LOREN WILDSOUL, DRUIDESS OF MIELIKKI

Growing up in the company of a band of rangers in the middle of the forest did much to influence the life of the young human girl named Loren Wildsoul. She learned the love of nature and respect for its ways through their teaching, and that of her mother, a priestess of Mielikki. She was an only child, solitaire in the woods, though calling each of the creatures of her world a part of her family. Her father was a sailor, coming to port at the nearby village only rarely, bringing gifts and trinkets from across the known Realm, and even some places that weren't on the maps. His worship of Umberlee, though herself a natural goddess, made his less than frequent visits always seem like a coming storm in the cozy little cabin she shared with her mother.

When the young girl was only ten years old, a large band of orcs settled near her village, raping the land of all its goodness and turning it into a desolate place. As the rangers of her village saw the spreading cancer of the orcish blight, they vowed to clear the forest of their presence, or die in the effort. As the rangers set off, with her mother calling blessings of Mielikki upon them, the young girl was left in the village alone except for the wild animals which always roamed the village as though it were their home.

As she tended the cookfire and the hearty stew which would serve as the evening meal for those returning from the fight with the orcs, she heard a bunch of footsteps, followed by the grunting and squealing language of the orcs who had invaded her forest home, and now sought to steal her village from her as well. Knowing she could not stand against the orcs, she grabbed as many of her family's small treasures as she could, threw them in her satchel, and abandoned her home. As she fled, she could already see the black smoke of the burning buildings rising above the forest sky.

She made her way westward, searching for those who might drive away the orcs and bring her safely to the forest. While many in the city she came to were sympathetic, the policies and trade of Zazesspur were not threatened by a distant orc village, or the removal of a roving band of rangers. Heartbroken, the young girl asked where she might find a temple to Mielikki, so that she might pray for the souls of her mother and the friends she might never see again. At her saddened expression, a merchant of Waterdeep told her there was a temple to the Autumn Goddess in that large city, and offered her a place in his caravan as a cook and forager, as she professed knowledge of the forests and nature that none of his guards could match. Agreeing with a small nod of her head, the young girl travelled in the company of the merchant caravan, though many times she could be seen gazing whistfully into the distance to the forests where her village lay in smoking ruins.

When they reached the City of Splendors, the merchant gave her a small pouch full of silver coins, and asked that she stay on with him. Shaking her head slightly, she asked again for directions to the temple of Mielikki. Sighing, with a compassionate look in his dark brown eyes, the merchant recited the directions, and watched as the small girl, who reminded him so much of his own daughters that he had tears in his eyes, walked away with a backward glance and a small gesture of farewell and good wishes as she called for Mielikki to watch over him as she would her own.

She found the forest temple as the merchant promised, entering with the reverant respect that she had learned from her mother in her village. The familiar rituals of the temple rites caused stinging tears to spring to her eyes, and she cried softly, pillowing her head on the thick moss and pine needles which covered the open dirt circle of the natural cathedral. At a gentle touch on her shoulder, she noticed the priestess, clad in robes of green so like her mother's on the day the village burned. Without a word, the priestess opened her arms, and the young girl fell into them. Desperately, she wept in the comforting embrace of the priestess, stopping only after the moon was well into the night sky. With careful questions and a simple meal of wild berries and water, the priestess drew all of the information and pain from the young girl. At the mention of the orcs in the forest, her eyes hardened slightly, and the young girl knew the blight would be contained, if not removed altogether. With soft assurances that her mother and friends were in the loving protection of Mielikki's arms no matter where they were, the young girl fell asleep in the center of the forest clearing. The silver streaks of drying tears shown in the moonlight. The priestess held the tiny girl and wept for the pain of the forest, and the wounded spirit it had sent to her.

After many days, the girl began to exhibit the love of nature and animals which had given her the strength to continue in the paths of Mielikki's teaching through all of her adversity. As she worked and played with the animals and learned from the passing rangers of the woodlands she had left behind, she began to realize that she could not return to the woodlands she loved until she was better prepared to defend them. Never again would the forest she called home be ravaged by orcs without punishment. As she ate a meal of wild raspberries and bread from a bakery in the City, she spoke of her decision with the priestess who had become her teacher, friend, and surrogate mother. With her assent, the young girl curled up in the clearing she had called her home for many long moons of healing. Tomorrow, she would go to another place of knowledge, and learn to protect her home.

She left the priestess of Mielikki with assurances that the forest would wait for her. Entering a temple near the middle of the city where the priest wore the emblem of a tiny scroll, she asked for the knowledge of basic defense and what skills they might teach. With a smile, the priest led the girl deeper into the temple, and helped her select those items with which she felt most at ease to train. As she trained, she pictured the village and forest of her home. Pictured the greyed skin and piggish features of the orcs who had cost her both. And asked Mielikki for the strength and wisdom to reclaim the woodlands. When she felt a presence in her mind and soul tell her that she was ready to continue her training and her chosen path of service, the young girl left the temple where she had learned so much, smiling at the elderly priest who had led her into the paths of knowledge, and offering Mielikki's blessing in return for his own spoken words, "May the knowledge you seek come quickly to you, and always know that you will be welcome in the temples of the Knowing One."

She travelled the Realms for a time, assisting the druids and other wildfolk of the land of Faerdale with a task. At its completion, a servant of Mielikki, a brilliant white unicorn, came to her and brought the symbol of the goddess. Placing it carefully around her neck, Loren felt the power of the goddess fill her, in blessing for all she had accomplished. She was now ready to protect the forests, so that never again would another village suffer as hers had.

And so she travels still, searching for villages and places of wild beauty, preserving them in the name of Mielikki. At times she is accompanied by a mage of Oghma, called Artan, who would learn more about the wild ways and the young girl they call Loren Wildsoul, for her spirit and that of the forests seem to be one.