Ravensblood Forest In the combat between wisdom and feeling, wisdom never wins.

When he was discovered, it was not by a guard, but someone with a much stronger swagger. The man was deeply colored (almost like mud, but Pendragon kept this to himself); there were hints of gold and tan throughout the stranger's pelt that gave it a subtle complexity. The most intriguing gaze stared back at him, and for the first few seconds Pendragon thought he would be assaulted, for the look upon the stranger's face was hard and almost cruel. It is after the stranger speaks that Pendragon realizes who this is — not by name, but by scent. The columbines, the somber shadows, the reedy grasses surrounding him, all hold the scent of this man; he is the dominant force here, and Pendragon is swift to bow his head to a more respectable angle.

The name of the kingdom — Teaghlaigh — rolls through the man's mind; it is foreign, but vaguely familiar in the way it resembled the conventions of his home turf's naming schemes. He wondered, then, if this was a kingdom filled with druids too — maybe his island was not such an oddity after all? Pendragon does not feel confident in asking. The look upon the stranger's face is enough to warrant a response, and he has let the moment begin to grow stale with all his considerations.

What would he, as a knight and guardian, wish to know from a stranger upon the fringe of the Vale? Having never asked himself this question before, the man wasn't sure what to say — but he couldn't wait forever, and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind: the truth.

I do not mean any harm, I am merely searching for a friend. A woman by the name of Rhona — I thought perhaps she had come this way after we parted. If that turned out to be a false assumption, he would of course feel a great sorrow for having lost her; yet there was an opportunity here that could not be passed up. Pendragon was intensely curious of this place now that he was meeting face-to-face with one of the inhabitants, and thus he added without thinking: You have chosen a wonderful location for your settlement, if I may say so, my liege. There was no doubt in his mind that he was, in some capacity or another, meeting someone of importance, and thus he had to include some sort of title.