In this world of amazing and unpredictable dungeons, countless adventurers risk it all for a minuscule chance of striking it rich in one go. Though many will try to seem righteous or noble, the truth is everyone's greedy for that once-in-a-lifetime, ultimate, unique, miracle treasure that will change their fate in some unreasonable way. Tonight's like any other night with drunks getting drunker, gossipers exaggerating their stories to awe and amaze, hooded cloaks working hard at gathering useful information and exhausted travelers looking to get some chow and rest their feet among loud company. Until a pair of newcomers show up that is. Young and naive-looking, no one here would spare a second glance to these newbies if not for the "white tree on a blue background" tabard they wear. Typically, these tabards usually portray what an official group of adventurers represents or their goal. And in this case, it's meant to show they're looking for a white tree in the sky. Many people would consider this bunch of people to be insane to even consider a tree to be floating in the sky, if not for dungeons generally being random and full of usually nasty and deadly surprises. Still, the white tree or the Ashen Tree to be more exact, was rumored to be able of bringing anyone back to life, no matter when or how they died. It was a treasure pretty much anyone would want, so when the group dedicated to searching for its location shows up, all eyes and ears will unavoidably be drawn to it. Seemingly used to the attention, the pair moves to a free table and call a waitress to make an order, ignoring everyone's regard for them. The tavern soon regains its liveliness as if no longer paying any concern to the newcomers. Yet the drunks shift on their seats, the gossips change topics and the cloaks try to hard to stay out of sight. "I hear they scouted out at least 23 dungeons in the last month alone!" "A couple of people i know from other groups said they were kicked back out when it was their turn to enter one of those dungeons. A couple of muscleheads wearing the tabard guarded the entrance like a pair of fathers guarding their daughters' chastity." "You guys think it's in one of the dungeons here?" "Naah. I think they're just getting desperate for some reason." "Yeah, i heard one of their vice-heads got injured real bad in a nasty trap." "Right! Right! I hear it was the beauty and that all the other vice-heads went apeshit when they heard about it!" "Oooh! That's quite the romance there! How many of them you think, you know... tasted her?" "Eeeh.. Probably quite a-" *Boof!* A tankard hitting a table interrupts them from diverging further and only an angry pair of eyes is impressed into their minds as they look towards the source, visibly startled. They quickly shrink back, not daring to continue that line anymore. But then, a musclehead on his own gets off his stool, knocking it down in the process. Still holding unto his liquor-filled tankard as if unto dear life, he turns around swayingly and reprimands them in a loud and imposing manner. "You fuckers better shut yer traps! Else i'll shove this stool so far up yer arse, ye'll be spittin' splinters all week!" *Burp* *Sniff* "She was a good commander, she was! Didn't deserve tah die there, didn't deserve at all..." While balancing his tankard with one hand, he bends to pick up his stool with the other and throws it at the gossipers in one fluid move while screaming his spittle across the room. "IF IT WASN'T FAH WAHRTLESS FAKRS LIKE YAH RUNNIN' AROUND AN' GETTEN' KHIL'D, WHY WOULD SHE HAVE DIED? HUH?!?" Not expecting the outburst, none of the gossipers managed to get out of the way in time and the stool hit them in full, splintering on the spot and with pieces bouncing from one to the other. Yelps and howls of pain soon followed, yet the rest of the tavern was silent, rummaging the words spoken. It seemed that the vice-head was injured and ultimately died trying to save hapless adventurers who got in over their heads in trouble. *Buuuurp* The burly musclehead drops on his ass after downing the rest of the liquid at hand and spends a few long moments staring at the imprint on the newcomers' tabard. They also stare back with eyes red and full of both sadness and gratefulness. His speech suddenly clear, the musclehead's next words strike those present there hard. "I've seen that tree." The lead of the pair, a young man who looks full of big dreams, yet experienced too many of them shattered is hopeful only for a moment before realizing this is just a drunk speaking. He did speak up for their fallen commander as an outsider, but it's unrealistic to have any hope. "Oh, you mean the tabard? Yeah, it's pretty impressionable. I know i was taken from the first time i saw it. You probably saw it on one of our elder members somewhere, they're pretty active running around on their own." The musclehead looks at the kid as if he were retarded. "No, man. I mean the tree. I saw the tree! In the sky! In a dungeon! I think... Bah, i don't remember!" The two are shocked silly, but waste no time in charging in close to the lone man as if to protect him from the world. Everyone's attention was now on the living, breathing pot of gold and even the injured gossipers forgot about their pain. "What? WHERE? HOW? WHEN? No! We need to let the head know! SAY NOTHING!" With swords now drawn and pointing outwards, an artifact in the form of a bracelet shakes on his arm and quickly lets out a bright light going upwards through the ceiling as if it wasn't there and lets out a shrill sound going louder as it rises. The rest of the tavern isn't idle as they prepare to duke it out in a free-for-all for the location of the life-giving tree. But soon a low rumble starts, quickly growing louder and closer as the seconds pass. It doesn't take long before a wall suddenly explodes inwards and an almost demonic bearlike face is seen, as if a mother bear protecting her cubs, only hairier. The lead of the pair protecting the still sitting musclehead is excitedly looking towards that bearlike face no one could love when he suddenly feels a large hand on his shoulder. Instinctually, he looks back and sees the man gently smiling at him. He however doesn't notice the lacking sounds of destruction and pain that should be playing in the background. "I remember now. So shush and listen because i will say it only once. It's a memory... from another lifetime. In the past, or the future... i can't tell... We, my group and i, came across what we thought to be an ancient ruin unlike any other. We rushed inside like fools looking for treasure and in the end, only i was left. In desperation, i ran and ran through an endless maze with identical corridors and no end in sight... until i passed out. When i awoke again, i was lying on the surface of a lake reflecting the pure blue sky, with nothing in sight other than a pure white ashen tree. I didn't know what it was... We didn't have your legends... So i went ahead with only one thought in mind: 'Save me.' I was wrong." He takes a break and sighs in regret. "It sent me here. And now that i remembered... it's sending me away again. It's saving me... over and over again... whenever my death is assured." The lead now remembers to look around, only to see everything around them frozen in place. Everyone looks busy trying to stop the bearman, yet only one hooded cloak is sneakily looking and pointing at the man he's trying to protect. It's a hidden crossbow, with the bolt already on the way, probably laced with poison too. His face whitens and struggles to move, but it's impossible to act fully. He'll be unable to save the man behind him even if if he tried to take the hit instead. Thus, he can only look at it all in resignation... another dream shattered right in front of his eyes... "You should stop making that face. If you can't stop something, then move around it. Like i'm doing right now... bending time and, defying death... Ok, bad example. Just, know that a dead end won't mean there is no other path. I'm going to break free of this eventually and properly die or something and it's going to be on my terms too, you know? However, back to the Ash Tree! You need to know that i've seen three kinds: The first one is pure ash - it's ok to look at, but drifts in the wind once you touch it. It represents memory, past life, death. The second one is a bit weird - it's either black on the inside and white on the outside or black on one side and white on the other. It's a trap. It gives you a great boon, but has similar consequences. And yes, it is where i am now. Also, it represents duality, choice, purgatory, punishment and penitence. And the final form i know of - are moths. More specifically, a trunk fully covered in white moths. Yeah, i know... They represent cleansing, rebirth, new life and future. There may be others, i don't know, but if you want the best for your friend, then... You already know which one to pick... Anyway, tell your group to stop looking. The tree only shows to those who need it. So choose well, kid." Not giving a chance for a reply, the nameless musclehead releases his grip the lead's shoulder. Time resumes and the bolt 'claims' his life. Staring at the 'body' in front of him, the lead man knows that if he touches it, only ash will remain. With a conflicted feeling in his heart, he gathers his companions and quickly leaves with them to join the others, ignoring all else while constantly considering the man's words in his head. After the short interlude, everything returns to normal, no one caring in the least about such a common event passing in the background. Only gossipers share the tale once in a while, when they run out of things to embellish. "Did you hear about that Ashen Tree group?" "What? Did they take over a dungeon again?" "Nah. They split up." "What!?! Why? Last time i checked, the beauty is still dead!" "That's what's weird about it. It's said that one night, someone who had seen the actual tree showed up, but he was killed before sharing the location. Then, the Ashen Tree group just walked away from it and soon broke up after that." "Oh man, that's so sad. I think they gave up in the end." "Yeah, they're probably wasting themselves drunk in other taverns by now." "Bah, none of you know anything! The reason they broke up is because they DID find the tree!" "What the hell! Why break up then?" "It' simple! The tree gave the beauty a new body, so they split up to search for her and whoever finds her will marry her! Think about it! If it revived a corpse, then wouldn't she be just a zombie?" "Ew! Screwing a zombie... That gives me the shivers just thinking about it." "Hey! Hey. You guys think they..." "Screw off, man! You're disgusting." "Come on, man. If we thought about it, who says they didn't do the same?" "Yeah, but thinking about it and actually doing it are two very different things." "Alright, stop talking about it. You're making me regret eating this early." "Oh yeah! Did you guys hear about the new member of ..."