Groon D'Tari

"So i sez....." the goblin screwed up his face in thought. "I sez to her... Da old Man is 'sposed to be wize... an da young one is sposed to be ... umm... not wize. She then sez it again. She sez 'Youse a goblin.'" Chmeorl rolled his eyes dramatically. Despite the problems inherent in the foul race, this goblin was actually moderately respectable. He kept himself clean, always fidgetting with some dirt speck upon his clothing, combing his hair, or straitening out his flag (which was on his quarter staff/walking stick). "She just could not see the real you, could she?" "I was standin rite thar, right thar befor her." Groon D'Tari could not grasp the nuance of what the large cat said. He was a truly simple minded creature. "She was jes lookin at me. Likes she didnt care fer the story. Dat was when it happened. I tripped. Like dis." He got up and fell down dramatically. "Only, dee ground didnt ketch me. I kepts fallin. I think Fharlanghn mad at me. I tolds the storee wrong. I couldnt walk. I was punished." The memory still traumatized the goblin. He began to sob uncontrollably. Chmeorl put a paw on the goblins shoulder to console him. While the goblins tribe had rejected him, Chmeorl wouldnt. The sobs that wracked his body subsided after a short while. "I falled into da hole. Den those others founded me. They lifted me from da hole. I know nots how or who.... I just floated up. So i hugged dem both." Back to being excited, he hugged the grimalkin, just to show how he did. "Oh, Chmeorl, it seems as if you have made a friend." The goblin jumped, squeeked, then spun to face the new voice. He waved his staff/flag menacingly at the new person. "Youse leave JEREMY alone!" He evidently felt that Chmeorl was a trusted friend, and needed to be defended from the Green Man. "Youse keep going. Keep walking. We talking alone." Chmeorl put a paw on the goblin to calm him down. "Master, I was interviewing Groon D`Tari, this goblin, on his recent interraction with the Champions." He then turned to Groon, who was staring at him incredulously. "He was telling me how his God, Fharlanghn, the wanderer, was punishing him for telling a parable wrong to a little girl." "YOUSE TELLED ME YOUSE NAME IS JEREMY!!!!!" Groon shouted "YOUSE LIED!!" Chmeorl hung his head. He had told the name to the goblin that the Champions had called him. He LIKED the name, he did not at first, but he did now. "Groon, it is the name that the Champions gave me. I like it." "YOUSE LIED TO ME!!! I ASK'ED YOUSE NAME, YOU SEZ 'JEREMY'!!!! YOUSE MASTER SEZ CHMORLE." Outraged at this turn of events, Groon was shaking with rage. He was waving his staff menacingly, not at anything in particular, just waving it. Chmeorl looked at his master, then at the goblin. It took all his self control not to smile at the angry goblin. The goblin was angry, but in his anger, he was comical. "Groon," the Green Man said gently. "The Walk keeps going." That stopped the goblin immediately. He eyed the green man critically "You'se know Fharlanghn?" Chmeorl almost jumped for joy. The perfect thing to say. Fharlanghn, the wanderer, catered to traveling, never-ending journeys. The Green Man nodded sagely, "Sit, I want to tell you something that I heard long ago. I once knew an old man who was traveling with his young neighbor. They were going to the next towns market to buy a turkey for dinner that night." The goblin was now starry eyed. He slowly walked to sit before the Green Man, just as a little child sitting before Granpa on story night. "When they got to the market, they found a bird seller. He was a confused seller. He tried to sell them a turkey, claiming it was a duck. He tried to sell them a chicken, claiming it was a goose. He tried to sell them a baby pheasant, claiming it was a turkey. "The old man bought his duck, and the young man bought a turkey. That night, the old man had a large turkey to eat and his belly full, and the young man had a little baby pheasant to eat, and had not sleep for hunger." The Green Man sat back and waited for his story to sink into the goblins mind. The goblin thought for a while, then resolutely walked to the grimalkin. "You'se wanna be Jeremy, You'se Jeremy to me." He patted the cat on the head twice, then sat beside the Grimalkin. "So the furry one sez to me that he's dead. I sez back that he's not dead. He sez he is, and points to dead in the wagon. The other one sez he is, but.... "At this point, the goblins confusion shows. He just cannot grasp that the Ghost Monk had possessed the Fighter. "They look around for a while. I tries to understand, I does. They make no sense. The other one, he just looks around alot. Not the girl or the furry one, there was another. He was lookign around alot. Not talk to me much. "So, I sez to myself, I sez, They help me, so I can walk again. What can I do to help them. I asked. They sez they look for 'heart of cold'. I sez a prayer, and Fharlanghn points the way. I points for them." Droon points off to the west. "I points that direction. They march off that direction. I follows for a while, to make sure they can make it. "They opens a room, and goes in. Right away, I feel it. There was something BAAAAAAAAAD "(Dramatic eye roll, arms moved out wide for emphasis)" in there. They fights for a while, I tried to let them, they need to learn how you know. But I cant stands it for long. They help me, I help them. I sez 'Fharlanghn, help me' and run in. I swatted the monstar. I did. I didnt kill it, the furry one did." He sat back, immensely pleased with his role in the encounter. "Groon, what type of monster was it?" The Green Man tilted his head in curiosity. "Was not a happy monster. The monster had a monster in its belly. Looked like zombie, but with another zombie in its belly. It felt bad." Evidently this creature was of no concern. A casual wave of his hand dismissed the subject. "I follows the other two for a while," he lowered his voice conspiratorily "Fharlanghn tought me to see without being there," then raising his voice to normal telling volume, "they met a gnome who didnt want to be met, then I left them. The third one followed me, he is lost I think. I sure he be fine. Then you find me here." Evidently this was the end of his tale. He waited patiently and expectantly. "You have done well, little Groon D'Tari. May your walk be long." The green man dismissed the Groon. At this statement, Groon stood up, hugged the Grimalkin and the Green Man. "I walk now, Its a good Road." He walked like a traveler away from the assemblage. "Chmeorl, your walk is about to begin again too." The laughter in the Green Mans eyes was unmistakable. "Go watch the Champions, thier walk may not be so good." He stepped back into the stone walls. Chmeorl grinned mischeviously, and walked toward his charges.