Jarmok wasn't sure what to expect, this being a time of great uncertainty. Nothing was as solid this week as it had been only a week earlier. Still, when the little man and his enormous wolf friend - whom Jarmok instantly recognized as the wolf he had met only the day before - an image of Jarmok's cave in the hills immediately came to mind.
The tracks that were there when Jarmok arrived had told him that a small person and a large wolf had been there only the day before. Those tracks couldn't belong to anybody other than these two. The thought of how closely they had been dancing around each other brought a smile to Jarmok's face.
Jarmok knelt down and cautiously addressed the great wolf. He rumbled deep and cordially, confirming to the animal that the two had met already. He then whined lightly to further confirm that they were friends.
The large beast stepped up confidently to Jarmok and licked his chin and face. Jarmok suffered the treatment happily, understanding the nature of the animal.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Maccabeus was very happy to see that it was indeed Ashe who approached Bramble, but was surprised that the elder would have brought another so early.
The man who stood next to Ashe looked like a son of the wildlanders, and put Maccabeus on edge slightly. He was short for a wildlander, and his facial features were different from a human's - this man's head and face were round and his eyes slightly bulgy. But the man wore badly worn and mis-matched leather, as was often (but not always) the way with some wildlanders. He was rough in many areas, although he was lean too. The twigs that clung to his thick black hair, which was pulled tightly behind his head, bespoke a certain familiarity with Mahiya.
Maccabeus was about to greet the new comer when the man did something rather odd: he smiled an ugly sort of smile, then dropped to his knees and started to grunt and growl, and then whine, at Wolf.
Wolf reciprocated immediately, welcoming this fellow warmly. Were it not for the events of the last day or two, and the images of so many strangers being welcomed so readily by his faithful friend, Maccabeus would have concluded that this man and Wolf must know each other - but that was foolishness, of course.
"By the Blessed Four!" Maccabeus exclaimed. "Does everyone around here speak wolf?!?!"
Jarmok backed away from the large animal slightly and apologized. "Sorry." He said. "Happy meet." He held out his hand to this new-comer. Upon first seeing this man, he had assumed that he was one of Laren's folk. Upon closer inspection, however, he could see that there were clear differences. They were almost identical in size, but Laren's dark eyes were wider than this man's sapphire ones, and this man's nose was far more pointed. Still, Jarmok supposed, they could be from the same sort of people; Humans were as varied as the differences between Laren and this Maccabeus.
Maccabeus laughed as Wolf continued to greet the new comer. He reached forth with his little hand and grasped the arm of the wildlander, in the manner of his people. Jarmok appeared a little confused by this, but he adapted quickly. No doubt he doesn't see too many Dale Gnomes or wildlanders here - I wonder if he came here with Maal? Perhaps they are related? They're both ugly enough. He thought as he accepted the man's hand. "'tis a pleazure t' meet ya." Maccabeus said, trying to make Jarmok feel a little more comfortable. "Wolf seems ta think yer onna level, so tha's good enuff fer me."
Jarmok blinked a few times; this little man sounded more like Maal than like Laren. "Good wolf." Jarmok observed. "Smart. ?ummm, not speak wolf [thumb to chest]. Just like animals?easy to under-stand." He nodded approvingly at the great animal. He then turned to Ashe and asked "How bush move? Like trees at river?" Listening, Maccabeus blinked at Jarmok's clear lack of mastery over his tongue. The little Dale Gnome looked questioningly at Ashe, his brain stuck on why this man seemed so odd, and not really thinking about the wildlander?s question.
