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Cesare

There is some noise from outside announcing an arrival though not from the light footed Rhoni in the front. He pokes his head inside and looks around.

"Ah there you are."

He smiles. It is a nice sight.

"We are back and seeking a little more wisdom. Need to know more about the forges."



OOC Note: Reposted in the appropriate Thread

The Heartwood
The Dirkwood Forest
Home Again
Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick

Bekkah, Cesare, Kadri, Keiko, Lyric, Pietro, Tomomi, Dominic Korie, Miss Emerald Mouse, Broke, Soft, Clever, The Lockpick, a pair of Rats and most of the Pack, Lady and various and sundry other Forest Folk

It was indeed a nice sight. And one that was fairly easy to come to, for climbing the stairs of Home first brought one into their commons hall. The great room was a swirl of quiet activity. The afternoon meal must have ended but recently. While there were still remnants of lunch, most of Home’s habitants had finished and were now relaxing. There were plates of cheese and fruit for after meal nibbling and several broken loaves of bread still in their wooden bowls and woven baskets. Tall jugs of water sat on the table, along with small kegs of various juices to slake any remaining thirst.

Sitting at one of the nooked windows were Keiko and her forever friend. Between sips from a wooden cup, Miss Tomomi was carefully stitching a delicate piece of lace. Her work was set upon a board of cork, one beset with many black metal pins to guide her careful stitching.

“See?”

The little mouse girl smiled to the Rhoni lass.

“It’s kind of like stitching holes together.”

Elsewhere in the room, near the hearth, Lady held court with a handful of her newer kin. Today’s lesson was an odd one for those from outside the Dirkwood.

“You must always be on your politest, with a good day and a thank you. You should never question the costs they charge us – it is a kindness that they will even trade with us. A kindness made all right and proper by their own Rules by the word of the lad over there, Miss Emerald’s friend.”

It was an introduction to Marketday traditions, from the point of view of the Forest Folk. The lad Lady mentioned was Dominic Korie, of course. Dominic sat next to Mouse, warming themselves at the hearth’s opposite side. Miss Emerald was tucked protectively beneath the Korie’s flat black cloak and they too were entranced by Miss Tomomi’s lacework.

Lyric was there, as well as Bekkah. With the arrival of the Pack the Minstrel found she once again had a shadow. One Fang was there, making sure she had fared well and her goblet was full.

“Gruff. Missed lunch. Any good leftovers?”

Standing near the far wall and next to an open window was one of the Pack, one that had remained behind, a black dagger-wielding wolf who paused in his private game of Mumblety-peg. He replied very curtly.

“Wuff-wuff”

One Fang let out a slow breath.

“Didn’t think so.”

One Fang quietly kept the Lyric company, whether she wished or not. Soft could not help but chuckle at One Fang. As she passed behind him she gave the leftover-less wuff a sure hard slap to his shoulder.

“Careful, Archer. Folks might think you have taken a shining to Miss Minstrel.”

The lack of meat didn’t seem to bother The Lockpick. She scoured the leftovers, laying claim to whatever mushrooms remained. She eyed each one dispassionately, holding each up and turning them in her small fingers and once meeting her approval she gathered them up in a little wooden bowl. The odd Mouse eyed the Young Master speculatively, but all it took was a very protective glare from Miss Emmi to change the focus of The Lockpick’s attention. Where a Lord could not be had, perhaps a Dama would do.

Broke flounced down in a very un-lady like sprawl on Dominic’s other side and Wrath did the same next to her. The big black wolf decided that his packmate would make a good pillow and thus rested his head on Broke’s side.

Clever Rat was the last of the group to enter the Commons, bringing up the rear. It was his arrival that brought a moment of quiet to the great hall. His stepping into the commons was the signal that the scouts had returned from Loch Faast, successful and safe.

For the Forest Folk it was an unspoken confirmation. While it hadn’t been noticed before, now the commons felt a touch more relieved and relaxed. Lady shushed her students, sat up a bit straighter and offered a gentle smile.

“Welcome home. What news do you bring of The Keep?”

In the mote of silence that followed her question, Miss Emerald’s ears perked. She waited a heartbeat before nudging Dominic with her elbow. The young Korie lord tilted his head and then attempted to answer Cesare’s question.

“There are lot’sa wise folks here, though I don’t think anyone ever has accused me of being one of them. Your question, though, while straight to the point, is pretty powerfully broad.

“Beyond that it’s a forge, just bigger, more magical, with more mill workings than those found in Talantal but maybe not Trundle and a place that most folks here don’t like remembering, what exactly do you want to know?”

Cesare

"Well somehow we need to figure out a way to destroy them. So I guess we need to know what they are made of, what size they are, how accessible.. that sort of thing?"

He finds a place to sit, closer to Dommi, so as to hear the answers.

Pietro


Upon entering, the squire took a quick look around to make sure who all was present and then moved to the table where he made an impromptu sandwich of bread and cheese, picked up an apple and then moved to Cesare's side to hear Lord Dominic's answer.

As he took a seat beside the Rhoni lad, Pietro looked over at Tomoni and nodded, smiling.

"That is nice tatting. What do you plan it to be used for?"

Keiko

Watching Tomomi’s lace-making was so mesmerizing that Keiko barely noticed when the scouting group returned. Before today, the most enthralling activity involving yarns or thread had been watching her mother knit scarves and hats. But this! Her eyes were wide with admiration when her friend smiled up at her.

“It’s amazing, Tomomi! You make it look so easy, but I think you have a special gift that I don’t have.” Keiko giggled. “Mother laughed — in a nice way, of course — at the lumpy thing I had tried to knit. She said it would make a very cute hat for a rock and that I should probably stick to mixing pigments and painting cards.” She giggled again. “It was supposed to be a scarf, too.”

Keiko did note One Fang’s attention to Lyric, perhaps because the archer always made her feel safe when he was around. And now Keiko knew that Lyric would be safe, too, with One Fang to watch over her. It was easy enough then to give up any worries she might have about Lyric’s tendency toward being distracted.

The Young Master and Miss Emmi sat nearby. Like Mother and Father, they seemed so perfect together. That one was a Noble Lord and the other a beautiful Mouse was a fact that became irrelevant when one saw how happy they were together. It was the True Love that Mother believed in.

She blinked and turned back to Tomomi with a smile. “If I dyed some of your threads before you began your stitching, you could make some brilliantly colored lace for Miss Emmi. Oh! Wouldn’t some green lace, just the color of her eyes, look lovely around the neckline of her tunic?”

Keiko was so astounded and pleased that Miss Emmi had been chosen as a priestess of a Deity that she would have provided the entirety of her new and colorful garments if it were possible. Of course, it wasn’t possible, but that didn’t mean the Rhoni didn’t want to help as much as she could.

When Broke and Wrath flopped down next to Dommi, Keiko managed not to giggle again, but she did grin broadly. The Pack was so different when they were at Home, and the difference was startling. Oh, the whys and wherefores of the differences were obvious and made perfect sense. Still, seeing Broke so relaxed was... was...

For once, Keiko was left without the perfect word to describe a phenomenon. She just knew that seeing Broke comfortable was something else that brought happiness into her world. And she wondered if the Sun Lady would take an interest in the wolf-warrior. From the scraps of lore she had been able to collect, the only certainty she knew about the Sun Lady’s followers was that they were all women. It was very likely that a more experienced warrior — or perhaps a Verchovai as Dommi had called Lady Bekkah’s sister — took in another as an apprentice. All the Caravans that traveled through Trundle knew the story of Dandelion Koromov, who had been dragged off by one of those senior warrior women. Keiko couldn’t imagine anyone being able to drag Broke off anywhere. And even if politely asked, she didn’t think Broke would go anywhere she didn’t really want to go.

Well, that was another of those questions to tuck away in the back of her mind for another time. Right now, it was just good to see Broke and Wrath so relaxed.

When the Lost Rhoni lad and the squire joined Dommi and Emmi, Broke and Wrath, Keiko looked into her empty mug and Tomomi’s nearly empty one and then picked up Tomomi’s mug.

“Why don’t you chat with Squire Pietro while I fetch us more water?” She gave her friend a reassuring smile before heading for the table where Lockpick was inspecting mushrooms. Tucking her empty mug under the opposite arm, she reached across the table to pull a bowl of vegetables from the back where a Mouse might not have been able to reach.

Noting the Mouse’s glance as she set the bowl — containing a variety of vegetables, including mushrooms — closer to Lockpick, Keiko asked, “Does Dama Kadri enjoy mushrooms, Lockpick? Or are they all for you?”

The question was thoroughly neutral, of course, as Keiko understood that some of the Kin very much like to share with others while some were not as quick to do so. Every way the Kin could be were equally good, as long as they followed the rules of Home. It was only when they got Lost that balance was knocked askew.

Having set the mugs down, she reached for a pitcher of water while waiting for Lockpick’s response.

Kadri:

She entered, surveying the room, and started to move in the direction of Dominic - but stopped when she noticed lockpick's attention to her, inclined her head and nodded.

"Can I help you? I was going to have a seat over here."

She motioned.

"And you are most welcome to join me if you wish."

Cesar had already asked her first question - she could wait for the answer before asking her second.

Keiko

The Rhoni’s jaw dropped slightly at Dama Kadri’s impertinent interruption. Then she shook her head and sighed. She finished pouring the water into the mugs, gave the Amberite a look of weary annoyance, then smiled sadly at the Mouse.

“I guess I’ll talk with you later, Lockpick. I hope you find enough good mushrooms.” Keiko nodded toward the nook where Tomomi sat. “I’ll be with Tomomi, watching her make her lace.”

Then she turned and headed back toward her friend.

Lyric

The minstrel had found that she wanted to wander the Commons room. She had met many of the Forest Kin who made Home their place of refuge, but there were many more she had not met.

One-Fang moved with her though. This might seem disconcerting to some, having a Wolf-kin in your shadow. But Lyric was not one of them. She didn't really perceive One-Fang as a protector either, despite whatever his own thoughts on the matter might be. When she first saw him she greeted him warmly and raked her thin but strong fingers through fur on his face as she leaned in to place her cheek against his muzzle.

"I hope that your walk with Soft was as encouraging as mine was," she whispered when she was cheek to cheek.

But Lyric was Lyric and soon enough, her mercurial nature was at the forefront again. She wanted to dance and to play music and sing, with or without music to accompany her own voice. She moved like a dancer, twirling from person to person, with laughter and a smile. One-Fang filled her small cup whenever she slowed enough to give him a chance.

The Scouting party had returned... And though she hadn't seen them leave because she must have been with Soft at the time, she was determined not to miss their return.

Her recent traveling companions, including Ser Friend Pietro had been to the Dread Keep of the Evil Dwarven Slavers and had lived to return to Home to tell their tale. Surely they had a tale to tell of their adventure and how their bravery had afforded them a chance to devise a cunning and heroic plan.

Lyric was looking forward to hearing everything there was to hear. And when, from one end of the room there was presented to them one of the Leaders of Home, the Kin known as the Lady, Lyric made her way in that direction. But none of her companions seemed to recognize the Lady's presence. Their focus seemed so completely pointed toward Dominic. Well the young Rhoni first, but Pietro next... Even Dama Kadri was headed toward Dommie by way of talking with Lockpick.

This was confusing, but Lyric was easily confused. She could freely admit that about herself. Even now, there seemed to be just too much going on around the Commons Room and that was hard for the Minstrel to take in, especially when she wanted to see it all, be a part of it all.

Was everything alright? The three companions were very intent on getting answers, and this was a bit of confusion for the minstrel. This was not matching the scene she had pictured in her mind, of returning heroes and a powerful sign of hope in their confidence and enthusiasm. Yes, that was what she envisioned. But the truth was oft times different than the imagination of a simple storyteller.

Lyric looked to Lady and thought to comfort the leader of Home.

"I am sure all is well," she said the Lady with a sense of confidence. "Time is very precious to them and their burden is heavy. With lives at risk, no doubt, they don't want to waste any of it. We shall hear the plan soon... I know it. Have no worry. My companions and friends will rescue those still enslaved and they will end the evil at that foul keep."

But Lyric realized she was glad that her friend One-Fang was close by to her now. Maybe it was she who stood in his shadow. She pressed closer, like so many others in the Commons room, to hear what was being said.

Pietro


Engrossed in watching the Mouse tat her lace, the squire took another bite of his sandwich, chewed and swallowed and then paused with his apple halfway to his mouth.

He was forgetting something.

Pietro leaned back slightly, brow creased in thought as he searched his recent memory.

Ah... the Lady...

Placing the remainder of his simple repast on the table, the squire of Lord Rames got to his feet and brushed a few crumbs from his clothing before making his way over to the one called the Lady. He made a slight bow in acknowledgment.

"You asked a question, I think, my Lady? Something about the Keep?"

Lyric

The Minstrel beamed at 'Ser' Pietro's approach before the Lady. She nodded in his direction but her smile was clearly evident. She took a half step back to allow for the Squire and the Lady to do what Lyric believed was proper and right. There was always time for courtesy. Maybe that was a Minstrel trait. Gratitude toward your host.

The Heartwood
The Dirkwood Forest
Home Again
Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick

Bekkah, Cesare, Kadri, Keiko, Lyric, Pietro, Tomomi, Dominic Korie, Miss Emerald Mouse, Broke, Soft, Clever, The Lockpick, a pair of Rats and most of the Pack, Lady and various and sundry other Forest Folk

“I would have worn your hat ….”

Tomomi just whispered that, as she continued with her lacework. The words weresoft and quiet, but her rose eyes sparkled.

“Lady teaches us that sometimes the work put into something is more important than if it comes out right. That care can make anything or anyone pretty.”

As she spoke, one hand rose, to stray through her poorly shorn locks. She tugged on one, a hint of poignancy in her expression. But that only lasted less than a heartbeat, as what happened afterwards banished away that one, particular memory.

“Oh! I had never thought of that! It certainly would and we could mix green and white and it would be even more pretty! And it would be nice. I mean, a nice thing to do for Miss Emerald Mouse. Or, well, anyone, right? “

Keiko’s companion tilted her head as she continued at her task, every now and then tilting her head as if imagining what it would be like to add color to her fine work. The Squire’s question, however, interrupted her. She sat herself up straight and looked up.

“Everyone at Home has to help each other. We can clean, sew, cook, or anything that we can, it just has to be something. I am a good Mouse. I collect pigments from where no one else can go. And I make lace, so that things look nice, like the cuffs of my sleeves, my collar and hems and all. Both can be traded at the Market for things Home needs. What this piece of lace will be, I never know until I am finished. Maybe it will be traded for a piece of wool or linen. Maybe it will be trim for a pretty forever friend dress. I will know when it’s done. It will tell me.”

When Keiko rose to refill their cups and ended up speaking to the other Mouse, Tomomi just blinked. Her head tilted again and she gasped, a paw coming to her mouth as well as a pinking of her non-human ears. She then smiled, nodded and returned to her work, wriggling a bit as she settled back to listen and discuss the Important matters with the Young Master and Squire and the Rhoni lad.

“Well I admit I have not truly seen the forges myself and my way in and out of the Keep, in all cases, was one that would be difficult to trace. It involves going from here to there without worrying about what is in the middle.”

Dominic’s answer to Cesare was simple and unfortunately honest. He then continued.

“I do know they have many forges and smithies scattered throughout the Keep. They are Dwarves after all and I suspect a hammer and anvil is as common in their homes as a ladle and cooking pot. I suspect, however, you mean the ones where they craft the Forest Folk …”

Next to him, Miss Mouse shook her head.

“And I knew only the mines and my cell. They were very careful with me. I even think they kept the Fleshsmiths from my sight, at the least, once I was finished being made.”

It was Keiko’s Friend that lowered her head and looked to the floor.

“I carried message plates all through the Keep. They would take me places, blind folded, so I could do my work. Every so often a message would need to be taken to the Forges. I was not allowed to wander. They were big and they glowed all strangely and everything was stone and black metal.

“They were so long I could not see the end of them.”

For those that had visited Lock Faast that last statement made tremendous sense. The curvature of the keep shaft would cut off one’s view of the end of any large room, such as a cathedral’s nave, Noble keep great hall or the Market barn at Cragside.

“I suspect that they were deep in the Keep, because there were no windows or light shafts. That and they are not far from the mines.

“We are made. There are stairs going down. We go to the toolbox rooms. Then we go to the mines. A tool’s world is very very small.

“Well, the mines are not small. They are strange and very large. Taller than the taller trees. But you need to see trees to be able to say that. Otherwise they just are.”

That was another statement that in its strange, sad way, made an awful lot of sense.

As they spoke, another short conversation was going on, at one of the long tables where the remnants of lunch were left out. There the dark cloaked mouse looked at her collection of mushrooms, in their little bowl. From a pouch The Lockpick took out a pestle and started to grind up her collection. She added a bit of juice, and then took out another pouch that held additional ingredients of a fungal nature.

The odd Forest Folk simply looked across to Keiko, gave her a blank and deadpan look, and answered in a simple monotone.

“We shall have to find out.”

She returned to her work, eyeing her concoction intensely.

The Lockpick took Kadri’s approach and question completely in stride. She did the same with Keiko’s departure, looking to the other two Mice and then back to Keiko.
She then addressed the fine Korie Dama.

“Yes. Yes you can.”

Again, it was spoken in her curious deadpan. The Lockpick offered Kadri her small cup, all friendly like.

“You look thirsty. Drink.”

Elsewhere, One Fang smiled with a deep wuffish chuckle. He leaned back when Lyric approached him and that was a nice thing about this manner of Forest Folk; they certainly had soft cheeks.

“Brrrroke may be ourrrr Pack leaderrr, but Soft be our den mother. And if anything, she feels even more protective now. But she also was yipping like a pup. For we have definitely proved Renyard wrong, and that rarely happens. You see, it seems you can teach an old wuff new tricks.”

He stood at Lyric’s side as she spoke to Lady. He listened too, reaching up and rubbing the side of his long muzzle as Lyric spoke. The archer looked as if he would have added to the conversation, but that was when Pietro walked over to address Home’s leader. In truth, however, Lady was only one of Home’s three leaders. Renyard was nowhere to be seen and Broke was still ensconced near the hearth, being poked at by the young Korie.

“I did, young Squire.”

Lady bowed her head politely, as if addressing a personage of importance. Which was the case; Pietro was indeed a follower of Lord Rames, one of rank, which gave him peerage. He was also the most prominent of their guests when it came to martial skills. In some ways, he was the their group’s Broke.

“I asked what news you brought from Loch Faast. Have you divined your task? Do you know how you will be rescuing our lost ones? How you will enter the Keep, how will you bring them out, how you will end the hurt Fleshsmiths do to the Forest’s innocent children?

“When will you start and how can we be of aid?”

Pietro


His eyes widened and he darted a quick glance at Cesare.

She doesn't want to know much... he thought as he turned back to Lady, thinking furiously.

"We discovered the basic layout of the Keep and did so without, I think, being seen by any of our adversaries," he said after a moment.

"The rest..." he grimaced slightly. "The rest is still a work in progress, I am afraid. There are many more questions to be answered before our plan will be complete."

Cesare

"Big, glowing, stone and black metal."

He nods. It is probably as good as he is going to get. He starts to think, recalling the tools he has, recalling his knowledge of smithing and trying to work out if he has tools or knowledge that might prove useful. He also considers his plant lore, anything that might affect such a structure.

Lyric

To One-Fang, she nodded with a reflective expression. There were thoughts of her own she kept that way.

"I hope so..."

And in the gathering conversation where Squire Pietro was answering The Lady's question, she noticed the Squire's unease with the many questions Lady had posed to him. He had glanced to the Rhoni lad, Cesare, as if to find support to bolster his confidence.

Yes, the Lady carried a mantle of authority and she wore it well. But she hadn't proven herself to be cruel or harsh. In fact, within the confines of Home she appeared quite the opposite. But Lyric had never met her before coming to Home so her knowledge of such matters was extremely limited.

Still, aside from the many very direct questions, there was nothing that should warrant the Squire's momentary pensive expression. Unless... He didn't have any answers at all.

Surely not. This is not how stories go. The Heroes always have an answer. They always see that which others can not see. They always find a way to defeat evil.

Well...

Okay, not always but those instances were a different kind of hero story and they weren't nearly as fun to tell. Tragedy and sacrifice.

Oh My...

Lyric really hoped the impending Battle of the Dark Keep on the Lake was not one of those.

She wanted to help Pietro as he tried to buy time. His incomplete plan needed help. But how could that be accomplished when they were back at Home. If the Forestkin had the answer they would have done so in order to save their Kin and destroy the Keep of the Foul Forges.

And then an idea struck her and it seemed quite right that a Minstrel Bard might think of this.

"Great Lady," she said, shifting her attention to the Vixen Leader of Home. "If I might be permitted an indulgence."

She spoke louder now, to make sure others heard her.

"It would be very difficult for any great strategist to devise a plan to face such a terrible situation with only one visit. But we all know that time is short and our presence in Home will surely attract attention. A plan must be devised before the Evil Dwarven Slavers come up with one of their own."

Lyric turned in a circle, a slight, but growing wildness in her eyes. The tempo of her words was building. The tenor and pitch of her voice was pulling from the energy in the room and turning it back out in a newly refined form.

"What if those who are able and willing tell us... Tell me, what they know of this terrible place. Whatever they can tell. What it looked like, what it smelled like, what can be seen from the banks of the Lake, all the way around. Tell the things they have seen when traveling there to do rescues or gather information. If they can tell this to me, like stories, as many of them as possible... and those who might not have the words, maybe they can draw some pictures, a story of it's own..."

Lyric seemed rather animated now, as if a bit of that creative Whimsy were taking control. She shifted around making eye contact with other Forestkin, Mouses and Rats and Wuffs... and any others who seemed caught up in her presentation before The Lady.

"...I might be able to help my Companions by turning all of what I hear and see into a story of sorts and... Well, what if this collective effort sparks the Heroes imagination? And thus a plan is born? We will all be Heroes to save those who need our help the most, and vanquish an Evil blight within this Great Realm Of Trees."

She turned back to The Lady, "What say you Beautiful Kind Lady, can this be so?"

Cesare

He is still deep in thought, mulling over possibilities, discounting some lines of thought, exploring others.. but he is still aware of what is going on around him.

When Lyric speaks up with her suggestion, a good one he thinks, he winks at her in encouragement, adding a smile and looking around to see what response she is getting.

Pietro


Lyric's presentation surprised and pleased him and he nodded his agreement.

She also consider she trying to say something to Keiko but decides against it - for whatever reason, nothing she says seems to generate anything but annoyance in one direction and frustration in the other - and at least for the moment that seems unlikely to change. And were there a place or time to change it, in public in this gathering was not it. She sighs a bit, before her eyes move back to the mouse.

"I thank you, Lockpick."

She gives a respectful nod and tries the drink.

Kadri nods at lyrics idea, and waits to hear its results.

The Heartwood
The Dirkwood Forest
Home Again
Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick

Bekkah, Cesare, Kadri, Keiko, Lyric, Pietro, Tomomi, Dominic Korie, Miss Emerald Mouse, Broke, Soft, Clever, The Lockpick, a pair of Rats and most of the Pack, Lady and various and sundry other Forest Folk

“That sounds like just a beginning, Master Squire…”

But then Lady simply smiled.

“And all things, no matter how large or small, have to begin somewhere.”

For Kadri, in reply, The Lockpick simply ducked her head, a droll, simple, and slow formality, a silent version of her traditional monotone. The Mouse simply studied the Amber runaway and in end just blinked, let out a long breath and wrinkled her nose. Her whiskers twitched this way and that as she excused herself.

“There is someone I need to consult with.”

For the rest, the late afternoon continued on. To one side, Broke suddenly poked Dominic, and in reply Dominic scanned the room. His brows raised, he bit his thumb and that was when Miss Emerald covered his eyes. Some of the other Forest Kin had similar reactions, but before anything could happen to bring light as to why they suddenly had stifled their thoughts Lyric swept in with her words, and more importantly, her questions. When the minstrel finished there was a slowly growing silence as one by one the Forest Folk turned to look at their leader, Lady.

Lady simply smiled and nodded.

Then the cacophony began. One by one, one after the other, the Forest Folk spoke up, trying to provide answers. It was like listening to scraps of conversation in a crowded commons hall with many voices weaving their stories together. One of the bigg’uns began.

“Well it’s just out there in the middle of the lake, with its walls and windmills and gates and bridges. One goes to the Forest so the weasels can hunt, one goes to the Stone Wall because - cor, your folks were out there! They saw it all, they know and can tell you better!”

That particular Kin nodded directly at Pietro, a silent acknowledgement that this might best for the Squire to describe. What followed was a second moment of silence, but this time it only lasted until another of the Forest Folk spoke up, followed by another and another and another.

“The mines, they were scary and deep and dark and in some places you couldn’t see the ceiling and sometimes you couldn’t stand straight.”

“I can’t forget the heat, it was always so hot, worse than summer and you could almost lick the water otta the air …”

“The sleep places were always dark, well, because they were sleep places, ja? There was a little place for coals for warmth and a little bit of light because they weren’t the mines and they were cold …”

“They keep the Mice apart, so they don’t get lost or try wandering.”

“We had blankets, they were just rough and thin and all. If you shared it wasn’t that bad, well, excepting when someone finally woke up dead.”

“They’d lower us food down in buckets, from somewhere above the sleeping places. You couldn’t see because the shafts were black. It was mostly fish, until I got rescued I couldn’t even imagine that there were different kinds of food. Fish was food because that was all you got.”

“The mines are deep, deeper than the Forest roots, deeper than the lake, deeper than anything in all the world.”

“Scalloped Sleeves! Tomomi! Pink. Pink. Pink. Tomomi, why is it always pink?”

“The bigg’uns would get their own places to sleep, us lil’uns, well, we all get put in a room that would have had a bigg’un. Very practical …”

“Wandering Mice were get eaten by Weasels.”

“Every now and then we’d get meat. There’d always be a loaf of bread and sometimes apples and berries. We got one meal before the mines and one meal afterwards.”

“You had to be careful, because when we struck a vein, the ore would spray out. It was so hot, if you got caught in it you’d get all burned up and then it’d be a good thing they’d send The Executioner for you. After she got rescued it got bad.”

“Now digging your way through the mines, it was all windy and long, because the rock was always strange. The Rats would use black metal bars to shatter a scalewall, then sometimes you could push your way deeper, like going through a lot of vines …”

“Every now and then a mine would get really really long and we’d have to carry buckets of food with, because it took longer than you could walk between eatings to get to where you had to work. And then you had to walk back. That was when we found a really really really big mine.”

“Everything is halls and tunnels and curving corridors, all of stone, set so tight together its like they aren’t even carved blocks at all. Maybe in some places, they aren’t”

“And then something would go wrong. The Rats would smash the wrong thing, or use the chisels to cut too deep or a teamster would step too hard on something too soft and the whole world would begin to rumble and then it would shake and then everything would get all tumbly, there’s be ore all over the place and then what was open would get squooshed and if you didn’t run away fast enough you would never get out, when a mine rolled and broke.”

“They gave us glowy shrooms and crystals for light, because you can’t mine in the dark and anything hot would have disturbed the mines …”

“Everyone remembers the stairs, that they dragged you down after being made, almost from the commons to the pier, from the black doors behind which you were made, to the black doors of the mines.”

“The stone part of the mines were where we slept and ate, and they were just stone boxes and where we kept what we needed. What clothes they gave us, our food buckets, sometime we’d make things to help us.”

“I like glowy shrooms.”

“Mice would go look and see, then the Rats would follow, cutting through, then the bigg’uns come last, making the sluices to carry the ore back to the gates that lead back into the Keep Place where the Old Masters did what they did with the ore.

“There were big arches through the Keep foundations between the stone part and where you mind the ore. Every now and then one would collapse/ We were so far down they didn’t even feel it above, but then the Old Masters would come down and fix it so we could try mining that way again.”

“How do they smell? Like copper …”

“The Old Masters would watch over us in the stone part, like shadows on a wall almost as high as Home. Sometimes a Rat or Mouse would go Mad and try and hurt them and they’d let the Weasels loose in the mines and you had to find a place to hide really fast.”

“Every now and then things would go really wrong, and you’d die at the black metal mine doors, because once you got there you couldn’t go anywhere else because they could only be opened from the other side …”

“I will go find some. That would be best. Right now.”

“The worst part … the worst part … the worst part about them of all is that you can’t even think of the world being more until you get rescued and you see the Forest and sky and Sun for the first time. It’s the world for those left behind.

“And when you first see the sky, it’s so so scary.”

The entire commons contributed to the conversation, almost every single Forest Folk.

Only one of the Forest Folk was conspicuously silent.

Lady had not spoken a word.

Cesare

He listens. Somewhere in there may be an answer. In the first lull of the telling, he asks some quiet questions, something mulling around in his head.

"So the ore is molten? And it smells of copper? And it is hot? What colour is it?"

It almost sounds like blood..

Lyric


It was a whirlwind, an absolute torrent of voices, one after another and sometimes several at a time. They gathered in close to speak what they knew. Some told others as well. Forest folk eager to help. Others nervous and grim at the remembrance of such a terrible place and life.

But this was Home, and for each Forestkin that approached her, she made sure to touch them in return, if they allowed, and in that bit of offered kindness and comfort, Lyric wanted them to know they were safe and what they had to offer might be important enough to save a life. Every one of them, no matter how little or how big, no matter how much they could share... or how little they remembered (or every knew in the first place) was worthy of being listened to and heard, and appreciated. Kindness offered from Love was a simple gift to offer another (especially a stranger) but it's value was greater than silver or gold, greater than all gemstones found in the whole of this land, greater than the spices and strange rarities brought from across the Eastern Mountains... and greater than even the blood-ore mined and forged into Dark Metal.
A hand to hold a paw, or touch a face, brush a bit of hair to reveal beautiful eyes, or maybe a sweep across a muzzle.

When the bits and pieces of stories, and descriptions began to come at her Lyric called out between 'interviews' for her friends and companions.

"Friend Keiko... please come. You have talent for creating real images. While I paint pictures with words in the minds and hearts of those who hear my words, I can not put them onto paper. Come Tomomi, you as well..."

"Pietro I need you friend. You are a man of martial training and what you saw is very important. I need to hear your words too... and share them with Friend Keiko."

"Cesare... You will see things in a way others don't. You have such an eye as your heritage grants those who travel and wander. To observe and witness, but to see it differently, perhaps even more truly than others."

Lyric looked for Lady Bekkah, the healer of Aterra but couldn't see her in the Commons Room. That didn't mean she wasn't hear, but rather that Lyric, among so many of the Forestkin, did not have a proper vantage. But her eyes caught a glimpse to the Amber Princess... the one who resented being reminded of that very thing. A trickster like Dommi...

"Dama Kadri... please gather here as well. Your insight and experience is vital You were there at the keep. And there are things I have heard, but need your thoughts... Come, let us hear these things together and if we can all see them now... then maybe an idea will be given breath and life. Hope might be born for those who struggle in dark peril."

If and when Kadri made her way closer to where Lyric could behold her presence, the Minstrel made no indication that anything was out of the ordinary. But Kadri became her sole point of focus. Mercurial Whimsy was already giving way to the Sage and Wise, and her expression reflected that change. She held out her hands to the Dama, hoping she would accept them.

There were still many more Forestkin to be heard, noticed and appreciated. And, of course there was The Lady. As as Hearer, Listerner, Collector, and Teller of stories Lyric wanted, maybe even needed, to immerse herself in these stories through the folk who lived them. But first things had to come first... hear the Forestkin, and first before that first, was to 'listen' to Kadri.

Keiko

She was more than a little surprised when The Lockpick joined them at the window seat. Why was what always pink? And then she watched the commotion Broke and Dommi were causing, and then followed the gaze of every single Kin in Home.

Keiko had to bite her lips, both upper and lower, between her teeth to keep from bursting out laughing. Tomomi poked her in the side.

“It’s easier if you don’t look.”

The Rhoni blinked and looked at her forever friend, softly cleared her throat, and nodded. But she did look over at The Lockpick. For a handful of breaths, and then for another handful of breaths, Keiko merely studied the Mouse. Finally, she was able to speak without falling into giggling, to speak beneath the cacophony that Lyric had begun to call forth from the Home’s inhabitants.

With a surreptitious glance at Dommi, she said to The Lockpick, “I think your Lady must be quite pleased with you at the moment. But about the pink...” She pointed to The Lockpick’s ears, then Tomomi’s, and finally ran one hand over the back of her other one. “It could be because red is the color of blood, and even under fur and hair, skin is usually rather pinkish. Well, of most living and breathing things, anyway. Not the Dragons, of course, and not the Hunting Beasts of the East, certainly — black and a rather sickish green those are. So, yes... pink because it is red with a bit of white mixed in, you see.”

And then Keiko merely blinked once, all nonchalant like. It was almost as though she had gotten used to being in the company of the Lady Vixen’s followers. Either that or she was faking it until she made it to that point.

In either case, Lyric’s request was a surprise.

“I have charcoal pencils in my room at the Mill,” she replied to the Minstrel. “But I have nothing on which draw the things...” Tomomi disappeared then, but Keiko soldiered on. “...the things being described.” Several more Mice disappeared at that point.

Tomomi returned with Keiko’s bundle of charcoal sticks, smiling and quite pleased with herself. “I saw where you left them. I made sure to leave everything neat, just like you left it.”

As the Rhoni took the pencils from Tomomi, two other Mice reappeared beside Lady and set large leaves of paper on the floor at her feet.

“This is important, isn’t it?”

“Renyard won’t mind, will he?”

Keiko got up and made her way through the gather of Kin, doing her best to avoid looking at Dama Kadri. The Mice were the two she had identified by their cloak patterns — Triangle Shoulder Patch and Blue Left Side Rectangle. Shrugging as she looked at Lady and then the stack of paper at her feet, she dropped gracefully to the floor and set her pencils beside the paper. Smiling up at the two Mice, she nodded.

“It’s very important, and I don’t think Renyard would mind too much. I’ll be ever so careful in my use of the paper, however. Thank you both.”

But then she was caught up in the words being called forth by the Minstrel. Keiko sketched lightly and quickly, bending over the paper and eventually just sprawling out on her stomach as she made rough drawings. She could go over the sketches later to fill in more details if Lyric felt it would be necessary. For now, she simply tried to get as much on paper as possible.

It seemed to take forever and, at the same time, took hardly any time at all for all the Kin to have their say. Keiko sat up and stretched, looking up once more at Lady.

She had always been the kindest of the Forest Kin who came to the Market. It had taken virtually no time at all for Keiko to realize that Lady’s presence was one of peace. While Renyard exercised her wit, Lady soothed her heart.

“I think I understand — at least as well as a young Rhoni girl can understand such things — why you remain silent, Lady.” Keiko spoke oh so softly, oh so gently. “And if speaking of the place will help to rescue those still held captive, know that your Kin and I care very much and will assist in any ways we can to ease your burden.” She smiled sadly. “Memories of things that happened are tied to memories of where they happened. But we all know that the things that occurred in a place you describe cannot happen here at Home.”

She reached up and placed a hand over Lady’s elegant ones that were folded in her lap.

“As you so often have reminded the Small Kin, now I will remind you.

“You are safe here, Lady.”

Kadri:

"It appears my presence has been requested."

She bows slightly again.

"Talk more later?"

She makes her way over to Lyric.

"The mines sounds very much to me Iike a living thing."

She readily took the offered hands, and looked up locking eyes with her.

Lyric

Lyric was, perhaps, an inch taller than Lady Bekkah. And, while that wasn't saying much, it did make the Minstrel a little taller than the Dama.

Holding those hands she squeezed a little bit and smiled.

"They are," Lyric replied as if revelation was somehow secondary to the purpose of the personal greeting. "Dark Metal is the forged blood of a Dragon. A very large dragon, as I am to understand dragons are by nature. I have never seen one, but there is one that is in a state of hibernation deep beneath the ground. The Dwarves have tunneled down to it and they use the Forestkin as slaves to extract the blood from the creature. The blood comes out as a molten liquid and that seems a proper thing for dragon blood. Dangerous and deadly for the slaves for certain."

There was a pause though.

"But that is not why I have drawn you close for a private word among so many around us... Might I tell you a story? I promise it isn't a very long one."

Kadri:

A dragon so ...

Interesting. The implications bore thinking but - later.

"Stories are a tradition back home - both in the telling and the receiving - and I am always willing to listen to a story. Though I would dare say you are likely better at them than me."

Her head tilts slightly to the side and she waits.

Lyric

"It is my trade and craft, yes... but I don't assume I am anyone's better. Though that is partially at the heart of my story for you."

"Kadri," she began using the Dama's name as she had been given leave to previously. "In my village, among my people, I have always been different. I think different things, I act different ways. That has always put me at odds with those who prefer their old ways and old traditions. To them, this is how things should be, because, as it is now that is how they remember it as always being. Sometimes life was difficult for me and I had to take great care. I was viewed differently and I could see that. And when someone is seen to be different there will be those who are hostile to that. I am not a hostile person and have no hostile intent for others, but that didn't change the fear others felt in how I might disrupt their ways."

"There were times when I became the focus of their pranks and jokes, sometimes cruel. And it taught me quite a bit. No one likes to be teased or pranked in public. But that was something I had to deal with... I learned that if took their pranks or their heckling, and embraced it, owned it, made it part of who I was for the moment... I took the power from them to tease me or belittle me."

"I say all of this because you might not be aware that you have been made the focus of a prank. I believe you understand such things as you follow the same divine being that Master Dominic follows and such things are expected and in the nature of those who follow."

Lyric dd not elaborate on the nature of the prank, but clearly it was something she could identify from a distance and thus the beckoning to join her. Lyric's voice was soft and kind... compassionate.

The Minstrel paused to give Kadri a moment to take in the meaning of the story and the importance it served where it related to Kadri's current circumstance.