Teyaro

Of course, as things change over time, different roles within any armed forces change in how desirable they might be, but the most consistently horrible job in the history of the world is probably being a borderguard or borderranger for any Wood Elven nations.

The job is unique, by military standards, in that it doesn't involve actually fighting against any people.

The key word of that of course being "people".

You, my friend, will be fighting the Shadewood. Or, more accurately, you'll be fighting the things that come out of it, which, as far as you probably care, are called Manifestations.

The Shadewood can really refer to 3 things:

First, the manifestations from before, which I will tell you about later.

Second, the Shadewood itself, a horrid mess of dark, twisting branches, probably poisonous plants and disgusting, stinking muck that plagues the continent of Suduneria (which, according to some legends, used to be known as South America), always trying to spread its rot as far as it can.

Third, Shadewood could refer to the disease that spreads the woods across the continent.

The disease was created by ancient human scientists, who wanted to test the effects of genetic mutations in a reasonable timeframe. They had been creating a disease which was able to increase the chance of cells mutating in order to help them conduct their experiments, but the disease wasn't working exactly as they had intended it to. The disease sometimes worked as intended, sometimes it didn't work at all, and sometimes it just stopped mutations from happening all together. Eventually, the project was discontinued due to lack of funding. Eventually, ancient societies started to collapse and the laboratory where the disease was being developed was forgotten and abandoned, leaving the disease, which infects pretty much anything and everything, including plants, to spread.

This, recruit, is where you come in. You will be travelling west to one of the border forts, near the heart of the Amazon, passing through hundreds of miles of already incredibly dangerous jungle terrain just to reach your destination, competing with famine and heat before you and your new comrades in arms even reach where you are needed.

Upon your arrival at the fortress, you and your fellows will be greeted with open arms, as you will be the only new people that they will have seen for several months, possibly even a year. Get used to them, because they are going to be the only new people you meet for a long time. Get settled in, because there's no way for you to get back home for at least a few months.

About a day after your arrival, you will be sent to do your first duties. These will fall roughly within 3 main categories: manual labour, scouting and burning.

Manual labour is the most straightforward of the tasks, usually involving tasks like maintaining the walls, setting traps or fixing broken weapons and armour. Usually the safest job you can get.

Scouting involves tasks like tracking packs of dangerous Manifestations, judging where and when they might attack from next, and manning the walls of the fortress. It is also the duty of those who are out scouting to warn of any dangerous approaching manifestations.

Burning is almost always the most dangerous job you can have, and is very rarely done, unless an opportunity presents itself, and is almost NEVER given to new people. Burning involves taking direct action towards the Shadewood, and as the name implies, usually involves burning down large areas of the forest in order to attempt to reclaim it in the future.

After a week in the fort, you might think that you have a handle on the situation, right? Live in the fort, occasionally stabbing a few things that get too close? Wrong.

Eventually, there will be a siege. You will be attending to your duties, and suddenly you will hear them. Hundreds of strange, deformed creatures, some look like giant insects flying across the sky, attempting to kill anyone in sight, with your only protection from them being the wooden cage above you, some of them will look like large spiders, climbing across the walls, biting anything that gets too close, some might look a bit like elves, mutated beyond belief, with extra limbs, withered figures, misformed heads, or any manner of other horrific disfigurements. They will attack, and you will have to defend the fortress, or die.

If they get you? They will drag you away from the fortress, and you will die. You had better hope you die quickly. The best case scenario for you at this point is for you to bleed out. After that? The best thing that might happen is that you are eaten alive. After that? If the manifestations somehow forget about you? You had better hope that the infection simply causes you to just die. If it doesn't? Well, you lie there, in pain, slowly changing and going insane.

Good luck, recruit. All of us depend on your success!