Aunt Matilda learned just how expansive the Forbidden Forest of the Felled Druids is when she came into possession of this item. The way she described it to me, she had no concept of where she was going or how to even get out of the forest to begin with. She never even knew of its existence at the time, she was only in her thirties on this particular adventure and had much more to learn about the human experience. In her exhaustion, she climbed into a deteriorated hole of a tree seeking asylum only to fall down the trunk into a particularly humble abode. Roots all around, she knew this was a cavern underneath the tree. Curiously, there was an owl there that almost seemed happy, if that makes any sense. It’s much better when she describes it, but from what I understand she and the Owl shared many ‘gems’, as it were. Not in material value, but in knowledge, understanding, and lack thereof. It feels like she quotes a different line from him every time she tells it, but my personal favorite is, ‘Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all.’
They shared in their truth with glee until she could simply not keep her eyes open any further. When she came to, she was not in the slight cavern, but instead at the base of the dilapidated tree. There was no possible entrance, and there was no owl to be seen. However, in her hand there was a wand with the head of an owl, in the exact likeness of her newfound friend. She almost seems dissociative when she finishes this story. It’s not often you find such an avid truth seeker like Aunt Matilda; I imagine it’s a sacred moment for her to meet someone on the same frequency, no matter how short of a time she is able to engage with them.
