[Action - Whole Event]

[biteoffherhead]

[From the moment that the newcomers entered the village, coming from the South when she was towards the North, Moro showed many more signs of severe territoriality. The trees have layers of bark clawed into, pawprints are stomped into the ground, fur is shed, and various gory or gruesome little marks all around the village.

Moro herself is persistently circling the whole village, firmly policing who is going in and out. It takes her a long time to go around, as she walks carefully to try and not miss anything, but where she does catch someone, she leaves them be only if she recognize them as Lucetian. Any newbies may have a little issue, but if you can convince Moro that you're really from Luceti, it'll be easy to leave.


But Lucetians will note that Moro is incredibly violent and aggressive towards the visitors. She snaps at them long before speaking to them, chases them until they retreat into the village, and some come so close that they come back with ripped shirts, some torn out feathers, and one hell of an adrenaline rush.

As the power goes out, some undoubtedly attempt to cut the trees for firewood... and those do get more seriously attacked. Or don't come back - perhaps they make it deeper into the woods, but it's also likely that Moro kills and possibly eats them. But never a Lucetian - she leads them to dry, dead wood, so that the trees are spared.

She was behaving so well! Feel free to come and ask her what's got her so murderous, catch her in the act of attacking some hapless newcomer trying to cut wood, or if your character only just came to Luceti recently, get mistaken for a newcomer.]

((OOC: Specify date in your subject header; she'll be active from the 26th to the 31st. Here is a permissions post if you decide a fight might happen!))

Comments

[biteoffherhead]

[She is! She even walks by, though her focus is ahead, paying mind more to the village, a low growl rumbling as she watched. She's intentionally giving Aang the cold shoulder, as if daring him to defy her will.]

[savedtheworld]

[He skips forward to try in pace with the wolf god.]

He... hello, Moro! I have to talk to you about something. It's important.

[biteoffherhead]

[She doesn't stop walking at all, eyes and ears trained ahead, looking for more people trying to slip into the forest.]

What do you want, boy?

[savedtheworld]

[Aang tries not to freeze up, but he's nervous. His previous encounters with Moro, remembered and unremembered, were more like pleasantries compared to this. But he knew people's lives were stake, so he talks while moving alongside Moro.]

I... I have a humble request. It's about all the new people coming in. The Malnosso are limiting are supplies, and with how crowded the village is getting... w-we might not have enough fruits and vegetables for everyone...

[biteoffherhead]

Then do not feed the new humans.

[She doesn't even change her walking pace or vocal tone with that suggestion.]

[savedtheworld]

[Definitely not off to a good start. But Aang's going to try to finish his case.]

I'm sorry Moro, but I won't let anyone's health or safety be compromised. And with the way the Malnosso can be tricky, there might not even be enough left for just us. The idea was - was just to put together some hunting parties, to... to get more food...

[biteoffherhead]

I do not care if you feed yourselves. But those humans are desperate, and have been for what seems like a long time, to them.

[savedtheworld]

I see. I... I don't think I know enough about these people to judge them yet. But does that mean that... if it's just people from here who hunt, will they be okay?

[biteoffherhead]

I know them enough to judge them. They have been under a press for a long time, and that makes them volatile. Destructive. Selfish. No different than the humans that burned away my mountains and used their guns against me.

The humans I know here have not been so tortured. They may well not be stupid, this time.

The food from the forest goes to those who lived in that town before these humans came in.

[savedtheworld]

But they're not the same humans. And if they've been suffering... they need understanding and compassion to become better people. We can keep them from hunting and stop them from doing anything destructive, but I won't keep them from living.

[biteoffherhead]

The forest thrives by the weak succumbing to death and the strong taking their place. The strong live, breed, eat, and protect their territory. All things live by this pattern. There is no room for compassion if it destroys the law of the things that be.

[savedtheworld]

I'm sorry, Moro, but I can't see it that way. The strong should protect the weak and help themselves to be equal. And that... that could make balance.

[biteoffherhead]

You claimed that you were meant to be the bridge between the realm of spirits and the realm of man. You cannot do this if you cannot understand the gods, and the way of the world.

Your perception of balance does not apply anywhere outside of human culture. Because even you must realize that you trample on the weak, as you go about living. You eat, you step unwittingly on bugs, you burn wood or use it for building or tools. You do these things because you are stronger and cannot be stopped by those things. To live, you take life.

It is my duty to protect the forests. That was the purpose I was born with, and that is the purpose I will die for, and kill for. Such is my existence.

[savedtheworld]

[He pauses for a moment, taking it all in.]

I understand. I guess being a human just... causes me to hold all their lives as precious. To want as... as many as possible to be safe. But as the Avatar, I'm bound to respect your decisions and your ways. And it's wrong of me to question you.

[biteoffherhead]

A human life weighs no more to me than the life of a sapling. A human life is no more valuable than any other life. All life must fit within the laws of nature. And it is the will of the Forest Spirit that takes life from the living, to give birth anew.

[savedtheworld]

I... I guess that makes sense. [But he'd replace "no more" with "no less".] Back home, there was a wise man who told me that everything's connected, and we're all branches of the same tree. It's just hard to translate that to... here. Where we're all from different worlds, different kinds of nature. This isn't where any of us belong.

[biteoffherhead]

We all share the breath of life. There is no Forest Spirit here, but his will lives where there is life. It is not ours to control, who lives and who dies. My job is not to kill, it is to protect my forest. I use the power I was born with. And that power can kill... but the death comes from my job, not from my decision to execute someone.

That is the difference. Even you are no god, boy, and you have no control of the breath of life.

hmmm maybe i should finish this lol

[savedtheworld]

I understand. I don't want to be a god. I don't want to have to choose. [He just wants some impossible way to help everyone.] But... I think I've said everything I have to say. If it's okay, Moro... I'll go and report what you said back to the village. Thank you for hearing me out.