"Alright! I'll see you later tonight!" Kalram said, then bolted out of the house.

---

"Thanks for letting me know," Emtardas said, "These old bones have a hard enough time keeping up with zir wandering about." Emtardas always acted older than he appeared. "alright, let's go." Emtardas headed out, with Reas following close behind. Reas turned to Elizabeth and waved goodbye.

Eline smiled and grabbed her bow and arrow, supposing she might as well kill some by hunting.

Elizabeth waved back to Reas as ze left, before starting to count the herbs she had in stock to see if she needed to get more.

At around sunset, tables were laid out in the village's main square with a table reserved for pots and dishes of food prepared by the various families, while a spit was set up, roasting a cow from Grom's farm in traditional orcish fashion. While for the most part the families together, there were enough people who didn't sit with their families to allow mingling. For the msot part, Illithor, Talila, and Ryul were the guests of honor, and while some people came to introduce themselves, others didn't want to be pushy and wanted to let them approach when they felt comfortable.

Ilithor, Talila and Ryul were sitting together for a moment, but Ryul soon got up to introduce himself to the villagers he hadn't seen before. Ilithor and Talila seemed to take little longer before they got up to introduce themselves, which had more to do with Talila being being shy than with Ilithor. The man didn't seem to mind it, though.

Seeing Ryul, Gil approached, "These are my two triplet brothers, Balio, and Sunder," he said, pointing to a stern-looking dwarf with his hair dyed blonde, and a calm-looking dwarf with his hair dyed black. "While I follow in our father's footsteps as a carpenter and lumberjack, they're miners."

"A pleasure to meet you," Sunder, the one with black hair, said. Balio nodded.

Meanwhile, the triplets' father, Harin approached Illithor, a glow in his eyes, "Since you're a fisherman, I was thinking of building your house near the river. How big do you want the house? How big a family are you planning on raising?" he asked, giving Illithor a nudge and a wink, looking over at Talila. "Are you up for anything unique? Like maybe a house that crosses over the river like a bridge or something like that?"

Benna, Harin's wife, and Jeel, Grom's wife, went to chat with Talila and welcome her to the town. "Do you need anything, like clothes and sheets?" Jeel asked, being the town tailor. While they probably didn't have need for sheets considering they were staying at the inn, clothes were a lot more difficult to just borrow from others.

Zaria and Lannis, Grom's daughters, were chatting with Teann, while the smaller children were running around, goofing off, while Emtardas kept an eye on them. Bormash was taking care of the spit. Malkas and Anya enjoyed their dinner, letting the other townsfolk meet the new arrivals, since they had had Illithor and Talila to themselves all day and will see them everyday for a while and will have plenty of time to get to know them in the future.

Ryul looked at the two brothers Gil introduced him to, and showed the two of them a friendly smile. "It's nice to meet both of you." He said to them.

Ilithor listened to Harin's questions and smiled. "I think something simple and normal would be the best. And I was thinking of just three children, but it also depends on what Talila wants. She can be very convincing." Ilithor said to Harin.

"Well, we don't need any sheets for now, but I suppose we could use some more clothes." Talila said to Jeel. If anything, the villagers were quite straight to the point.

"I didn't know that you're into green skinned males." Eline said to Elizabeth with a grin, when she saw the fairy looking at Bormash, catching her by surprise and causing the fairy to blush a little. "Is it really that obvious?" Elizabeth asked, at which Eline nodded. "Well, if you stare at someone with that look of yours the whole time than yes, it's very obvious."

"As our new merchant, you kind of got the short end of the stick," Balio said, "You'll have to deal with Emtardas most of the time."

"That's not very nice," Sunder said calmly.

"What?" Balio replied, "He's pretty weird. Claims to be an emperor or something."

---

"HAHA!" Harin bellowed, giving Illithor a hearty slap on the back, "If the missus wants more children, it's hard to say no, eh?"

---

"Great, you can come see me tomorrow, and I'll take your measurements, as well as any requests you may have concerning your personal style," Jeel replied, "but enough about that, I hope you like it here and that you feel safe. I take it it's been a hard journey?"

"He doesn't seem that weird to me." Ryul said. Then again he had seen the man only for a brief moment, so that wasn't exactly long enough to get to know someone.

Ilithor grinned. "Yeah. When she wants something, there's no way of talking it out of her head or convincing her otherwise."

Talila nodded. "Yes, the journey was quite a tough one. But luckily, I didn't have to travel all of it on my own." She said with a smile.

"He is alone now, why don't you go talk to him?" Eline asked Elizabeth. "What? No, I'll just make a fool out of myself." The fairy quickly answered, at which Eline sighed. "You won't know for sure unless you try it. Besides, it's still better than just staring at him from a distance." Eline said. "Well, I guess you're right..." Elizabeth said, though still not seeming too convinced about it. Regardless, she walked over to where Bormash was sitting. "Hey Bormash. Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked him.

Ryul and the triplets' conversation as interrupted when a small dwarf girl came up to Sunder. "Who you talking to?" she asked.

"This is Ryul," Sunder said, introducing her, "This is Kran, my younger sister." As the calmest of the three brothers, Sunder had a special place in Kran's heart. Meanwhile, Kran had also brought over Zaria and Lannis.

"I'm Zaria," she introduced herself confidently, putting a fist to her chest, "and this is Lannis," she said, motioning to her sister, who gave a flustered bow. "We're Grom's daughters; the guy cooking over there's our brother Bormash, but you've already met him, I think."

---

"Hah! I thought only Dwarven women could be be so stubborn," Harin said.

"Living in Soren," Malkas began, approaching the two men, "you'll come to see that differences are more due to individual personality and upbringing, and less to do with race."

"Right you are," Harin agreed.

---

"Yes, it's our loved ones that are most important," Benna chimed in. "And it's a small community, but we do our best to support one another."

---

"N-not at all," Bormash replied to Elizabeth. He was a bit surprised to be approached by the dainty fairy, who usually seemed to be rather timid. Due to his job as the town handyman, he got his fair share of scrapes, cuts, bruises, and fractures, and was often treated by her. He admired her care and professionalism, overcoming her timid nature to provide life-saving treatment and improving overall quality of life for everyone. As it felt awkward not to say anything, Bormash said, "It's exciting...getting new people."

Ryul nodded. "Yes, he helped unloading my caravan a moment ago." He said when the two sisters mentioned Bormash.

Ilithor nodded in agreement. He hadn't been at Soren that long yet, but the villagers who lived there all seemed to be quite different than the average of their kind. It was a nice and interesting thing to see.

Talila nodded. "Soren seems like a very nice place to live, despite the fact that it's quite a small place." She said.

"Yeah.. They seem nice, but I haven't talked to them yet." Elizabeth said. She would probably have to deal with Ryul, to get any herbs that couldn't be found around Soren, but she still had enough in stock for now.

"Yeah, that's his job," Zaria said, "Feel free to use him whenever you need to. So as a merchant, have you been to a lot of different places?"

---

Grom, who had taken a break from the cooking to let Bormash take over, came and sat down near Illithor. "Not to spoil the mood, but have either you or your son ever fought...in battle, I mean?"

---

"Did you come from a big city?" Benna asked, "I'm from Deepfault myself, a major Dwarven city built into a ravine."

---

I haven't met the couple yet, but Ryul, the new merchant, seems like a decent fellow. Keeps to himself, maybe something's troubling him, but then again, nobody came to this town without having had some trouble with the rest of the world."

Ryul shook his head. "No, not yet, but I do hope I get to travel to many different places." He said to Zaria.

"No, neither of has fought in battle." Ilithor answered. He had been just a fisherman with a simple, boring life until recently, fighting never caught his interest, nor did it seem like Ryul really wanted to fight.

"Yes, the place I am from is quite large, very different from here. But I think I like a small village like Soren better.

"I suppose so. Maybe he'll open up about it later, but maybe not. Everyone deals with problems in their own way." The fairy said.

"Does it get lonely, traveling by yourself?" Lannis asked.

---

Grom narrowed his eyes slightly. "It's just as well, I suppose," he said with a hint of disappointment, "However, we do have to worry about the occasional wild animal or monster. So far, Soren hasn't been attacked by any other city or country yet."

---

"Yes, what we lack in numbers, we make up with diversity," Benna said.

"It's peaceful," Jeel agreed, "and we're surrounded by anything we could ask for."

---

Bormash looked at Elizabeth, considering what she had said, "Well, if it gets too hard to bear alone, we can share our problems with each other...in general, I mean..." Bormash decided he couldn't let it be too awkward , but he really meant it. He had a vague feeling that she was struggling with some pain, and wished he could relieve her of it.

"I didn't travel alone just yet, I've been travelling with my father and his girlfriend, Talila." Ryul explained.

"If the village hasn't been attacked yet, then that's a good thing. Maybe some traps can be set to keep the wild animals away?" Ilithor suggested.

Talila smiled. "I look forward to living here a lot." She said.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, I suppose so. Some people prefer to keep to themselves, but it can be very nice to have someone to talk with." She said. She couldn't recall having told anyone at Soren about her problems, other than her obvious problem with physical contact. She'd rather not bother others with her troubles, it was already worse enough that she had to deal with those troubles.

"Well if you ever need a hand, or just company, I'm sure there are people in this village, especially the younger ones including myself, who'd like to see more of the world," Zaria said.

---

"Traps have helped," Grom agreed, "thanks to our Eline for setting them up, but every region has its own 'beast king', sometimes several, and we have yet to meet ours. Call me a worrier or an old soldier, but I don't think Soren is lucky enough to just not have one."

"Well, Emtardas claims to be a decent magic user," Malkas added, "so we wouldn't be as short-handed as we appear."

---

"We look forward to having you," Benna replied.

---

Bormash could see she didn't want to talk about it, but he figured there had to be a reason she was so touch-averse. He decided not to push it and went back to cooking. Looking up, Bormash could see, despite the smoke and light from the fire, that the stars were shining rather clearly. "It's a lovely night," he said to no one in particular.

Ryul smiled upon hearing Zaria's offer. "Thanks for the offer, I'll keep it in mind. I'm sure it can be nice to have some company while I'm on the road." He said to her.

Ilithor nodded. "I suppose so."

Talila looked at Benna and smiled. It was very nice to know that they were welcome and after living the life of a thief, it was certainly much better than what she was used to hear.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "It sure is. I always enjoy looking at the stars, there's something about them that fascinates me." The fairy said.

Zaria nodded, as Teann, tired from taking care of Kalram and Kran, came and sat down next to Ryul, letting Balio, Sunder and Gil watch over the little ones. "So, how are you liking the village?" she asked.

---

"Yeah," Bormash agreed, "every culture has their own idea what they are. I wonder who's right, or if maybe we're all wrong and they're something we can't even begin to understand?"

"It's a very nice place, and the people here are very friendly." Ryul said to Teann.

"Maybe we'll never know what they really are, but perhaps thst makes them even more beautiful." Elizabeth said. It was odd, how surprisingly well the conversation was going. She had expected it to be more difficult and disastrous. Though regardless, she really enjoyed talking with Bormash.

"I'm glad to hear that," Teann replied, "If you want t oget some rest, I can show you to your room in the inn; it's next to your father's."

---

Bormash nodded, agreeing that the eternal mystery of stars may add to their beauty, much in the same way that Elizabeth's unknown past drew him to her. Maybe it was best he never found out about it, as long as it did not continue to haunt her. "Well, it looks like people are mostly done eating, I'll get started on cleanup."

Ryul nodded. "Sure, I guess I coukd use some rest." He said, following Teann to the inn and his room.

"I'll help." Elizabeth said, getting up. It wasn't exactly that she wanted to be helpful, she just really enjoyed being around Bormash and didn't want to say goodbye to him just yet.