Subject: Salix and Surin, pt 2

Salix hopes that he has been able to make friends with the dwarven merchant. He buys several small but wonderfully crafted items. The price is steep, but after talking with Surin the druid thinks he has gotten a good value. "Doli" Salix asks when he has made his purchases "would you mind joining my friend and me at the next meal? We are new to the Underkingdom and would love to learn more about your people. I am a druid of the Great North Woods but have never really had a chance to talk to dwarves about their world underground."

Doli thinks for a bit. "You two seem like nice folk. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a meal with ya. Mind if I invite a friend?" Salix lets him know that a friend is welcome and they set a time to meet in a local pub a few blocks away. Salix and Surin spend the next couple of hours browsing through a few more stores and show up at the pub a few minutes early. Salix is surprised to see Doli already there along with another dwarf. This dwarf is much older, her beard going white. She is also dressed in leather instead of the common mail shirt that most dwarves seem to wear out in public. Doli introduces the lady as Agrana, an old friend of his.

Surin and Salix order some food as do the two dwarves. The four talk casually for the next hour or so, with the halfling and the ½ elf relaying some of their past adventures to the two dwarves. They do not tell many specifics, but they talk about the locations they have been. It takes Salix a while to realize that Agrana has been quietly interrogating them. Salix shuts up, realizing that he has told her more than he had planned. Salix had not sense any wrong in the questions she asked but was disquieted that he had not been a bit more reserved.

As Surin tells a story about the circus he grew up in Salix notices that Agrana has drawn a design in the potato mash on her plate. It takes Salix a few seconds to realize that he recognizes the design. It is not complete but Agrana is looking at him intently. A bit hesitantly Salix takes his knife and reaches over to her plate. There, in the potato mash, he completes the figure, the symbol of an oak leaf. The dwarf lady looks up at him and smiles "Welcome, Brother."

OODM: I will write more later.