The Journal Entry’s title

Observations from the journals of Bjorn Halfhand relating to the Changeling Child of Wilderwood
 

 
Entry 1
 
I’ve stopped in Wilderwood on my way North from the town of Ross Well. Wilderwood itself can hardly be called a town, as it's little more than a few houses and a crafting hall inhabited by the gnomes who call this part of the forest home. I didn’t think I would find anything here worth writing about, but a baby in the nursery caught my eye. It's a dragonborn, black of color and quit the anomaly in a community of gnomes. Asking around I was told that this was the adopted son of old Granny Beth, a matriarch of some sorts among the families here. Story goes that they found the child alone in the woods, lying in a circle of toadstools, giggling like it just heard the funniest joke a bard could tell. There was some debate apparently on whether to leave the child as they found it or take it in. Granny Beth was the one who decided to take the child. She wouldn't have a baby left alone in the forest as this would be a death sentence for the sure. The child appears normal and healthy. Stories of fairy rings and changeling children are less common in this part of the world but I'm sure Granny Beth knows she risks some misfortune by taking the child in. I’ll have to come by Wilderwood again in the coming years and checkup on this situation. There's certainly potential for a decent story if nothing else...
 

 
Entry 2
 
It’s been three years since my last visit to the forest gnomes of Wilderwood. The young dragonborn is doing well. Growing at an alarming rate, alarming for gnomes at least. Granny Beth tells me no bad magic or curses have befallen the community. Her good deed seems to have gone unpunished. As it should of course.
 
They’ve taken to calling the child Chuckles. A fitting name for how he likes to laugh. He’s not speaking himself yet, though that may have more to do with gnomes' accent more than anything else. (there’s a distinct drawl to the way these people talk). The only possible evidence for something more than meets the eye is a story Granny Beth shared of one-time Chuckles was crying so hard it made all the other babies in the nursery soil themselves all at the same time. Likely more of a bad coincidence than anything magical... I have asked Granny to keep a list of any more unusual coincidences in the future.
 
Entry 3
 
It’s Chuckles 8’th Birthday! Eight years from that day they found him in the woods at least. The kid is talking now, and he’ll talk your ear off if you let him. He loves hearing my stories from the road and tells me every joke he can think of. He told me one today about a group of prisoners and how they called out numbers from a joke book to make each other laugh. Poor kid doesn't understand the punchline yet..
 
Granny gave me her list from the last few years.
 
As follows
 
Sometimes when he has nightmares lights seem to glow brighter
 
He threw a rock at a flock of birds onetime and hit two out of the sky
 
He stole cookies from the kitchen and for the life of me I could not catch him, he’d be in one room and then in the next before I could see him run past me
 
He broke Bertram’s favorite axe in one swing
 
My house plants grew 2 inches in one day....
 
I don’t know if any of this is exactly evidence of magic affinity but there’s something about him that makes me wonder.
 
I’ve promised to bring him a present next year.
 

 
Entry 4
 
Its Wild Magic. At least that's what one of the wizards here in Port Dawnwater thinks. He says the strange things that happen around the boy could be unconscious attempts to control the magic within. Or likely a ‘trigger’ of some sorts could be causing the magic to lash out. The wizard has instructed me on a few tests I can try, to determine if the magic is enate ability or possible affinity. I’ll be back in Wilderwood in a few weeks, this time with presents as promised. Kids like books, right?
 

 
Editor’s Note
 
The time Halfhand spent in Wilderwood after this last entry is likely detailed in journals IV and V. As these two volumes are still unaccounted for, we can only speculate as to how much time Bjorn spent with Chuckles. It is theorized, from the entry found in Halfhand Journal Vol. VI, that Bjorn spent a significant amount of time with the child teaching and preparing him for adulthood and for the adventuring life. The following entry in found in Vol. VI, after the time Halfhand spent lost at sea..
 

 
Entry ..
 
Chuckles has left Wilderwood. I shouldn't be surprised, though I am disappointed to not find him here. I know I’ve missed too much time. He told me he was ready to join me on my last adventure and if he’d been a year or two older, I might have let him. Lucky for him
 
considering how that last voyage went.
 
I shouldn’t be worried about him though. He’s a natural fighter and in much more control of his powers thanks to the years spent training. I know Granny Beth taught him to do what is right, and to follow only those who do the same. I just hope this traveler Bertram told me about proves to be a good companion for Chuckles. Apparently, the traveler appeared from the woods and told some enthralling stories before the two of them set off on their own quest of some sorts. With Granny Beth no longer around I’m sure it didn’t take Chuckles much convincing to leave on this adventure. Who knows, maybe I’ll run into him somewhere out there and he can tell me all about it. I look forward to that day.