Location 573:

‘You entertain me, Captain. I understand now why you are well spoken of among the caravanserai, since you are unique among them in possessing a functioning brain. Come, we are almost there.’



Location 1294:

Hedge pulled his scorched leather cap from his head, scratched vigorously through the few remaining wisps of hair on his pate, studied his companion for a long moment. ‘Not bad,’ he judged. ‘Noble and mysterious. I’m impressed.’ ‘You should be. Such poses are not easy to hold, you know.’



Location 8027:

‘Tempers grow short,’ Kruppe murmured as the commander rode away. ‘But not as short as Kruppe, for whom all nasty words whiz impactless over his head, and are thus lost in the ether. And those darts aimed lower, ah, they but bounce from Kruppe’s ample equanimity—’



Location 11150:

‘Excuse me.’ Both turned at the voice, to find that Rath’Trake had joined them. Gruntle scowled at the masked priest. ‘What?’ ‘I believe we have matters to discuss, you and I, Mortal Sword.’ ‘You believe what you like,’ the Daru replied. ‘I’ve already made it plain to the Whiskered One that I’m a bad choice—’ Rath’Trake seemed to choke. ‘The Whiskered One?’ he sputtered in indignation.



Location 11159:

‘I’m a caravan guard captain, and damned good at it. When I’m sober, that is.’ ‘You are the master of war in the name of the Lord of Summer—’ ‘We’ll call that a hobby.’ ‘A – a what!?’



Location 13561:

Yet all alarm subsequent to said events has grown quiet within oneself, for truths have marched out from the darkness to prostrate themselves at Kruppe’s slippered feet.’ ‘That conjures up an image of you stumbling and falling flat on your face, Daru,’ the wizard commented. ‘Carelessly constructed, Kruppe allows, yet none of you have ever seen Kruppe dance! And dance he can, with breathtaking artistry and grace – nay! He glides like an unbroken egg on a greased skillet. Stumble? Fall? Kruppe? Never!’



Location 14103:

‘You think so? How about some more loudly uttered thoughts, Daru? The display is deliberate. The unveiling of power here is precisely intended to kick the hornet nests. Both of them! Clumsily massive, an appalling absence of subtlety. Thunder to those who had been expecting the almost soundless padding of a mouse’s feet and its whispering tail. Now, why would I do that, do you wonder?’ ‘Kruppe does not wonder at all, except, perhaps, at your insisting on explaining such admirable tactics of misdirection to these squalling seagulls.’ Quick Ben scowled down at the round little man. ‘Really? I had no idea I was that obvious. Maybe I should reconsider.’ ‘Nonsense, Wizard! Hold to your unassailable self-confidence – aye, some might well call it megalomania, but not Kruppe, for he too is in possession of unassailable self-confidence, such as only mortals are capable of and then rightfully but a mere handful the world over. You’ve singular company, Kruppe assures you!’



Location 17964:

We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned. T’lan Imass. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance.