The shee and his countryside ride

 The dismal depths were lines by sheer cliffs and endless tree trunks growing aloof into the foggy grey heat above. Among these tall and visually endless pillars grew scraggle mosses, ferns, and the slimy lichen that somehow still thrived in the wet darkness. Grey and furtive things creeped through the mud, and mosquitoes danced in dense clouds in the damp and stagnant air.

A little blue speck appeared. The bright little spark attracted some attention, and the sounds muted in anticipation, as everything faced the flaring newcomer.

Suddenly the little spark opened up, a whirlpool of flashing light, gushing air and a shift in gravity threw the inhabitants of the deep for a great fright.

Out came a sputtering mover, suspended upon bright blue jets. The chauffeur of the not-quite-a-lift looked about him in a sort of confusion. In fact, confused described his entire look as well as disheveled would have. His robe was stained and worn with disregard. Whether it was ink, tea or alchemical compound not even extensive testing could likely say. 

“I suppose the trees must have grown since I last came here.”

The confused but relaxed look on his blue face soon made way for the facial equivalent of a shrug. The by now stabilised portal shut neatly behind him again, and the sputtering mover jetted upwards with far less effort than the rickety look of the machine had suggested. 

Past the clammy fog, through coniferous branches that made up the central layer of the forest. Massive airborne pinecones drifted on top of the dense fog, anchoring eventually to the immense column trees rising out of the fog. Fog serpents swam around him playfully, scattering when a dropbird grabbed one on the way down. 

“I wish I had the time to follow it. It doesn't have wings, and I scarcely believe feathers alone drag them back onto the branches.”

His modified elevator hummed in its ascent, busting through the canopy of needles a good 20 meters up. Still the grey barked obeliks continued. Some true branches of the trees grew here now, big enough to hold ecosystems for themselves. Upside-down weevils stood on both their legs, forming tripods as they bored their proboscis into the wood. Stubby tongued bats fluttered about them, saving every drop of spilled sap as the blooming season was likely over for a cycle. A pair of fat-tailed deer gracefully grazed on the leaves, their crystal antlers glistening in the sunlight. 

Despite his wonder about how they moved between the vastly isolated branches and trees, he had a goal to his journey. A goal that took him even further up into the clouds.

Past the clouds into the cool air, the canopy stretched out in the distance, around him, below him and above him the branches and leaves were everywhere. An adult cloud dragon fluttered past him with a thousand little translucent wings, hunting the animated dewdrops as they danced to their starlit songs. 

He bowed his head in respect, and waited until the ancient procession had passed in their endless time-surpassing chase.

He then followed hand woven ropes, lianas and trails through the branches. Shelled seeds of the towering trees drifted on the clouds, and primitively harpooned starseed bulbs drifted around the trees. His journey was finally complete when he saw clustered nests of woven reeds, sticks, stripped bark and grasses, some even covered in hard red clay. 

The descendants of his long-forgotten charges lived in a beyond-cultured fashion, they lived in peace. The Norns no longer needed him.

The Norn nests can be placed through the garden box. They emit nornhome smell, enough for homesick and pregnant norns to find their way to them.

The agent can be downloaded on the Eemfoo archive Here