Moonsoon

As a 230 year-old mystical owl and guardian of the Silvia Forest, spirits of the forest call me Moonsoon. They’re my obvious gems, companions of a lifetime. Over the last two centuries I have been protecting them, nurturing them, thus their pick for a tempest epithet: I am the moon before dawn. My claws have seen it all. Hunting to survive, retracting to perch, expanding to shield, growing to thrive. The weapon and the cure. They are a part of me; living as long as I have. I’ll bring you there through the forest, to the other side of the river. I will introduce you to a few of my companions. We’ll tell you about our testimony. And remember: the Silvia Forest is open to all, yet not all will thrive. There are days of pain and nights of fame. Days of magic and nights of despair. It’s the journey of a thousand reasons, our thousand reasons to shine from the inside.

Strangely enough, Moonsoon never really appreciated the vastness of the worlds beyond the Silvia Forest. For centuries he mastered the ins and outs of his territory without even dreaming of what lies beyond. Fears of putting in the same daunting effort for a most likely weaker result? It takes so much courage and commitment to take that leap yourself, after a life spent protecting and nurturing others. But Moonsoon saw a possibility. He acknowledged first seat the good deeds he spread to the travellers of his forest, allowed them to go and explore further what he could ever imagine was possible, and yet with so much confidence.

On a rest day at sunrise, he decided to leave. Without informing Rhea, without planting the next seed of kindness for the inhabitants and travellers of the forest. He just left. Flying from his favorite perching branch in the direction of the enticing and warmer sun, Moonsoon was called to his new mission: building yet another safe haven. In another place, with new companions. He knew, though. He knew the risks he took, to leave all his achievements, comforting thoughts and supportive friends behind. He also knew, as a guardian angel, how critical this new mission was going to be; for himself, for his new journey companions, and for the discoveries he would learn from.

Without knowing which direction to take other than following the trace in the sky left by the rising sun, Moonsoon flew along San. The only friendly memory he could hold onto. The river extended far beyond its bed, hundreds of miles through the steppes of Ging X. Han. Like a legendary serpent dominating the ancient landscape, curvating and ramping along the earth's millennial story. San's essence is volatile, it changes on the times your path crosses its flow, it learns from all the beings who come to find comfort and nourishment by its sides.

Moonsoon leaving the forest is the symbol of his new birth: a newborn moon. His wisdom earned from hundreds of years of life won’t be of much help when encountering new spirits, cultures, and dangers. And soon enough, way earlier than he would have expected, San's colors changed. They suddenly became ochre, when they were once blue as the nightly sky. Then pale orange. Then purple. Then, as he progressed further, while the sun peaked at its zenith, they became dark. Outrageously dark and obscene. Why? There is extraordinary life beyond what we believe. Not always bright, not always vile, not always monochrome. Moonsoon was on the verge to uncover yet another series of mysteries. Would he survive the consequences of his recklessness, abandoning his friends who could now more than ever fall in dreadful danger, all in the spirit of selfless exploration for new companions he hasn't yet met and who could very well become the doom of San, and all the worlds it feeds?