“There are many things you learn after spending years adventuring” I looked on at the faces of the children surrounding the campfire in front of me. Khloe Aliapoh, a young Miqo’te that is fascinated with the stories I have from my adventures, had asked Zhloe if she could get me to hold a story night for all the children at the Menphina’s Arms Orphanage. Having caught a break on my journeys I heartily agreed. “The first and most important lesson is to always believe in your companions.”

“The children here around the fire? They’re your family, are they not?” I smiled. “You laugh with them, you cry with them, you play games together and you eat together. When you become an adventurer, you do the same with those you meet in the wilds and in the Adventurer’s Guilds. While we often face GIANT monsters and even the gods of beast tribes together, there’s nothing more relaxing than spending time with your comrades, your family, like we’re doing right now.” My owlet, Hoot, let out a pleased hoo as she nudged up against me. She always seemed to understand the meaning of my words and that they included her as well.

“When I first met one of my dearest of friends, I was but a fledgling conjuror wandering through the city-state of Gridania. I had traveled alone until that point, learning both the bow and the conjuring arts.” I recalled. “She was trying to recruit adventurers to her Free Company, and while normally I ignored most such criers, something compelled me to listen.”

“What’s a free company like?” The pink haired Miqo’te girl name T’kebbe questioned.

“Well…” I pondered for a moment and looked at the children. “Why… it’s much akin to the orphanage here. While you younglings may not have chosen to be here, you’ve put together a bunch of scrappy young people and made a family. I didn’t know what it was like either when I first approached her about her Free Company either, but that was the start of some of the best times in all my life.”

I took time to share with them some of the countless stories of my times with my friends within the Free Company and without, of the fun times, the dangers we faced together, and the different places we traveled. Though it wasn’t as exciting as telling Khloe about all the battles I had fought in the journals she keeps supplying me with, the kids seemed interested all the same. I punctuated important parts with wild gesturing, and some fireworks I had saved up from the Moonfire Faire.

“The best part of the adventure…” I concluded my stories. “…is that while you may part ways with friends for a time, like me and those that I met in my first Free Company, you’re always connected through the bonds that made you family in the first place. So, make stories now, even just here in Idyllshire, and with those stories make memories and bonds that will last a lifetime. That is the true spirit of being an adventurer and why I still enjoy every moment of it.”

(Scarf of Wonderous Wit, thanks for reading!)