The Fire Lizard and the Great Oak Tree

The great oak tree had far outgrown its brethren by coercing the forest animals, one by one, to trust it into climbing within the safe confines of its branches. Once it had earned their trust, it would violently shake them free so they would fall to their death and nourish its roots.

One night, a fire lizard had lost his way from the desert and wandered deep into the forest. The cunning oak saw the strange creature’s desperate need for help and convinced him to rest in the shelter of its foliage before attempting such a long journey back to the desert. Warily, he accepted the invitation.

After the lizard was fast asleep, the great oak shook its branches and greedily watched him plunge to his death. Satisfied, it went to sleep and had dreams of becoming the tallest tree in the forest.

But the deadly toxins within the fire lizard’s blood slowly seeped into the ground. Sudden stabbing pains startled the tree awake. The poison crept up the side of the helpless oak, mercilessly seizing and coiling around its body before finally dragging it to the ground. There, the great oak unwillingly perished. And there, it fed its brethren’s roots for ages to come.

This is a fable I wrote in the spirit of the energies of the 1st ring. And it also happens to be one of my ‘world fables’, which is a side-project I’m working on.

It is said that the lesson you learn from this story reveals your true nature. :)
So, what lesson did you learn? (please share!)

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As I said before, heat is literally energy. And fire is too much energy in one place. Once fire exists, it grows and feeds off of anything it touches until it fizzles out and normality is restored.

But in the 1st ring, there is never true ‘normality’. The intense pressures under which the 1st ring lay causes a constant state of instability and unrest. It is what causes earthquakes and tidal waves. It is what causes volcanoes to explode. Its destructive nature constantly eats at the 2nd ring, but the 3rd ring ensures there is always more of the 2nd ring to burn by replenishing it with the help of the 1st ring’s never-ending pool of raw energy.

When someone dies, the bad part of their soul gets burned in the Demonic plane for fuel, possibly along with their essence, depending on how ‘evil’ they were in the physical plane. A person in the Demonic plane can (and usually does) project themselves to the Anima Mundi to get as far away (consciously) from the torment as possible. But they cannot regress or project themselves downward. Even if it was possible, they would just end up in the void. The Beast of Destruction oversees it all, who is literally the embodiment of everything that makes up the first ring.

People who are more aligned with fire than any other element are not necessarily evil, but they usually suffer from internal struggles. Some themes associated to the 1st ring include (but are not limited to) pain, poison, defiance, rebirth, purification, second chances, and destruction. Fires are typically of a volatile temperament, but can learn to live with and even overcome those hurdles (and usually do so the hard way). Those that stand the test of fire come out as very strong-willed people. Just as fire represents destruction, it also represents purity and rebirth.

A few abilities fire mystics have that other mystics do not: They can touch things and warm them—-possibly even light them aflame, but certainly cannot throw fireballs. They can shield themselves by envisioning themselves engulfed with spiritual fire. They can lash out attacks of spirit fire against demons and spirits. And they can focus their anger into an unusually strong attack.

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