Larkin wakes up. He walks over to the fire and joins the coversation by whispering "All change has to start somewhere. Every avalanche starts with a single pebble...." He stares into the fire a while listening to the wood hiss and pop as it burns.
"Before the assassins killed my brother, I couldn't understand his ways. He and Quinton were the best of friends...always so idealistic...thinking the world held so much potential....
"I always sided with my father during their arguments. The world was a place to be used for what you could make of it. The strong ruled and the weak served...
"Then I met Vecklin, Flea, Quinton, and Ambermantle. I learned what it means to have friends that you can rely on..... Larkin picks up a branch and begins to absently peel the bark off. He flicks the chips of wood into the fire as he struggles to put his thoughts into words....
"I am the spitting image of my father. Not just in appearance, but in actions and thought as well. But I am better than him. I have learned that old beliefs and prejudices don't have to exist. They can change. I was the sworn enemy of the house of Delthan Ambermantle. I tried to kill him in single combat....Now, he is my best friend and most trusted ally. I used to disdain Quinton and all peasants like him. Now I can see how blinded I was by my father's ambition. Quinton is the most noble man I have ever encountered. He is the salt of the earth...
I used to kill druids, because they were my father's enemies. This day I fight beside one.
"I changed my ways after being around this rag tag lot of people. Look at us! We can't be any different! Yet we're the same. We all fight for a common cause...
"Look at Flea. I used to kick urchins like him out of my way every time I went to the city. I'd spit on them and curse them for living..... He is the catalyst for my reform. I saw this tiny wisp of a boy stand up to a Deltharite assassin who had bested me. He give me a chance to live.... He had every reason to let me die, but he saved my life!
I used to be an ogre. My heart and mind were corrupted by hate and prejudice... I am no longer that man... If I can change, a man of hate and violence, an arrogant fool who believed the world was his for the taking...anyone can change.... Even an ogre....
but it starts with you Lor'hion. It starts with you and me and all of us. We become what we believe, what we choose to be, not what society and nature dictates us to be...
Larkin gets up to gather more firewood and makes a silent prayer to Shada to grant him the strength and wisdom to always do what is right...