nabran Tain was born of the Sindrene, a devoutly religious race of forest dwellers as elusive as they are colorful. He was slow to develop compared to his peers and, while he did not want for friendly social interaction, he was more inclined to spend his days reciting the Songs of Sindri with his elders or exploring the natural wonders of the Shining Weald alone than sparring or chasing. His lack of ambition vexed his mother, Ilani - a proud yet fragile gloryhound who, despite possessing some admirable qualities, still consistently managed to bloviate her way into a state of general unpopularity with the herd - but such fractious desires only grew more repulsive to him with age. Ilani scolded him constantly, and his father (sympathetic though he was) stood by in silence.

Inevitably this private struggle turned grotesquely, traumatically public. Enabran, then a young stallion and long since fed up with his mother's abuse, ran afoul of an acquaintance with more antlers than sense and an axe to grind: he may not have slung the first insults, but he most certainly landed the first blow...

...and almost nothing else.

Enabran paid handsomely for the many lessons he learned that day. After the brief but chaotic clash of antlers, he had suffered a badly broken hind leg that would almost claim his life. Devrim, his father, finally summoned the Priory elders when he lost the ability to stand - against his mother's loud protestations that her son was strong, actually, and other such things that have long since smeared into the red haze of his memory.

Delirious with pain and fever, he could remember little of the healing ritual that followed. He had once ached to watch the elders beseech Sindri directly someday, hungry as he had been to see the forest god's grace in action - but when he awoke hours later, his hind leg miraculously mended and seared white by Sindri's mercy, he screamed for several minutes, then said nothing at all for weeks. He lacked the fortitude to describe what had horrified him so. He feared what they would think. He feared what they might do.

So Enabran did what he could to move on. He was healed, as many in the Weald were swift to point out in joyous tones, and they were far better at congratulating him on his guaranteed acceptance into the Priory than he was at ignoring the way they gawked at the mercy mark that scored his flank like lightning. Even so, he didn't blame them: if the evidence of their god's good work writ large across his flesh had not successfully othered him from the community, then the sudden onset of night terrors certainly would have. Navigating his new reality exhausted him.

When several seasons of suffering saw the deep well of his endurance run dry at last, he confronted his father quietly with the desire to travel beyond the borders of the Shining Weald in search of peace for his troubled spirit. Devrim understood, and in exchange for his silence (for Ilani would undoubtedly rage at her son's flight from the forest, and goodness knows how far she would go to retrieve him) he asked only that Enabran carry a piece of the forest with him in the hope that one day his search might lead him home. Enabran accepted the token - a small copper medallion affixed with thick twine to his antler - and stole away into the wilderness before his resolve could fail him.

i. I don't know where we go from here

After forsaking the ancient forests of his birth, Enabran finds himself unexpectedly transported to the mist-shrouded land of the In-Between. There, a shadowy stranger welcomes him to Mythos and invites him on a journey of discovery.

ii. Of gods' blood and burial

Utterly alone in a foreign land, Enabran trusts Tenebrae to guide him into the dark underworld of the Twilight Grotto, where they discuss power, divinity, and the tribulations of the Mythosene people.

iii. Volume II: The Summoning

In the heart of Queensthrone, the Allmother's shattered crystal calls out to her children all across the land of Mythos. Enabran, too, finds himself drawn to the crystal, where death and untold horror awaits all who dared to answer the crystal's call. Then, when all hope seems lost, the Allmother bursts from her darkling prison and burns away the even that chained her.

i. "What is truth?" said jesting Pilate, but would not stay for an answer

Enabran, shaken by the traumatic and revelatory events of the Summoning, returns to the Site of the Allmother searching for peace of mind and receives an unexpected response.

ii. A jungle brawl

Enabran crosses paths with an ill-tempered hermit, Savannah, in the dense jungles of Vinevrin as he quests to fulfill the task assigned to him by the Allmother. Self-conscious about the perilous nature of his mission but determined to succeed, he convinces Savannah to show him the way to the desert city of Dolumar and accompanies him in his herb-gathering.

iii. The things that cost you too much

Against his better judgment, Enabran ingests the poison of the Nettlebrush plant and falls prey to overwhelming prophetic visions, hallucinations, and excruciating pain. When dawn breaks, Enabran wakes and finds that - as the Allmother promised - he can no longer lie, but he can now sense the honesty and deception of others.

iv. I know it's illegal, but like #yolo?

Enabran visits the city of Dolumar for the first time after awakening his truth-seeking powers and stumbles across a crime in progress in the alleyway behind an abandoned shop. Here, he meets the exuberant Camara, who waxes poetic about the minutiae of baking and her entrepreneurial dream.

v. Surrender

Something calls Enabran back to the misty realm of the In-Between. There, he discovers an errant fragment of his soul in the form of a pigeon. As their spirits are joined, the pigeon's instincts overwhelm his own, and he loses himself body and mind to the bird.

vi. Kindred spirits

Enabran's first flight as the owl pigeon has carried him far afield of where he was when he lost control of his body. Now back in the saddle, he sets out for Edana with his newfound power to search for those lost during the events of the Summoning. Deep in the wastes of the Dragon Pit, he makes a new friend while philosophizing about life, death, trauma, and healing.

vii. How the light gets in

Enabran seeks to commune with his new Guardian at the Crystal of Accord, and is met instead by the Allmother who sends him on another quest to uncover a long-forgotten story.

viii. Seek no comfort, shelter no fear

Enabran meets a friendly face in the swampy land of Lona's Hollow. [in progress]

ix. Seek first to understand

At the Allmother's behest, Enabran braves the Kikiyaon's wrath to listen to her long-forgotten tale of woe and share a moment of peace and understanding with the legendary creature.

x. No feeling is final

Enabran is reunited with a friend he thought had perished during the Summoning, Tenebrae, on the shores of Siasxiu's Deep. Though each has been drawn to the sea by his own preoccupations, the newly-anointed Guardian of Twilight offers Enabran words of support he never expected to hear.

i. Our doubts are traitors

Shaken by the Allmother's appearance on his previous visit to the Crystal of Accord, Enabran is hesitant and riddled with doubt about his worthiness as a disciple. Despite his doubts, the Guardian of Accord Thora appears and hastens him toward the rescue of a creature unjustly imprisoned in the Twilight Grotto.

ii. The liar and the lamb

Enabran delves deep into the Twilight Grotto, this time on his own, and engages in a battle of wits with a pair of red-ruffed btsans. He successfully identifies the true fox from the imposter and sets it free, escaping the Grotto by its side.

iii. The Shadowhunt: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - Conclusion

Against his better judgment, Enabran chooses to join in the perilous Shadowhunt called by Tenebrae. Navigating the labyrinthine and treacherous challenges of the Hunt, Enabran draws his first blood and walks away with a new scar and a crescent moon charm to commemorate his growth.

iv. Sea of grass, sea of starlight

[in progress]

v. How long until my soul gets it right?

Enabran seeks out the Guardian of Accord again, feeling more confident, in hopes of earning Sage magic. Thora sends him to learn the truth about the fall of Ursus.

vi. Hard believer

Enabran arrives in Mournstead to witness the betrayal and death of Ursus by his own children. As the vision comes to a close, Enabran senses movement from the Allmother and the fall of Accord's guardian, Thora.

i. Probably nothing, possibly everything

The Crystal of Accord resonates with a burst of renewed energy, seeking out its new mortal vessel on the shores of Siasxiu's Deep. Tenebrae finds Enabran there on the beach, newly burdened with the power and purpose of Accord.

ii. We were meant to live

Enabran invites Tenebrae along on a flight of fancy over the ruins of Isdel in Edana. As they navigate the stormy skies, their conversation turns to affairs of the heart.

iii. No feeling is final

Upset by Tenebrae's words, Enabran flees, and when Tenebrae chases him down he shares with the Guardian of Twilight a piece of his traumatic past. [in progress]