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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 546794" data-attributes="member: 143">Book VII, Part 17“Who are you?” Cal asked, the same time that Benzan asked, “What do you want?”  Despite having been healed, the tiefling’s throat was still raw, for the question came out more as a croak than a legible query.  The gnoll did not respond to either, but then Lariel stepped forward—careful to keep his bow lowered and his other hand away from the hilt of his sword—and offered a slight bow to the creature.  “Salvete, custos silvae, ministrator Silvani,” he said, the words flowing off his tongue with a soft, lilting accent.  Cal shot a glance at Dana, but the priestess shook her head. The gnoll nodded, as if weighing them anew.  “Ego vos video,” he said, somehow forming the same accent with that animal mouth.  “I am Zev Darok, druid of the Wood.”  While he kept the spear up, holding it like a walking stick, his wariness did not noticeably ease, and the badgers seemed like tensed coils waiting only for the slightest prod to leap to the attack.  Lariel introduced himself and his companions, giving only their names.  The only evidence that the gnoll was paying heed was a shifting of his eyes with each name, but it was clear that he missed nothing.  “I see you and your companions, Lariel arcane.  You come into the Wood armed with skill and spell and blade, but lacking in lore.”  He shot a meaningful glance at the copse behind them, and the remains of the assassin vines.  “We seek the ones who raided the caravan,” Cal said.  “Our intent is not to trespass, or offer injury to the Wood.”“Injury...” the gnoll said, shifting his jaws as if tasting the word.  It added a rather unsettling effect to his already harsh expression.  He barked, a bitter sound.  “Even if you did seek to injure the Wood, I doubt you could inflict worse damage than has already been suffered.  Evil stalks the Wood, a great and powerful Evil that corrupts the Wood by its very presence.”“The dragonkin... they are part of this Evil?” Cal asked. The gnoll nodded.  “They are part, but they are only the arms, the eyes, of a presence most dark, most deep.  It has taken control of that place that is called Nar’dek’alok, the Weeping Stones.  A place of great power, once, deep within the core of the Wood.” The companions exchanged a look.  “Can you tell us more about this... presence?” Cal asked.  Zev shook his head.  “I have not seen it, and none of the children of the Wood will go near.  Several of my order have confronted it, but it has slain them all.  I have watched from hiding, and listened to the dragonkin, and they speak only of the ‘Undying One’.  No ordinary creature now lives within a half-day’s trek of Nar’dek’alok, nothing but its minions.”“The ‘Undying One,’” Benzan said, his voice now slightly stronger despite the bleak look on his face.  “No matter what that is, it can’t be good for us.”“Dragon, maybe,” Gorath said, his voice as neutral as if he’d just said it was going to rain again.  Benzan looked at him with disbelief, and opened his mouth to retort, but Cal interrupted him, drawing their attention back to the druid.“Well, we weren’t looking for this kind of trouble, but it always seems to find us nonetheless,” Cal said.  For a moment he looked tired, but then he straightened, and despite his small size he suddenly seemed to command the small clearing.  “I don’t know if this evil is connected to all the disasters that have tormented the West in recent months, but whatever it is, is cannot be allowed to continue attacking caravans and destroying the natural order of this forest.  If you can guide us to this place, Zev, this ‘Weeping Stones,’ then we will do our best to find out the nature of this threat, and, if it is within our power, deal with it.”Lariel and Gorath exchanged a quick look, but after a moment, the elf nodded, adding his assent.  Lok and Dana wore stares of equal determination, and although Benzan shook his head and mumbled something inaudible, he did not offer further dissent. The druid masked his own feelings, fixing them all with an intense look that they returned unblinking.  Finally, he nodded.  “I will take you there.”Benzan groaned.</blockquote>

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