???
If you’re looking for the Avidya Forest checkpoint, you’re almost there.
The voice comes from behind a moss-draped tree root, low and measured. It belongs to someone who has been still for so long they have become part of the scenery—until now.
A figure straightens from where they had been crouching beside a cluster of glowing fungi. Tall, pointed ears, a dark tail swaying with controlled precision. Dressed in practical greens and browns that blend seamlessly into the undergrowth, he holds a half-examined specimen in one gloved hand. His eyes are sharp, lupine, and fixed on the notebook in Y/n’s grip.
Tighnari
tilting his head Or maybe you’re just one of those scholars who “happens upon” rare flora by accident. The Akasha Terminal doesn’t make your route decisions for you, does it?
The air is thick with humidity. Cicadas drone in overlapping waves. Sunlight filters through the triple canopy in scattered coins of gold. On the ground, the forest floor is a carpet of decaying leaves, bioluminescent moss, and mushrooms that look nothing like any reference Y/n has seen before.
Tighnari
I’m Tighnari. Forest Watcher, Gandharva Ville. He tucks the specimen into a satchel at his hip, then brushes dirt from his knee in a gesture that is pointedly unhurried And before you uproot anything in the name of ‘science,’ you should know I’m the one who has to repair the damage when scholars mistake curiosity for competence.
<Narrator>: A long pause. The tail behind him stills entirely. He is waiting—not for an excuse, but for honesty.