Sometime along the way to Yog’s fortress…
“Oi, Coz,” Telosh calls to Gustav.
Gustav looks confused, Telosh’s accent is extra think at the moment, and a little odd, different somehow from his usual Westlander, or his reasonable good Sutheroni, and his attempt at Aegerian.
“What was it like where you grew up? You’re different from Red and the other Aegerian’s I’ve met. More like my cousins, maybe.”
Telosh’s accent seems to have shifted back quickly.
“Aye, you remind me of Gorf, and Sven a bit too…”
Telosh looks away for a moment, blinks a few times and looks back.
Gus quickly shifts back to his normal taciturn face after remembering that Telosh constantly changes his accent.
“I grew up in a small backwater village. Wonderful salt of the earth people. Except for the bullies and the pricks. I grew up like any small town boy. Doing chores and harvesting crops. Having sword fights with sticks. Lots of mud. Funerals with pine coffins.
I had an aunt that had a cabin outside of the village. She believed in superstition and was not encouraged to live nearby but I would visit and she was sweet. There were rumors that she traded plants with gnomes but I didn’t see it or believe it.”
Gus looks into the distance blinks a few times and looks back.
Telosh smiles and looks a Gustav appreciatively.
“I knew there was a reason you were a proper yeoman. My father was the town shopkeepers but we still helped at harvest time.
Telosh clasps the Aegerian backwoodsman by the shoulder, and grins.
As they walk he takes a deep breath,
“Your aunt sounds like a good person, Sven woulda liked her for certain. I’m sorry the town gossips seemed to think she was a gnome loving witch.”
From Alexis who is with Ethelred slightly behind Telosh and Gus “it sounds like she did love gnomes.”