<strong>Eshalu - with Aeryn, upon entering the Magna Sophia Chapterhouse </strong><br/><br/>Eshalu watched Aeryn's interactions with the boy with keen interest. It had been clear that the boy had not said all that he should have. For a liar, he was undisciplined and Eshalu's observant gaze was quick to pinpoint the slightest muscular tick betraying an ulterior motive.<br/><br/>She could not fault the naturalist's strategy in combining intimidation with what appeared to be some additional form of gift-giving. That had been strange enough, but the boy had taken well to it. Then came Aeryn's threat to unleash Eshalu if the boy did not do as he was told. Eshalu had to suppress a smile. Humans, especially human children, looked upon with fear and mistrust. She knew from years spent in the wild that fear was the sharpest of blades. If her presence could assist Aeryn - her band-mate and the closest thing to a Lodge-Sister that could be found in these strange lands  - find her clan home, that was all the better.<br/><br/>So she let Aeryn take her hand and guide her into that which appeared to be a human lodge. A sorry lodge, to be sure, since it was built of cracked stone and dead wood, nothing like the endless chambers of living wood, still running with good sap, of her Caern home. She felt it would be good to find some respite from the crowds where each human, or dwarf, or even elf, had to be counted as a potential threat. That and the alien, rotting smell of dead, salt water.<br/><br/>"Before," Eshalu said, tugging Aeryn's hand a little to bring the human woman close enough for them to speak in whispers, "you asked me if my People killed for pleasure. I think that is what you humans say and you call it "cruel". You may think it strange, but when we kill, it is because we<em>must</em>. My people, especially the Warders and rangers of my People, hear the voices of the spirits and the cries of the land. We kill interlopers, those who desecrate, and those who do not pay homage to the land. Killing does not entertain us and we will offer the flesh and bones of the slain to erase their guilt. But we must do it. Such is the Way."<br/><br/>She knew it would be difficult for Aeryn to understand. Even more difficult than it was for her to understand the idea of a clan, like Aeryn's, which had no fixed home and no First Growth where offerings could be made.<br/><br/>"Though you find my customs strange," Eshalu continued, "you give me a generous gift in inviting me to the lodge of your clan. Should you ever find yourself in my lands, all that I have would be yours to share like a Lodge-Sister."