When I woke up again I was no longer in the clearing; I was lying in the grass beside a road. Close by I could hear water flowing. When I rolled over there was an old man sitting beside a small camp fire; on the ground next to him was a staff. He was wearing a brown robe, a rope for a belt, and a pair of soft leather boots. Once he noticed me awake he said "Morning my son; I am Mortici the Druid. The Goddess has sent you to me to be trained. But, before we start let us enjoy this fine fat rabbit that was so thoughtfully provided by a traveler".
I got up and he motioned towards the stream and a thick bush was close by. After taking care of my morning chores, I returned to the fire as he served up the rabbit with a few wild vegetables he had found. The food tasted good and he even had some wine to go along with it. He cautioned me to go easy on the wine as it would be a long day, and that much longer if I was under the influence of the wine. After we had eaten, I took stock of my few meager belongings which included both scimitars, a water skin, a small backpack, and one semi-clean extra set of clothes, plus my own soft leather boots with hard soles. When he noticed the soles on my boots he told me that they would not do; for it is hard to be quiet in the woods in those kind of boots. He then said that we replace them once we arrived in the next village. I noticed that I now had a small leather bag attached to my belt and in it were the two blue stones.
After we broke camp we traveled the road to the next village. Once there I was surprised that just about everyone seemed to bow towards the Druid. Once when a rough looking man didn't bow he was set up on by the others for disrespecting the Druid. I asked about this and Mortici explained that in this part of the world Druids were respected as they brought news and aided the local peoples in any way that was within their power. We went to the tanner and I got a new pair of soft leather boots in exchange for my old ones. Next we went to the smithy where Mortici asked if I might be allowed to use the equipment for a day or two. The smith asked if I had any idea as to what to do with his equipment. I asked what he was working on and was told he had to repair a couple of short swords and some chain mail; I noted that he had two anvils beside the forge and asked if I could make use of the extra one, in return I would repair the swords for him before doing what Mortici wanted done. He raised his brow and motioned for me to have at it. After about two hours working on the swords I presented them to the Smith for his opinion as to whether or not they were repaired correctly. The Smith told me he had never seen a young man do such fine work in such a short time. I explained then that my father was responsible for my training at his forge. When I showed him the scimitars he just about fell down at my feet. Once again he said that my work put him to shame. When I told I had been lucky enough to have the education I had and that since father made a lot of swords for the games I got a lot of experience with them.
At that point Mortici, who had left while I worked, returned. I asked what he needed me to do for him at the smith's. He said nothing for him but that I needed to place the stones into my scimitars. Using the tools of the smith, I inserted the stones into each of my scimitars. I was surprised to see that they fit perfectly. I asked the smith to double check my work as I had not done this type of insertion before. The smith said that the insertion was good, then offered a couple of suggestions for the next time I needed to do something like this. Mortici told the smith that I would be back each day for the next three days to help him and to learn anything that the smith thought I needed to know. But that I would have to share my time with the tanner also, so as to learn from him too. The smith said that he would be glad to have any help that a Druid offered, and especially the help from someone like me. We bid farewell to the smith and went to the Inn so I could drop my belongings and have an evening meal.
While we ate the meal, Mortici and I discussed the "rules" that governed a Druid. He explained that as a Druid, I was expected to respect all life, honor my patron God or Goddess, and that I was to as truly neutral as the situation would allow. Unlike a cleric, I would not have power over the undead, was not expected to teach others about religion, but I should always be ready to answer questions about my patron and my service. Mortici then explained that as a follower of Malieki I should be one with all that is natural, whether it be plant or animal. That as I advanced I would learn to understand the animals of the forest and the needs of the many plants.
After our meal, Mortici had me to follow him, with my scimitars, into a glade inside the forest. Once there, in the light of the Moon, he had me show him what I knew about the use of my blades. After watching me for a few minutes he said that I needed to cut myself a staff. It was to be 7' long, straight, made from oak, and made as smooth as I could get it. He handed me a small axe and pointed to the forest, "Remembering the instructions I gave, go and find your staff. May the Goddess guide your selection. Return here to me when you have obtained the staff".
I had not been a forest at all before this, so I was a little unsure as to what an oak tree even looked like. I should not have worried, some strange force seemed to guide me to a group of small trees. They were of three different types, but I knew that one of them was a pine and that it was too soft. As I looked and touched each tree I got a feel as whether or not it would work. I finally found one that felt right. I took the axe and carefully chopped it down, cleaned it of extra branches to a length of what I thought was 8', I wanted to allow for extra trimming the next day. I returned to the glade and showed it to Mortici. He nodded, with that we left to return to the Inn for the night.
The next morning when I went to the smithy, I took my "pole" with me so I could work on it as time permitted. The smith said that we needed three sets of shoes for the team that was in the stalls. I said I would start work on which ever set he wanted me to take care of and fit. He asked if I had ever shoed a donkey; I told him no, that father always did the shoeing I just help make the shoes. He showed me the donkey's stall and I measured and started working on set of shoes from the smith's stock. It took me about two hours to adjust the shoes and to make sure they would fit. The Smith put the first shoe on to show me how. I put the other three shoes on, under his watchful eye as he had already finished the other two horses. Once finished, and the job approved by the smith, I was told to bring my "pole" and he would show me an easy way to trim it to length and make it smoother. After we had finished, he reminded me that the staff, no longer a "pole", would need to cure for several days before it would be useable.
At mid-day, Mortici came by and we went to the tanners for me to help him and to learn what I could about that art or profession. I was very tired by the end of the day when we closed up. I went back to the Inn and joined Mortici for the evening meal. This was the routine for the next few days, working at both the smith's and the tanner's shop during the day, eating an evening meal with Mortici, then the two of us going to the glade for instruction in the basics of being a Druid.
It was our last day in this village. Mortici and I went by the tanner's shop and I was given a whole skin that I had worked on. The tanner said that I had learned well and deserved it. Thanking him, we left and went to the smith's. At the smith's I retrieved my staff and he told me that if I ever wanted a job that he would be glad to hire me as he felt I had showed him as much as he had showed me. I thanked him as well for the learning he had provided. Mortici and I started on our way to the next village then.
It was during our travels that Mortici instructed me in the use of the staff, it was not just for show. He would have me practice with it for several hours a day while on the trail. And on occasion would spar with me to test and instruct. We visited several villages and towns along the way; in each place he would have me help a shopkeeper in some way so that I learned about many trades. He had explained that this way I would have a well rounded training and would understand what people were having to deal with day to day. In one town I received training with my scimitars in exchange for repairing some of the weapon-master's practice swords. In another village I received a mace in exchange for my help to the armorer. Mortici explained that by helping people we learned and helped ourselves. We were on the road for a full month before we reached our destination.