Upon being greeted by Kettle, Clav smiled slightly which was almost entirely obscured by the skull worn on his face, then returned to his typical stoic face. "Ah, yes, hello Kettle. I'm quite surprised you remembered me, but I guess that you could say that I'm hard to forget. At least, that's what people tell me." He spoke in a near monotone voice that was brightened slightly by an accent that was quite hard to place, but made his words flow in an interesting manner. "No, no," He began, "I'm actually quite well rested to be honest. I found that rolling the way here was much easier than trying to force myself to waddle. But if you'll excuse me, please, I'd like to stand outside for a minute or two. Give everyone a bit of time to compose themselves."

Clavic reached his hand out from under his black garments to retrieve a small-ish morsel of food from the spread that he couldn't place until he tasted it; Meat of some sort, maybe. He made his way over to the door, rolling past others, and stopping outside of the establishment. He stared directly at Nel, from where he was, completely oblivious to her reaction to him previously. He sat down, causing a quite harsh rattling of his bones, and continued to nibble on his nabbed snack underneath his outward mass.

In his head, Clav was trying to work out why Kettle had called all these people that she had met back to her in this remote location for. What this "discovery" was, in the first place. And despite the vast amount of knowledge that he had collected over his time in life from the Great Library back near his little living nook, he couldn't come up with anything. All for the better, I suppose. Can't go ruining a murder mystery in the first act just because you want to get it over with.

Shortly after speeking into the cafe Kettle arrived at the door to greet Lila. The spider-woman shook her her head lightly. "Nothing is wrong. I believe another of your associates is here."

---

"Am I alright...?" Nel whispered to herself, she was being asked this question by a woman who was half spider. Admittedly, the woman half of the spider lady was pleasing to look at, Nel still couldn't help but feel a little paralyzed by how surreal the situation felt. She was standing on a cafe suspended over a bog where all manner of men and beast... and whatever that skeleton man was... had tea.

She was fairly certain she had read a book centered around madness and absurd tea parties when she was younger...

The mushroom pixie, still on her shoulder, jumped up and down, reminding her of... reality. And the question the spider-woman had posed. Nel, still trembling slightly at the sight of her lower half, adressed the woman to the best of her ability, "I'm afraid I'm not even sure anymore... I'm really not even sure why I actually came here!" Nel shook her head, "I don't know, maybe this was all some horrible mistake..."

---

Seeing that the woman was shaken up Lila smiled softly. "Well I do not believe that anyone meets without reason. Something brought us here today." Looking over the woman she took a step back away from the door for a moment. "I hope I don't frighten you too much. I know not everyone takes well to my appearance." She crossed her arms slightly and briefly looked saddened before the smile returned. "Did you see something inside that frightened you?"

---

"N-no!" Nel stammered in response, "Well, I mean, perhaps... I mean..." She sighed, "Okay; yes, technically I was firghtened by something inside. But it's not like you think! I have a very good reason to be scared of that skeleton, it is incredibly spooky!"

---

Giving it a moment of thought Lila did recall seeing a mass of bones through the door. "Well, it didn't seem to be harming anyone. Perhaps it is not as bad as you think." The sound of clinking bones came from inside and before anything could really be done Clav rolled out into the pair's presence. "Oh, hello there." Lila glanced at Nel briefly expecting a rather strong reaction. The spider covered the woman's mouth as she looked about ready to scream. "Do not draw attention. We are trying to be quiet."

---

"Mmph!"

---

Clavic looked upwards to Lila after being addressed, slightly adjusting the skull on his face to better see the spider woman. "Ah, hello. I hope I'm not interrupting something overly important." His gaze shifted towards Nel, and quirked his brow which remained relatively unnoticed under Clav's macabre mask. His sight turned back to Lila, but his face remained pointed in the direction of Nel. "I mean, don't hesitate to tell me if I am."

---

"No, not really." Waiting a moment for Nel to calm down, Lila removed her hand slowly so she could speak again. There was a pause to see what would happen next. "Perhaps it is best if we all enter the cafe. Surely we must be a spectacle." What the others would do did not matter much to the spider woman now. There were friends inside to greet. Allowing Kettle to introduce her first Lila stepped in and beamed. "It is wonderful to meet you all. As Kettle stated, my name is Lila. I look forward to getting to know you all during this venture."

Without missing a beat Lila headed over to Forthwind and wrapped him in a hug. "[color=steelblue]Hello friend. I pray your profession fairs well. We must catch up but there are others I must meet with first." It was not often she ran across former acquaintances. Leon was the next person of interest. Thus far she kept her word to the hunter not to tell of his encounter with her webbing. Something to do with pride. "Leon..." She paused for a moment when she noticed the wooden leg. She dare not ask so pointedly about it though as it would be in poor taste. A lizard man was by him and it appeared that they were conversing. "When you have the time I should like a word with you." Slinking away there was one last person she felt need to address.

Sarant, the small winged woman was someone that she hadn't seen in two years. At their last passing Lila had frightened the poor things such they she left her chest of medicine in her haste to escape. Approaching cautiously the spider woman took the box from its holster and set it down gently before Uaru. "I do apologize for scaring you so last we met. I saved your belongings in hopes I could return them. Everything should still be there, I did not know what to do with any of it anyhow." Leaving things at that Lila stepped away. Her rushing about probably looked rather peculiar but that did not matter. Now there were many new faces to learn. A quick glance alerted her to a pair of eyes watching her intently. The gaze was not one she was familiar with. Curious she approached Croft silently.

Harry's eyebrow raised momentarily as he glanced behind sara. towards her steed? As the steed yawned revealing a lot of rather deadly looking chops. I've got no quarrel with you, Sir Steed. He thought, towards the thing, thinking that perhaps the thing could read minds.

Then he was brought back to focus on Sara., by her reply to his question. It was good to know, that the wrong temperature medicine when the body needs the other, could be bad and sounded like it could be really bad. Then he chuckled at Sara's metaphor of how not to overflow the bowl, like a medicine misuse. He understood such things as he did dabble in writing and metaphors were what helped make his stories good.

Brought back to the knowledge of sara's beast nearby, as sara. herself mentioned about how she could sell him a good price on her medicinal merchandise, he responded politely, "Thank you for the kind offer Sara- Can I call you Sara?" He asked quickly, as he finished his earlier sentence, "-but I am not ailing from anything and I would rather not buy your wares off you when someone else may need them." He then decided to ask a few questions that has been bothering him, "What is your steed's name? Also is he friendly?"

Unfortunately though, Sara. was talking to the elf girl, when he asked his questions, so he wasn't sure if Sara. heard him or not. On top of that, that meeting between him and Silcia popped in his head, but this time, he decided to face his fears head on and stood by Sara.'s side, while she talked with Silcia.

While he wasn't talking he took a glance around himself and noticed a lady nearby at the foodstuffs tables, looking very happy at the spread laid out before her. It reminded him that he hasn't had any food to eat himself yet, his stomach growled audibly. @orangebox@AiyvaGuard

Nel, left alone at the entrance with that strange being made of bones to her side, put her entire being in resisting the urge to scream. The spider woman was right, Kettle had summoned them all there for a reason, if she hadn't summoned her specifically, she should still try to honor some secrecy to some degree. As if the spider woman had never left, Nel brought her own hands to her mouth.

Off to the side, the cameldragon gave another yawn.

The beast was right. She was being childish-- the skeleton thing-- skeleton man was only that; a man! Tales in her village of men who dressed in the bones of their enemies aside, Kettle surely wouldn't have summoned him here if he meant to suck out all of their bones through their eye holes!

Slowly, still shaking from where she stood, Nel brought her hands down from her mouth, "S-so..." she began, eyes wide as she turned to look down at the face... face? of the spooky... skeleton... being... "Umm... Nice weather...?"

During the period in which the human standing next to him decided she was going to have a minor mental breakdown, Clavic decided that he was going to hum quietly under his breath to a random tune he composed during his roll through the Desert of Glass.

He tilted his head upwards, and his skull-mask by extention, to look into Nel's eyes. "Weather? Hm. I suppose it could be considered nice. It's more of a lukewarm 'eh', to me." The skeleton clad creature turned his head downwards to the ground then back up to Nel after a good period of time.

"I hope I don't sound too rude in assuming that you're frightened of my appearance." Clav fiddled with a shard of bone in his hands. "You can tell me if you are. I'd be lying if I said I weren't used to it."

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-whhaaaat??" She stuttered, "Me? Frightened? Haha, Noooooo..." She fidgeted uncomfortably at the sight of the shard of bone, "I mean, sure maybe I'm a little unsettled, I guess, but frieghtened?" She said, putting extra emphasis on the word 'frightened,' "Nahhhhhh," She said, attempting to force some reassuing half smile, "It's just, y'know, a lot to take in after you've pretty much been on the same farm your whole life..."

Clavic very easily traced her sight to the fragment of bone, and he tucked it away in his "clothing" as an attempt to possibly seem less threatening. Most likely to no avail. "Mm. Well, just know that I'm no threat." He looked straight in front of him, instead of looking into Nel's eyes. "Couldn't be if I wanted to, really."

"Oh?" Nel followed his gaze into the seemingly meaningless swampy horizon-- he had her intrigued, which was infinitely preferable to the abject horror she had been feeling several moments prior.

"Does this really look like it's the best for being a deadly predator?" Clav gestured to his clothing and the bones attached to it.

"Um... Yes? Where I come from, wearing bones generally screams 'I'm deadly'"

"Where I'm from, it's a sign that you're competent. You can take instructions. And, to be honest, they're kind of like company." A light tapping arose from Clav rapping his finger against the head of his skull mask. "When you live in a tiny nook and only really get out to steal books from a library, these guys are the closest to companionship you can get."

Nel tilted her head, "Instructions?"

He looked up to Nel, then back down at the skeleton on his chest. "The urge to collect bones and other things in the "osteo" category is conditioned into the infants of my species by the parents." Clav began tapping his chest skull again.

Osteo. The word drew a blank stare from Nel, even though the man explained that it basically meant all things bone. Apparently his kind just... collected bones for company. The more she thought about it, the more tragic it all seemed-- worse yet, he apparently had to deal with people like her, thinking he was some kind of boogey man all the time. With a sigh, Nel brought herself to slowly, move closer to the being, sitting just a few feet away from him.

This was progress! He was still spooky as hell, and despite herself, she couldn't just erase the tales she had heard in her village of the more sinister bone men. Still, she didn't have any bone to pick with this guy in particular, on the contrary, he seemed nice.

"So it's just... You collect bones for company?" Nel gazed forward from where she sat on the steps, she chuckled under her breath, "Is it culturally insensitive for me to say that that's kind of macabre?"

“Oh! I apologize” Saira laughed, pausing as she was about to lift another treat into her mouth, “I was in such a rush to get here, I didn’t think of my own stomach until I saw this glorious buffet in front of me!” While the food was certainly tempting her, she would at least try to refrain for the time being. Inside, she poured herself a hot cup of, well, whatever was in the teapot she had picked up. Sniffing lightly at it, she couldn’t exactly distinguish what it was, exactly. After all, her parents had never taken the time to instill such an ability in her. But, it was tea, and that was good enough for her. In the middle of taking a long sip of tea, Saira had suddenly realized she had, indeed, been introduced by Kettle. She broke down in a fit of coughing as the tea went down the wrong pipe. “S-sorry, sorry,” she said sheepishly once the coughing had stopped, “Terribly rude of me not to acknowledge everyone else, it’s wonderful to meet you all, strangers and previous acquaintances alike.” Deciding that was enough tea for quite a while, she set the teacup down, marking it as hers by placing her old lute beside it.

In the entire room, Saira only really recognized three people, and in all honesty, she hadn’t seen any of them in a fairly long time. In fact, she doubted if they would recognize her at all. But she shrugged that off, even if they did not recognize her, it would be nice to have someone to talk to. Especially after those few days of wandering alone in the desert, and the marsh, all that good stuff.

She trusted the others enough to not to mess with her prized possessions, it wouldn't be of much value to anyone else. The old thing was battered from years and years of use, not to mention her initials carved into the place where the neck and body met. Instead, she ventured away from the table to make conversation, and ventured to join a conversation. As she looked away, she caught the eyes of another guest of Kettle’s, who seemed to be staring right past her at the food at the table. “Hello there,” she greeted, approaching the man with a small wave before extending her hand in greeting, “I’m Saira, nice to meet you, and may I assure you, the food is absolutely divine.”

For the first time in his life, Croft found himself at a loss for words or action for a while as he stared at the spider woman. He watched as she greeted those she knew and apologized to another guest about some past harm. Finally her eyes settled on Croft who finally realized he had been staring the whole time. He stood up simply bursting with energy as he finally found the words.

He raised his arms to the ceiling in a praising fashion and looked up seemingly to the sky. "Praise destiny that I have been blessed with such a wonderful sight!" His gaze settled back to Lila. "Never before have my eyes feasted upon such a beauty such as yourself!" He paced around her inspecting everything he could look at without touching staying close enough to almost be intrusive. "Your legs are so elegant and the way you move with such grace and care! Your hair, so perfect oh I wish I could touch! And y-"

He then caught himself and stepped in front of the lovely woman and gave her a deep bow. "Croft Winston Caswell Halebard, traveler of the world and genius extraordinaire at your service."

How could he in his travels have missed such an extraordinary woman?

Lila stopped when Croft got to his feet and raised his hands to the ceiling. Ultimately she wasn't quite sure what he was doing at that moment. She had seen many different reactions to her appearance, this was not one of them. As the young man circled around her she watched him inquisitively. Taking a few steps to keep him in view she did not allow him to be behind her. This was... odd, to say the least. His words were flattering but foreign. No one ever spoke so highly of her looks before, not even her own kind. Rather taken aback she unconsciously rolled loose strands of her hair that had fallen over he shoulder between her fingers.

Finally Croft stopped and introduced himself with a gentleman's bow. This Lila was slightly more familiar with and she smiled uncertainly. "You flatter me with your words. But surely you do not mean them. You are human are you not?" Admittedly if this was a trick then it succeeded in confusing the young Jorogumo. The man seemed to fancy himself a smart individual. Whether to have her guard up or not she was not sure. Briefly she glanced at the others in the room to gauge their reactions. Although many seemed wrapped up in their own conversations.

"You flatter me with your words. But surely you do not mean them. You are human are you not?"

Croft felt flabbergasted about such words. She spoke such nonsense about him not meaning what he said. What did being human have anything to do with this? He simply could not understand. "My dear, if I did not mean anything I said I would not speak. What madness lies with falsehood! Should I not want to reveal something I simply keep my mouth shut 'tis as simple as that."

Human. Human. That really bothered him. He sat down to puzzle over his thoughts a moment. "Why do you ask if I am human or not? I most certainly am, but what does that have to do with anything. Puzzling... simply puzzling." He scratched his chin with one hand and fiddled around with his umbrella with the other as he fell into thought, losing track of all the world around him.

This certainly was an unusual situation for Lila. Apparently she had said or done something wrong. The woman was not well versed in human customs. Croft appeared lost in thought so Lila waited a minute before addressing him again. "I meant no disrespect. I have no quelm with humans. It is just, I have not always had the greatest experiences encountering humans, present company excluded." Wringing her hands a bit Lila was somewhat at a loss on what to say next.

"No one has ever spoken of me in such a manner before. I suppose I don't know how to respond." Despite not being sure what to do she unconsciously blushed. Of course with her pale skin it did not take much for it to be visible. It was quite an awkward situation in her mind. Normally a conversation like this between Jorogumo and Human would never take place and encounters usually ended with one or the other dead. "You are..." The words escaped Lila. How exactly to convey her confusion and mixed thought on the matter was complicated. "Unusual."

---

Kettle watched, with easing tension and slowing breaths, the exchange of introductions among Lila, Clav, and -- who was that? -- a young lady, valiantly trying not to be so frightened of the two most frightening-looking people Kettle had ever met. Kettle stood in the doorway awhile, her brows knitted while she mentally read through the list of letters she had sent, knowing this young lady had not been among them. But her face! Her face was so familiar.

And then, like the switch of a light, Kettle's eyes brightened in recognition. Len's son! This young woman looked very much like Junior, who had grabbed at Kettle's robes and had listened, gawping, to her stories of adventures across the world. Kettle wracked her brain, but as far as she knew, Junior didn't have a sister. Who was this, then, responding alone to a letter that had been addressed to Len and his wife?

She might have spoken, but the mysterious young woman had slowly begun to trust Clav in the midst of long conversation, and Kettle wouldn't have interrupted their new friendship for the world. There would be time in the future for questions.

Instead, Kettle slipped back into the cafe to find that her chosen companions had become boisterous and quick friends. Tea was poured, food was eaten, stories were told, even a couple admissions of admiration. She watched and listened to all of it with a profound sense of joy.

---

The sun behind the fog was setting on the mountains, and the lamps within the room were brightened with a twist of a knob. The noise and laughter was just as strong as it had been an hour ago, and it was clear those gathered could go on all night as long as the food and the tea kept coming.

Kettle touched Harry on the shoulder. "Will you tell everyone outside to come in, please?" she asked kindly, with a twinge of nerves beginning to twist in her stomach. She moved quietly to the front of the room, where she scanned all of them for a moment and ingrained their faces in her memory.

She grinned suddenly, curled her fingers to her lips, and whistled high and piercing for their attention.

"Thank you all for coming," she announced, quelling the last of the conversational murmurs. "I am truly, deeply honored that you all traveled so far with so little information. I am humbled by your trust, your friendship, your generosity, and your profound and adventurous curiosity." She wasn't going to cry, she told herself. The fact that so many surrounded her now was the happiest feeling in the world. She took a deep breath.

"We're all here because of a discovery." How should she phrase it? She hadn't quite thought of what she would say when the time came -- and now they were all looking at her, expectant.

"There is a myth that I'm sure many of you know." When in doubt, tell a story. Kettle hopped up and sat on a table, facing them all, her hands curled around the edge. "That in the beginning of all things, the world was empty, volcanic, filled with dust and fire and darkness -- until a star fell down from the sky and buried deep under the stones. And then, out of the rock and ash of that tumultuous world, a Tree took shape." She illustrated with a gesture of her hands, like pulling the form of a tree out of a wasteland. "Over millennia the Tree grew and curled its roots around the world, embracing volcanic wastes and seas of acid. Slowly the chaos calmed. The sky cleared for the first time since the planet's birth, and the Tree's branches filled with the first green the world had ever known. Grass grew out of ashes, forests rose out of dead volcanoes, the seas turned blue and the rivers ran fresh. The Tree bore fruit, then: the fish of the seas, the beasts of the ground and the birds of the sky. Then, our ancestors. People. All are children of the Tree; all are brothers and sisters of the same origin." Kettle included every race and species in the world and represented in that room when she spoke of people.

An expression of worry crossed Kettle's face. Even now, she was unsure whether they would believe her.

"I believe that just beyond the mountains to the north -- in the heart of the unnamed woods -- are the ruins of the City of Ro." She waited a moment for this information to sink in -- for those who knew the legends to realize the gravity of this discovery. "According to legend, Ro was built on the site where the Tree first grew. The city's sole purpose was to worship and protect the last remaining Seed." She scanned each of their faces. Surely, they thought she was mad.

"If I'm right -- and I am very sure I am -- just north of where we stand lies a Seed of the Tree of creation."

Croft was about to respond to Lila when Kettle called everyone's attention. She explained a myth he knew quite well from his childhood. The City of Ro was a name he was unfamiliar with. He felt a bit disappointed that he didn't know. Then again, he knew very well that Kettle was one of the few people that were smarter than himself and knew far more.

"If I'm right -- and I am very sure I am -- just north of where we stand lies a Seed of the Tree of creation."

Croft nodded excitedly. "Am I right in assuming we shall be venturing forth towards this ruin and the seed? Oh how exciting!" He clapped his hands and danced a bit in his seat with a big grin on his face. Such a discovery could be used against them and it would prevent them from accomplishing their goals. He pulled the old manifesto from his bag and secretly scanned it. A line on it mentioned seeds. His eyes widened with fury for a brief moment and his stashed the manifesto away in its secret pouch within his backpack.

Inside his backpack was a jar of pickles, trail rations for about two weeks give or take a day, a fox mask he stole from a masquerade, the manifesto from his first kill of them, a whetstone, and a rubber ball. Attached to his backpack was a dagger of exquisite design that he inherited from his father, and two waterskins.

The seed of the tree of creation.. the words resonated in his mind. But the resonance became an echo of syllables. Surely that isn't the same story as Dad's. But it has to be the same tree. Leon remembered his father's tale of an old tree in which the roots spread all over creation. When the tree was chopped down by giants who wanted to seed at the peak, the roots decayed but the gaps remained only to fill with the water that made the rivers of the world.

"Is this land known for giants?" Leon asked in a whisper to the people near him. He was fearful of giants that chopped down the biggest tree in the world. But at the same time he wondered just how crazy he sounded, asking a silly question like that.

Jazzle had heard the tale of the origin tree before, and while it always sounded like a nice story it always sounded like pure superstition. Fire, magma, acid, and other things couldn't be quelled by a TREE. Of course he didn't voice that opinion to those present.

Jazz didn't believe in the origin story, but lots of people in the past did. Even if they didn't find the genuine article in the seed that had created all life, an ancient city where a bunch of voodoo pokin', bone scryin', palm readin' bozos could have a lot of valuable stuff inside. So the goblin nodded his head and grinned, because if superstition was good for anything it could turn a quick buck.

"You know Kettle you are absolutely cotton picking insane, but that's why I like ya. I'm in!" Jazz said enthusiastically. "There will probably be plenty of loot stored away in ancient vases and stuff we can pawn off easily. My question is if we actually do find this magical seed whatever, what will we do with it? Are we selling that thing off too?"

A'shinok took the information in while sipping his tea. He had heard the story of the Tree during his days as a boy being trained for the arena. He was certain it was fiction and it shown on his face as he lowered his cup and simply looked to Kettle. He couldn't recall very much of the story, as those telling it to him were barely literate and he had heard too many versions as arena champions generally came and went. He wasn't shocked in the least, simply in disbelief. He rested back in his chair that he barely fit into and the back made an audible creak as if it were seconds from giving out. "Ro... I'd say you were crazy had you not gathered so many here." He looked around, and after looking at everyone he looked up for a time. He bent his body forward once more and let a bit of a flame out to warm the remainder of his tea before taking another sip. "I will follow you there if you ask it, for it is a sin in many a place to allow a friend to take such a journey alone." A'shinok raised his cup of tea in the air gave it a swirl and drank it.

During that brief swirl of tea A'shinok was deep in thought and prayer. He prayed to gods of madness to keep Kettle sane, gods of travel for safety on their journey, to gods and goddesses of any kind to keep them all safe hoping for their favor. He recalled the story of the tree as well and it sounded as ridiculous as he remembered but he had come a long way and found many things he previously considered ridiculous. He believed Kettle's words as he believed the words of many a god. He put the cup down harder than he should have, not hard enough to break anything but hard enough to hear silverware rattle on plates a few seats down. "I'll follow you into the darkness and bring the light with us as we go."

As Clavic absorbed the information into his skull, no pun intended, his mind suddenly began racing with all sorts of questions which lead to him saying the first thing that came to mind. "That's quite preposterous!" He stopped himself suddenly, remembering who he was speaking to and the company that he was in. "I'm sorry, the outburst was quite uncalled for, but out of all the versions of this story that I've read- and I've read many, I'll tell you- I've never seen any sort of map, or hints toward the location of the City of Ro." He rapped his fingers along the head of one of the skulls on his chest lightly.

"I am by no means calling you a fraud, please don't be cross, I just wonder how in the name of all the gods and goddesses you managed to come to this conclusion." The bone-clad creature paused himself to more calmly form the point that he was trying to get across. "What I mean to say is: How did you get this information, and why do you believe that it is true? As I mentioned earlier, I've read many variations of the story. Which have lead to me believing that it is just that. A story." He carefully articulated, attempting to get across that he wasn't convicting Kettle. Clavic was, rather, questioning the information she'd received about this mythical Seed of Life.

Harry frowned around at the others surrounding him, embarassedly hoping that no one really noticed his stomach's growling. Thinking he was in the clear, he sighed in relief, only to hear a lady's voice approach him. Turning around to notice the lady he noticed earlier, he saw that she was a red head which was different as he had never met many red haired people. Then he abruptly heard her introduction and noticed her hand offered for a handshake. "Oh, sorry for being slow to hear ya, that is a nice name, Saira." He said as he thought he rhymed. "I'm Harry, and its good to know that the food is of a high quality, because I'm famished." His stomach growled again and his mind groaned in shame.

Sarant noticed the man's grumbling stomach and laughed out heartily. She scooped a spoonful of (suggestions?) and shoved it to Harry's face. "Here! A traveler always enjoys his journey more in a belly well fed!"

Harry laughed as he was spoon fed food from Sarant.
He then turned to the medicine woman, and snow elf, next to him. Although it was difficult for him to initially introduce the elf, he managed to introduce both, "Saira, I don't know if you've met, Sarantsatsral-", he indicated the short lady next to him "-and Silcia." He indicated the elf lady standing a few feet away.

"Ho!" Sarant greeted with a smile, with morcels of food visible in her plumped mouth - evident of her rather ravenous apetite. "If you ever need a wound or ailment looked at, feel free to give me and Silcia a nudge!" She continued while helping herself with another serving. "Though, I might charge depending on the availability of my wares. In that case, you might want to beg a favor from Silcia!" She chuckled a bit at her own apparently greed before grabbing a juicy piece of meat and placed it onto Pash's food bowl. Indeed, for such a large feline, Pash has his own mealbowl made out of a hollowed tree trunk with his named etched onto the sides.

-Line break, yo-

Saira grinned, "Oh, no worries! It was rather abruptly that I decided to, well, make conversation and all that." She glanced over her shoulder to the table of delicacies and simply nodded, giving a quick glance to the food, but mostly lingering her gaze on her lute. Call her paranoid or whatever, but she honestly did love that old thing, she'd truly be heartbroken if it disappeared on her. It didn't seem to have been touched or moved since she had put it down (not that she would have minded if someone gave an experimental strum), but as long as someone wasn't currently trying to smash it, she was sure she'd manage. "I definitely recommend you try everything, Kettle really did outdo herself with all this! In fact, I wouldn't even be insulted if you marched away from this conversation to go get something." she laughed, turning back to the conversation at hand, "In fact, I think you stomach would even thank you!"

But instead, he turned to allow her into the conversation and introduced each of the others to her. "It's wonderful to meet you two as well! From what I gather, you both contain amazing medical prowess? That's simply amazing!" Saira said, waving to each of them, "Though, I do believe I've meet Silcia before, if I'm not mistaken. Are you perhaps that same elf that happened to save my life all those years ago? Details are a little fuzzy, pardon me, with the blood loss and all, but perhaps you are one and the same? If so I'd just like to offer my thanks, I fear I didn't express any gratitude, you know, being on all those anesthetics."

-another break ayyyyyy-

Harry couldn't resist the food any longer, all he could hear after Saira encouraging him to take part at the food tables was her voice in a mumble as his mind was already preoccupied. He marched to said tables laiden with their various delicacies and grabbed some metal utencils at the tables edge. The performer then noticed some watermelon with a large fork inserted into a piece at the top of the plates stack, he used that fork to give himself a general helping, not caring how many others there might be after him trying to eat. After several moments of gathering this type of fruit, scooping mash potatoes, jello, and all sorts of stuff, his plate was atlast full. He decided to find a small table for himself to dine at, and then rejoin the others as he refused to be chowing down while they were all foodless except for Sarant.

As he was finishing his food, Harry felt a tap on his shoulder, he rose to his feet to see kettle next to him. She had a request for him to bring everyone inside, easy enough. "Sure I will." He said smiling. Within, a few moments, he was out the cafe's front door and raised his voice before thinking better of it as he only saw one person outside. A girl next to the doorway, he turned to her, "I've been told Kettle wants everyone inside, probably to give a speech. Anyways, I'd appreciate it if you would come inside and meet up with kettle." He then re-entered the cafe, assuming the girl would be following him and within a few short minutes of waiting along with everyone else, Kettle began her speech or rather story.
@Darcs

He had heard rumors of a powerful tree that lived long ago, but Harry had never managed to encounter someone who could say 'I've seen it first hand.' It was actually one of his goals, to encounter this supposed tree, but he had never known where it actually was. Having just learned its actual location and that they were apparently going to go there, he jumped up in the air in his excitement.

His excitement was abruptly cut off, as he heard a skeptic among the others of Kettle's audience besides himself. He turned to see a creature with skulls on it, it was different but he frowned more towards the creatures skepticism than to its appearance. He addressed the creature, "Kettle is a very experienced adventurer, who knows facts from lies or non truths. She wouldn't make this stuff up about where the tree is, and I'm actually quite shocked that you can't seem to trust her."

He was going to leave it at that but the creature's last sentence irritated him. He walked up to the creature, he was maybe a foot away from it as Harry spoke with a patient tone to his voice, "A story can sometimes, yes be made from non facts or imagination as it is often called, the ideas that come from our minds. Often imagination is brought about by what we experience around us and that is how stories are often based off of 'true stories.' Now true stories are accounts of past events, or a listing of facts with a nicer description to be heard from someone's voice or letters on a parchment to be read. Because of the existance of true stories, not all stories are 'false', as I assume you would call them. It would be an insult to storytellers everywhere to say that any stories were 'false." Harry took a deep breath as he finished speaking, alot of the words coming his heart as a storyteller himself.
@Cinderella Man

When Kettle called for everyone's attention, Lila stopped and joined the others. It was now that things were explained in more detail. Honestly the spider woman did not know much about the tree that was being discussed. Her people were not much of storytellers. But it did seem to relate to rumors she'd heard. Supposedly some of the larger and longer caves were carved in the earth by enormous tree roots. Lila had never given much mind to that tale but this seemed to lend some validity to it. Others seemed to know more about the subject, but without much consensus. True or not finding an ancient city would still be an amazing find.

"I know nothing of this tree, but I for one do not care if the prize we seek exists or not. I jump at the chance to rediscover a city. But should we find this seed them I too would like to know what we plan to do with it." While she had listened to the others Lila would have to side with Clavic's scepticism.

---

Croft nodded excitedly. "Am I right in assuming we shall be venturing forth towards this ruin and the seed? Oh how exciting!" He clapped his hands and danced a bit in his seat with a big grin on his face.

"Is this land known for giants?" Leon asked in a whisper to the people near him.

"You know Kettle you are absolutely cotton picking insane, but that's why I like ya. I'm in!" Jazz said enthusiastically. "There will probably be plenty of loot stored away in ancient vases and stuff we can pawn off easily. My question is if we actually do find this magical seed whatever, what will we do with it? Are we selling that thing off too?"

"Ro... I'd say you were crazy had you not gathered so many here. I will follow you there if you ask it, for it is a sin in many a place to allow a friend to take such a journey alone." He put the cup down harder than he should have, not hard enough to break anything but hard enough to hear silverware rattle on plates a few seats down. "I'll follow you into the darkness and bring the light with us as we go."

"That's quite preposterous!" He stopped himself suddenly, remembering who he was speaking to and the company that he was in. "I'm sorry, the outburst was quite uncalled for, but out of all the versions of this story that I've read- and I've read many, I'll tell you- I've never seen any sort of map, or hints toward the location of the City of Ro. I am by no means calling you a fraud, please don't be cross, I just wonder how in the name of all the gods and goddesses you managed to come to this conclusion. What I mean to say is: How did you get this information, and why do you believe that it is true? As I mentioned earlier, I've read many variations of the story. Which have lead to me believing that it is just that. A story."

"Kettle is a very experienced adventurer, who knows facts from lies or non truths. She wouldn't make this stuff up about where the tree is, and I'm actually quite shocked that you can't seem to trust her. A story can sometimes, yes be made from non facts or imagination as it is often called, the ideas that come from our minds. Often imagination is brought about by what we experience around us and that is how stories are often based off of 'true stories.' Now true stories are accounts of past events, or a listing of facts with a nicer description to be heard from someone's voice or letters on a parchment to be read. Because of the existance of true stories, not all stories are 'false', as I assume you would call them. It would be an insult to storytellers everywhere to say that any stories were 'false."

"I know nothing of this tree, but I for one do not care if the prize we seek exists or not. I jump at the chance to rediscover a city. But should we find this seed them I too would like to know what we plan to do with it."

The resulting uproar brought a bemused smile to Kettle's ageing face, and for a moment there was a glimmer of that old mischief that had once gotten her and her companions into and out of so much trouble. She rested the heel of a boot up on the table she was sitting on, and she watched them squeal and argue and bang the tableware until they'd settled down and the tension of a thousand questions hung in the air.

Kettle drew a black dagger from its sheath behind her back -- Sarant had been with her when she had bought the weapon from a merchant from the East -- and she leaned on her upturned knee while she gripped and spun it thoughtfully. Her expression turned dark.

"I've followed this trail for ten years," she told them with gravity. "Books, scraps of paper, stories, hearsay, strange formations in the ground and areas where the wildlife is far stranger than most. It started as a hobby -- a passing interest -- but in the past year I've noticed that I'm being followed. Everywhere I go, now, there are people watching me with odd-colored eyes, with a distinct tattoo of a bird on the side of their throats." Kettle scanned their faces, wondering if any of them had met such a person on their way to the wetlands. "I've discovered that they call themselves Magpies, but little else. I've never been able to get close enough to one to ask them myself -- they have a skill for disappearing in a crowd. But two months ago, the people and professors who had been my best sources for stories about the City of Ro and the Seed of Creation have begun turning up dead. Tortured to death, specifically. I've concluded that the Magpies are responsible, that they're after the Seed, and that I'm only alive today because they hope I'll lead them to what they want.

"I could turn around -- drop the trail and never look back -- but I fear that they know too much already; if I were to stop now, it would only be a matter of time before they find the Seed themselves. The only answer is to find it before they do, and take it somewhere where it will be safe." She gave them all a warm smile, and she hopped to her feet and sheathed the dagger again.

"I'll leave you all to discuss your own opinions on the matter; this is all I can tell you for your own safety, and there is no map for where we're going -- but whether you come with me, or whether I go on alone, at first light tomorrow Grom and I will ride for Ro. Whether or not you plan to come with me, you're welcome to spend the night here -- guys will have to share the back room, and I'll meet the ladies upstairs. Good night."

Kettle bowed respectfully to all of them, and she left the room in order to let them discuss among themselves how they would prefer to proceed, without her presence to cause them guilt. She instead took their horses and Grom around the side to the open stable, where she fed and brushed them and locked them in for the night. She waited outside with the horses until she was certain everyone inside had gone to their rooms, their decisions made.

The moon was high and the insects of the wetlands creaked and buzzed under the stars when she went back inside and climbed the stairs to the room she would share with the other women, her heart in her throat at the thought of what opinions she might find waiting.

---

Just as the sky was turning gray with the first light, Kettle was already outside among the misty puddles and weeds, fitting Grom with his saddle and packing provisions for the journey ahead.

Far to the north, across the flat expanse of mud and fog, the mouth of the Unnamed Forest gaped dark between the hills, crowned with spikes of rock in the clouded distance.

"I've followed this trail for ten years," she told them with gravity. "Books, scraps of paper, stories, hearsay, strange formations in the ground and areas where the wildlife is far stranger than most. It started as a hobby -- a passing interest -- but in the past year I've noticed that I'm being followed. Everywhere I go, now, there are people watching me with odd-colored eyes, with a distinct tattoo of a bird on the side of their throats." Kettle scanned their faces, wondering if any of them had met such a person on their way to the wetlands. "I've discovered that they call themselves Magpies, but little else. I've never been able to get close enough to one to ask them myself -- they have a skill for disappearing in a crowd. But two months ago, the people and professors who had been my best sources for stories about the City of Ro and the Seed of Creation have begun turning up dead. Tortured to death, specifically. I've concluded that the Magpies are responsible, that they're after the Seed, and that I'm only alive today because they hope I'll lead them to what they want.

"I could turn around -- drop the trail and never look back -- but I fear that they know too much already; if I were to stop now, it would only be a matter of time before they find the Seed themselves. The only answer is to find it before they do, and take it somewhere where it will be safe." She gave them all a warm smile, and she hopped to her feet and sheathed the dagger again.

Croft listened intently. As Kettle described the Magpies his eyes and ears perked up. There were "Magpies" in his manifesto he had always thought of that as a codeword for something, but the fact that it was actually a group of creatures and they didn't hide it was amazing. He would definitely assist her in this mission.

"I'll leave you all to discuss your own opinions on the matter; this is all I can tell you for your own safety, and there is no map for where we're going -- but whether you come with me, or whether I go on alone, at first light tomorrow Grom and I will ride for Ro. Whether or not you plan to come with me, you're welcome to spend the night here -- guys will have to share the back room, and I'll meet the ladies upstairs. Good night."

Upon hearing that something in Croft's heart sank. He wanted to see more of the spectacle that was the lady Lila. He rose and patted Harry Nets' back with a smile. "Shall Harry Nets be staying the night here? I could use a comrade at my back tonight." Even though he understood that Kettle wouldn't hire anyone from them he still didn't trust almost anyone here. He had no idea which ones might stab him in the back, but he knew he could trust Harry Nets.

@Gareth

--------------------------

Morning came around, Croft hadn't slept all that well, but he never did with all the people he couldn't trust sleeping all around him. He made his way outside and saw Kettle preparing her provisions for the journey.

"Ah!" He exclaimed with a grin on his face. "Good morning, Kettle! I was wondering what can be expected on this journey. One can never be too careful of course!"

That word she used to describe those following her, Magpie, had Leon thinking. Worried more than anything he knew predators hunted for food. Yet it was much different for sentient creatures. Hunters of people planned their battles ahead of time. So naturally Leon thought about when the Magpie were planning their battle. It seemed obvious, to the young man, that a huge group of allies just made hiding a lot harder. Leon wondered if she was counting on their great number to hide her. Among the people were a mix of people: a gladiator, a couple odd entities, and even more people the young man hadn't meet.

Time passing to the night reminded him of the long journey he'd been completed to arrive at the cafe. Sleeping among men wasn't exactly comforting but he was safe among them. When morning came by he was just as ready. A bad habit but an easy one, Leon slept in his clothes with his items in pockets of his clothing. It made it easier to move on a moments notice and he just couldn't have fallen asleep without it all on his person. It didn't help the morning back ache though!

Seeing Kettle he was ready to speak with her. Yet she seemed busy managing this... this circus of odd personnel. Settling for a wave and groggy good morning he found his morning ration of vegetable in one of his pockets. Not exactly the most sanitary place to keep something, his clothes smelled a bit odd from some of the other hidden things. The air in the morning was a little chill compared to the previous day's afternoon so the hunter threw up his fur hood. Looking and hobbling around in the outdoors he spotted Grom and Kettle. It seemed she was eager to move.

"After ten months was it? No ten years... yeah ten years.. you would have thought she just heard about it yesterday." Leon said to himself watching the woman from a couple meters away. Thinking about why she looked so energized made more and more sense as he thought about it. "Did she even sleep.? I know I wouldn't if I spent ten years looking for something and it was just over there."