Calen and his companions were led to a spacious dining hall. The room was clearly designed for big formal occasions, there was only one large table, with much too many seats for recieving a party of their size.
The Archdruid and four Elders were sitting on one side of the table, inviting the party to sit opposite to them.
"I trust your accommodations are satisfactory?" Asked Vinifer.
"Yes, they were very good, thank you. May I ask how were you able to find clothes that would fit us on such a short notice?" Answered Calen.
It was one the Elders who answered - he was a bear of a man, tall and burly, with long hair and an impressively big beard.
"The Green Lady provides what is needed." He said with a sly smile. "I'm Elder Baor, and I will be the one speaking for our circle."
"I mean no disrespect, but Is there a reason we won't be talking with the Archdruid?"
The Elder looked at him with a cold expression.
"Am I not good good enough for you boy?"
A heavy silence followed.
Then, out of nowhere, Baor started laughing.
"Behave yourself, this isn't time for your jokes."
The Elder sitting next to him jabbed him with an elbow. It was a woman bearing a striking resemblance to Baor, she wasn't quite as big, but her build was still very impressive. She was the one who addressed the party next.
"I'm Elder Lydia, forgive my Brother for his antics. We want him to lead the conversation simply because he's our diplomat... at least in theory. We will all still take part in the discussion though, he'll just ask the big questions." She glared at the large druid. "And you better behave Ba, one more misstep and I'll beat the shit out of you."
As she was threatening her brother the door opened and people carrying various trays and plates entered. Calen wasn't sure what to expect from the dishes, but to his surprise they consisted mostly of vegetables and bread.
"Sheesh, fine, whatever." Baor straightened in his seat and addressed the party. "Since you're our guests, please don't hesitate to ask questions, we'll answer them to the best of our ability."
"How do you get fresh produce in this hellscape?." Asked Calen.
"As I said, The Green Lady provides what is needed."
Seeing his sister getting ready to punch him, he quickly added:
"It's because of the Tree. Long, long ago, when the old gods were still worshipped, a champion of the Goddess of Nature planted a seed in the middle of an empty field, from which a magnificent tree grew overnight."
He paused.
"Or at least that's how the legend goes. All that we actually know is that the tree indeed contains divine energy, and it can provide those in need with food and clothing."
"Why does it look dead then?" Asked Isara.
"Even divine power has it's limits. Under normal circumstances the Tree would grow like any other plant, and replenish its power passively. Unfortunately the current state of the world is far from normal, and It's been wasting away for the last five centuries, using it's own lifeforce to maintain its functions."
Judging by the sad faces of the Elders, the state of the Tree was a touchy subject, so Cassoan changed it:
"How did you manage to stay hidden for all this years? It's hard to believe that a simple illusion tricked the Blightborn for so long."
Lydia was the one who answered.
"Actually, a single illusion was enough. Perhaps you didn't encounter too many of those savages, but for some reason they cannot interact with our magic at all. They simply cannot tell a difference between illusion and reality."
"Do you know why is that?"
"There's a one commonly accepted theory that no one was able to disprove so far. From what we observed, when a human becomes corrupted their connection to magic gradually weakens as the blight spreads.
While the flesh suffers severe backlash when attempting to cast, it's only when the mind becomes corrupted that a person becomes actually incapable of handling magic. Since the invaders are deeply connected to the the blight it stands to reason that they are affected by the same phenomenon."
"So hypothetically, if someone's body was completely twisted by the corruption, but their mind was completely clear, they could still use magic." Interjected Calen.
"It would probably be lethal to them, but yes, in theory they could."
"Thank you for answering our questions so far, I think it's only fair that we answer some of yours now."
Baor nodded and asked:
"Where do you come from? We maintain contact with most of the large human settlements, but we haven't heard any news of a Flamebearer."
Well at least they began with the most complicated question, by answering it now they'll prevent a lot of misunderstandings later.
"So... we're from the past, technically. There's a town trapped in a stasis barrier a few days journey to the north from here, and we've been released from that place merely a few days ago." Said Calen.
He expected a bigger reaction to be honest - some gasps of dispelief and shock, or maybe someone screaming that he was lying. Instead, the druids were were staring at him silently, calmly assessing whether what he said was true.
Finally, the Archdruid himself spoke up:
"If we're to believe you, you'll have to explain how do you possess general knowledge about the state of the world."
Calen took a deep breath, and started explaining their entire journey up to this point.
He described meeting Koravel, fighting Drithen, freeing his companions from the barrier, discovering Drithen's secrets, finding the temple, killing Noctharax, activating the altar, going through Koravel's stash, and finally their journey here.
At some point he stopped explaining, and started telling a story - a fairly entertaining one judging by the expression of the Elders. Baor was audibly reacting to some parts, jumping in his seat like an excited toddler.
His sister was eyeing him disapprovingly, but she was also listening attentively.
"...and that's how we ended up here."
Vinifer smiled a bit.
"You certainly had adventures worthy of a Flamebearer. I think no one doubts the validity of your words anymore."
The Archdruid drummed his fingers on the table and said.
"We don't know where the temples are, unfortunately. The last Elder who was born before the invasion died almost hundred years ago."
"Do you know something about the Guardians then? Or what that thing near the mountains is?" Asked Calen.
"We haven't heard of anyone with that title, but we do know of an exceptionally powerful Druid who could help you find them. Coincidentally, she lives in the structure you saw - that 'thing' is a part of the largest human settlement in existence."
"How many people are we talking?"
"Over thirty thousands. Nothing else comes even close to that number though, Greenheart is third largest and we have under three thousands people."
The good news was that based on this number the civilisation could be rebuilt within a generation or two.
The bad news was how low that number was knowing the context - the capital alone was home to almost four million people, and there were a few more cities that were at least half its size.
Noticing the party's gloomy mood Baor spoke up:
"Are you in hurry to reach your next stop?"
Calen looked at his companions, but was met with non-commital shrugs.
"I suppose not particularly, why?"
"Well, you're relatively new to this world, and we have hundreds of years of records and experiences, if you stay here we can teach you stuff."
"Not a bad idea I suppose, but what exactly would you teach us?"
Baor pointed at Cassian.
"You boy, you look like you know how to fight. Have you fought a Blightborn yet?"
Cassian shook his head.
"Well, I have, plenty of times in fact - I could teach you how it differs from fighting a human."
Then he indicated Calen with his head and pointed at Lydia.
"Big Sis has some experience handling divine energy, and she's almost as good at killing stuff as me. She could give you some pointers how to use the flame."
He turned to Elira next
"You already know the basics of our arts, and our Archdruid is supposedly one of the best teachers out there, he could show you some new tricks."
Finally, his gaze fell on Isara.
"You look like a mage, so the most fitting teacher for you would be our resident barrier and illusion master, Elder Alara."
He pointed at one of the two Elders who haven't said a word yet.
She was a young woman with pale skin and long black hair tied into a high ponytail. Here eyes were dark brown, almost black and she had a pleasant smile on her face.
"How about that, are you willing to stay here for a week or two?"
Calen looked at his companions - they all seemed to be somewhat interested in the druid's offer
"I think we are."