The Hermit was known to be pretty sniffy about disciples who returned in failure. There was a wall of the institute layered with their skins- an ingenious display that encouraged vigor in his students, as well as nicely keeping out the drafts.

That's usually how they start, the young ones. Meaningless waffle.

The mercenary finished his coffee in a single gulp, It must have been piping hot, too. Boy, he was tough.

Ah, you coward! Look at you, running." "Actually, it's called improvising.

Not bad in short, though the last one [understanding the language of animals], isn't half as useful as you might expect, since when all's said and done the language of the beasts tends to revolve around: a) the endless hunt for food, b) finding a warm bush to sleep in the evening, and c) the sporadic satisfication of certain glands. (Many would argue that the language of human kind boils down to this too)

What is a gathering without unseemly drunkenness?

Check out that one at the end. He's taken the form of a footstool. Weird...but somehow I like his style." "That is a footstool.