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’Oh, we have people there, too, up in the vanguard They’d been trying to reach the warlord, but Kallor kept turning them back’

’Now, that’s curious,’ Gruntle murmured

’Kallor says we shouldn’t even be here Says the warlord will be furious So, we’re not going close anyround, in fact We miss Mott Wood -- there’s no trees here We like wood All kinds -- we’ve just reacquired this ah, they seemed to have snapped off’

’For what it is worth,’ Gruntle said, ’we’d rather you didn’t leave the arlum

’There’s trees!’ Stonny suddenly exclaih Marshal brightened ’Really?’

’Indeed,’ Itokovian said ’Purportedly a forest of cedars, firs and spruce’

’Oh, that’s OK, then I’ll tell the others They’ll be happy again, and it’s better when they’re all happy They’ve been blunting their weapons of late -- a bad sign when they do that’

’Blunting, sir?’

Straw nodded ’Dull the edges, e they do is a lot et into that kind ofaround the fire at night Then that stops and when it stops you know it couldn’t get worse, because that means the lads are ready toto kill They been eyeing that big wagon on our trail…’

’Oh,’ Gruntle said, ’don’t do that -- tell them not to do that, Marshal Those people-’

’Necromancers, yeah Dour Very dour We don’t like necromancers, especially the Bole brothers don’t like necro on their land, you know, holed up in some old ruined tower in the swaht So finally the Boles had to do so about it, and they went and rousted the squatter It wasup as left of hi to others, you see’

’These Bole brothers,’ Itkovian said, ’sound to be a forled brows rose ’There’s twenty-three of ’em Not one of ’em shorter than me And smart -- some of ’em, anyway Can’t read, of course, but can count past ten and that’s soo Tell everyone about the trees down south Goodbye’

They watched the et an answer to his question,’ Gruntle said after a while

Itkovian glanced at him ’Which was?’