Townsfolk (old-timer) · West Isle (2nd island), Rustwater (far-end exit town under the Spires) (seated).
Talk
- “They call me Old Moss. Because I'm old. And I don't move much. Things grow on you out here if you sit long enough. I've sat long enough.”
- “This is Rustwater. Folks named it after the water. It's rusty. Nobody knows why. There's no iron in it. There's no anything in it. Including fish. Mostly.”
- “Up the hill there's the last crypt on this island. Something big and shiny lives at the bottom. Fella went down there with a lantern. Came back up with no lantern. Said the thing reflected it back at him so hard he dropped it. That's a strange way to lose a lantern. But I believe him.”
- “Over the water south-west there's another island. All sand. A town on it called Last Chance. I've never been. Name puts me off. I'm not ready for my last chance. I'm still working through my first one.”
- “Back the other way is Ashen Landing, where the boats come in. Long walk through the fog. I did it once. Got here. Sat down. Never got back up. That's not a sad story. It's a nice bench.”
- “Reuben on the dock will give you a boat if you know how they're made. He won't tell you how they're made. That's the funny thing about Reuben. Well, it's not funny. But it's a thing.”
- “Nell sells salvage. Cutter sells swords and boxes. Ira plays the piano in the chapel. I sit. Every town needs somebody who sits. Otherwise who'd notice everything.”
When you walk off mid-sentence
- “Leaving. Sure. I'll finish the story to the well. It's heard it. It doesn't mind.”
- “Go on. I've got nowhere to be. I've had nowhere to be for thirty years.”
- “Fine. The fog listens. It doesn't nod, but it listens.”