She unrolled the map with a glittering smile, and put it over their laps.
"This is The Domains" she said pointing at the map "we found you.. about... here, and we should be about here now... near the bottom of the Highlands".
He looked amazing, he knew the world was big, but seeing it, in such a form was fascinating in it's own right. He had never looked at a map before, not once.
He once, when he went to town to sell the harvest with his father, met a strange man with dark skin who claimed to be from the Fire Islands.
"Where's the Fire Islands?" He asked in a combination of excitement and perplexity.
He was taught in his time how to do the basics of reading, and he could sign his name, but his prowess of literature was rather limited. There were so many words he wasn't entirely sure how to pronounce or even read.
"Its not here unfortunately. This is only a map of the Domains", she said with a sigh "The world is much bigger than this continent. I haven't seen much of it unfortunately, but I'm hoping one day I will. I want to see every corner of this as a healer, and help everyone I can as I do."
"So where are you from?"
"I'm from Oneah" she says pointing at a island on the southern half of the map. He studied it, an island of plains surrounded with sparse forests and mountains.
"We are a peaceful people. Every once in a while, the goblins come from the mountains, and we hire mercenaries to fight them off, but outside that, violence is very rare. We believe peace is the highest form of philosophy. It doesn't always work that way, but we have endured".
"With violence."
She takes a deep breath and sighs, as if knowing any response would cause an argument she would rather avoid.
"Here is Benalish City" she said pointing as a small dot on the upper half of the map. "Isn't that where you said you were going? Well if you were, you weren't even heading in the right direction."
"Wait really!?"
"Afraid so, we found you heading toward Suder River, judging from the direction your body was facing. Your lucky we found you when we did, I'm sure some predators would have taken an liking to you, assuming some clan didn't find you first."
He simply lowered his head and sighed.
She frowned for a bit, looking at his disappointment in himself.
"Hey, let me tell you what I know about Aerona and The Domains!"
The remainder of the day she told him what she could about the map, and everything she had heard. She told him about the savage elves of Llanowar who tattoo and disfigure themselves, about the ageless tree of Pendlehaven. She went on about the rivalries of the Brassclaw Orcs and the fierce Hurloon Minotaurs, and how you should never trust a Brassclaw Orc, and their infamous cowardice. She talked about the fierce warriors of Keld, and how they not only tower over other men, but some have towered over even Ogre's. The giants of two heads of Foriys, and how she once read a mad wizard created them. The numerous villages of the Sursi Mesa, and how knights ride on flying horses called pegasi.
Sadly she was young, hardly a scholar, and there were many questions she couldn't honestly answer.
"So where are we heading?" he finally asked.
"Oh, that is easy, we are heading down this creek into the Suder River, from their we are heading toward this veldt, there's a small port town and a arena there. Our 'fearless' leader is hoping to find a boat to Estark, from there we are to collect a bounty. I personally think the plan is insane, but he hired me to do this, and well, it seems like a good excuse to see the world. My father wanted me to simply stay in an apothecary in Benalia, but there is so much of the world to see! I want to see it!"
He could relate. The many long days on the farmstead he often wondered just how is life behind his corner of the world. Surely it wouldn't compare to the glory of the city, but it would still be nice to see.
"How the time flies, it's getting dark."
To his surprise, she was right. The sky had already turned a bright orange, with his of pink and purple on the clouds. He had seen it many times before, but somehow the serenity of it was different, in an intangible way he couldn't fully comprehend.
The carriage slowed to a stop and the strange man stuck out his head between them.
"Come on, I'll show how we prepare camp" she said with a smile.
