The Ancestral House of Strongleaf
During an otherwise uneventful Winter’s day in Serenwilde, Arian of the Moondancers and Niina Yfae’dren began to notice the pixies in the forest stirring with mischief. Several of them had small slips of torn parchment clutched in their fingers.
Curious as to what the pixies could have gotten up to, they began to collect these slips together – and found upon them scraps of a poem, one that none of them recognised. As the day turned to night and once more to day, they gathered with several other members of the Serenwilde Commune and discussed what they could mean.
Miakoda, the Maiden of the Moonhart and perhaps the being in the Serenwilde with the greatest chance of recalling ancient things, would not speak at length of the poem – though it was evident that she recognised the story, which concerned the life of a druid by the name of Banon Strongleaf.
It was armed with this name that Dedicant Eolae and Astrasia Starleaf led the group to the Hartstone Grove, where Wisdom Strongleaf could be found. A refugee from the War of the Goloths, Wisdom was one of the only known descendants of Glinshari – and, so it seemed, the protagonist of the mysterious poem.
There they found a great deal more information, and learned of a secret within the Serenwilde known only to a few. In Wisdom’s timeline, this secret had been revealed – but she could not wholly give it up herself in this timeline. She sent them instead to seek the spirit of Calarin Strongleaf, who centuries ago had been Banon’s cousin.
Barrin Starleaf gathered a song sparrow and called the spirit of Calarin forth from her cairn, whereupon she told them of the truth of what had happened during the Nature Wars. Bestowing upon her the knowledge that the wars had been won – and that the Serenwilde had been reunited, albeit scarred – Saran Starleaf gained the druidess’s trust.
Thus did the spirit of Calarin lower the veil that had kept part of the Serenwilde secret for centuries, allowing the commune members access to it for the first time since the Nature Wars. But as she faded, the druidess said a curious thing: that it was time for the Starleaf to go home.
Both curious and now perplexed, the Starleaf and their allies sought the spot in the forest that Calarin had pointed them to. There they found the secret that the Strongleaf had hidden, the gift bestowed upon Glinshari himself. And it was there that Calarin’s mysterious words began to make sense: for in that place the Starleaf found a record, of sorts.
Upon the bark of an ancient tree, spidery silver script proclaimed the names of hundreds of Strongleafs; from Glinshari himself all the way down to the present day. It was there that they finally understood, for amongst the names they read many of their own – though they were not quite the same: Barrin Strongleaf; Saran Strongleaf; Astrasia Strongleaf; Urdnot Strongleaf; Ymuli Strongleaf.
How the family came to lose its name remains a mystery – to all, that is, but Wisdom Strongleaf. Alone, several days later, she flowed to the place she had thought lost to time and destruction – the home she had given up hope of ever seeing. Though she had seen the Goloths defeated, it was this moment – this moment, stood amidst the boughs of ancient stories – that truly allowed Wisdom Strongleaf to find peace after war.
And in that moment, she vowed to help her refound family understand who they truly were.
