Summary

Yule have come and gone, a new year has come. I survived it, so did my mother and also my grandmother, despite once again, claiming it was her last. Her strength is still heartening, as it always was and shall be, fates willing, the next year.

In this year, I re-traced my old steps, seeking the stranger who snuck his way into my thoughts and nested there to stay. I failed to find him and with a heavy heart, traveled south and east. I traveled through the murky Trollshaws, through the grand Eregion, took a look at the mighty Caradhras before heading through wild Enedwaith and into primal Dunland. I went there with a single goal in mind - to find whether my old home away from home is still welcoming.

In this year, I've met my old mentor, Oakenhaft, the man that taught me the art of bonecraft, among other things. I have met a medicine man, from far Gondor, who I freed from a snare. I have found the stranger again - or rather, he have found me, after I returned from my travel. I have left my horse with the woodswitch and went on to live with the stranger, though I have learned his heart sings for mine as much as it does for another. I have, alongside him, decided that it is better for them to be together, rather to have three torn hearts, we have none. It was a good trade. I have found that I have neighbours - hound-loving woodmen from far beyond the mountains. I am intrigued by them and hope to meet them properly soon.

In the next year, I plan to stay in Bree, learn something of the folk in my homeland. Learn about their culture, their names, their lives. I wish to become less of a recluse, to get to know more people, find one to make my life less lonely. I hope to find what lies behind the closed doors, that the woman - Silver - have shown me. I hope to visit the woodswitch, the stonespeaker, see what the stones have to say of me. I hope to see the ill doctor return to health.

Above all, I wish the world joy and peace. War is over, but the fight is not. Evil lurks, within and without, bitterness and sorrow does too. Fight them. Be the best you can be - and then better yet. Always seek to improve, be better, but never perfect. Perfection is a goal that always changes, when you reach it, it slips away. Always keep chasing, never go complacent.