I know not this new feeling I have inside my heart… But I know it has always been there. But, my tribe taught me to believe differently; to be a hunter, a fierce warrior, and a whimsical soul, a follower of Kithairien. As I look back on my life, I realize it was never the path that I wanted, but one that was chosen for me out of tradition and the respect of my tribe. I ignored the stirrings within my chest and became what my tribe expected. Now that I have saved my tribe and their way of life and fulfilled my last oath to The Runner, he has let me go to begin my life anew. Where will I go now? Where do I even begin to piece together the distant stirrings of my soul into something cohesive enough to become my path? I know not even where to begin.
I have traveled to temple after temple, praying to find what has been calling me for so long, but still can find no answers - only more questions. While mining deposits or cutting gems, I feel alive. I hear distant melodies while I do this but I know not what they mean. Is this what has been calling to me all this time? I met my old companion, Elixir the dwarf, yesterday inside the cave in Seilwood.
I know not how he found me but was glad that he did for an Ooze had found and paralyzed me while I was mining and listening to the song. When I asked him how he knew I was here he said that he heard call form his god to come here. We talked a while about his god Beryl and I told him my story of being released by Kithairien. He appeared to be studying me and asked why I was here. I told him that I was there to gather minerals to cut into gems to work on my craft. He then asked me why I wanted to be a gem crafter and I told him that it has always been in my heart to do but because of my tribes religion and them wanting and need strong warriors that I had to put aside what I wanted to do for the sake of the tribe. And then I heard it again the low hum of the melody that I have heard while gather minerials but this time it was louder andit appeared that Elixir heard it too. I asked Elixir if he heard the hum and he nodded and said it was the stone calling to him. He paused then, and studied me appraisingly, before asking me for how long I had heard the song. I told him that I have always heard it. He then gave that low chuckle that he does and started to ask me more questions about my craft, about how I felt when I was done with one item. I told him that when I am finished I feel something intangible that calls me to finish the stone - that I could do more to complete the cut; one more burr to remove on the surface; calling me to complete what was not perfect, yet needed to be. I told him that must have just been my own foolish pride. He just looked at me and laughed. “What is so funny?”, I thought. Once done with mining the minerals we went back to Hlint to craft them and Elixir quietly watched me at my work. He seemed pleased at my determination to craftthe malachite minerals into polished gemstones, even though most of my cuts produced naught but malachite dusts.
Once I was done with my small store of polished malachite, Elixir and I spoke a little more about Beryl and all that she governed and taught to her clergy. He spoke to me as well of the “deep song” – that resonant music that sounds near the edge of my consciousness, and how it was the way that the children of Her Perfection spoke to one another from the warm womb of the earth. “The deep song”, Elixir explained (albeit a bit less intelligibly), “is all around us. It is how Beryl speaks to her children, and how they speak to us. It is also how we may speak with Beryl when we feel the need upon us. I was very confused. “How could Beryl be calling me if I was not her follower?” Elixir laughed again, and said, “Maybe you have always followed her in your heart and never known the name of what you followed.”
I somehow find his words reassuring, as the hope blossoms deep within me that my future, which was so uncertain only a day ago, feels brighter, and filled with purpose. I can almost hear her voice, calling to me from the depths of the earth. I want to know my path. Elixir has suggested I make a pilgrimage to the temple of Beryl in the town of Stone. I hope that I will find my answers when I get there… Quill…
