The Clan StarFall

Theron was among the small settlement briefly. Dropping off a parcel with one of the halfings. He begins walking away after shaking hands with whoever he was dealing when he spots Merci on the edge of the forest and walks up. "Morning, Merci. What're you-" he gets out before he sees the baby and his eyes widen a bit. "Awww, who is this? Isn't she...he..." He squints a moment. "Aren't they a cute little person?" "Halfing." He corrects himself, slightly embarrassed.  "Halfling person." He corrects again, more embarrassed. He waves his hands, tripping over his own words. "That is a cute baby." He finally settles on.   

She laughs at his fumbling, "Yes, she is beautiful. Her name is Willow."

She bounces the infant in her arms "She's the third one born in the past fortnight. The Kin - we are recovering." She smiles brightly. "Can you believe it already been a year since the Mother Tree was planted?"

"Has it?" That seems to take him by surprise, and he looks off to the side in thought. "I suppose it has."

"I wager that's why she was named after a tree. I'll refrain from the inevitable 'family tree' joke, since you are in a good mood." He winked.

"From what my parents told me of raising my siblings and I, you've got the harder job compared to everyone doing construction. But, it doesn't seem you mind too much."

She sticks her tongue out at Theron playfully "It's very likely that many of those being born will be named after Trees, it was never an uncommon practice amongst the Kin to being with. But it's going to be even more common now." She brushes her hair back behind her ears so the infant won't grab it. "And Willow is a sweetie pie, she's been no trouble for me at all. Though her momma might come get her soon for dinner." "With everything that's been going on recently, it's nice to come here. Here, my people are happy. They're rebuilding, and they work together. Sometimes I wish the Newhaveners were more like that." She sighs, her eyes - originally bright with happiness, seem to dull slightly thinking about the chaos they've recently endured.

"Oh, I don't know about all that." He leans against a tree. "New Haven is where Robin danced with a pretty girl. Valen won the Feast of Blades and became champion there. Brilwyn got married there. The Blood Fists throw a raucous party every year there. Brother Brand became a full initiate there. We've had festivals there, even through rain. And it's the place where the people who got your tree back came from."

A halfling woman comes hurrying out of one of the small buildings with another infant in her arms. She kneels beside Merci and places the new infant in her arms, taking Willow and hurrying off. Merci adjusts her grip on the new infant - this one slightly larger than Willow, and rocks him softly. "I guess you're right. Newhaven does have its moments of happiness amongst everything going on. I fear we won't have another one of those moments for some time. You heard what happened, right?"

"Well," he concedes. "I've heard several things if you mean bad news. Which one are you referring to?"

He moves sit on a fallen log next to her, wincing slightly as he bends his knees. 

"The whole Grehlock ritual thing?" She asks, before looking to the infant in her arms "From what I understand, only two people made it back from that fight in the end." She looks at Theron as he sits "What's wrong? You're in pain."

He chuckled and waived it off. "I'm old. Every old person has at least one part of the body that just hurts all the time." He raised a finger. "But I'm a young sort of old." He clarified.

He folds his fingers in on themselves and thinks a moment. "I did hear. Decimus, and someone else I didn't know. It's tragic, certainly. To be changed like that, against your will. Your identity rewritten by malevolent forces." he trailed off there a moment. "I've had my throat cut open by a Greylock acting under control of the drow. Rothe did, back at that fight over the Forest Fae when she had him captive. He whispered 'I'm sorry' in my ear as he did it. It's unsettling that any of them might at any moment be acting outside their own free will."

"But what's more unsettling to me, is what we do if we give in to the fear that causes. Fear is the weapon of the Enemy. And the drow are trying to use it for themselves. They sew their seeds of distrust and chaos, then sit back and wait for a harvest of destruction. All without having to put themselves in any more direct risk." He shifted to her some. "Robin was utterly rejected by girl he danced with. The Tournament Valen won used to involve hundreds of my brothers and sisters and we have not even twenty in the exiled lands. Brilwyn's marriage to Matrim was used against him by the Spawn.  The Blood Fists idea of a party is a fight."

"And Brother Brand, well. Becoming a full member of the Order is actually a mournful process." He paused and extended a finger and booped the little baby on the nose gently, smiling sadly himself before looking back to her. "But I make it a conscious effort to decide every day to not allow any of those aspects to eclipse what is important to me. Tragedies, sorrows, doubts and all such things have a place and purpose. They do still make me stumble, even slow me down. But other things keep me moving. Just like everyone else."

Merci nods, smiling down at the baby as it coos. "I try my best to do right by everyone I meet. And I guess it's sort of the job of us Kin to bring joy to those who need it. But it's hard sometimes, ya know? That's why the Kin celebrate everything. If the houses weren't still being built, this place would be a nonstop party with all these babies being born." "You can't stop looking at the bad, but focusing on the good while it's here is good for morale."

He nods in agreement. "Awareness of our problems is still crucial. Not despairing over them. My halfling brothers and sisters always were more upbeat than the rest of us." Smirking, he changes the subject with a lighter tone. "Is all this partying you kin have had why there is such a surge in your population lately?"

She laughs "I'm certain the initial party from the planting of the Mother Tree resulted in many of these little ones, yes. Parties are what we do. And ever since coming here, many of the Kin families have been wanting children. It doesn't surprise me at all that many began having children as soon as they could. Large families are very common amongst us, not that it matters. Everyone in the clan is involved in child-rearing. The Kin do things very differently than the other races. The Eldest made us special. We are their joy, after all." She hums, bouncing the baby, who giggles.

"Well, I'm back off to boring human land, in my boring human house with only one Greylock to keep things interesting." He jokes.

"I've enjoyed seeing the babies be cute, and giggling, thank you. But I'll slink away before the crying, fussing, screaming and pooping happens."

She laughs "Take care, Theron. I'll be here if you need me. I'll make sure you get an invite to the next Kin party" She winks playfully before turning her attention back to the baby in her arms, bouncing and cooing at him.

"I, uh." He stops and holds up one finger. "I don't have a witty retort for that." He admits with a smile, and  walks up the road after waving good bye.

Merci waves at Theron before standing up with the infant, singing a soft song as she waltzes among the trees - a figure of blue amongst the green. She is very gentle with the child, rocking him as she moves in a near-dance. Occasionally she will stop and show the child a leaf. "Oak," she says to the baby, teaching him about his new home, even as young as he is.