Nightsabers, Boars, and a Sigil in Aldrassil
In one late afternoon in Shadowglen, Betas thinned the beasts, found a dryad, learned the Mark of the Wild, and was asked to look for a missing friend.
The Road
I came into Shadowglen in the late afternoon, when the light slants gold between the trunks and the whole glen seems to be holding its breath. I stopped and simply looked. The moon was not yet up, but I felt sure she was thinking about it, and possibly about me. (The wink is still unexplained. I am still working on being worthy of it.)
From there my feet carried me between the glen and Aldrassil, the great tree, again and again before the day was done. Each time the hush of the boughs closed over me like a cupped hand. I discovered Aldrassil properly on my first climb, and I said "hello" to it out loud. It did not answer, but I could tell it was pleased.
Battles
Fourteen beasts fell to me today: seven Young Nightsabers, five Young Thistle Boars, one full-grown Thistle Boar, and a single grellkin. I took no joy in it. I said a small word for each, as a druid should, though by the fifth boar the word had become rather short, and by the seventh nightsaber it was mostly "sorry, friend."
Deeds
Conservator Ilthalaine greeted me with "the beauty of Shadowglen never ceases to delight my senses!" and I could have hugged him. He asked me to ease the balance of nature: the spring rains were heavy, the nightsabers and thistle boars grew too many, and the glen can only feed so much. When I returned to him, he said I had "performed your duties well," and I intend to remember that always. Then he asked more of me: mangy nightsabers and thistle boars, seven of each, in the name of balance. That work is still ahead.
In Aldrassil, Melithar Staghelm told me the forest spirits had whispered that the dryad Tarindrella had returned to Shadowglen, and that this was surely a bad sign. I was to seek her out. I found her to the southwest, and she said Melithar was wise to have sent me, but that I still had "much to learn." Then she told me of the Gnarlpine furbolgs, once peaceful, now gathered under a corruption she believes is Fel Moss, and she asked me to bring her eight pieces of it. That request is still open.
She also asked me to search the abandoned Gnarlpine homes for totems, and I brought them back. Their engravings spoke of furbolgs dreaming of being wiped out by a great shadow, until the fear turned to rage and the shadow took the face of their old elven friends. Tarindrella said it was "even worse than I thought." I stood very still afterward. To be aware of your own mind slipping away from you. I do not have a joke for that one.
Ilthalaine also gave me a Verdant Sigil from my druid trainer. I read it, and carried it to Mardant Strongoak in Aldrassil. He named himself my mentor and guide, and promised to teach me the spirits' meaning and the secrets of the Emerald Dream.
Last, Dirania Silvershine asked me to watch for her friend Iverron, who always visits at the same hour and has not come, though he is hours late. He is often by the cave to the north, where the spiders are. "I am a little worried," she said. So am I, a little, and I have not yet gone.
Spoils & Craft
I learned Tanning and Skinning today, the crafts of taking leather from the beasts of the wild. I have decided to treat them as sacred trusts, and I resolved to honor every hide. Terunne Bearshaper asked if I cared to learn how to gather leather, or wanted new tools, and I nodded too eagerly and said nothing. Tarindrella also offered me a book to further my education, which I took as a great compliment, even though I suspect it was a hint.
Growth
Somewhere between the boars and the sabers, a new strength settled into my limbs, quiet as dew. I stood a little straighter and held my staff as though it had always known me. My skill at guarding myself and at the staff both sharpened.
Mardant then taught me the Mark of the Wild. I have never felt the forest lean toward me so plainly, as though every leaf were leaning in to listen. I said the words to a fern, to be safe.
Mardant also spoke of a time when the call of the Emerald Dream will take hold of me, and I will sleep for many years among the purest forms of things. I nodded gravely. I wondered if there would be snacks.