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-----His eyes quickly dart to Zentil, "Ah, what is this? A child of the forest?" He then runs lightly over to Zentil. "Those ears! Those ears! I must see those ears!" he shouts and then he begins to calm himself and whisper. "Shhh . . . everyone quiet!" He looks intently at Zentil and says, "Quietly now, do you hear them? No? Yes? I trust you to not let them creep up on us? That’s a good chap!" He then gives the elf a good-natured smack on the arm.
-----"Red?" he grabs his beard as if thinking, "Red?" He looks skyward with a contemplative look, "Red!" He says excitedly as he looks at Rand. "Do we not have a sun worshipper among us? I bow before ye, sir, as the golden rays help bring the life to Mother Terrena." Holding his staff in both hands, he bows and nods slightly toward Rand. "Okay, enough, before we all get weepy!" he quickly adds as he wipes at his eyes.
-----In a very startling move, he turns and faces Thalog, "Aha! You, sir!" he says, smiling and he approaches the mage with open arms as if he is going to embrace him. "You sir, are the quandry!" He stops short of the mage and looks him over touching his robes. "Robes of green, carrying a staff, not as pretty as mine, but no matter! What are you? A treant, a sprite, or a pixie?" He stands back from Thalog cupping his chin and raising an eyebrow.
-----He then holds out both arms and walks away from the heroes and then turns toward them in order to see them all. "These questions I put before ye and more!" he declares, "But in the meantime, we turn to the original question, . . . Have ya got any seeds?"
-----He looks at each hero, as if searching their faces for answers.
-----Sol had been called a number of things in his life, but 'odd' was not one of them. "No seeds here..." he grumbles for a reply.
-----Zentil's eyes shift back and forth as he begins to look out among the trees. "Hear what?" he asks the wild looking man. Zentil pulls the hood of his cloak down to his shoulders and begins listening intently to the forest around him.
-----Raven listens to the man. He looks down at his wounded arm and says, "Yep, I zigged when I should of zagged. I'll be okay, thanks for asking. Although, if you had some spare bandages or healing herbs, I wouldn't turn 'em down."
-----Raven's face becomes very serious, "Is the forest being destroyed by something? Can we help?" Raven rubs his chin, "Bone men? I've never seen a bone man, are they friendly?" Raven sets his back to a tree, "I guess I should introduce myself, my name is Raven. I'm here on behalf of Broacter, a guardian of the woods. We are looking into what is hurting the children of the woods. Do you know of Broacter?"
-----The man stops short and looks almost angrily at Raven. "Broactor? Does Trist know Broactor?" Then he yells, "LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I THINK OF BROACTOR!" The echo slightly carries off among the trees. In a meek voice, he answers, "I think he should speak up more." He then puts one finger in his ear and wiggles it as if to clear his hearing. He then looks at Raven and winks.
-----Smiling, he continues, "And you told me you didn’t have any seeds." He chuckles as he shakes his head. He then looks at the men and mocking seriousness, he says, "All right, first question, Is the forest being destroyed by something? Yes, there are those that bring the wrong kind of seeds into the forest."
-----His smile becomes a bit calmer. "Second question, Can we help? I sincerely hope so, because it’s not always what we bring that’s important," here he pauses as if making a point, "it’s what we can leave behind."
-----"Third question, are the bone men friendly? Look around you. Everywhere you look there is life that is trying to survive." The wild looking man named Trist calmly approaches Raven. "The bone men are not about that at all." After setting one hand on Raven’s shoulder and looking him in the eye, he seriously says, "They’re not even alive."
-----Trist walks away and turns to face the group again, "I suggest a trade. You were tracking something. You tell me what you’re looking for, I tell you where it is, if I can, and then you come back here and I’ll tell you more of the bone men. Here’s your chance to show what seeds you have brought to the forest." He stands calmly before them now, leaning with one hand on his staff. "What do you say?"
-----Raven smiles, "You DO know of Broacter. I can only speak for myself, but I would like to take you up on that trade." Raven looks at the group to see if anyone disagrees.
-----He then continues, "We are looking for some men that are working with Orcs to rob and butcher the good folk around here. They have some black or white gems as their wealth. We are wondering if those killers have anything to do with the animals becoming crazed." Raven looks at the group to see if they want to add anything.
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