Part One
They watched him travel the shaded mountain path through the heart of their village with a myriad of expressions written upon their elvish faces. Some seemed curious, others wary, while still more were impassive, but mostly he saw excitement. They were all dressed alike, if in fact they could be said to be dressed at all. They were mostly naked, with only a thin strip of loincloth draped between their thighs, and their bare breasts and bellies exposed to the sun’s warmth. The villagers stood in a crowd fronting their modest thatched roof huts; mothers and their daughters, young women, youngling girls, and crones with silvery hair and wizened, weathered faces.
Drinnen stole quick glances as he led his pack mule along the village thoroughfare, its grade growing ever steeper as he neared the Queen’s Hill. His destination was the formidable fortress of felled trees and set stone that loomed at its crest. He looked over his shoulder to see the thread of his path vanish as the villagers fell in procession behind him. His hefty walking pack was a great weight upon his shoulders, and his legs and back were weary from many days of foot travel, but onward he trod. Ranger, his trusty mule, ever followed him, and was packed high with countless trading wares, a hunting bow, and several mismatched pots and pans.