Beginner's Luck: 45

Fluke was mad at himself for ruining his good start over something as simple as a bet with a goddess. Walking down the stairs, Fluke found Noggin and Helmy on the first floor, climbing out of a barrel that was filled with sea water. Fluke harvested two Amber shards, and three Emerald shards, that were now protruding from their skull shells. He placed a good luck brand on each of them as they continued to skitter around slowly looking for scraps. Then he left the shelter of the fort, taking a deep breath of fresh morning air.

Despite having started out with a win, Fluke grumbled to himself walking along the dark path to the forest grove where they had harvested trees. Losing the coin toss wouldn't have been so bad, but Jinx and Asap made sure to laugh with just the right amount of mockery to make Fluke feel ashamed for even trying to win again. Letting out a sound that was more of a growl than a sigh of frustration, Fluke conceded that apparently the extent of the luck that was afforded to him that day was winning the initial wager. When the young man reached the clearing, Fluke stopped to catch his breath, equalize his resonant energy, and take a moment before spending the rest of the day working as hard as he could before sundown. Flopping onto his back in the grass, Fluke looked at the sky that was still mostly dark with some lingering stars in the dark firmament. His thoughts wandered and for no other reason than curiosity, Fluke activated his Insight+ emblem. He felt his resonant energy move through the world around him, into his core, and then amplified through his mask then emblem. The normal twilight sky above him rippled.

Fluke pushed himself up onto his hands and squinted his eyes to focus on the sky. What was once smooth, now appeared to have a bundle of slowly rolling bands. Visions of his first day on the island replayed in his mind, and he remembered the different colors that had pulsated and changed when the Outsiders had come to purge all they could find. His logical mind chalked this new abnormality that he was perceiving up to the origins of those colors... perhaps. He would have shrugged the whole experience off if it were not for the description he had read not that long ago. However, what truly warned him that there was nothing logical about what he was seeing was the way his primitive instinctual mind had reacted: Starting at his neck and tracing down his back and arms all of his hairs began to stand on end. His heart began to pound, and he suddenly found himself breathing quicker- despite having already calmed himself moments before.

You are being watched.

The wonder of looking up at the stars was replaced with a foreboding sense of danger. Shaking his head, Fluke blinked his eyes and deactivated his emblem, which returned the sky back to normal. Pulling his mask off for a moment, Fluke took deep steady breaths in and out until he felt grounded again. Turning his gaze back to the forest clearing around him, the light of day now beginning to break over the hills, Fluke noticed the 'cursed tree' which ominously loomed before him. Returning the mask onto his face, he activated his Insight+ emblem hoping to gain further insight.

Cursed Tree of the Forest- Once a dormant member of the world, now rots with anger.

Fluke showed his teeth behind his mask in an awkward pained smile. Unsure if what he was doing was wrong, he decided to continue with his experiment, despite feeling conflicted. Walking slowly forward to the tree, he watched in horrified fascination as the tree seemed to tense up and brace for the impending mark. Pressing his left hand on the tree, he emptied all of his accumulated bad luck. The title and description changed once again.

Cursed Forest Guardian- This tree will draw the attention of anyone who would seek to harm the forest. Beware: Silent Anger can remain quiet for only so long.

-This tree resists: fire, lightning, and metal.

Fluke raised his eyebrows at the new increased resistances listed under the tree. His mind began to wonder what would happen if he just continued the course of continually cursing this tree, but his gut told him that it would be unwise to make the forest his enemy. Following this hunch, he decided now to brand the tree with some of his good luck. Expecting the title to just revert back to 'Cursed Tree of the Forest', he was instead surprised with yet another change and description.

Vigilant Forest Guardian- A steady flow of resonant energy now trickles into this ever-watchful guardian of the forest.

-This tree resists: Fire, Lightning, and Metal.

-This tree now channels resonant energy from the world around it. Any resources harvested from this tree will keep these characteristics.

Fluke had started this experiment with the hopes of making all of the trees on the island as more useful material for building or crafting. But now he began to wonder if there was an entirely different utility that could come from this. Fluke smiled and reached into his bag and poured some water out at the roots of the magical tree before him. Without another word or action, Fluke turned away from the tree and walked back to the village that now must be showing the first signs of life. As he rounded the final bend in the trail, he heard the unmistakable sounds of activity and even conversation. Feeling excited Fluke caught a second wind and hurried back to the center of the village. There in the center of the town was a sight that filled him with hope and excitement: The Librarian stood with his arms crossed in front of ten men, and two adolescent boys.

"Good of you to finally join us, Fluke. It seems the goddesses have blessed us with more souls to foster. Though I admit, I was hoping for a few more based on the number of beds we have now in the fort. But I guess beggars can't be choosers."