Renel was not always certain of his vocation. Growing up in the Timberwood orphanage, he was always surrounded by natural beauty and kind people. Even more than playing with the other orphans, Renel loved to follow a group of ent gardeners around the forest, listening to the giant caretakers' talk of the best way to revive a dying oak, how to encourage the most beautiful roses to blossom during the worst seasons, and how to keep the butterflies and bees happy and pollinating. Visitors to Timberwood were often surprised to see the young orc, rescued as an orcling by an adventuring party from a larder in the Troll Caves, so dedicated to the well-being of the forest.
That changed one day as Renel and his friend Usten were sent into Moorgate to run some errands. While wandering down Copper Walk, goggling at strange, fierce-looking folk carrying fearsome weapons and wearing clanking armors, they heard a wild yell from up the street. Turning to see what the commotion was, the two young lads barely jumped clear of a runaway wagon as it hurtled down the street. Another passerby was not so quick. Renel watched with horror as the young man, only perhaps five or so years older than Renel himself, was smashed by the wagon in its reckless journey down the street. After the wagon passed there was a still moment, as if the whole world stopped. Renel got a single, clear look at the young man as the life quickly left him. He was dressed as a craftsman, a tailor, judging by the armload of fabrics he had been carrying. He was likely an apprentice, the delivery he was carrying for his master made him too slow to react in time to avoid the wagon. Renel had known that sometimes people die from accidents, violence, or disease, but he had never actually witnessed it before. In Timberwood, death comes at the end of old age, a sad experience, but never as horrifying as this. The town guard quickly tramped in to take charge of the situation, shooing away onlookers, and Renel and Usten departed. They were silent as they returned to Timberwood, each lost in their own thoughts.
By the time the two arrived back at the orphanage, Renel came to a decision. That night, instead of seeking out the ents to converse with, Renel went to find a shaman. For someone to be struck down now, so early in life, seemed a tremendous injustice. What good was it to cultivate a beautiful garden, he thought, if there are people slain before they can enjoy it, before they have had time to enjoy life? From that day forward, Renel studied with the shamans. Fetching herbs for them, listening to their lectures, assisting them at the animal sanctuary. After years of study, dozens of plagues battled and countless wounds bound, the shamans said there was little they could still teach Renel, and students began to come to Renel to learn the art of healing. Renel occasionally still shuffles outside between classes to tend his garden, but his heart is now entirely dedicated to people, not to plants.
Alley back to the library foyer.
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