"This could be taken as a kindly invitation," a rich, deep voice comments
above the swaying of the branches. "By all the Adored, it is not as if
Terre Solitaire were merely an estimation of its name! There is hospitality
enough there for the most esteemed... or the most infamous. It doesn't
matter in either case- for if one is flawed, as we all are, one may find
this solitary land open to it. Take these boughs, for instance. Each leaf
is a sorrow shed either in the time it has taken me to tell you of it,
or so long ago that the sorrow itself is more of memory than of deed. These
forests cover much of the land, and it is both a heartening and forbidding
thing, I imagine, for travelers wandering through with naught but will
to guide them." |