The Heart of Maguuma.
The depths of the jungle held boundless treasures in both beauty and mystery, and many a traveler had oft dreamed of being the first to lay eyes upon and discover its secrets. However, the idyllic beauty and tranquility was a deceptive one, and not all of the secrets which the jungle held were ones which anyone would want or ever wish to discover. There was a reason why up until this day, no one had forayed into the hidden depths of the forest – at least, no one that had ever come back to tell of it.
The quiet buzz of insects and occasional warble of an unseen, unfamiliar bird permeated the humid air, just loud enough to mask the soft sound of quickened breathing. A faint rustle gave away the presence of a creature not native to these lands, leaves quivering and small twigs snapping to mark its passage. The creature in question was a Sylvari, her movements quick and nervous as she made her way through the undergrowth, and it was evidently clear that she was not normally accustomed to traversing this type of terrain. Golden eyes flickered back and forth anxiously, as if trying to take in all of her surroundings at once, but it was futile effort.
Her clothes and body were covered in scrapes, bruises, and what looked like char marks, and smatters of a dark, dried liquid colored her once-pristine clothing. She was armed only with what appeared to be a wooden staff, but based on the state it was in, it had never seen violence in its lifetime. At least, it didn’t appear as if it had ever been used to try and hit anything. If its wielder’s state was anything to judge by though, the past day or two had been rough ones, even though it seemed as if she were searching for would-be attackers that didn’t exist.
Rhianwyn had been part of the Pact fleet which had flown in to the Maguuma Jungle to fight the newly awakened jungle dragon, Mordremoth, but when they had arrived over the unfamiliar territory, they had been met with unexpected resistance. Not only had they faced a barrage from below, their own ranks had inexplicably turned upon them as well (although it only seemed to have afflicted a certain number of Sylvari within the fleet), and while they were relatively few in number, the unprovoked attacks combined with the ground force had downed most, if not all of the fleet’s ships. Rhianwyn had been on one of the ships which had been shot down, and most of the crew of her vessel had perished in the crash. She, along with the handful of survivors who’d made it through the disastrous landing in the treetops, had done their best to tend to their wounded and try to make their way towards where the rest of the fleet was headed.
They managed alright for a while…but that was before night fell. That was when the jungle had come to hunt its new quarry in earnest. Beneath the cover of darkness, many more of her comrades were cut down by unseen enemies, and those who hadn’t been killed were separated in the chaos, leaving Rhia completely and utterly alone in the heart of this strange and bloodthirsty jungle. To think that just days ago, she had been pouring through the Priory’s archives, reading all of the written records pertaining to the Maguuma jungle and imagining what wonders she would discover there. Despite the fact that the circumstances which were to bring them here were less than fortunate ones, she was a scholar at heart, and her calling since her awakening had always been the pursuit of knowledge.
Now, however, the only goal which she seemed able to hold in her reach was to survive. Unlike many other members of her crew, she wasn’t trained in combat or wilderness survival – her purpose here was both to provide and collect knowledge on the jungle and the elder dragon, as well as offer her skills as a healer. For an elementalist, she only really ever garnered a prowess for the water attunement, but she was as skilled a healer as the Priory had seen in hundreds of years, and that alone had been reason enough to call upon her.
That too was far from her mind in her current situation – she was currently being hunted by unseen creatures, predators, and as far as quarry went, she was about as easy prey as they came. To make matters worse, she had begun to hear what she could only describe as a deep, sinister voice in her head that whispered unintelligible words. She assumed that it was likely due to being exposed to the elements and water deprivation, possibly coupled with the mild panic which now constantly plagued her footsteps. The only hope she had now was to find and regroup with what remained of her crew, or perhaps any other Pact crews which had been stranded in the same way during the initial attack. With only a bearing in which the fleet had been headed to follow, she pressed onwards through the unsympathetic jungle, hoping against hope that she might survive to see the next day.