From "The Recorded History of the Burbah People"
Mairlynn had spent the last months living with her grandmother. Growing up she never would have thought that she would be living this way, with a woman who had a small blood relation, in conditions that were completely alien to her. But there were things that she wanted to know about her father, and this was the only place where she could learn them. Her grandmother was not very hospitable; Mairlynn wasn’t part of her grandmother’s tribe. But in the end Mairlynn's grandmother couldn't deny her granddaughter her curiosities.
At long last Mairlynn’s grandmother showed Mairlynn where she kept all of the books that had been left to her from her husband and her son. Mairlynn felt a bit nervous now that they were in front of her, but she picked up the one book that she wished to read more than any other...her father's journal. She had heard stories of how he kept a journal while she was a child, and once she was old enough she sought out her grandmother in hopes of learning what was in the journal, so that she could learn who her father really was.
Her hands trembled a little and she gingerly opened the leather bound book with rough parchment. She steadied herself with a deep breath and began to read.
"My name is Rowlan, and this is my story.
If you are reading this then I am most likely gone. I keep this
journal because I know the power that comes with knowledge.
My father kept a journal through his time in fighting this war,
and through his journal I have learned the many lessons that he
never got to teach me. I only hope that you can learn from my
experiences, and put that knowledge to good use."
“My passage ceremony was two days ago, and it is only a short
time before it is my time to join the rest of my people going to
the war. At my passage ceremony the chief gave me my totem
necklace. The intricate weaves on it perplex me. I’ve never
understood how the seers can create such designs while keeping
them strong enough that they do not fall off of a warrior. There
is also a bird on it. I’ve never seen one like it before, but the
chief says that it is an eagle, and it stands for longevity.
Whenever I am in trouble, the eagle will carry me to safety.
"My father’s journals spoke of the superstitions of the Burbah,
mother hates it when I use that word. I am not sure how I feel
about trusting my life to a bird on a talisman. I know that a talisman
can’t carry a club or bandage a wound. My father believed in t
rusting in himself, and the knowledge that passes down throughout
generations. For now I need to begin preparations, it won’t be long
before Galeau returns to the collect the new warriors that have come
of age. Galeau returns every year to retrieve the young warriors, as he
knows best how to train since he has lived longer than any other
warrior from our village.
"I hope that I am not left behind to take care of the camp. I know that
it is an important job, and that there will always be some that are to be
left, but I have to fight. I know that I am supposed to be out battling the
Empire. Even though most people don’t believe what that my father
knew a lot about the Empire, I believe him when he says that it shouldn’t
be there. I believe that they don’t have the right to take what is not there,
and I want to do something about it."
Mairlynn's hand shuddered for a moment. She never knew much about her father, he hadn't really raised her. And here, in this book, were the innermost workings of his mind. His hows and whys. It felt as if it might be getting too close, but she couldn't let that stop her. She had spent so much time and effort to get to this point; she had no other choice to go on.
"To this point in my life I have grown up through the teachings of
my mother, and with the words left behind in my father's
journal. I have done everything that I can to prove to myself
that I am my father's son. Sometimes it makes my mother
cry, but I know that she is only sad that my father is no longer
here.
Now is the biggest step that I will undertake in my life.
The war is well into it's second generation, and I am to come
of age in just a few days. I have grown up with a spear in my
hand, learning to fish. I can hit a fish in water from ten paces,
and a jumping fish from twenty. My father's sketches on
proper spear techniques have done me well. I do not fear
entering battle, though I am not excited for it either. Almost every
male who has come of age in the last year will leave in two
weeks time. I will be one of the youngest leaving. We are the
sons of Burbah. And we will keep the Empire from taking what
does not belong to them."