ILEX

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                                                                                            The lumberjack of agrestic path

In the dark bowels of a primordial forest, Ilex cuts down the weeds that hinder the paths until the end of time. He shows himself impassive to those who cross him, his only purpose is to keep at bay the dark beings that disturb the forest and to keep his ax always sharp.

 

Rumor has it that Ilex used to live in peace and free of any magical responsibilities. He lived as an outcast independent of any tribe with his daughter. He felled diseased trees and sold his wood to nearby residents. As a supplier he exceeded expectations, although he was paid very little. He always delivered the right amount at the right time, which was surprising considering the difficulty of finding diseased trees in a miracle forest.

 

Being a lumberjack is not a hard job. Ilex carried tons of wood every week and that physically made him look burly and almost gigantic. The tribal children would hide when he arrived in the villages with his ax, his wheelbarrow full of logs and his beard full of shavings. The naughty ones used to invent false legends and to threaten the other children by saying that one night the woodcutter would come for them. His daughter, however, had no fear of her father.

 

One midsummer night, Daisy, as she was called, went out to hunt fireflies in the garden of their house. By misfortune, she ended up wandering so far away that she completely lost her bearings. She always wore an oak whistle around her neck in case of emergency so that she could guide her father to find her. Daisy blew the whistle and was immediately heard by her father. A strange agitation came over her as she heard footsteps coming in her direction. At first she heard footsteps one at a time.... They must have been of a bipedal being, she thought of her father. But as they approached, they became two by two... The girl felt a tree with her back and noticed a hollow in it. She kept blowing the whistle. She was able to partially hide inside the tree as it was large enough for her to fit. The creature showed itself to her. It was a nearly six-foot wolverine with a rage. From its jaw gushed gouts of foam and saliva that made him look cursed. The animal approached the tree and let out a deadly stench from his mouth. It then backed away, intending to charge the trunk and drive the girl out. As it propelled itself forward, its head crashed into the wood and its body remained in the same position. With an almost perfect vertical cut Ilex sliced the creature in two, so quickly that he had not even had time to change his facial expression to one of pain. Daisy hugged her father, overwhelmed. That week Ilex knitted a coat from the wolf cub's fur. 

 

The woodsman's first contact with magic was in a last-ditch attempt to save his little girl's life. Daisy had fallen very ill weeks after the wolverine event and being an outcast was unable to access village curers. A merchant warned her of a tree deep in the forest that possessed the valuable power of producing a fruit that cure any ailment. The information cost him a half a wheelbarrow of wood, but he didn't care.  As soon as he could he set off in search of it. He reached where no human had ever gone before, at least not while alive. The deeper he went, the more magic, and the more magic, the more unpredictable beings. Soon he recognized the tree, an ancient and beautiful being of titanic dimensions. Ilex was surprised that he had not seen it at a greater distance. He felt that he already knew of its existence even though he had not seen it before. Then he thought of all the dead trees he had cut down and was sure that he owed it a favor. The story goes that the tree spoke to him and made him a deal. He promised him the health of his daughter, but in exchange he had to be the custodian of the forest for eternity. His ax was endowed with magic, and as if they were linked by a thread, it would depend on the state of his daughter. Ilex agreed 

 

The woodsman would follow the winding paths of the forest ending up with cursed beasts, specters or other dark beings. He has done so and will do so forever. His ax emanates a powerful aura and his skill with it is admirable. 

 

For millennia Ilex has been the custodian of the forest, forgetting his initial purpose: to save his deceased daughter. Eternity has been consuming him up to the point of existing only to maintain his ax sharpened. 

 

If you venture into the primordial forest where Ilex is the guardian, you are sure to be safe.