Greetings old friend. It has been some time since my last letter, but I assure you I am still doing just fine. How’s it doing back over in the Eastern Peninsula? It’s been forever since I’ve last visited the area, I mostly spend my time around the Castlian Shore nowadays. Plenty of interesting ruins to see, quite a bit to scavenge as well. Also the huge volcano, I still wonder what happened to the place they called “Charon” but I don’t want to ask the locals. As I’ve said before, I don’t typically go into towns anymore and that may be the reason why you have not seen me much. If you’ve been out in the wilderness as much as I have, I assure you that you would think just the same.
Townspeople, especially in larger places like Ironport and Summer Hold, have no reason to go out into the forests or along the trails. They have jobs that allow them to stay in the comfort of buildings and not among the trees and shrubs. They just sew some fabrics or make some tools and then they get the whole day to just sit back and wait for customers to come in. They’ve grown to be lazy, every time I go into one of their shops they speak to you like some unwanted pest. I can see why too, they don’t need to be nice because the customer has no other place to go! Don’t appreciate the man selling armor, why don’t you just spend an entire day heading over to the next town over that actually has a Smith? The only reason they even speak to you is for the crowns in your bag. But enough about them, as rude as they may be they still have good reason to stay behind the walls that imprison them.
There’s the bandits and dark wizards who steal from the weak on their own bent power trip. Annoying, but pathetic. They get angry at the world, whether it be genuine injustice or misguided frustration. Those with magic get corrupted into killing innocents to feel that they have meaning in the world, even if it gets bounty hunters and Magic Council on their trail. Those without blessed power get jealous of it, they find whatever weapon they can and turn to a life of robbing the weak and avoiding the strong. Then there are the few that steal only to survive, born into families of crime or poverty who cannot provide for their own future. Bandits and dark wizards may be different, but often both only want to have power and control over whatever they can grasp. After being in a few fights you’ll be able to beat pretty much anyone who’s low enough to mug random people. Those in towns, however, never once had to fight in their lives and immediately cower before any hostility, which is why they are able to submit to the Magic Council so easily. It’s why I have so much respect for the Alaleans, descending from powerful pirates they still to this day have that same pride and attitude.
Being out in the Wilderness is a real eye opener. Wandering merchants are so much nicer and appreciative of the few people they see. It’s not like the towns bustling with people everywhere, it’s calmer and the few you meet often have nice things to say. They have so much talent, but they weren’t fortunate enough to be born into a family that owned a business for them to inherit. There was once a time when the Salores and Silvers were worthy of their reputation. They fought or experienced great hardship to pass an honorable legacy to their heirs. Now? Their ancestors are a bunch of lazy prideful narcissists with no gratitude to their predecessors. It’s truly tragic for these less fortunate merchants, some even get branded as criminals which I honestly don’t understand how it happens. I have plenty of respect for them despite what anyone else says. I’d recommend you get away from the comforts of towns and relish in the freedom the Wilderness has to offer. If you go far enough, you won’t find anyone at all to bother you. Just the sounds of the birds, the wind, the river rushing nearby, and the wolves howling at the rising moon.
I want to show you something. When the moon is full and it rises to its peak, meet me at the old tower just west of Ironport. Bring plenty of bait and your finest rod. Let us go fishing, away from the bricked walls and paved streets. Away from the paths where the travelers pass. Away from the ruins where the thieves hide. Just you and me, alone by the moonlit pond. Alone, nobody with us but the stars in the night sky.