The monks had no interest in having a child amongst them -- raising children certainly was not a habit of theirs. Throughout my childhood I never saw another human child. The only people I had ever met were the two to three dozen monks. Most of whom had better things to do than talk to me.

The woods around the isolated monestary were a little bit dangers -- there were occasional kobold and goblin patrols about. And I was told never to go in there. But there wasn't much to do around the monestary, and the monks really did not seem to notice when I disappeared. They never asked me where I had been. So, I would wander the woods from time to time.

I saw the goblins and kobolds, and knew enough to hide from them. They never saw me. In the beginning, I would simply hide and wait for them to pass. But, as I got older, I got a little braver. I would watch them, and follow them.

One day, when I was still quite young, I spotted a kobold near a backwater on a mountain stream. He -- it -- was fishing, and having a frustrating day. It must have smelled me, or sensed me somehow. He started getting nervous and growling at the air.

Then he just seemed to get frustrated. He snorted, flopped himself down on a rock, and said in his best approximation of common, "If you're going to kill me, just do it and get it over with."

I was a child. I was curious. Cautiously, I stepped out from the trees and asked, "Why do you want me to kill you?"

It turns out that he was trying to get food to take back to his village. But, he was not very good at fishing. I, on the other hand, had become pretty good at bow fishing. So, I offered to help. A few hours later, he had a nice collection of fish.

His name was Thessethesth, or that's the closest I could get to pronouncing it right. I went back to that backwater often and, eventually, I saw him again, and helped him with his fishing. I think you could say that he became the closest thing I had to a friend. Sometimes, instead of fishing, we would play games, like Rangers and Kobolds.

We still had to keep our eye out for a dangers. During one of our games, a couple of goblins caught me. I was flat on my back, their spears pointed at my face and chest, while they discussed my fate. Then, Thess jumped one of them, knocking him to the ground. I grabbed the spear from the other one, who was so surprised I managed to yank the spear out of his hands. We killed both those goblins. But, we did not want to explain to anybody what happened, so we hid the bodies, and both of us went home.

Thess is dead now. I went to the fishing hole one day and found him laying face-down in the pond -- two ranger arrows sticking out of his back.

I left him there, and went back to my own private games, watching and following the kobolds and goblins I found in the forest.

When goblins kidnapped some people from a caravan on a nearby road, I knew exactly what to do. I knew where the goblin village was, and told the soldiers that I could help. They laughed at me, but the monks said that I had been to the woods often and always came back unmarked. They had known of my trips, apparently. They just did not care.

I took the soldiers to the village. They were concerned that, if they attacked, the goblins would kill the hostages, but I said I could take care of that. I had no trouble sneeking into the village. It was dark -- just before dawn. I untied the villages and lead them to safety.

Once I showed the soldiers that the hostages were safe, they attacked, killing every man, woman, and young goblin they could see. After it was over, they counted 183 bodies. The Lieutenant had a pin designed to commemorate the victory, and sent me one to wear.

I threw it out.

The woods were safe after that. I never found another goblin to follow. There were a few kobolds, but they were rare. They typically never came out except at night.

The woods were empty.

Eventually, was given my first assignment, to accompany a group of missionaries through the nearby town to collect donations and gain converts.

Outside of the monestary for the first time, I found a world that was completely foreign to me. When I saw women for the first time, I asked what race of creature they were. I was told that they were dangerous creatures, and that I must not go near them, or they would seduce me into wickedness.

Indeed, when alone in the city on an errand, I was approached by a group of women, whose apparent kindness turned out to be an act of cruelty that soiled my soul irreparably. Ashamed, I could not return to the caravan. I fled, from the Monks and from my own conscience, seeking to redeem myself for the sins I committed.

Alone in the world, others seem to immediately notice my awkwardness, and seem irresistably drawn to gaining humor at my expense. I can think of no place I would rather NOT be than in anything that even remotely resembles a town.