The full clanking of greystone on greystone was a harbinger of the approach of one of the Good Neighbors. The small, broad-built Boulder that walked like a man. “This is a promising start to our journey,” it said, proving itself capable of speaking like a man as well, “don't you think so too, friend?”<br/><br/>Friend. He would not have expected to be addressed in such a way by one of the Fair Folk. They were cunning and dangerous, in the tales of the Aruch. But they also never spoke a lie - although, in their mouths, the truth could become a lie. “This is a gathering of heroes, and the spirits love courage and mighty deeds. It cannot help but be promising.”<br/><br/>Turning slightly, he met the gaze of the walking boulder.  Shockingly, up close, it appeared to be more like a man dressed in skins made of greystone.  What a terrible place the Otherworld must be, he decided, if the beasts there had such hides. “And I shall be honored to know you as a friend, and to return the friendship you show me. I am Gall.”<br/><br/>“They called you the Far-Seeing.” One of the Melken had moved to join them, the man with the gaze of eagles.  “Everyone else here was called by where they are from or what tribe or race they belong to you. But not you.” The man wagged his finger with a grin. “You get the title of a good ballad to go with your name. Why is that? Will we get to know or is that more guarded than the lost gold of a Crescent King?”<br/><br/>Gall laughed at that, a booming sound that filled the clearing. “There is no secret,” he assured the man. “All among the clan of the Black Elk receive a gift-name, describing a quality of reknown. My mother was the Beautiful. My grandmother the Swift-Runner, my uncle the Tusk-Breaker. But it was difficult when the clan came to determine my gift name, for they are not needlessly cruel.”<br/><br/>Grnning, he made a gesture encompassing himself. “They could have called me the Ugly One, for my pallid complexion. Or the Weak, for I am slight of build. Instead, they cast the bones and consulted the spirits, and watched me. And they called me Far-Seeing, for I considered things they did not: how could we better preserve food against the season of cold, or the need to observe the expansion of the<i>Melken</i>settlements, or the way the patterns of the fires of night moved in a great wheel over the seasons.”<br/><br/>His smile grew whistful. “It was the Black Elk way of recognizing that all may contribute, even a sickly weakling.  But how are you known, and what story lies behind it?”