Wish you were here – love, Nirena

Dear uncle,

How’s yer leg? I hope my cousins aren’t giving ye too much trouble lately. Anyways, ye wouldn’t believe the things that have happened to me since the beginning of the year!

I know ye always shook yer head at my hunting and tracking ways. “Settle down to a real business”, ye always said, “Nothing good will come of sitting around in trees for hours on end!” Well, uncle, I think ye’d be pleased that I’ve proven you wrong! Remember how I used to play Tribes of the Forest with me cousins when I was a little kid? How I’ve always, always wished I was one o’ the Serenguard? In Estar, I finally found my way to Serynwodenhillirim – Serenwilde, as ye might know it, and GUESS WHAT!? They took me in! I got to swear an oath on the Leaves and everything, thanks to a nice girl named Aloy who was very open and friendly t’a newcomer like me.

It’s a shame that the Serenguard Lodge burnt down. It’s kinda embarrassing to mention, but I honestly teared up when Aloy and another girl called Elilnys took me to the old ruins, and then to the cairn of Master Eurytus. Remember him? Remember how we’d make ye pretend to be him so we could be sworn in? Well, I put a stone down at his cairn. For all o’ us. And I finally learned the proper way to salute the good ole centaur. They have new guilds now – Wodewoses seems most like the old Tribes game we useta play, but Listeners and Sowers are nice too, memory trees an’ everything.

All the reminiscing made me fired up, real fired up. Remember that time when I made a bow outta pieces of driftwood in an hour cause I was upset at the weevils, and then I killed twenty o’ them? That fired up, I was. So I offered to build the Serenwilde a new hunting lodge, fully it stock it and everything. In the process of seeking permission, I met so many other people: Trade Minister Astrasia (Aloy’s grandma!), members of the Moonhart Circle like Saran and Sondayga (I think that one’s the Seneschal), Power Minister Anita, and a whole bunch others beside. They were all real nice t’me, and provided me the materials to get down to building. Former Warden Ejderha, tho’ he en’t a Seren anymore, also gave me some nice advice about not disturbing the past.

Like I said, I was fired up. So I finished the new lodge in a jiffy. And I added a box o’ rattlesnakes too. Remember me special formula? I figure their hunters would appreciate it. Or if not, I can teach ’em. They seemed to like the lodge well enough. I was afraid they’d be upset it was too small, but they weren’t.

And of course, I am living my dream of LIVING IN SERENWILDE! There’s SO many more things I want to do! I really really hope that I will get to stay here for good, and that I will continue to help the forest in whatever way I can, maybe build more things for ’em. There’s enough wood, at least.

If ye have time outta yer busy schedule, please come visit! I can show you the wonders of the trees that ye hate so much, hah!

Much love,
Nirena Leafsmith