Jillian Silvermoon

Jillian Silvermoon -- Human Druid, Circle of the Moon -- Level 3

## Backstory

   You know that feeling that the further one moves into the forest the darker and more mysterious the shadows always seem? Sometimes I would see them flicker in the corner of my eye, or I would sense something different behind me. As a young child, I would try to find out what has caused me to turn or where the feeling had come from. No one else saw the shadows move as I did; no one else marveled at all of the natural things that existed around us. My parents thought that perhaps I was sensitive to others’ magic and that was catching my eye. Still, no one heard the call that drew me in…

While my siblings became interested the arcane arts, like my parents and everyone else around us, I tried to learn about the natural magics. I spent as much time as I could, exploring the nearby forests and learning about nature itself; all so I could understand what it was that I was sensing.

My parents were frustrated that I was not interested in their work, enchanting items for the Spires, but they were at least happy that I was interested in magic, albeit a useless school of it. While my brothers and sister sought teachers in different arcane schools, I apprenticed with a group of researchers, who studied and searched for whatever they could about the old magics, ones that may have been lost in the Cataclysms. My studies in the ancient elven language advanced, but that call to nature still lingered.

Finally, I gave in and decided to take a few days around the next full moon to explore a wood further from the city than I had gone before. It was an ancient wood, a remnant of a larger wood that was ravaged by the 2nd Cataclysm. I had read of old powers existing in these sorts of places, especially on nights of the full moon.

My eldest brother Devin had become a skilled mage by this time, and as I was barely 16 years old, he accompanied me to keep me safe. He had never understood my “sixth sense” as my family called it, but he could understand the drive for magical knowledge. I only told him I wanted to explore this forest because of something I had found in an ancient text.

We wandered through the woods, that tingling in the back of my mind pushing me forward. I followed this sense, but I had no guide, no goals beyond finding what lay at the end of this call. In the light of the moon and under the shadow of a giant elm, we made camp and I fell asleep that bright night.

I dreamed of a shadowy figure, humanoid but with unclear features. He asked what I desired to do with my life, what I wished for most. I may have paused but I don’t recall really. I told him that I wished to discover the hidden side of magic, that which was ignored or brushed aside by the people I had grown up and studied with. But I did not know how to do this.

The figure nodded and his rumbling voice reverberated in my mind again. He could guide me on a path that would grant me this knowledge, if I was willing to aid in preserving balance in the world. I would gain the power I sought and a world worth protecting, and that power would continue to grow as I gave this assistance. He might give suggested courses of action if something of import occurred, but otherwise I would be free to do as I deemed fit.

It seemed a fair deal to me, especially since I did not know exactly who or what I was dealing with. I accepted their offer, and the figure touched my head. He said to wait for one of his companions and it all faded away as I awoke.

As I stirred, the morning light greeted me as always. Opening my eyes, I spied something on top of my pack. Two bracelets, somehow made of elm that had grown into their shapes. Bits of mistletoe and holly were entwined in them, again blending with the rest of it. I stared at them for quite a while as I remembered parts of my dream. Taking a deep breath and smiling, I reached for the bracelets and put them on. A wave of warmth spread through me as they tightened to snugly fit my wrists, where they belonged.

I looked around for Devin, and only then noticed that the forest I was in was not the same one I had entered. It was too bright, too beautiful, too strange. There was no trace of our campfire and no trace of my brother anywhere. I was panicked for a long time, calling for Devin, searching around the clearing, looking for anything. Only me and my belongings directly under the giant elm tree were in this place. Nothing else…

I won't go into detail about the happenings of the next few years, but the short of it is that I had crossed into the Feywild. It started out pretty rough, but in the end I found what I had been searching for. I made a bad deal, which eventually was corrected. My mentor sent a teacher to search for me, and the elf took me under his wing. This elf taught me everything I know about the druidic path and guided me over the three years I spent learning from him.

Eventually, my teacher thought I had learned enough that I could now safely set upon my own path and find my place in the world, in my world. I was reluctant to leave my teacher and friend, but I was also eager to return. I still did not know the fate of my brother and the state of my family. The elf could not scry beyond the Feywild; there was some things that just could not be done.

He knew of a crossing several days travel from his home. We made the journey and waited for the appropriate time. We exchanged locks of hair, the better to find each other if we ever needed it in the future. We said our goodbyes and thanks; in my mind, I would forever be indebted to him for his role in my life for the past three years. In silence and with sad smiles, I crossed back into my world.

I did not know where I was in the world. The forest through which I had returned was a different wood from the one through which I had entered the Feywild. I followed the nearby river south until it met a well maintained road. I saw a bit of civilization in the distance, down the road to the southeast. Within a day I had found my way to the northern town of Alistair’s Stand, knowing not where I was and how much time had passed.