Thothalas smiles at the helpful monk; then grimaces as the muscles of his face rebel and the hammering in his head threatens to spill out of his pointed ears. With little reguard for table manners, the elf consumes the contents of the gourd, gagging a little but is already feeling better."Ah, my word! I was poisoned!" he began to shout and stopped suddenly, gently rubbing his temples. Finally looking up, he notices the disgruntled looks of his companions. "What happened to you guys?"
Thothalas listens to his friends description of last night's events. Brave hearts and good friends all!
"I'm so sorry that I couldn't be more help. But I did just ask for tea not a potion of living death. But the information I obtained from Tombin will be of help to us, I believe."
The elf relates how the young Tombin had been apprenticed to the wizard Gareth. Although he was too young to fully understand the wizard's banishment, he did remember the loss of the wizard and once had heard the man's voice singing deep in the swamp. Gareth did not answer the young man's calls, but Tombin often returned to that spot and had heard soft weeping from the darkened wood.
"I have a map... here... somewhere..."
Cadbury's head pops out of Thothalas' satchel and hands him the rough scrap of paper.
"Tombin described the place as a great gnarled tree whose roots cling and impale about a massive boulder. It looks deep in the swamp. Deep and dark in the swamp if you ask me."
Thothalas seems on the verge of saying more then stops. A moment of thought and then he continues hurriedly.
"I wasn't up to my best last night; I've already apologized for that. But there was something else. Now, I'm not sure about this, but... but when Tombin left last night, I thought I saw...well, it looked like his eyes glowed red for just a moment as he past the hearth. I could be wrong. He seemed like an amiable chap, didn't he?"
The elf smiles weakly and tries to forget it was that blasted rabbit giving him a neck rub.
Thothalas
