[ This first part gets a laugh, subtle and quiet, but there. ]

We had some storytellers, [ he agrees. ] I don't know that we had any of particular talent, but I think most stories met our standards quite readily. Starkhaven, [ a little apologetic, almost, to speak more directly of the ways in which these memories lack ] preferred a sort of imaginative austerity for much of the year.

But after we returned from the Gallows, it was different. Kinder, in small ways, with regards to the children at least. And I remember the young ones would shake Tsenka down for stories, just because she'd always change the way they ended, and more than a few of the adults would listen in.