"I am a Dryad and I speak for the trees," she said, gazing warily at the man. "Soooo... yes, I can talk, and no I am not a human."

She gave him a puzzled look. "And no, it's not uninhabited. You're all here now, so not technically. Are you from Clan MacClatch?"

Arney screwed up his face trying to understand something, Some-ONE! He'd never seen before.

A tree person?!?

Well the writes did always say only the trees with the strongest spirits were fit for shipbuilding Maybe this is the spirit in question. He breifly wondered how a woods-spirit would enjoy being a ship, but quickly realised this might be insulting so he did not say it.

"Yes, it is i, the Chieftan of Clan MacClatch who said so,
i -uh, speak for the Clan!!
-and if you have a claim to this palace i say; MAKE IT!"

Taranis studies the petrified wizard for a moment, then he hears something about a tree nymph. He turns to her, and studies her. He winces when Arney starts screaming again. "Arney, maybe if you stopped screaming at her, she'll be able to get a few words in. Just maybe." He sighs. "I apologize for his.... volume. Just between you and me, I don't know if he knows any other way to communicate." He shrugs. "So, a nature spirit. I'm guessing you live in this garden?" He leans on a wall, and tilts his head. "Do you need anything to make up for us intruding? Some clean water or plant relocation?"

(Sorry for the delay! Was giving everyone as much time as possible. Maybe a little too much).

Alyssa chimed in. "If we're going to help, we'll need to visit your grove. You're from the trees we saw approaching the palace, aren't you? The unusually curvy trees which sorta look like women? I knew there was something up with 'em! Just hold on, I need to tell our 'fearless leader' where I'll be."

With that, the orc lady poked her head into the mausoleum. "Hey, Cyp! I'm gonna visit some nymphs at their grove! If you want me, I'll be out there!"

Cyprian briefly turned to acknowledge her. "Alright, fine. I'll be looking for Anthedon's library in a little while, once we're sure everything is fine in here. How about we rendezvous no later than the evening? Either you find me or I come to that grove of trees. And that goes for anyone else who wants to go with Alyssa."

"Sounds good! See you soon!" Alyssa moved out to speak to the nymph and those gathered outside. "We can visit your tree any time you like. By the way, I didn't catch your name earlier, tree nymph."