Chrysalis — The Dawn of Mooland Tales

UPDATED: 2024-11-21 1898 WORDS

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WORK IN PROGRESS! — v0.8/15

1. Lounging at the Riverlands ¶

Once upon a sunny afternoon, as happened on many an afternoon, Izzy and Manny were chilling and lounging at the banks of one of the many rivers flowing from the flavored springs at the Riverlands. Strolling downhill from the Highlands to the playful streams at the Riverlands was a long-running favorite pastime, always an excellent option if nothing else in particular was going on.

These magical streams of many flavors — and we'll talk about the flavored springs later — were an inspiration for their countless daydreaming conversations. It was a pastime much like watching the dancing performance of the multicolored clouds at the stage of the Highlands skies but, for whatever reason, Izzy in particular felt at home and at peace near the vibrantly flowing waters.

Manny liked the fact that lots of interesting characters from the different realms of Mooland would travel to visit these reflective streams. She rarely missed an opportunity to strike up a good conversation with a stranger from a place she was yet to visit, learning all that she could about their unique homelands and the experiences from their extraordinary journeys.

It was one such stranger, a grayish old bull from the Deeplands, that set into motion the unusual events shared in this tale. The appearance of an endearing elder figure, clearly full of kindness and wisdom and with a distinct aura of mystique, was simply too intriguing an encounter for the friends to ignore. Izzy and Manny split from watching and marveling the hypnotic play of hatchling rainbow fishes in the stream and rushed to the fascinating stranger, barely able to hold their tongues as they made their approach.

"Hello good sir! Who might you be? Where might you be from? And how is it that you've landed at the Riverlands?", they tooted at the height of their enthusiasm. "And also, we'd love to hear about your adventures, if we may, please?" The smoothly drawn-out final "please", bundled with two pairs of innocent starry eyes, usually melted even a thicker coat of a stranger's ice and frost of reservation.

It was hard not to be charmed by their unbridled and sincere enthusiasm. "The name's Moopheus, young ladies, from the Deeplands. Here with an assignment from the Essence Archives. As perhaps you can tell, I'm in the midst of collecting samples from the many rivulets flowing from the Sweet-and-Sour Spring. And who might you be, I should ask in turn?"

"Oh apologies sir, we didn't mean to disturb", said Izzy and Manny with almost one voice. "We are Izzy and Manny from the Highlands! If you wish, and if you have the time, we can bring you to check out all of our favorite streams!" They typically had a bit of overflow when they got enthusiastic. When you team up Izzy's heart full of essence and Manny's endless curiosity, formal introductions and awareness of the situation aren't much of a thing — it all just rolls on full speed ahead. Not that it bothered Moopheus. He was dedicated to all things essential, obviously, and also enjoyed getting straight to the point.

"I would much prefer to first fill these bottles and store them properly, and then I'll gladly indulge your curiosity with many a fantastic tale and legend." Born and raised on the islands where all of Mooland's essences are collected, he sure had his lot of legends to share. "As it happens, this expedition has me browsing the Riverlands and the Highlands for a full moon's churning. We will have all the time in the world, and I should also like to hear the best of your stories in exchange."

Izzy and Manny were absolutely stoked. This sort of thing definitely does not happen every day, or every year even. They had often dreamed of visiting the Essence Islands and meeting the Moophins living in the Central Ocean. Deeplands was the only realm in all of Mooland they were yet to explore. Oh yes. In case you are wondering. Moophins are an early branch of Mooland evolution, an underwater sister species to the Moocows. Cows are the most populous land-dwelling species on the Mooland planet.

"So how long will those essences be okay in the bottles?" This here is what we call a "leading question". They weren't quite patient enough to wait for Moopheus to return to wherever his basecamp was. "Perhaps to the order of three to four hours? Really they should be fine in my bag for the time being. It's well-insulated standard issue Essence Islands gear." And that's the answer they wished and fished for. "In that case, dear Moopheus, before you head back, please indulge us with one big fat story — pretty please?" Darn with these clever kids! He didn't really have an excuse, other than his mind being preoccupied with work. He didn't have the heart to refuse. Good for him and his good heart — if you're always too busy with work, the best of life will pass you by.

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Moopheus set aside his essence harvest bag, well-sealed and secured as usual, and sat down by the riverbed with Izzy and Manny — now bubbling with enthusiasm like little bottles of essence. (Some varieties of essence are reactive in transit. Standard procedure is to handle all harvest as potentially volatile.) Anticipating the kids to ask for "one more story please", he dished out a series of highlights from his legendary all-Mooland expedition back in the days. That, he hoped, would do for the afternoon's story serving.

... "Heading back from the northern sector of the Peaklands, I stopped by the Caldera to deposit the stash of essences we had collected from the twelve major Mantisian shrines. We have drop-off points in every quadrant around the Central Ocean. I tell you, the Mantiwyrms dwelling in the deep of the caverns are no playthings! You enter the lair with a high priestess who knows the proper tunings to keep them peaceful — or you risk getting your head bitten off! It was a good score and my trainees picked up a thing or two on how to approach guardian creatures in the sacred and untouched corners of the realms.

"We were off to the other end of Mooland, me and my team of four harvesters in training. Destination Strangelands. We decided to just go straight ahead and pass through the Bridge Underlands — instead of trekking up and down the Highlands. When you get there, you really have to keep your head straight and your mission to the point. Every once in a while, we'd come across a Bosslike Challenger roaming around and looking to stir a bit of trouble. You know, from the syndicate of debating Boofalos who have nothing better to do than scout around and make sure everyone has a valid point and business that makes sense. Otherwise, they'll have you turn around in your tracks and head straight back home. And you really don't want to mess with them.

"Anyway, so we were actually headed all the way to the Boggy Hinterlands. That's well past the mining rigs of the Rough Patch Zones. You know, they're always digging in the underground caverns there, extracting all sorts of precious substances. If you ever go under there, watch out for the dork rabbits. They keep on digging these abysmal holes that people fall into. We already have a good collection of the major substances in our archives. There was something very different and extraordinary brewing in the farther bogs. We'd received reports of fragments from the tail of a comet crashing into the marshlands. Native Mooland elements had fused with alien substance from the outer space. These sorts of digs get even a veteran harvester like me excited.

"So we ended up trudging deep into the marshes, following sightings by the locals — and a thickening trail of bog splatter, once we got closer to the impact zone. There was a cabin there in the middle of nowhere with a lonely old Boofalo sitting on the porch. He didn't seem lonely though, if anything he seemed quite content in his solitude. Introduced himself as Boohaush. He used to be a miner in the caverns back in the days — and that much was clear from his casual cursing. Really he was a good old fellow who seemed to be really deep into his inner world. Set us up with some protective gear and gem-torches to help us see through the muck in the bogs. We spent days harvesting the area and landed with some very interesting essence composites.

"You know, we don't collect these essences just for the sake of it. Every once in a while there's a request from the Rainbow Spire. You know, from the Guardian of the Gateway, who oversees the interplanetary Rainbow Bridge. He also takes care of the celestial dome that shields Mooland from outer space radiation — it's like a rainbow umbrella over us. It has a fine balance of ionized and neutral essences — that is, active and peaceful elements — tuning and filtering the space rays on their way in. This heavenly canopy nurtures all of our nature — and the hearts and minds of all Moolanders. Sometimes the balance needs a touch of retuning, and that's where our Essence Archives comes in — we provide the necessary essences to keep our planet in balance. So that's a slice of the story for you. There's plenty more, but now I must really move along and get my bottles sorted and stored. I'm camping near the Flavored Springs at the elder's guest shack. Drop by sometime tomorrow afternoon, okay?"

"You bet your bag of essences we will! Thanks so much Moopheus!" On that note, Izzy and Manny parted ways with Moopheus for the day. On the days that followed, the ocean of tales was churned to no end. We'll be serving out the cream shortly.