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Journeys In Galen: A Scholar's Travels

Author: 
Jean Duthiel
By Jean Duthiel
 
Day 15
My heart thinks often of my dear fiancee. I imagine her bringing down the thick blankets from the attic, snuggling up to keep warm. This trip will prove invaluable for my upcoming dissertation on local haunts, I'm sure of it. But every day gone from her side is a day too long.
 
Day 17
I've made some progress, thankfully. Everywhere that Bretons travel, they tell tales of wood spirits.
 
A line for the text: ""Just ask your gran, or the local at the inn, or the blacksmith, and they'll tell you a tale of bright eyes in the darkness.""
 
The druids of Galen, I've come to learn, have made eyes in the dark their allies. The Green, they say, has taught them ways and means to let the wildness of a place into their hearts. They call them ""dray'hoon,"" but everyone in the taverns and markets of Vastyr know them by another name—forest wraith.
 
Day 18
Breakthrough. Just walking the backwoods of Galen, the locals have said it's unlikely you'll come upon one of these wood-formed horrors. But I've learned, thanks to the targeted application of strong Systres liquor, there are apparently a number of ways these forest wraiths can be created.
 
The one I heard from my friend at the tavern could very well have been one of our own Glenumbra terror-tales.
 
A line for the text: ""A traveler, lost in the woods, disappears from sight. The druids spin the souls of the departed into silent sentries that patrol their ancient groves. Beware their terrible cry!""
 
More enticing, apparently some sects of druidic worship record a rite whereby they can ""submit to the Green."" These druids allow wild spirits to enter their bodies, transforming them into a wraith. This is reportedly only done in dire circumstances, but I have to wonder at its veracity.
 
Day 19
I've contracted with a guide to lead me to a druid settlement called Glimmertarn. There, it's said, some of the secrets of the forest wraiths are kept on ancient druidic tablets. Even casual conversation with this young woman proved most interesting. She believed the wraiths were created in the time after the passing of Druid King Kasorayn, and that perhaps they are related to something called the Allwither. A curious concept, but one worth exploring.
 
Day 20
The truth of these wooden specters remains hard to pin down, so I expect I may be here for some time. Going to send my dear heart a note asking her to keep Boots fed and suchlike. With any luck, the winds of Kynareth will carry me back to her very soon.