"Who are you? Where did you come from? We do not get visitors very often, human, and when we do, it is rarely an occasion to be celebrated. Why do your people look so unkindly to us? We wish only to live in peace with the Earth, to worship Her, to dig our tunnels and sing our songs. We hurt no one. Please, leave us be. "You are still here, human? Then stay, because we are not unkind to strangers, whomever they may be. As long as you do not bring strife into our tunnels, as long as you do not disturb our songs; stay. Sit by the fire, eat our evening meal with us, and let us tell you stories of our people, and of our customs. But do not stay out here in the dark, for these woods are not safe. We have lost many of our own since this past winter. Shadows fall on our forest, both from within and from without. Dark times are coming, and we have only our fires and our tunnels to protect us. Perhaps you can help? You are human, are you not? The prophecies speak of a human female to turn the tides of chaos before it is too late… "Ah, the prophecies -- you wish to learn of them? Then I will recount them to you, word by word, as shaped in the Soil by the songs of my ancestors. Listen, for these words are of the Earth, and they are sacred. "Long ago, our people came to the Earth beneath these trees, and we were happy, because we knew this was our Dig. To the Soil we sung songs of shaping, and the Soil moved and moulded itself to our wishes. It gave us tunnels to move through, and holes to sleep in, and caves where our children could hide when danger was abroad. Our ancestral Elders carried with them a stone, given to them by the Fathers, and this they kept well protected, for they had been told the significance of the stone, and its purpose. In the time of Chaos, this stone would be brought back to the Fathers by a human female. She would prove herself by committing an act of selfless sacrifice for one of our own. And she would come in the hour of our greatest need to destroy the shadow that threatened our village. "These are the prophecies, visitor, and the times described are at hand. Do you know the human we speak of? Are you the harbinger of salvation? Please -- we have lost more of our own these past few days, and the children weep themselves to sleep in fear. Please, human; chaos comes, and we are in great peril."