Yorokobi

The singing chimps of The Heart of the Forest will tell you that Yorokobi was carved from a more serious kind of wood. They remember a different time, shaping the amber-leaved groves alongside Mokuzai, when harmony was a quiet thing, not a boisterous festival. These days, while the locals are obsessed with food and song, Yorokobi walks the paths with their guiding lanterns, checking the wicks and sweeping away errant blossoms with a sigh. The locals once tried to teach them a dance, a clumsy affair that ended with Yorokobi standing perfectly still, unamused, as the revelry swirled around them. They may not understand the forest's new rhythm, but they still tend to its roots.