:: Random Location—The Serene Signpost ::

The Serene Signpost

by Wm Jay Carter III, 5/13/15

Prominent Feature: Signpost

Weather: Flurries

Conditions: Serene, Large

Color: Bright Blue

Keyword: Awesome

Rounding the bend in the road, a feeling grips you that makes you pause. Your muscles relax, and your mind clears. Little snow flurries begin dancing in the air, landing gently on the bright blue hyacinths growing to either side of the road. Ahead, you see a large signpost facing the road. Reaching it, you see that the post appears to have grown from a still-living tree. However, the sign itself is entirely blank. How peculiar, you think. You can’t remember ever seeing anything like it in your entire life. And then, as you stare at the sign and ponder this oddity, you find that you can’t remember anything at all...

In older times, when war raged rampant between two neighboring lands, armies of hundreds would march here and there, trampling the earth and forming trails of barren earth where pristine fields of hyacinths once grew. Hunting down entire populations of animals to sustain themselves, the armies were a bane to the natural order. And as violence only answers violence, the local tribe of nature worshippers knew they would need to find a solution to the problem other than unleashing something higher on the food chain.

There was one among these nature worshippers who, though a child, was said to recall every one of her past lives, and was thus regarded the wisest among them. Meditating over her memories for three full days with no food or water, this Wise One at last concluded what must be done. Explaining her plan to the rest of the tribe, the child transformed herself into an oak seed.

The Wise One’s Seed was planted beside the largest road between the two warring lands. The tribe prayed over the seed, and it grew before their eyes. As it did so, the ritual was performed. When they were finished, the Wise One’s Tree had been shaped into an expansive signpost. The Wise One had said that any who looked upon it would see images from memories of their past lives, or—if they could not remember their past lives—be lost to the oblivion of thoughtlessness.

None can say whether the signpost actually works the way the Wise One said it would, but what can be said is that war has never plagued the land since, and unwary travellers who have walked that road have often been found wandering aimlessly weeks later. The nature worshippers, however, often seek enlightenment on the Path to Serenity.