take it you left something there?"

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "No... but a man did."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "The poor squirrels..."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Centuries ago... and
NOT
THAT."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "The man called
Trenton Deis snatched up the sword of Lucaine Pyramides, embedded it in
the trunk of a tree, and snapped the blade in two."

A saplingkin vaguely resembling Delphinus enters from the east, and
quickly departs to the west.

You twitch spasmodically.

You say, "Wha-how-wha-."


The boar trots out to the east.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "The saplingkin always chase
the boars away."

You say, "Not what I was referring to..."

You twitch spasmodically.

You say, "That saplingkin, which looked -nothing like me-. I've never
seen it around here."

You nod your head at yourself.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "The boars say that the
saplingkin chatters about strange things all the time, and tries to act
smarter than the
birches. I mean, what could be smarter than a birch? The animals flee
its dreary rustling."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Now, that's just
cruel."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "You call that cruel?
Imagine what the baby squirrels saw that fateful night in their burrow."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest shivers violently.

You twitch spasmodically.

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Maybe the saplingkin
just spoke out of naivete! Or the truth as he saw it!"

The voice of a childlike treekin echoes throughout the forest,
"Daddy...."

You say, "..."

You bury your head in Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest's shoulder
and begin to weep uncontrollably.

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Stop playing with my
miiiiiiiind."

You collapse in a heap on the floor, unwilling to bear the pain any
longer.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest edges slowly away from you with a
nervous expression on her face.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "I remember what happened
the last time you leaned on a tree..."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Yeah, I enacted a
rite of preservation."

You give Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest the once-over, eyeing her
suspiciously.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "A rite of preservation...
So that is what you are calling it these days..."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "I'm sorry to say,
Delphinus, but the trees are well-preserved enough as it is without
putting in... Additives."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Only city-folk try to
preserve plants by pickling."

Sapmoore ambles in, rooting herself in the ground.

You twitch spasmodically.

You twitch spasmodically.

You open your mouth but say nothing.

Sapmoore flutters her eyelashes at you.

Uprooting herself suddenly, Sapmoore ambles away to the east.

You say, "...."

You mutter, "Lucr.....' br..." (Lucretius' brow.)

You twitch spasmodically.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Some forestals are known as
treehuggers, which is all and good.. But there is a point that is
crossed, you
know."
 

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "The entire Black
Forest has gone mad. I wouldn't be surprised if Eris had sneezed over it
again."

You peer about yourself unscrupulously.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Why are you denying it,
Delphinus?"

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "That's normally what
I do with untruths?"

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest exclaims, "You have a saplingkin
that looks exactly like you!"

You twitch spasmodically.

You say, "He looks nothing like me!"

You hop about madly.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "He looks exacltly like
you."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "And the squirrels saw
everything. By Demeter, even I saw everything. I see everything in this
forest."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "It was probably a
Sylvan or Magi conjuring an illusion."

You nod your head slowly, trying to wear your best wise look.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Nobody is blaming you,
Delphinus. It can be a lonely life, being a druid."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "But at least own up to it.
That poor treekin has no father."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "That's because
treeees pollenate each other."
You twitch spasmodically.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "And, frankly, you may want
to see a healer. I imagine you have been too embarrassed to get those
ant and squirrel bites treated all this time."

You remove 1 prickly ash bark, bringing the total in the Rift to 202.

You remove 1 goldenseal root, bringing the total in the Rift to 25.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "I am sure there are some
splendid healers in Eleusis."

==SELFISHNESS DOWN==

You give some prickly ash bark to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest.

You give a goldenseal root to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest.
Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Me? Eat a plant? Are you
crazy?"

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "Here. Those are for
the mental maladies you're most obviously suffering."

Melpomene gives you a small leaf.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "And this is to crush so
that you can make a salve for the bites on your genitalia."

You have emoted: Delphinus peers at a small leaf unscrupulously.

You say, "...."

You twitch spasmodically.

Dozens of squirrels silently and angrily watch from the trees.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest exclaims, "You can thank me

later!"

You have emoted: Delphinus eyes the squirrels in return.

You say, "I dunno what you all saw, but it didn't involve me. So shoo."

A large female squirrel with small pieces of forest debris stuck to it
chitters at Melpomene.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Yes, the mother never quite
recovered from that."

Melpomene chitters back at the mother squirrel.

You say, "My apologies to her if she's been exposed to some form of
treachery, but I'm afraid I haven't even had a lengthy stay in the Black
Forest for quite
some time."

You look about yourself, rubbing your chin thoughtfully.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Apparently the squirrels
want the trees to do to you, exactly as you did to the trees."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "I'd advise you to run."

You peer about yourself unscrupulously.

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "And the last time I
was drunk was in Cyrene, and I drank myself to death."

The crashing of a particularly large treekin echoes through the forest.

You blink.

You peer about yourself unscrupulously.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "That's a big one, a bull
treekin."

You say, "Hm. Never seen one of those."

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest exclaims, "Run!"

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest exclaims, "And put the salve on!"

You say, "Nah... I want to see one."

You have emoted: Delphinus patiently stands his ground.

The annoying, onorous squeaking of a young treekin fills the air.

You peer about yourself unscrupulously.

Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest says, "Your son has interceded for
you, and has prevented certain molestation."

You say to Melpomene, Spirit of the Black Forest, "That's very nice of
him, nonexistent though he may be."

A little treekin sapling shuffles into the glade, grabs your hand with a
spindly, geeky branch, and hauls you out of the forest.

Passing the Black Forest (road).
It is raining heavily, pregnant drops of water pouring down onto you.
You see exits leading north, east, and southwest.
You are transported by the power of the Divine.