"I guess we are not so different, you and I." Maric said with a small chuckle. "We both feel that it is our duty to help others. Perhaps not in the same ways, but what we both do ends with similar results."<br/>He would have continued further, but he did not wish to bring her pain by bringing up her past. It was easy enough for one to see that she missed her late husband deeply.<br/>"Why don't you sit next to me as I tell you my story?" Maric asked as he leaned back against Hephaesus' side near the fire, an arm outstretched for her to cuddle under. "Well... Where to start... Before I set on my path as a paladin, I lived a very simple life. I lived on a small farm, in a house barely larger than this. It was not fancyb as those you see in large cities, but it was... Home. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It was a wonderful place to grow up. Quiet and peaceful, a beautiful mother that would give anything to see me smile, and a dedicated father who taught me everything he could to help me in life. I even had a younger sister who had the loveliest laugh. She always came in from the fields with a bouquet of some sort for the table. When I was sad, for whatever reason, my mother would hold me close and sing to me, with the most angelic voice I've ever heard.<br/>"But then one day, before I was even of age, it all changed. I remember going to the town market one day with my father. As we were there, I apparently did something to attract a paladin's attention, I can't recall what. Whatever it was though, caught his interest. Right on the spot, he asked if I would like to come with him and learn to be a paladin like him. At first I was excited, but then I realized that would mean leaving my family. My perfect, peaceful, carefree life. My father though, insisted that I go with the man! He was so insistent..."<br/>Maric paused, and let out a sad sigh, not even realizing that he was pulling Nimue into a tighter embrace.<br/>"Father knew that it would be best for me. He wished to have me stay and tend the crops as he did, and our forefathers did, but he knew that this new path would be better. And so I was sent on my way, with nothing but the clothes on my back. I didn't even get the time to see my mother and sister's faces once more. I didn't even say goodbye to my father, as I always hated goodbyes.You see, my family had a saying. Never say goodbye. If you don't say goodbye, you're not really gone. You're just not here right now."<br/>The paladin's speach drifted off into quietness, as if he was stuck in his memories. Memories that both comforted and tormented him, as he often wondered what his life could have been like if he never left.