[center][h3][i]---  Center of Settlement  --- [/i][/h3]
[i]Early Afternoon[/i]
[@Expendable][@Tally Dor][@Xaltwind]
[/center]

[color=0072bc]"Thank you very much!"[/color] Brom happily accepted the rabbits though he had a little bit of a hard time holding them and the cast iron pot. 

The look of disappointment had not escaped Brom's notice when Sheryl looked down at the relatively pitiful pile of wood. The dwarf smiled apologetically at her and said, [color=0072bc]"Ah, sorry ma'am. We would have gathered more wood, but that would have meant discarding an invaluable ingredient for tonight's dinner."[/color] He held up the big cast iron pot up to indicate that there indeed was something inside of it, followed by the sound of a muffled sloshing noise. 

His attention though was turned to another elf who seemed to be quite interested in what he was doing before telling him something that peeked his interest. He did not need to kneel down too far, given that he was a dwarf,to see the not literal fruits of her labor. Carefully he placed the pot down and slung the dead rabbits over his shoulder. His hands picked the bundle of rice up and examined it carefully. It was so fresh, so fresh in fact that it still has yet to be hulled. 

[color=0072bc]"Well, the tea can be a nice drink for later. As for the grains, we're doing this the old fashion way. Help me separate the stalks from the grain and step on the grains. This will loosen the hull around them."[/color] To show what he meant he ripped a piece of the grain off the stem and proceeded to step on it hard, twisting his foot against it before he picked it up and showed her the grains of rice with their hulls loosened.

[color=0072bc]"See? It's that ea-"[/color] Brom jumped, the bag full of cutlery and pans clattered and bang. Some devil shouted about goblins and loincloths? [color=0072bc]"What in Great Mother Mountain's bosom was that?."[/color] 

Then there was something else; the clopping of horse hooves against the ground. He turned to look at a rather weary looking man on his horse. Now this could have been a coincidence, but Brom felt like he may have seen this man before though he couldn't place the time or place. [color=0072bc]"More like we all have decided to move here. Tell me I wasn't hallucinating about some guy shouting about goblins and loincloths."[/color]