📖Story

Souls of Nature start with the Prologue Quest. Read ahead as we wait for the demo...

The fog was slowly driven away by the ocean breeze, as the morning sun started to wake Dembah. He felt lost and confused, as he stared at the beach’s palm trees. He was looking at the jungle for the first time.

Slowly, but not effortlessly, he stood on his four feet. He was exhausted, thirsty and his neck bothered him. A colorful bird spawned out of the jungle, stood on a rock near the shore, and glared at Dembah several seconds. The bird seemed to know something Dembah did not. They both stared at each other for a few more seconds and they approached each other to a nearer rock. The bird called out Dembah, softly, as he walked in circles around him on the sand. The bird made a small noise before asking: “You are not from around here. Are you lost?”

“I don’t remember much. Just woke here in the sand.” – Dembah replied

“Is that yours?” – the bird asked, as he pointed with his beak to a boat that seemed recked. It was barely visible from the distance, straight line from the beach.

Dembah felt the need to answer, but he was not sure how he got there. The bird continued to walk in circles around the confused pup and started moving his wings in a rapid manner.

“You will not last here. The sun is too strong.” – he said.

He immediately flew back to the jungle trees. Dembah startled for a moment and then started walking in the same direction, following the bird.

INTO THE JUNGLE

Dembah kept walking with caution, following the path he thought the bird took. Jungle sounds were intensifying as he kept walking into the jungle. As he advanced, different animals started to notice his presence. He looked up to see a group of monkeys staring at him, all holding fruits that dripped juice from their hands and birds of all colors flying around. He spotted a group that look like the one he saw at the beach.

He kept walking and started to hear what seemed like a waterfall or a river. Dembah walked in that direction. As he approached the water sounds, he saw a group of small hippos, all teenagers playing around large trunks covered in bindweed. He stepped on a branch and made a noise that called the attention of the hippos. They started moving towards him, in a not-so-friendly manner. The smallest hippo called the rest, as he made eye contact with Dembah. They immediately surrounded him. None of them spoke. Dembah felt threatened.

“I am looking for a small yellow bird. He has red feathers on his head.” – Dembah answered before any of the hippos asked anything.

“There are no yellow birds in this island.” – one of them replied. There was an tense silence in the air.

“Keep going, I know what you mean.” – said the hippo that looked older, as he emerged from the back of the group. “Enter the water stream, inside the cave.”

The leader hippo stepped aside and started walking away. The rest of them followed. Dembah followed the advice and continued walking towards the sounds of water.

UNDERWATER CAVE

Dembah arrived at a small pond where a small river ended. From the distance a small waterfall was seen, with a large group of birds standing on the upper part of the waterfall on several rocks. There was a glimpse of yellow light at the bottom of the waterfall.

Dembah approached the pond and drank water in an insatiable manner. He felt relieved as he clinched his thirst. The flock that was standing on the upper area of the waterfall came down to closer rocks and tree branches, as if they wanted to investigate where Dembah came from. It was the first they saw a young puppy like him. They started gathering around Dembah and talking between them. He felt observed, but they seemed harmless at first.

A sudden loud sound was heard, like a tree just feel to the ground. All the birds watching Dembah flew rapidly into the air. Dembah crouched observing his surroundings, expecting for something to happen. Out of nowhere, the yellow bird flew and stood on Dembah’s head.

“Get down. Don’t move.” – he said. Dembah froze in expectation.

A gorilla was thrown into the edge of the pond, striking against a trunk on the side of the body of water. He stood up fiercely as another one threw himself in attack. Both kept struggling and hitting each other as they rolled on the jungle floor. They were too busy fighting to notice Dembah, who as slowly backing up into cover from the scene. A third gorilla ran up from the bushes into the fight, punched one of them and froze as he seemed to have noticed Dembah’s presence. The other two interrupted their fight as they noticed something was wrong.

The yellow bird disappeared into the treetops. Dembah as alone now. One of the gorillas approached in a confused manner as he tried to recognize Dembah. It was the first time he saw a young pup. Another gorilla came running towards Dembah and stopped abruptly. All of them seemed tense and highly stressed. The young pup knew something bad was about to happen.

They kept approaching slowly and Dembah realized he was in danger. He started running around the edge of the pond until one of the gorillas stroke him from the back. He was thrown into the air into the bushes. He stood up and ran toward the pond trying to avoid the gorillas and jumped to a rock path that headed towards the waterfall. The yellow light glanced once again.

The gorillas jumped into the water and onto the rocks following Dembah. He reached the last rock and seemed to be surrounded but heard a noise from behind the waterfall. He could not see anything behind the water curtain. The gorillas approached fast and threatening.

Dembah jumped into the waterfall in despair. He felt into a rocky moist ground, into a small cave behind the waterfall. The gorillas reached the entrance, but it was too small for them to enter. The shouted in anger and tried to find a way inside for a couple of minutes, but finally realized Dembah was out of reach. He was finally safe.

SOUL CHARGING

The cave was very illuminated through small ceiling holes that let sunshine in. It was moist and cold, but it felt nice after being in a heated runaway. Dembah heard what it seemed to by an underground river flowing deeper into the cave. He started walking into that direction. As he advanced, the sound became louder. He has a strange feeling, as if he was not alone. The whole cave corridor felt like there was another presence of some sort, something Dembah could not yet comprehend.

He arrived at a big rock, almost double his size. It seemed carved in a language he did not understand. It had paint marks of other animals, like if they had done it like a trail to follow. The cave tunnel then diverged into three paths. Dembah was uncertain which one to take but continued forward.

*One path becomes like a slide and Dembah keeps going and falls into a dark place and dies.

*Another path gets you trapped inside the cave and smoke starts to enter the space where Dembah is. He dies suffocated.

*The third path takes you to a water stream running by your side. The stream then opens again into two paths. - One takes you to a room full of venous spikes. If Dembah is poisoned, he must run vs the clock to find the antidote on the other path.

-The other one takes you the pond where there is a small altar-kind of rock where the yellow bird is standing on. The antidote is next to him.

Dembah approached the yellow bird once again. “You made it.” – said the bird. “We have all been waiting for you.” The bird continued as he straightens his posture, getting ready for a longer conversation.

“The island needs your help. We are all in peril. A few years ago, conditions here started to change. Many disasters have killed our island and many families of the animals you have seen. That is why the gorillas attacked you, the hippos were afraid and even birds around here are shocked to see a newcomer. They are all having a hard time to deal with their losses.

Your presence here is need, it was meant to be. Please Dembah, the island needs you. Let your soul guide the path.”

The yellow bird collapse slowly and a sudden glow filled the cave. Its body became a gaseous light and levitated in front of Dembah’s eyes. This entity then tackled Dembah’s body as if it entered inside him. He felt a rush all through his spine and his eyes became wide open. Something inside him changed. Something inside him was now open.