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Drizzt looked at her curiously, but for just asmile

"I was a farht near Luskan Goodman Stuyles at yer service" He held out his hand, but Drizzt didn’t take it "My family worked the land since before the fall o’ the Hosttower of the Arcane"

"Then why are you here?" the drow asked suspiciously

"Ain’t no use for far for their food now, and on like the one that just passed"

"And most of it stolen food, don’t ye doubt!" another ot no patience for a farlanced over at Dahlia, who rew it, they stole it, and burned that what they couldn’t take," said Stuyles

Down the road, hway into the brush, no doubt to try to flank the newco them away

A coupleover to help the wo for the nearest horse as he did

"I would think you would offer a o," Dahlia said to the group, drawing surprised looks from all four, and ht…" she went on

Drizzt’s jaw hung open, and didn’t begin to close when Goodman Stuyles answered, "Join us, then"

"We have other business," Drizzt said rather sternly, aihed and followed the four highwayh, Drizzt did, too

The bandits had set up several wide lean-tos a the rain They proved to be surprisingly hospitable, offering a war drink

Goodh theDrizzt for tales of Icewind Dale--old adventures that had apparently becoendary in these parts so many years later Drizzt had never fancied himself a storyteller, but he complied with the requests, and soon found quite the audience--a dozen or so--sitting around hi intently

Most of those drifted off to sleep as the fires burned low, but a couple reht you have now that brings you south of that forsaken land?" asked one of them, a tall man named Hadencourt, after Drizzt had finished the story of battling a white dragon in an ice cave

"We’re on our way to Luskan," Drizzt answered, "to inquire after some old friends"

"And then to Neverwinter Wood, eh?" Dahlia added, and Drizzt couldn’t react fast enough to suppress his surprise at her inclusion of that tidbit

"There’s a great battle raging there," farmer Stuyles remarked

"Neverwinter Wood?" Hadencourt pressed "What would bring a drow elf and a"--he looked rather curiously at Dahlia, as if not quite knohat to make of her--"a lady such as yourself to that war-scarred place?"

Dahlia started to reply, but Drizzt spoke over her "We’re adventurers It would seem that Neverwinter Wood is now a place of adventure!" He ended by lifting his cup of brandy in a toast "Though in truth, we haven’t decided our course after Luskan, and in truth, we are not even certain that our road will take us all the way to the City of Sails I’ve been thinking that it’s far past time for a return to Mithral Hall"

The whole ti her to keep silent When he looked back at Hadencourt, he noted that the

"Call it personal," Dahlia said, and she never stopped looking at Hadencourt

The discussion ended there, abruptly, with Drizzt coet some rest As the others dispersed, Dahlia watched Hadencourt head off to his lean- to for the night

Goodman Stuyles stepped away to speak with several others of the band "We’ll betomorrow," he reported back to Drizzt a few h reach Port Llast and we’re thinking a garrison’ll co with us, then? We’d be glad to have ye along"