A few decades prior…

Walrone considered himself a good man. A dedicated farmer, a lovely husband, and a father of two wonderful kids – each of which had chosen not to follow in their father’s footsteps, which filled him with pride. By all accounts – he led a good and pious life. He followed the creed outlined by his faith – and while he may have had an affair or three, who could blame a man for doing what men did?

So Walrone considered himself a good man. That’s why when the hurricanes ripped apart his land, forcing him to migrate to a new forest – he considered it a part of the True Architect’s Grand Plan.

When his axe rebounded off the old oak tree the first time, he simply laughed it off as poor technique. Even with eighty years under his belt – even an older timer like him could make a mistake.

The second time it rebounded – he simply brushed it aside. A tougher tree than usual, and while it had been many years since he had been unable to fell a tree in ten blows – although rare wasn’t never.

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When upon his eighth attempt – he failed to even make a dent in the tree with his strongest blow, despite having felled many of its surrounding brethren in less than five swings, he became curious.

After his twenty-fifth attempt – where he swung so hard the resulting knockback found him several meters back – he began to wonder if the Architects had simply deemed this tree indestructible.

Mr. Walrone may not have been a good man, he certainly was an unlucky one.

He approached the tree, rubbing at the spot where his axe had just bounced off – rubbing at it curiously. Instantly, a vine whipped out from beneath the tree, wrapping around Walrone’s ankle and dragging the man underneath it before he could even scream.

Slowly, the tree began to shift – at the same time as thousands of trees across the planet, of all different shapes and sizes began to shift simultaneously. The change wasn’t drastic, hardly noticeable if one ignored the newly minted thick white plaque – woven in with the trunks of the trees.

What do you desire?

Life? Wealth? Power?

Information? Glory? Pride?

Find it all in the

House of Iye.

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THE AREKAII COLLECTIVES

FALMR Book 1: House of Iye