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"Discreet?" Imani asks Jerrard curiously as she turns to look to Jeremy. "And who is this?" she asks Babushka

"This is Jeremy" Babushka introduces the man. "He says he knows the woods and could help us get through them. And these are," she continues, pointing to the people in question,"Thuskar and Ulster from Shrentak, Jerrard from Palanthas, Malika and Imani from Khur, and my dear friend Locky. We've been through some adventures together that are too long to be told here, and we want to get home through the forest."

"Later." Jerrard suggests, eying the man with a critical eye, "Jeremy?" He asks, letting go of Malika if she moves to do so. "You look like you belong in this place even less than us."

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"Oh, you are a tracker like Babuskha?" The kender asks, shaking his hand. "You know this land?" She asks, the symbol of Paladine clearly visible on her chest.

Looking at Jerrard, "Indeed, so-called civilization", he spits, "is no place for me. I have a hard time dealing with the lies, posing, and back stabbing hypocrisy of supposedly civilized people. Give me the wilderness, where if you come face to face with a mountain lion you know where you stand, a mountain lion wont try to make friends with you, just to turn around and lie about you to his or her friends later, they will either attack because you are a threat, or leave you alone because you are not. No hypocrisy"

To Locky, "Not so much a tracker, as a man of the woods, in all her glory."

"Well, Thuskar and I are from a city, and we're not like that," Ulster objects. "But nice to meet you anyway."

Malika lets go of Jerrard's arm and eyes the rugged woodsman warily, but says nothing.

"Thats an interesting view." Locky says with a really weird look at the man, "Kender aren't like that, well not intentionally, if we like someone we say so, maybe you have never met a Kender before?"

"Can't say as I have. If you are all like that, I might just like your kind."

"Locky is right, those are some interesting views." He glances at Locky, stroking her hair a moment, before looking at Malika, "Locky is, shall we say unique among her kind."

Locky beams, having no idea what he said, "So you know the forest?"

"As well as any human can rightly claim" he says, "She can be hard to read at times, and at times even a child can read her like an open book."

"Wait. Do you live in this forest?" Imani asks the woodsman curiously. "I thought this forest was technically for elves only."

"Been here a little while, till the elves found out and asked me to leave, mostly on the fringe though. But most forests are similar, if you know how to read them."

"Well, then I'm looking forward to see how similar this wood is to the one I know" Babushka smiles. "I know for certain now that the desert is no place for me. I was so busy staying alive that I never got to study the fabled desert plants."

"We should organize our gear then, and prepare to set out," Ulster suggests. "When should we depart? How much time does everyone need to prepare?"

"Give us a day, Ulster" Babushka says. "We should sort through our gear, discard what we don't need anymore or what is broken, and buy what we need. And of course we should ask our experts here what we need for the forest, in particular which kind of food we need to take with us and what can be found there."