Going "home" and going to the Black Forest were one and the same trip, as Rorschach's birthplace was a mountain village in the southwestern corner of the Empire. The Black Forest covered the entire mountain range, and the village nestled at the foot of one of its spurs.
The original Rorschach's memories of his hometown, especially the mountain village, were quite faint. His parents were free farmers with modest savings. With great foresight, they sent him to the Duchy's school in the local town when he was five, rather than letting him herd sheep and fool around with the children of tenant farmers.
Of course, the Duchy's schools weren't local charities. They were established to cultivate a populace for the Duchy's army, trade, and rural administration—people with a basic education who could understand orders and perform simple writing and arithmetic. They were destined to become assistants to front-line officers, shop accountants, and village chiefs.
