Shaking your head wonderingly and tugging your cloak a little bit tighter to ward off the rising wind you look to the heavens, "Your ways are mysterious Great Mother but I trust in your judgement. Hey Talus, isn't it risky to be travelling alone in these dangerous times?"

"Well...I guess so. But that's half the fun. Anyway, my friends thought I was cracked when I volunteered to deliver the Draken Stone to the halflings. My mom and dad were very encouraging though...maybe a little too encouraging." Digging into his pack he pulls a long garishly colored sock-like hat, "You like it? My mom gave it to me when I left. She didn't want me catching cold and then practically pushed me out the door. Doesn't it get a lot colder than this where you come from?"

Looking at his hat with a raised eyebrow you say, "Uhhmmm...yes it is a fine hat. It does get a lot colder where I come from. The wind howls endlessly piling snow more then two man-heights tall and the cold is enough to freeze your blood in a heartbeat. This is a mild fall day by comparison. I imagine that by now the snow is piled at least a man-height tall and cold enough to freeze your dooricks off you aren't careful."

"Dooricks?," Talus asks and then says "Ahh. I see," when he sees your suggestive gesture.

"Talus, if we are going to fight together against these armies of walking dead that are plaguing the Great Mother we should do everything we can to prepare ourselves before we get there. My tribe usually carry tumble logs and flying stones to build our strength up. Is there anything around here that I could use to improve my strength while we travel?"

"If you want to, you can carry my pack. I've been told it's pretty heavy. Here you go," shrugging out of the pack Talus hands it to you.

Trying to hide the strain involved in lifting it you say, "Yes. I believe this will do for now." Great Mother what does he have in this thing? It must weigh close to a hundred pounds, you think to yourself.

"Do you do anything for fun up there in the north Barak?"

"The harsh climate of the north does not leave much time for fun and games so all the games we play also strengthen and toughen our bodies. We have contests to see who can throw the tumble logs or flying stones the farthest. There are also races across the steppe using sled dogs or sometimes just running. During these games there is also much celebration with great feasts of codo moose, hearty ales and much singing." Looking down at Talus's upturned face you ask, "Do you do anything similar to that around here?"

"We usually play games that involve thinking or agility more than strength. My favorite game is knocking. Each player has a sack of these little glass balls call knockings, the best ones come from the Sanden, and they put them in a circle and then take their knocker and try to knock the opponent's knockings out of the circle. Here let me show you. You can have these," and he sits down on the ground draws a small circle and dumps a his and your pouches of knockings inside it. "Now you kinda shoot your knocker like this and try to knock the knockings out." He flicks the knocker into the circle and three knockings roll outside it. "The ones you knock out you get to keep. We'll just pretend for now until you get the hang of it. Go ahead try it."

Doing your best to imitate him you flick the knocker and it completely misses the circle.

"Uhhh...I think you're going to need a lot of practice. Let's try again tonight when we camp ok," Talus says as he gathers up all the knockings into the two pouches and hands you yours.

"My father also plays a similar game called Knack where you don't shoot the knocker but move it around on this board to capture your opponents pieces. I'm not very good at that one, it gives me a headache."

You walk for several more miles before darkness begins to fall and find a likely campsite. That night you and Talus remain awake long into the night trading tales of your different peoples. You tell him of the Great Mother and Bear, how the people of the Frozen Steppes live and what you have been doing recently. He tells you many things about the Gnomish people, most of which is confusing and hard to follow but you do learn a few things. He has seen a few other shamans but most of the gnomes with abilities like that are either mages or have mind powers. It seems that powers of the mind are much more accepted here. The gnomes are ruled by the High King, the ruler is always referred to as king regardless of gender. The kingship passes from individual to individual every season through a complicated political process which leaves you very confused after he tries to explain it.

For the next five days you travel to Hellenfield continuing to trade stories and trying to learn each other's language. During the afternoon of the fifth day you finally reach Hellenfield, it seems that Talus took a very round-about trail to get there. The small gnomish community, surrounded by large vineyards, looks quite busy and industrious.

"Oh! I completely forgot. It's harvest time. Let's go find my family and see if they need any help," as he trots off down into the maze of grape vines saying hello to everyone he sees. After a couple hours of searching through the maze Talus finds his family busily at work picking grapes.

"Mother! Father! I'm back," Talus yells as he runs and hugs the two of them.

A short discussion later, spoken too quickly for you to follow, Talus introduces you, "This is my friend Barak Moonshadow of the Frozen Steppes. Barak, this is my father Yoder and this is my mother Wedra."

Shaking your hand Yoder says, "I hope Talus hasn't gotten you into too much trouble. He has a tendency to lose track of what he is supposed to be doing."

Slapping Yoder's shoulder, Wedra says," You stop that right now Yoder. He is a good boy and tries his best. Hello Barak. I hope you'll join us for dinner. We were just about done here and since you're here we might as well finish up early." With that she gathers up her things and heads off through the maze.

Shaking his head helplessly Yoder moans, "We're never going to get done if she keeps finishing up early. We better follow her or who knows what we'll be eating tonight. Since you're back so soon you and Barak can help us with the harvest. Let's go."

Noting your bewildered expression Talus says, "Don't worry you'll get plenty of time to talk to them later."