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In his fifteenth year, Aerwen took Brokk with her to the village of Svalhelm. Svalhelm was not a large community but it was by a lake that was one of the province's key sources of fish during the dark season. Aerwen had been called upon to help the villagers and their neighbours settle various disputes and Brokk sat by her, listening intently on the arguments and rebuttals that were presented. At times, his teacher would ask his opinion on this or that, and he would try to describe to her the truth in as clear a fashion as he could. Meetings like these showed him that the world can be seen through many different eyes, and that reality was sometimes the only truth.
After about two weeks Aerwen was called back to Firthenor to attend a minor emergency. She was quite content leaving Brokk behind to finish up a few small matters and help inform the locals and their children on the ways of Erik and their role in his world. He had use of a small hall that had been erected near a large oak tree that had made its way into the local folklore.....
The tale was told that in the days when the village was just a small number of farms and the locals had not realised the number of fish in the lake, there was a bad blizzard and the farming hovels were running short of food. The early southern snows had caught them unawares and they had not been able to get all the herds and supplies in storage in time. They also had guests who were prevented from returning home.
But one day the sky calmed down enough to let a stranger reach the village. He was clad in only a woollen tunic and a light green cloak but seemed of good health, regardless of the weather for the past month. While the farmers could offer him hospitality and a bed, they could not provide him with much of a meal as they had to ration their supplies carefully.
After hearing of their predicament, the man asked for one hundred and fifty yards of rope and one hundred hooks. His hosts were confused but the man assured them that faith manages to provide. He took the rope and placed the assortment of crude metal hooks along the last fifty yards of the rope. The other end was tied to the trunk of a young oak tree that stood alone amongst the snow. The man then went to the lake and rapped the end of his walking staff three times against the ice and hastened back to the shore. A rumble started to be heard under the ice and then a series of cracks started to form about the point where the staff had been hit. The frozen water separated and left a long gash about two feet wide all the way back to the shore.
The man stepped onto the ice once more and placed the rest of rope with the hooks into the newly exposed water. Almost immediately, the rope went taught and the water started to churn. The villagers from the shore could see flashes of fins and tails as fish fought vigorously against the hooks. The only thing that was matching the collective strength of one hundred fish was the solitary oak. It stood proud and strong, unwilling to yield or bend. After one hour of fighting, the fish surrendered and the man gestured to the farmers to draw the rope in, revealing the large haul that would help feed the community for the rest of the dark season.
He did not stay long but he told them that as long as they didn't let greed draw them in, there would always be a good supply of fish in that lake. And that the oak will always be there to watch them, give them strength when they needed it and the symbol of Erik to guide them. And then he left.
The hall that Brokk used had been erected behind that oak a number of centuries ago. It was not large but it served its purpose as a meeting hall for the families in the area. Now that the matters of grievance had been judged, he would talk and teach youngsters of the village about the world, waiting for Aerwen to return.
But late on the eighteenth day of his visit, a storm came upon Svalhelm when Brokk was with the children. He felt that it would not be good to let them journey home in the ill weather so they stayed in the hall with the fire keeping them warm. Their fathers were out helping to take the flocks back undercover but would come later in the night to collect them.
However, others were out in the rain that night. A group of armed bandits had heard that the druid had left the village and decided that the weather would provide a perfect opportunity for raiding. The leader of the raiders was Seamus Alpin, a man who had many a quarrel with the locals. A week ago he had lost one dispute against the village's smith over ownership of a horse's bridle and halter and he was determined to make the smith pay for his troubles.
They rode into the village but ignored all the homes and farms. They went straight to the smithy, but much to Seamus's disgust, neither the smith nor his family were home. The bandits set about destroying what they could, breaking down the roof and walls and stealing anything of value which they found. Seamus sat outside on his horse watching his men wreck destruction when he heard the faint sound of children singing coming from the hall across the village.
Knowing the smith had a young child and thinking the hall would only be full of children and unarmed women, Seamus called his men out and galloped across to the hall. Leaving his horse by the oak, he ran up the ramp and pulled open the front door.... and failed. The strong winds had forced Brokk to barricade the door and windows in the hall to prevent them blowing open.
"Who would enter?" asked Brokk who had come to the inside of the door.
"W�ldin, the fisher," cried Seamus, pretending to be one of the fathers.
"Nay," said Brokk as he sturdied the wooden bolt across the door, "I did see him two days ago and he has taken ill and has broken his leg. You cannot be him. Begone you mischiefmaker!"
Seamus screamed with anguish and tried once more to wrench open the door, but without success. He called upon his men to help but they could not enter the elevated building as Brokk and the older children went about strengthening the bolts and locks about the hall. To calm the children down, Brokk started them singing the song of Knurh�r the mouse and how an oak did provide him a home and protection from �je the owl. The sound of the children singing once more infuriated Seamus so he called his men down to join him infront of the hall and prepared to throw a set of torches. But as he did, there was a crack behind him. He turned about as the old oak came falling down upon him. The oak's thick branches crushed him and its green leaves smothered him as the mighty tree fulfilled the promise of protection that the folkstory professed. The symbol of Erik extinguished both the torches and the enemy of the innocent.
Seamus' men did not stay around for they had only joined the raid out of greed and the farmers had started to return from the fields. Brokk had heard the oak fall just as he and the children sung about the third time Knurh�r escaped from �je. There soon was a more gentle rap on the door and a familiar voice as one of the farmers arrived to check on them all. When Brokk saw the green guardian lying before the door he was much sorrowed for its loss but his faith grew strong, knowing that Erik had been with them.
Aerwen returned two days later and listened intently to all reports of what happened. She and Brokk took a number of the acorns from the oak and planted them near the road into the village to provide guardians that would watch all that would enter. One acorn was planted where the old oak had stood and after Aerwen conducted a small ceremony with Brokk's help, a young oak started to grow. It would take many generations before it would have the size and majesty of the old one, but Svalhelm would have a new protector.
A month later, Aerwen and Brokk returned to the village, as Aerwen needed to perform various rituals over items which had been constructed using the wood from the old oak. Brokk was much surprised when he found that one of those items was for him. The smith was very grateful for Brokk's care of the children and it had been Brokk who had revealed the truth in his dispute with Seamus. As a sign of thanks, the smith had constructed a battle axe for Brokk so that he may protect himself and those about him when the need arose. The handle was made of the finest wood from the oak and then blessed by Aerwen. Brokk vowed that the axe would only be used against those who would bear him ill, and as such would never be swung against any living tree. It would become his main symbol of Erik and always by his side.
So this is how Brokk Beokson of Erik did obtain the axe that became known as Skogbeskytteren, the forest protector.