"'Everything has a beginning,' has been said over and over, time and time again, for hundreds, even thousands of years," the middle aged man across the table from me began, "So why should I have been any different?" I was interested. This was a man from the woods, a common enough spectacle in a city such as Aldalonde, but still an interesting sight to a young boy such as I at the time. He had a mane of flowing dark brown hair that matched his dark eyes perfectly. He was dressed in leather, patches of fur could still be seen here and there. In this time of strife it was odd to see a non-mage carry only a staff, but alas that was all I could see. Of medium build he was, not too tall, not too short. Yes of course I was interested, and I simply answered him,"you shouldn't have been any different."

The man smiled then,"You know, I think I like you. You have a decent head on your shoulders," for a moment he just looked at me, as if reading my mind he spoke once again,"So you want to hear my story." My mouth opened slightly and I replied "y-yes, please." As I look back on it, I was scared stiff of this man speaking to me.

"Alright," he cleared his throat and got a smile on his face as if remembering a good dream,"I was a boy about your age then actually, and I had just been accepted to the monastery just outside of our village, Asryan. It was my dream to go there, and I was ecstatic when the Joseph- That was the town Cleric at the time- welcomed me to study there. It was a place of learning, of trading ideas with others. A place where I could learn, and think, and make my dreams become reality.

"It was a day's walk to the monastery and I left the next morning at dawn. Joseph walked with me the entire way. The country around Asryan was beautiful. There were trees that grew taller than the highest of buildings here in Aldalonde, it was by a mountain that, just when the sun was setting, it would cast it's shadow for miles, always over our town. When the sun rose on a day that was going to be clear it reflected off the peak and it would be like an omen for a good day. We walked over the well beaten trail that followed a stream for most of the way until we arrived.

"I was always in awe of the monastery, and I even sometimes am now when I return, which I must say is very seldom. But as a boy, it was just intimidating, I was scared. I wanted to be back with my parents, but my own will made me go forward. I wanted, I needed to learn."

The man across from me looked at me and nodded towards something on the table,"You should really eat that before it gets cold," he said.

I looked down at the table to see that the food I had paid for had been placed on the table, and it had been there for sometime, I chuckled softly and took a bite, "So what was the monastery like when you got in?" I asked.

He smiled,"Everything that I thought it would be. Books lined every corner of the three story building, bottom floor was where the monks and clerics rooms were, the second was the classes and kitchen, the third was the library. Ah the library is the only this I really return for now, I loved it there and I would spend days at a time in there on occasion.

The classes were interesting as well, but I often found myself with conflicting views on what the teacher said. He would always encourage goodness and love, but I would think 'why treat someone with goodness when they don't treat you with goodness'? The first time I asked this I was smacked. Literally smacked," He shook his head and one of his ears poked through his hair.

I said a bit surprised, "Your an elf? I thought all elves had long golden hair and we're small."

He replied, "I'm a wood elf actually, not a high elf. We are a lot darker than our cousins. Anyways, as I was saying."

A bit embarrassed for interrupting i said, "Yes please go on"

"Well they smacked me and told me to go to my quarters, they said that it was sacrilege to say those things. I was a boy and I was confused. So I kept my views to myself for a long time, I still wanted to bury myself in the knowledge they had. That the books had.

"But, eventually, the books and the teachers could no longer satisfy me. And I left seeking after more knowledge and answers that could satisfy a hunger that could never have been fulfilled at the monastery.

"They called me a magi in those days, thinking I'd go from becoming a cleric to a wizard, but of course they were wrong. I had no interest in a knowledge of things unnatural. I wanted to know the world I was in. To feel it. To be a part of it. To have it be part of me." He gazed into my eyes as he asked, "Have you ever been in love boy?"

I responded sputtering,"Y-ye, well I think..." he asked another question, "Do you know what it feels like to be around that person?" And again I replied yes.

"While it's a bit different than loving a girl, that was the sensation I had whenever I was in nature. The trees, the birds, the rocks and snakes. I knew a thing or two about love and I would sit against a rough bark of an oak for hours at a time just thinking.

"Philosophy was the main focus of my thoughts, that and science. Small things I would try to answer, and sometimes I would succeed, and other times not. But, always, always, I would come back to the things that were the opposite just like i had in the monastery.

"On one of these days, a middle-aged man with gray just touching his hair came up and sat down next to me. We began to relate our tales to one another and started discussing philosophy and science with each other. Really he did have very similar views than I, even having answers to things I had previously tried to find out. He asked me to walk with him. And I did.

"I then ended up in a grove, more beautiful than i had ever seen in my life. A spring in the middle with a glowing light springing forth from it's depths, towering trees hundreds of years old. I was in awe. And when I stepped towards the center I noticed the man I had been with was with six others now, he turned to me and said, 'Laedien Boulderan, have you thought of the path of a Druid?'

"My mouth actually kind of looked like yours does now," Laedien said to me,"Yes that is my name. And I stuttered as I answered, 'I wa-wasn't even sure if the Druids we-were real. I have thought about what it would be like of course, and I'd love it if I could walk that path in life.'

"And so my life changed and I found myself learning what I wanted to learn. Having questions answered and even answering some questions. I passed the trials six months after meeting the man and became an official member of the Druidic council, though I'll admit not a very high position in it. But I had brought with me ideas like every other Druid, and with those ideas I eventually rose to my current position."

I realised the tavern was empty and the bar tender was staring at us like he was wanting us to leave, "Will you be here tomorrow?" I asked and he looked at me with a slight smile,"I might be."


~The Path of the Druid: From the Essays of Jeb Al'kain