Name:
Birati
Meaning:
Medievil Slavic name meaning "to take, to gather, to reap"
Gender:
Female
The importance of Serendipity:
Serendipity - the act of finding things not sought after, the specific luck that is hard to translate in other languages where you often find something while looking for something else.
As an apprentice, I was taught that as a gatherer I must search the entire woods for the pack necessities and never return with an empty mouth. This exhaustive searching strategy took a toll on me and my fellow apprentices, but still everyday we would return early in the morning with the Shaymans herbs and new bedding for the hunters' den. However, one night I was hopelessly trying to find the right things. All I needed was to get a specific flower for the Shayman, but no matter how hard I looked, I found nothing. I plopped down on the ground to rest my head from all the twisting it had to do. When through the leaves in front of my nose I saw a small length of ivy. Though seemingly pointless, I stared at the short green vine, trying to find a use. Nothing came to mind but it felt like it wanted me to find it, so I picked it up and I continued my search. While looking for the flower I found lots of other things by chance that I knew were important, the softest most for the elder Xohlis' beds, herbs I had seen in the Shayman's den, sturdy twigs to give the pups to draw in the dirt with, and once my mouth was full I headed back. Back at camp I looked to see how the others did. All apprentices had a little amount of what they needed in their mouth, and one had the special flower herb for the shayman. I sighed with relief, until my Savant came to me.
"You sure have quite a load there Birati, were you sent to retrieve all that?" asked Savant.
"No, but I came by them all by chance and I know they are useful to..."
Suddenly a childish cry shrieked from the nursery. Savant and I rushed over to see what the matter was. Inside a little pup was crying in his mother's embrace and next to him was a broken toy. It was made from a dried gourd being tied to a stick so the pup could grasp it in its mouth and shake the rattle. The twig broke off and laid stiff next to the gourd. I looked at it silently, until an idea came in my head. I ran out to my pile I gathered from the woods and took out the small piece of ivy. I came with the vine and tied the toy back to get for the little boy. It was from then on that I understood the importance of serendipity and I still go out every night when gathering with the same ideal in mind, just see what you find while looking for what you want.
