Shadowglen, Sabers, and a Very Small Book

The Road

I woke into the late-afternoon gold of Shadowglen, and the glen took my breath before I had taken a single step. Light fell through the boughs in long slanting threads, and the whole grove seemed to hum, as though the trees were holding one note together. I stood very still and let myself be discovered by it. (I had rehearsed an entrance. No one was there to see it. The trees, I choose to believe, were impressed.)

From there my feet carried me up into Aldrassil, the great tree itself, where I found the air close and green and quiet. I went back and forth between the tree and the glen all evening, and by the end I knew the path as one knows a verse.

Battles

Fourteen creatures fell to me today, and I counted each one and thanked it, softly, as a druid should. Seven young nightsabers, five young thistle boars, and one full-grown thistle boar, who was not young and did not care to be thanked. There was also a single grellkin, whose touch of wrongness I felt even as it fell.

I am not sorry for the work. It was asked of me in the name of balance, and I tried to do it with a gentle heart and a steady staff. I will admit that my heart was gentler than my aim.

Deeds

Conservator Ilthalaine greeted me, delighted that "the beauty of Shadowglen never ceases to delight my senses!" I understood her entirely. She asked me to thin the young nightsabers and thistle boars, since the spring rains were heavy and the forest cannot feed so many. When I returned, she said I had "performed my duties well." I carried that sentence around for a good while. She then asked for more: mangy nightsabers and thistle boars, in the name of balance. That task is still before me. She also gave me a Verdant Sigil from Mardant, my trainer, to read and carry to him, and I did.

Melithar Staghelm sent me to find Tarindrella, the woodland protector, whom the forest spirits say has returned after years away. I found her southwest of Aldrassil, and she said I still had "much to learn." Fair. She then asked me to hunt the grells and grellkin for Fel Moss, eight pieces of it, and that task remains open. She also sent me for Gnarlpine Totems, to read the engravings of the furbolgs who left their homes. When I brought them back, she read them and grew grave. The Gnarlpine dreamed of being wiped out by a great shadow, and their fear turned to rage against their elven friends. To be aware of your own mind slipping away from you. I felt cold for a moment, and I thought of them.

Last, Dirania Silvershine asked me to look for her friend Iverron, who is hours late and was last seen near the cave to the north, where the spiders are. I have not yet gone. I have not forgotten.

Fellowship

I spoke with no travelers today, but the elders of Shadowglen were generous with their words. Mardant Strongoak called me "my brother" and said he would be my mentor and guide, and I tried very hard to look like someone who gets called that often. Terunne Bearshaper asked if I cared to learn to gather leather from slain beasts, and I said yes in a voice somewhat higher than intended.

Spoils & Craft

Tarindrella gave me a book to further my education, because she understands my kind enjoys books. It is true, and I was moved. Beyond that, I learned Tanning and Skinning, so the beasts I have taken today need not be wasted. I have no coin to report, and no snacks either, which I mention only because I looked.

Growth

Somewhere between the sabers and the boars I felt strength settle into me, quiet and warm, like a lamp being lit behind the ribs. I had grown. My defense and my skill with the staff both rose a little, to five apiece. Then Mardant taught me the Mark of the Wild, and I cast it on myself at once, and again on a tree to be fair. He also spoke of the Emerald Dream, which will one day call me to hibernate for many years and walk among the purest of forms. I do not know when. I listened as one listens to a faraway song.