Ordo Sylvanus
A Ranger at Heart
-An Excerpt from Codex: Nishdow
Someone once asked me if the forests would ever be overrun by the darkness it hides. I looked at the young one sitting in his new armour and said that "The dark is forever, but will not prevail as long as we have the stout hearted woodsmen around."

"Woodsmen?" he said, "Wow, I always wanted to meet them. One day I will be a ranger." He was smiling as he said the last part and I could see the innocence in his eyes.

"A ranger, eh? This is a noble road you wish to take. Let's have a drink and I'll tell you a tale of the ranger who took me in when my life was looking bleak." The young one was anxious to hear my tale as he rushed to the wine barrel and poured us four pitchers full. "Well," I said with a laugh, "where to begin? Well, let's start at the beginning. Tess was just like you when he set out to explore the dark woods of Yew, young, anxious and eager to see the world. Of course he was not unprepared because he had grown up in a rugged forest trappers house and his pa had taught him a lot about defense and the ways of the woodsman.

"I thinks what changed him was when he started to study the Wisps in the forest. He once told me that the Wisps with the Elves were the great forest. I get off topic, hehe, now where was I? Oh yes, studying the Wisps, Tess followed them for years not knowing that there was a world outside of the forest. He had to completely meld with them to really understand, yet he does not share with me all that has happened.

"The secrets he must have, I can not say. All he has told me is that two years after his entry into the forest he found himself once again in the forest of his birth. He claims that he does not remember anything of the two years he was gone (though I think different).

"It was soon after his reemergence into the world that I met him. I was a young man well on my way to becoming a great miner, yet one day I went a little too far out of my safety range. Leaving the safety of Minoc, I found this range just south of Yew, but I also found Orcs! I had never studied the ways of combat but was ready to defend myself with the shovel I had. Five of the Orcs had me surrounded against the mountain side and I knew I was a goner. One of them darted to me and I hit it in the face with my shovel when I noticed an arrow go through its chest. Dumbfounded, I crouched down as the next Orc came at me, but hitting the ground as a third Orc slammed me with a club.

"The rest is a bit of a blur as I fell to the ground, noticing yet another Orc was down and riddled with arrows. That left three to finish me off, but who was this strange person shooting the arrows? Laying on the ground, I soon realized that the Orcs were no longer after me, and I could hear the rush of a battle going on. My ribs were very sore but I was able to get back on my feet to see a wonder.

"A third Orc was dead on the ground and it looked like it died quickly. I looked up and I saw a wild looking man with a deer mask swinging a great axe, and to my disbelief he took down the other two Orcs in three swings. I was filled with wonder and horror as he came toward me.

"'Hail there old man.' He said with a voice that seemed to blend into the forest. I greeted him and we spoke as he healed my ribs, which were broken by the Orc's club. I told him of my want to wander and find new ores, but that I was not able to fight and thanked him for the help he gave me. 'Ahh,' he said, 'fighting is not where strength is found, but in the heart.' I wondered at what he was speaking about, when he said 'It is the heart of the forest that guides our paths. Good will always win when we respect the forests that is around us and watch for the signs she gives us. When we love her she loves us.'

"These words seemed profound to me, but I still do not understand them fully. Tess took me in that day and gave me shelter. I now stay with him in his house found in the dark woods of Yew. Since then I have met many good Rangers, all of whom Tess tells me are woodsmen of different abilities and who took me into their family also."

The young man looked up at me with a glaze of the wine in his eyes and thanked me for the story. He then said "Yes, being a ranger is a good and noble road. I will try to live by their code."

I never saw him again but I hope that maybe he is out there in the forest learning to be one with her so that she may teach him her secrets. Secrets that I hope one day Tess will share with me.

Hehehe, well that's it for now. There is much more, but I have one last jug of wine to drink... 'till next time - Strength and Honor to you.

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