"Are you Ren o' the Blade?" the leader barked.
Ren wondered if all the town guards failed their lessons in etiquette and making friends.
"What's a simple ranger done to attract the attention of the town watch?" he responded.
"Lord Bartholomew has ordered us to find Ren o' the Blade and bring him to the council. If you are this man, come along with us."
"I'm the man you're looking for, but I have other things to do," Ren replied. "I'll try to visit the council this afternoon."
The knight looked ready to fight, but there was no such enthusiasm among the other guards. The leader fairly seethed as he responded to Ren's boldness. "I will tell lord Bartholomew all that has transpired here. You had better find yourself at the council tent this afternoon or you will be sorry this conversation ended the way it did. I will personally make sure you are sufficiently regretful." The knight spun around and pushed his way through his men.
"Another friend gone, Stolen. Some days you just can't please anyone."
Seated high on Stolen's back, the ranger waded into the river until he was far to the north of the encampment. This section had been the campgrounds for countless invading armies in the old wars. The land was a flat plane with all timber and obstructions long ago removed. The poorest of the poor now lived here, north of New Phlan. These were the people living under the sky. Only the gods knew what they would do when winter came. Frost and sickness would kill most of them.
Happy to be out of the stable, Stolen rode hard. Ren merely guided him. They traveled to the southwest, circling wide around Phlan. The ranger wanted to reach Stormy Bay before noon. The fresh air felt good after the squalor of the city.
Arriving at the bay sooner than he had expected, Ren's attention was drawn to a campfire. Two druids rose to meet him.
"Finally, you've come! The fish is almost ruined," said a tall man. He turned from Ren and bent over a campfire to examine several bass sizzling in a large pan.
The woman directed her attention to Ren. "Please don't mind him. My cousin has a passion for food. We guessed you would get here by lunchtime. I am so happy we were right."
Ren stared. He was completely surprised that these people thought they knew him, but he also stared for another reason. The woman was nothing less than gorgeous. Short in stature but with an ample figure filling her druid robes, her skin was browned from the sun and her long brown hair fell in a shower around her hips. She had a way of looking at Ren that made him strangely uncomfortable.
"I am called Ren o' the Blade," he said, feeling self-conscious. "You must be mistaking me for someone else. You couldn't have known I was going to be here. I didn't know myself until I started riding." The ranger dismounted, wanting to get a better look at these two strangers.
Stolen bowed his head to the woman, something that surprised Ren, especially since the war-horse had never been trained to do such a thing. The woman produced a huge apple from somewhere in her robes and offered it to the horse. Stolen accepted it, enamored of the woman, much to Ren's dismay.
Without looking up from his cooking fire, the other druid spoke. "Please forgive my manners for not greeting you properly." He moved a pan of fish off the fire and straightened up to face Ren. "My name is Andoralson, and this lady is my cousin, Talenthia. We have been sent to help you find Phlan and return it to its proper place. What plans do you have?"
The woman scowled at her cousin, looking exasperated. "You could wait until he's had his lunch. He doesn't even know us. We owe him an explanation, at the very least."
Ren looked back and forth at the two strangers, completely confused and not knowing what to think. The ranger couldn't decide whether to trust them, although he found himself wanting to like them.
Stolen, on the other hand, knelt in the grass near the woman. Ren sighed; his steed looked more like a wide-eyed puppy than a noble war-horse. But animals usually had a sense about such things. Beside that, the fish smelled great. Fresh cooked food was something he could appreciate. He decided to give in, at least for now.
Ren reached into Stolen's saddlebags and brought out a large flask. "Um, I think this wine from Vaasa should go well with your fish," he said, still not quite comfortable.
"Just the thing to complete the meal," Talenthia said with a smile. She produced three wondrously crafted wooden chalices from a wicker hamper.
Serving up the fish on huge leaves, Andoralson told their story. "We've been sent here by our god, Sylvanus. Until now, my cousin and I have been traveling Faerun looking for a forest to call our own. But in many recent dreams, the plight of Phlan was made known to us. Phlan's disappearance has disturbed the equity of nature. Sylvanus tells us you have the best chance of restoring Phlan and restoring the balance."
Ren was still somewhat stunned. Talenthia handed him a leaf loaded with fish, winking at the ranger. Her robes parted slightly as she moved, and Ren noticed green chain mail under her gown. How the woman could show such a fine figure weighted down under chain mail, Ren couldn't guess. But he didn't mind speculating.
The ranger held his fish in his hands, wondering what to say. "I–I don't understand what you're talking about," he stammered. "I have no plan. I only want to find out what's happened to my friends."
"But we believe the evil gods have stolen Phlan. We must do what we can to set things right." Talenthia's voice was pleading.
The last thing Ren wanted was to attract the attention of angry gods. "I'm a ranger, and I love the land as much as you do, but I care nothing for the affairs of gods. Besides, I prefer to work alone."
This last was said in deliberate rebuff to the pair before him. The man appeared to be a capable adventurer, but Ren didn't like his lecturing tone. The woman was far too distracting to be anything but trouble on the trail.
"I don't believe you have the proper frame of mind, ranger," Andoralson said. He savored every bite of fish as if it were some exotic food. For some reason, Ren found this annoying.
"What my cousin means is that we have been ordered to help you. We only want to restore nature's balance. You can understand that, can't you?" Talenthia was difficult for Ren to resist, but resist he continued to do.
The ranger wiped his hands on the grass. "I want to thank you both for the delicious meal, but I must go visit with the town council. I appreciate your offer, but you and your god will have to find Phlan without me. I don't have any plans right now, but I like to move as opportunities arise. You two would just slow me down."
The ranger gave them the friendliest smile he could muster, mounted Stolen, and waved good-bye.
Talenthia watched until Ren and his horse became specks in the distance. "Wasn't he handsome, Andoralson? I'm so glad Sylvanus sent us to help him."
"Talenthia, why must you always flirt? If they're tall and have a little gray hair, you fall all over them." Her cousin was obviously irritated, but he attempted to put his feelings aside. "He appears very confident. I like the fact that he didn't jump at our offer. We obviously have to prove ourselves to this one. The town council session ought to do it, don't you think?"
"Just what we need, Cousin. We should pack our gear and get moving." The woman's eyes twinkled. "And don't act as if you've never flirted before!" Her cousin blushed. The druids spoke a magical syllable and were instantly transformed into huge golden eagles. Lifting into the air, they set out for the council. They would arrive there long before Ren.
The ranger was deeply troubled. He tried to put the pair of druids out of his thoughts, but the woman's figure kept slipping into his mind. Gods, she was beautiful.