-----Dilton quietly moves over by one of the houses guarding the horses.
-----Sol begins removing Thunder's saddle and bridle. Once done, he begins tending to the beast's wounds. First he cleans them out as tenderly as he can, then asks for Rinda's aid in tending to them. Once done, he then brushes the stallion down.
-----Once he is satisfied, he then begins to take care of the other horses.
-----Raven takes care of his horse and then goes off with the wolf to look around. Raven says, "I won't be far away, just want to get a feel of the area."
-----Suddenly the routine silence is broken by Garrison's voice saying a bit too loudly, "Hey, . . . . how did you get here? And . . . how did you get past our guards?"
-----As Raven turns around and Sol exits the horses' quarters, they see the woodsman facing an old bent man leaning on a staff. White hair graces his head while a beard falls down his front. The old one wears a dirty common gray tabard and dark breeches. His bare feet are likewise dirty and wrinkled with age.
-----"Ay?" the old man blurts out, "what's that ye say, sonny?" He then cups his free hand to his ear.
-----Pil frowns into an angry sneer although part of his expression shows surprise. Garrison then looks at Sol and Raven.
-----Glad at the distraction, Sol heads over to the old man. Making sure he speaks clearly, the Gorian asks the elder man, "Is this village yer home, sir?"
-----"Of course I'm not a gnome, ye young whippersnapper!" the oldster rounds on Sol. "Why, in my day, I stood as tall as ye n' had twice yer girth!"
-----Lovan gives a disgusted look at the old man venting and says, "As much a waste of time as the prisoners we have."
-----The old man suddenly raps his staff against Sol's leg with a defiant look on his face.
-----The captives watch the proceedings with curious looks.
-----Sol frowns oddly, obviously trying to puzzle something out. Oddly, the first thing he does is say, "Thank you, sir." He then begins to speak more carefully, taking time with each word, and mouthing them expressively, "Do . . ye . . live . . here?"
-----Raven looks the old man over and waits silently for his response. Raven moves his gaze to the surrounding buildings.
-----The old man watches Sol's face and after a bit, he grunts, "Uh huh," though it seems as if he merely acknowledges the Gorian rather answer his question. With an irritated expression, he suddenly says, "Why ye be talkin' so slow? Y'know people'll be wonderin' if there be somethin' wrong wit' ye!"
-----Very quickly the old man suddenly turns on Garrison and raps him good right across the shins. "An' ye, ye rascal, oughta be showin' more respect t' yer elders!" he chastises the woodsman.
-----"Hey!" Garrison shouts out in surprise. After recovering from the momentarily shock, Garrison starts to protest, but then stops. The woodsman stares hard at the old man and then looks down at his own bandages. Garrison flexes his arms and turns at the waist as if testing his muscles. Drawing away the bandages, Garrison stares in wonder at Sol and then the old man for the woodsman's wounds appear completely healed!
-----Sol smiles slightly at Garrison, and turns back to the old man with an expression registering amusement and resignation. "I can't offer ye much in return, though yer welcome t'make use o' our stay here fer th' night." Sol takes his waterskin from his pack and offers it to the elderly enigma.
-----"Stayin' th' night? Here? Why, what's wrong wit' ye? It be the middle of th' day," the old man gives a disgusted look at Sol.
-----"Begone, oldster!" Lovan angrily shouts, "Bother us no longer!" The storm priest raises himself up and looks as if ready to cast something.
-----In a very quick motion, the old man swings his staff catching Lovan across his calf and effectively dumping the storm priest on his posterior end. Furious, Lovan gets to his feet only to be held off by Garrison.
-----"Wait," the woodsman says through chuckles, "There's more than meets the eye here." Everyone can see that Lovan, though angered, has lost his scorched redness to his face.
-----Raven says to the old man, "Share our fire and our food, it is the least we can do." Raven looks at the man's cane, "It is nice to see something that isn't designed to cause pain. A rare item in these troubled times." Raven offers his hand and actually tries to smile, "My name is Raven, and this is my wife Rinda."
-----Raven looks to Sol to continue the introductions.
-----Sol smiles slightly at Raven's prompting and gestures to each in turn, "Over there are Dilton, Pil and Strolum, looking after some unwanted company o' ours. I'd tell ye their names, but I didn't bother t'find them out." Realizing he's losing track, the Gorian moves on, "That over there is Garrison, an' th' one who has yet t'learn that when I make an' offer, it's t'be abided by, is Lovan. Erm . . . I'm Sol Herron."
-----He holds the old man's gaze and advises, "My offer was fer th' night because we're likely t'be here fer a while." Sol frowns as he comes to a realization, "Though that may not be th' case if ye continue yer usual method o' greetings."
-----"Fire n' food?" the old man considers as Raven talks. "That be right kind of ye." He takes Raven's hand and shakes it and bows to the Huntress.
-----As Sol introduces the others, the old man seems to cast a critical eye on the rest. He then walks over toward the prisoners and looks down on them. An angry fire seems to glow in the old man's eyes but he remains quiet. Strolum and Dilton walk up beside the old man. As the old man continues to study the prisoners, his staff manages to thud against the two warriors' legs. Strolum and Dilton jump at the contact, but look much more hale in the next few moments.
-----The prisoners remain sullen in their demeanor and the old man suddenly turns and announces, "Nay, won't be any reason fer stayin' th' night."
-----"It appears not." Sol replies drolly, as he gazes around at his companions, trying to determine if anyone else is in need of the rough brand of healing that the old man hands out.
-----Suddenly, there is movement off to the side as if a gentle breeze had brushed across the lowest branches of the trees. As the movement catches everyone's eyes, they turn and see that someone has stepped out into the clearing with them.