A large pod sat in the depths of a dark forest, gestating for many years. Within the pod, a consciousness had formed. It was not self-aware, but it dreamed. Or, maybe not so much a dream; the animals were its eyes, the trees its ears. A rift was opened, and still the pod sat in silence for hundreds of years. 150 years after the rift closed, the pod trembled and bloomed.
Cole stepped out into the world for the first time. Within his pod, he had been prepared by nature with help from Hyssop. Despite this, he was quite naive about the world at large. He already knew these woods as if he had been walking them daily for over 150 years, but there were parts of the world that were a blank to him. He had been very curious about these places. He made for the road, where he found a farmer with a wagon full of produce heading for market.
Cole ran up to the farmer sitting on the wagon. The farmer looked quite startled when the wooden man rattled at him in a language he did not know. Cole soon realized he wasn’t getting anywhere like this, so he pointed to himself and then pointed to the back of the wagon. The farmer smiled while he tugged at his belt. He brought a gold coin out of his gold pouch, showing it to Cole, “Nothing in life is free.†Cole understood. Not what the farmer had said, but what he had meant. There was a price that had to be paid. Cole nodded, then ran back into the forest.
After a brief search, he found some mar'larane and brought it back to the farmer. With a smile, the farmer gestured towards the back of the wagon, and Cole hopped in. Uhg, turnips. But at least he was on his way, now. The wagon ride was rough, the causeway had many potholes. Eventually they arrived at the city of Moorgate. Cole leaned from his perch to try to get a better view of the city, and promptly fell from the turnip wagon.