The Journal of Byron Hales

[Byran Hales]

*The leather bound journal bears a metallic insignia on the front cover - a dragon, forming a circle, with his own tail in his mouth. The writing within is sometimes neatly scripted, other times hastily scribbled, with various symbols and diagrams often interjected into the text*
 

[Byran Hales]

Perhaps a few notes on my current state of affairs might be in order, to help focus my thoughts and clear my head.  'Twas not long ago that I finally decided to leave Haven for good, having concluded that the life of a farmer which awaited me there was, though honorable, not for me.  There's simply too much world to see and appreciate for me to stay cramped up in town.  My childhood travels through Sielwood and the Rolling Plains have taught me that... and how I long to see what is beyond their borders.

Besides, the people of Haven, good though they are, can be a bit closed-minded... reserved.  Their experience has made them so, and it protects them - I can respect that.

But it's not for me.  Farming's never excited me much.  There are two things that do - a day spent on the desert sands, or in the misty woods - and a good conversation - especially one on druidic philosophy.  Why the druids interested me so, especially from a young age, I did not then understand... though it seems to be a bit clearer to me now.

[Byran Hales]

More and more, I began to spend most of my days outside the city, walking in the woods, or lying solitary in the desert sands.  Where to travel safely, which bushes yielded the best berries, where the brown bears housed their young and what signs told of a coming sandstorm - little by little it all became second nature to me.

Stability was never something I could grasp for very long, though.  I would often times find myself studying in a library while my heart longed for the windswept plains, or walking solitary through the woods while my mind begged for a stimulating conversation.  I learned to accept the strife, though - even to love it.  Within my very soul it reflected the struggle in the world around me.  Flame struggling to burn while doused with water - violent winds eroding the encroaching march of land - opposite forces exerting the sum of their powers, creating a delicate and precarious sense of balance.  True peace came to me only to the degree I could submit myself to this, the earth's inner conflict.  I learned to recognize that beyond the elemental opposition in the world - nay, because of it - a true harmony rings out above the entire scene.

This is the harmony I seek, that I have always sought.  I seek it through my own inner conflict.  I allow my mind its passion - the understanding of the world around me and how it operates, and I grant to my body the same right - the oneness with nature that defines its place and purpose.  As the harmony grew within me, I found a true connection with the very Earth upon which I walked - a kinship of body and spirit that envigorated my entire being.  

I dedicated my studies wholly to the Druidic Order, whose learnings and practices seemed to echo the feelings in my heart and mind.  A difficult group to approach, being that most of their lore is trasmitted orally, in order to protect it, I nonetheless learned of them little by little, their doctrines distilling upon my soul like dew on the morning grass.  In time they would come to call me one of their own, a tender leaf upon the Great Oak from which all who call themselves Druids drink the water of knowledge.

[Byran Hales]

Oh, how I miss the stars!  As a youngster I would often walk through the woods with my father until the sun sank beneath the hills.  Before arriving back within the city limits, we would always stop at the same knoll and look up at the skies.  He would point out constellations and stories, some of which sounded credible, some of which I knew he was making up on the spot.  It always made me feel peaceful, like I was somehow in the right place.

The dark clouds changed everything.  When the dusty blackness crept over the skies above out town, it was an awakening for a lot of people.  Many who had shut themselves away from the outside world, content in the safety of their communities, began to worry about the outside world.  Time passed and the clouds remained.  Crops began to fail, plants began to wilt, life began to diminish.  It was in the panic that ensued that I was overcome with the feeling that I had to do something, taht I could not stand by while all that I loved, my home, my city, the outlying woods - deteriorated around me..  I sought out the Druidic Order more vigilantly, with a passion and fervor that grew every day stronger.  

Seven years of darkness passed overhead while I studied and grew until I was called of the dragon.  Had I finally learned enough that he deemed me worthy to serve a higher calling?  Or was I always somehow meant for the task - predestined, in a way, to serve Layonara by his benediction?  To this day, I do not know the answer.

[Byran Hales]

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