Friends!
We are glad to give you the story of goddess Tessa and her loyal followers, who returned to Aelion together with her.
Tessa's Cult
Tessa is the goddess of nature and a famous researcher of the floral world of Aelion. She was obsessed with her research. Her followers, very large in number, shared her passion.
Tessa once discovered very unusual trees, as if woven of pure energy. She researched them to find out that she was dealing with the "nervous system" of the planet, a very peculiar manifestation of Aelion's ether body.
For convenience, Tessa opened a number of portals to the ethereal trees to study them further, but the research was never completed. One day the goddess and a few adepts of hers simply disappeared while seeking more trees. What actually happened?
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Tessa discovered a way to boost portals with the power of trees. As a result of one experiment, an unstable portal appeared to pull the goddess and her nearby followers inside.
They were teleported to an amazing floral world. There weren't any sapient creature on the planet. The Mother Nature was fully in charge. Tessa and her followers were fascinated and amazed by the local flora. Unable to return, they settled and began researching the planet.
During their meditations, they discovered a unique type of magic, the magic of nature, very powerful in this world. It imbued the whole planets, its vegetation and animals. Tessa's followers obtained a huge might when they learned to control this magic.
Over the years, the population of this planet increased. Mortal followers of Tessa gave birth to children. The goddess then noticed, that people would change from generation to generation. They acquired some of the floral features.
The outer changes affected the immortal followers as well, but every single one was altered in a unique manner. Centuries later some people acquired floral traits, others merely learned to change their shape and mastered the magic of nature. They named themselves the Grovewalkers.
Tessa researched the evolution, but it was unclear whether it was for better or worse. It all made sense as soon as the world was invaded by Machavann's Avatar.
The Grovewalkers fought the phytonides back fiercely. However, Tessa underestimated the great god. The call rolled throughout the planet. The Grovewalkers affected most by the local magic turned against their brothers. Tessa and her loyal followers were forced to escape.
During the attack of their former allies Tessa, with a heavy heart, managed to create a very powerful spell. The energy pulled from the converted Grovewalkers was focused into a beam that breached the space to create a portal to Aelion.
Returning home
Flavius's laboratory recently detected suspicious ether disturbances in Tessa's temple. Flavius thought that somebody might be trying to open a portal there, so he gathered a group of gods to fight off the looming invasion.
The immortals witnessed the appearance of the portal in the center of the temple. A group of floral people in weird clothes emerged. And then hordes of Phytonides came swarming out of the portal.
The immortals picked a fight. The newly arrived Grovewalkers fought the Phytonides together with them. However strong the enemy was, the first wave was repelled. The gates remained open, more and more Machavann's soldiers marched through. Gods led by Ianna helped Tessa block out the Phytonides with a temporary barrier.
When the combat faltered, the gods turned their eyes to the newly arrived Grovewalkers. Metarchus, one of the gods, recognized Tessa, the goddess of nature, who went missing centuries ago.
Tessa said that the portal must be closed. Her people could do it. But they didn't have enough power, for there wasn't too much free ether on Aelion.
Now it's all up to you, Immortals! Take it from here, help the goddess protect Aelion, and you will be able to start your way as a powerful Grovewalker!
