The Offspring

II

Setting: Celes, Erios

Narrator: Ozoruous

Hello, my name is Ozoruous Beren, (That's pronounced Oh-Zore-OO-ohs) but my friends call me "Oz". I live in Celes, a small town in Erios, a theocratic kingdom. I'm the only gnome in Celes. Well, there's this old guy named Brom but I don't talk to him much. I'm also a druid, and unlike Brom, I'm the only druid in Celes.

My parents died years ago in a quest to stop the Hydran Lords. I can only guess that they succeeded because, well, I'm still standing here today. I hold hope that maybe they survived and are just stuck or lost, but that seems unlikely.

I know the rest of the gang because my parents were their parent's friends, so we all practically grew up together. I'm one of the older ones in the group, only Vis Xiloscient is older (He's 17 and I'm 16), so the two of us have done a lot for the younger ones. Vis and I took care of the others until they were old enough to do it themselves, at that point I became more distant from the group.

I would often go out of town and into the surrounding forests for periods of time, honing my druidic abilities. I also did this because apparently turning into a big cat in the middle of town is frowned upon (It was just a joke!). Although I like every one of my friends (When they're not being annoying), there is a lot of freedom in forests, the natural world. The number of animal friends I have now is a whole lot more than my more sentient ones. What can I say though? Animals are fun. I especially like being an animal (It's the best part about being a druid). Even as I write this, I'm out in the forest, but I'll be heading home soon.

But in the end, I always come back to Celes. I know I could leave at any time, but that feels wrong. Like I'm betraying my friends, my family. Maybe one day I'll know what to do, for now though, I'm gonna stick to hiding in plain sight.