This story begins in the month of Chronos, in the year 175 AF. I was
still very much a young man, a new soul in the land we know. I would
become a Druid in the early part of 176 AF, and made friends with the
others roaming the as-yet mostly unexplored lands. One such was Portis,
a dwarven Druid, but a few months older than I. In time, we would become
business partners. The opportunity arose on 22nd Chronos, 175 AF, when
Lord Sarapis made a public offer. It was actually the second such offer,
but one in which Portis and I availed ourselves. For the then princely
sum of ten thousand gold, The Logos offered up to 10 rooms to be
designed by the purchaser. Portis had her eye on the offer when we had
met a few months after it was made public, and so we decided together to
raise that money, and to my recollection a bit more in order to have the
shop made available, and approached the Logos.

By the 15th of Sarapin, in the year 177 AF, as announced in this very
Public Forum at #64, the Crystal Leaf Inn opened to the public. A little
over a year later, the Shoppe was open and selling a small number of
items to the adventurers. Somewhere in that time, Rurin took up
residence, selling food in the Common Room. The discussion then was as
it remains today; namely, there wasn't one. Perhaps it was the naivete
of a couple twenty year olds, or the belief that we had no other
options, but neither myself nor Portis secured any assurances as to the
use of our Common Room by another merchant for his own profit, and not
ours.

And that's how things continued for some time. I became concerned
primarily with my Shoppe and with the running of the Druid Guild, and
soon Portis fell away from the lands for a long time. As I grew weary of
the daily grind, I retired from my post in 197 AF. The Shoppe, in my
absense would soon go empty. As I understand it, for a period of time,
Portis reawoke and ran the Shoppe for some time, but she too would again
disappear from the lands, this time it seemed for good.

Eventually, the Druid Guild/House through Lady Gaia, was able to pay
250,000 gold to Sarapis to have the Shoppe placed in the name of the
Druids. I awoke in time to celebrate my 200th Birthday there, and
jokingly tried to talk to Rurin about his wares in my Inn.
Unsurprisingly, nothing came of it, and I lapsed into another long
slumber.

Again, I reawakened this latest time, and reconnected once more with
friends, family and loved ones. In the lead up to my 300th Birthday, I
received any number of requests for information on the Inn, including
where the infernal key to the upper room is. Imagine explaining over and
over how, even though I built it with Portis, and even though I paid for
it with Portis, at this time, neither she nor I have any control over
any part of it. I cannot open that door upstairs, any more than I could
sell food myself from the Common Room, at least not as of this writing.
I cannot stop Rurin, or any other merchant from setting up shop, any
more than I could take rent from their hands. All I have is my picture
on the wall, and my name in the History Books.

There is no moral, no lesson to be learned. Make of the story what you
will. This is merely my best recollection of how things have come to
pass. I shall keep my head high, and hope that I shall be vindicated.
But I won't hold my breath waiting, nor will I consume myself with its
outcome. I believe that I am in the right, and I shall wait for Favor to
shine upon my story.

So it goes. And I remain Lord Buckthorn Ryndel.

Penned by my hand on the 20th of Mayan, in the year 458 AF.