Wildthing said at 5:16 a.m. on Jun 23, 2009:
32 and rising. Thank you all for making this group worthwhile.

HtD said at 12:41 p.m. on Jun 22, 2009:
Hi Mike and other group memebers thanks for the invitation to this group.

Pattymaryclare said at 10:47 a.m. on Jun 21, 2009:
it's a winner already and IT'S YOUR PARTY now and have FUN IF YOU WANT TO....Den and I merely 'egged you on' lol xox

Wildthing said at 5:12 a.m. on Jun 21, 2009:
Excerpt of ‘The Chalice of Hope’, featuring Sempiternal.

It was perhaps another week before they caught sight of the Living Forest.
Sam began to feel that her past life had been a dream. It was becoming harder by the day to bring the faces of her Mum, Dad and Emily to mind. She reckoned it was ten days since they had first set off on the bike ride. But time here was not the same. She knew that the days were of different lengths. It was no good comparing where she came from to where she was now. All the things she had grown up to understand were of no help to her.
They approached the forest, but had to stop at its edge. The trees were so tightly packed together that they could not pass between them.
Fig spoke to the trees. “I am Figwort,” he said. “And with my friends here, am on a mission that could save Allworlds from a great catastrophe. I wish to speak with Sempiternal, the tree of all knowledge.”
The trees’ leaves began to tremble and make a loud rustling sound.
“What’s happening?” Ben asked Fig.
“They are passing my message through the forest to the wisest of all trees, which lives at its centre.”
“You are to follow the path we make,” a voice that could have been a breath of wind said, and the trees opened up in front of them to form a narrow trail.
They walked single file into the very heart of the forest, and looking back, Sam saw the path closing up behind them, as the turquoise lake had. No living creature could enter without permission.
At last, they came to a house-high, dense wall of black thorny bushes that ringed a lush, grass-covered glade in the middle of which grew a giant red tree that was the width of a cooling tower and as tall as St Paul’s cathedral.
The twisted branches of the bushes began to unravel.
“Stand well back,” Fig said to the others. “The thorns of these sentry bushes are loaded with a poison that has no antidote. Just one scratch, and your blood would turn to jelly, and you would swell up and rot like an overripe melon in the blink of an eye.”
A gateway formed as the bushes shrunk back, and the five of them rushed through it, arms close to their bodies, and scant inches from the lethal thorns. They approached the enormous tree and looked up, but were too close to it to see its top.
“It’s a redwood,” Tommy said. “The tallest tree in the world...Well, in our world.”
“And in ours,” Speedy said.
A second later, thick branches snaked down to form a cradle in front of them, a few feet from the ground. Fig and Speedy flew up to it and reached down to help Sam, Ben and Tommy to climb onto the living platform.
“Hold hands,” Fig said as the branches began to rise like a lift up the side of the mighty tree at dizzying speed.
When they came to a stop, the dark, fissured bark of the trunk began to change, and the features of a face appeared in front of them.
“It must be quite a while since you visited the Living Forest, Figwort,” Sempiternal said through bark lips that creaked as they opened and closed.
“Yes, I was a mere youth when I first ventured this far from the Oak Palace.”
“Time passes slowly around me, Figwort. But I can see that your beard is now white, and that you have spread a little around the middle. What is this mission you are set upon, that is of such importance?”
“These whortles are in possession of an ancient chalice that is said to have the power to stop evil from overrunning Allworlds. And I fear that if the Dark One knew of its whereabouts, and was able to take it from them, then he would destroy it and all that is good.”
“Ah, humankind. I have never met one,” Sempiternal said. “Let me see them in their true form, Figwort.”
Fig clicked his fingers, and Sam, Ben and Tommy changed back to how they truly looked.
“Where did you find the chalice?” Sempiternal asked them.
“At the bottom of a lake, behind a waterfall,” Sam replied. “It led us from our own world to wherever we are now.”
“Then you have been chosen by the spirit that dwells within the chalice to deliver it into the Keeper’s hands,” Sempiternal said to them. And to Fig, “How can I be of help?”
“We need to reach the Cross-roads of Time, and do not know the way,” Fig said.
“It will prove to be a perilous undertaking,” Sempiternal replied. “One that you will be lucky to live through. You must go west, between the twin peaks of Doom Mountain, and then due south across the Desert of Storms to the Valley of Mist. That way will eventually bring you to the Lake of Life, where you will need to convince the Ferryman to take you to the Cross-roads.”
“Thank you, Sempiternal,” Fig said.
“Don’t thank me, brave fairy. For I fear my directions will only send you on a course that will lead to your downfall.”
“We have no choice, great sage of trees. The chalice is the symbol of all that is good, and may bind together the very fabric of existence.”
“I believe it was cast out of this world by a priest, so long ago that many think it is no more than a myth, Figwort. It is a pity it did not allow itself to stay lost.”
“I agree,” Fig said. “But it has other ideas.”
Lowering them gently to the ground, Sempiternal wished them good luck and bade them farewell.
As they left the Living Forest, Fig once more gave the three of them the appearance of fairies, and they headed west, determined to deliver the chalice to the Keeper, and to save Allworlds from a terrible fate. They struck out in the direction of Doom Mountain, mercifully unaware of the fearsome perils that lay ahead.

Don't blame me for the layout....That's how it came through here.

Lifequest22 said at 8:45 p.m. on Jun 20, 2009:
Ok--so i joined the group with my one little avatar--my red cons. And the few times I've changed it, it seems that everyone wants to know what's up, and where are the cons. So I guess can design some avatars.

Pattymaryclare said at 5:30 p.m. on Jun 20, 2009:
I'VE 'FLUNG' MY AVATAR TAB IN SUNDRY OTHER APPROPRIATE GROUPS TO give the brand new one WAY BETTER EXPOSURE AND CURIOUSITY....(collaboration and all that jazz!) wink wink

Pattymaryclare said at 5:14 p.m. on Jun 20, 2009:
Your group manifesto states we should try to comment on each tab....I'm awaiting your good bad or indifferent comments and of course A FEATURE in the group too! ;-) too much fun and ty! luv patty xo

Wildthing said at 4:38 p.m. on Jun 20, 2009:
Thanks for joining Den & Patty. All we need now are some pics.

Wildthing said at 4:14 p.m. on Jun 20, 2009:
It was Den who suggested I start an avatar group. So why not post your avatar here as part of the collection, and any other weird & wonderful pic that you think would make an interesting one. Honest comments of what you think of them would be fun, be they good, bad or indifferent:)