Creature Sanctuary

You find yourself being lead into a thick, damp and dark jungle. Huge trees all around you shoot for the sky, hoping to catch a little bit of the sun's warmth. Their efforts are held back by the creeping, climbing vines of dangerous-looking colors wrapping around their trunks and branches. Selakity clings fast to your shoulder, smart enough not to dare to fly through such a tangled mess.

The sounds of the jungle are loud and wild, coming from every direction. Loud monkeys, squaking birds, buzzing bugs and singing frogs, but the sound you fear the most is the silence of the preditors, stalking their prey. You hope that you're not next on their list. As you go to jump across a slippery stream, a short but pretty guardian reveals herself to you, smiling while offering you a hand to help you across. "That's Shion. She might look simple and plain, but she is the best tracker in the gardens and is perfect for guarding the jungle!" the drake exclaims cheerfully. You take the guardian's hand and cross the small stream.

Once you're beyond the stream, the thick vines and trees seem to thin out a little, giving you the chance to see many creatures you hadn't been able to before. "This place is protected," he says to you, finally loosening his grip on your shoulder. "No one can come and hunt the creatures here, including the preditors! They have to be nice, too." At those words, you start to feel much better about your situation.

"Wow!" shouts the drake into your ear, startling you. "Look at that! That's a clan of Ocalas! They're creature mages, meaning they cast magic! Usually they don't come here, but I guess you just got lucky today!" he says, pointing toward the large, mysterious looking creatures. "They're big and bulky, and they can't run very fast, but they're so strong that they can hold back any creature trying to attack them. And they can fly fast! Their wings are small, but they use magic to take them where they want."

You shuffle around on your feet, uneasy by the stares the large creatures give you. As you're trying to calm yourself down, you see near your feet a group of brightly colored mushrooms. They sparkle and wave gently, despite the fact that there is no wind to be felt between the trees. "Ooooh," says the little drake, "Those are magic mushrooms! The Ocala use these to use their magic spells. Each one has a different element; there's water, earth, fire and air! But you can't eat more than one element at a time, or it won't work!"

The touch of a strong, warm and large paw on your calf muscle makes you jump and twist around suddenly, your eyes wide and your heart racing. The little drake chirps loudly and takes to the air, hovering a few feet above your head. There behind you is a large, red and white jaguar with peircing blue eyes. "Excuse me," it says to you in a deep, calm voice, "but you're in my way. I'd like to get to those muschrooms, if that's quite alright with you." You nod eagerly and step out of the way, watching the large cat prance over to the red mushroom and gobble it down. It turns and grins to you, revealing its sharp, gleaming teeth before turning back the way it came.

Selakity returns to your shoulder and whispers in your ear, "That's a Synner. Don't be fooled by its tough act. They're gentle forest creatures who try not to eat other sentient creatures. That means they don't eat critters that can talk and can think, like humans."

You nod to the small drake. You decide that you want to leave this place, as interesting as it may be, and turn back toward the stream to follow the beaten path out of here. But to your surprise, a mysterious creature is knealing near the water's edge, gazing into the reflection. Its deep purple eyes look sad, and you feel a little sorry for it. "That," begins the drake, "Is a cousin to the Spikey Dragon Cat that lives in the forest. They might look sad, but they're not! They just like the attention they get."

As you jump across the stream and start walking toward the gardens, a brightly colored Digeral swoops past you, showing off its wonderful coat.

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