The Annals of the Guardians of the Yerkeii Forest
To any historian reading this, my only source are the voices in my mind sowwy
What?
Ok this is going to be a weird one so you gotta BEAR WITH ME for a hot minute ok? ok.
About 4000 years ago in a continent that doesn't technically exist anymore, there was a Forest called the Yerkeii. It once was the most magical forest of it's region, housing several unique species including gigant deers and mimic frogs.
And for a short, dramatic instant, the Yerkeii Forest had it's Guardians.
The Story if the Guardians of Yerkeii Forest, for real this time
The Forest had five guardians to it's name across five centuries.
It's first guardian was a centaur by the name of Asaris. She started her existence in the heart of the forest and lived there her whole life, having a close relationship with the local fauna whom she protected from hunters. While she has as little contact as posible with the outside world, it was such encounter that gave her the moniker of guardian in the towns that surrounded the forest, a title that she never used for herself.
Asaris didn't outright forbid the entrance to the forest, but she did check often that everyone entering the Yerkeii left without causing harm. That's how she once found herself following the tracks of a group of people deep into the forest. Out of this whole group she was only able to find a single survivor: a mousekin child that had hid in a hollow tree as his parents were eaten by a bear.
She took the kid because of course she would. What choice was there? Giving him to the bear as dessert? So the kid was named Serden and was raised as Asaris' own child; but most importantly, as her own disciple.
Serden grew up in the forest, with nearly no contact with the outside world. As he grew he started resenting this, in his eyes, the people from the neighboring towns should be properly taught the dangers of the forest, as well as how it ought to be cared for; in oposition to Asaris who seeked to have as little contact with civilization as possible. Often during his youth he'd visit the towns surrounding the forest, meeting friends along the way.
Then came the fire.
In the end of a particularly dry autumn, after a year-long drought, a fire started that would consume a third of the entire Yerkeii; and with it, it took the life of the first of the Guardians of the forest.
While Asaris stayed in the worst of the forest, doing all she could to save the creatures living there, Serden ran from town to town enlisting help to stop the fire. He brought over a hundred people that worked tirelessly for the better part of two weeks until the fire was finally stopped. But for Serden, his work had only just started.
After the destruction brought by the fire, Serden spent the next three years organizing recovery efforts. He worked close with the people living nearby, teaching conservation, the uses of plants and animals living there as well as their dangers, and above all else he taught of the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
He became known as the Guardian of the Yerkeii Forest in the whole region, a title he carried with honor. But as often as he could he told people that he was the second ever guardian, and would proudly tell the stories of the centaur that raised him.
It was less than ten years into Serden's guardship when he took in his own apprentice, a small tortle by the name of Mirtha. She had been abandoned by her parents in a small church near the forest, the main priest been close friends with Serden.
Serden seeked to give her the education he didn't recive as a child. Mirtha had several tutors growing up, learning how to read and write in ten different languages, as well as learning naturalist painting. As she grew, Serden and Mirtha worked for years in several encyclopedias documenting the Yerkeii's flora and fauna; books explaining techniques on conservation and restoration of the natural environment of the forest, common uses of medicinal plants, guides for hunting, fishing and gathering; all written and illustrated by the delicate hand of Mirtha.
This tomes were distributed along the neighboring towns, given to schools, guilds and monasteries.
Near the end of Serden's life, Martha and him also worked in documenting the stories of the Forest Guardians, the copies of these books ended up being very popular as adventure books reaching far from the Forest it originated from, specially among school-aged children.
Serden passed away peacefully from old age in his own home, and ever since Mirtha took his place as the Guardian.
Mirtha's guardship differed greatly from Serden once again, spending most of her time within her study. She seeked to immortalize the Guardians' knowledge in the form of her tomes. The little time she spent outside the forest was almost exclusively used for delivering books. Her time in the forest itself was also limited to scheduled patrols and the occational investigation.