Tortle Enclave.

"Tides greet you human. How may we aid you?" The 6ft talking turtle person with a worn stave asked Clive as he neared the encampment that held a mix of simple huts made from rocks, wood, leaves and what looked like prefab sections.

Clive paused for a moment as he searched his brain for an appropriate greeting. Something he's had to do when greeting new dwarves was to state his name as well as his father's and grandfather's. Something having to do with honoring ancestors.

The turtle person laughed as it seemed to sense Clive's thoughts.

"A simple 'hello' will suffice human."

Clive cleared his throat before offering said hello.

"Hello, I'm Clive."

"And I am Great Sage Kesle. And it is I who lead my people here." The Great Sage declared.

"You lead them all the way out here?" Clive asked as he looked around.

"That I did. Those other humans were speaking with us about relocating elsewhere. Saying something about a "habitat" they were planning on building that had warm water or some such. I laughed at them and guided my people to this lake!"

Clive figured it was the Feds. He was already accustomed to how active they were in dealing with both the halflings and himself.

"I don't recall hearing about you guys from the halflings."

"That's because we didn't go through your little colony down the river there. The halflings are quite welcoming to some, but not so for others."

"And I'm guessing you are the 'others'?"

The Great Sage laughed.

"Indeed we are! Though I imagine that they are more bothered by the Child of Stone across the way there!"

"Sloth?"

"Is that its name? Strange name." The turtle stated as it waved for Clive to follow as it waddled unhurriedly through the forming settlement.

"So no problems?"

"Of course not! While the elemental giants do not care for one another, they are content to leave us be as long as we keep to ourselves."

"Elemental giants?"

"Of course! They are beings of nature as sure as the stone beneath our feet or the water nearby! Speaking of, the lake thanks you for freeing it from its prison."

"The LAKE thanks me?"

The elderly sapient sage turtle laughed.

"It does!"

"What did it say?" Clive asked, unsure if the turtle was just pulling his leg.

"How should I know?! Its water!" The turtle laughed some more.

Clive's face turned a little red from embarrassment.

"Oh come now dear! I'm only teasing! But to answer your other question. Yes, the giants are forces of the elements. Some, like the one that walks the forest, belong to the stone and will rejoin it again some day."

"What do you mean?"

"Once they reach a certain age, far older than you or I could ever come close to getting, the stone begins to reclaim them and they form the very mountains of our world."

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The two of them entered a open air hut where the turtle leaned so much on the stave that it creaked and Clive feared it would break before plopping down on a bed of leaves. Clive looked around and found a simple stool to sit on as the Great Sage continued.

"The other giants are no different. Sky giants that swore themselves to Father Sky roam the clouds, fighting one another in lightning battles. The sea giants march through the depths of the ocean doing battle in the Tide Father's name as he wages eternal war against the beasts in the depths that would seek to usurp his watery throne. The fire giants sleep far below the surface of our world near the molten heart. Coming upon the surface only when She shakes and rages to unleash fury indiscriminate."

"And Sloth?"

"The giants of the stone are simple beings. They wander and live relatively solitary lives in the hills and mountains that birthed them. Content to let us mortals, long lived or otherwise, go about our lives."

"That sounds hard to believe."

"Well that's the happy-go-lucky version. The truth is that many giants, stone or otherwise, will stray from the usual. Stone giants coming down the mountains to flatten entire communities and stealing sheep. Sea giants that wreck havoc on coastal towns on whims unknown to us. But they all meet the same fate."

"They do?"

"That's right. Eventually the elements reclaim them. Stone giants return to stone themselves, creating entire mountains with their ends. Sea giants create reefs on the ocean floor. Sky giants rain down in vast chunks of hail."

"And fire giants?"

"No idea." The turtle stated simply.

"You don't know?"

"Nope! I nor any of my people have had a chance to communicate with one to ask it! Or if we did we sure didn't last long enough to spread the story."

"Wait? You can communicate with giants?!" Clive asked with a measure of excitement. Maybe he could learn how to actually talk with Sloth!

"Of course! The Language of the Elements can be learned with enough practice, and great patience."

"Can you-"

"Let me stop you there human. It will take several HUNDRED years just to grasp the basics. The humans of our world don't have that lifespan and I take it you don't either?"

Clive looked a crestfallen and shook his head.

"Don't worry human. You don't need to speak the Elemental Tongue to know the child over there is happy and content!" The Great Sage stated as it pointed towards where Sloth had returned and ate his recent catch casting an eye over as he waited for it to cook.

Clive and the Great Sage waved at him, which he returned when he spotted Clive. The Great Sage sighed.

"Poor dear."

"What?" Clive asked confused.

"A young thing like that on his own. Barely a child in a new world he doesn't know."

"So he is a child?"

"He is. Believe me, if you met a proper adult stone giant you would know!" The Great Sage declared as one of the other turtle people wandered over with a simple clay bowl of moss and berries. Clive politely refused when offered.

"So when you said that the lake thanked me. Were you just messing with me?"

"Not entirely. The lake does thank you. What it said is a little hard to put into the Common Tongue though. 'Thanks' would be about as close to a proper translation as I can give you."

"Is talking to the elements so difficult?" Clive asked.

"It is. You either have to be long lived like us to have the time to learn, or you have to be descended from them."

"Descended?"

"That's right. You probably hear the dwarves speaking in their own tongue. That's a remnant from when they were of the stone itself."

"So they could speak to the elements?"

"No. It has since split off and formed on its own. There are remnants to it and it sounds similar, but that is all."

"How many descend from the elements from your world?"

"We all do!"

"Really?"

"Of course! Where do you think we came from?"

"An almighty being from the heavens?"

The turtle sage laughed a hearty laugh.

"That actually isn't the strangest one I've heard!"

"If it makes you feel better, there are a few myths here on Earth that would fit what you believe."

"Oh?" The Kesle asked, a bit more excited by the prospect of a new story to share.

"One I heard was that Man was born of clay. We were hollow and empty and had no real purpose to our lives. Then one day, a Titan named Prometheus took pity on us, travelled to the home of the Gods, and stole the sacred flame from them and breathed true life into us."

"Oooh! That's a new one!" Kesle said as the turtle produced a gourd that held ink and a bit of papyrus and a reed quill and wrote down the story.

"So that was how Man was truly born some say, with that fire we drove away the darkness and spread throughout the world."

"But?"

"But for his crimes against the Gods, Prometheus was chained to a massive stone where an eagle would arrive to feast upon his liver only to be healed the next morning where the cycle would repeat."

"Why are human stories so grim and morbid?" Kesle asked as the sage continued to scribble down the story, gory details and all.

"It's all allegory anyway, not like the Titan is still there."

"You would be surprised how much truth there is in allegory and fables. And how literal some actually are." The Great Sage said as the scroll was set aside for the ink to dry.

Before they could continue their talk, Clive's watch beeped. Alerting him that his free time was up and he needed to be at work.

"Shit! Thanks for your time, but I gotta go!"

The Great Sage sighed.

"You humans, always rushing about like the day will be your last."

"We only live so long, so we gotta do what we can WHILE we can!" Clive stated as he got up.

Kesle laughed as the turtle made to stand.

"I shouldn't be surprised! We probably seem ancient to you humans!"

"Oh? How old are you?"

The turtle balked.

"Don't you know it's rude to ask a woman her age!?"

Clive looked dumbfounded and gapped at the turtle as he struggled for words. Kesle laughed a hearty laugh though as she smacked Clive on the back enough to make him stumble a bit.

"You humans are so much fun, you warm my old shell! You all always look like fish out of water whenever you try and guess which of us are male or female!"

Clive chuckled to relieve a bit of tension and tried not to think of the bruise she no doubt left on his back.

"Well, you look good for being..."

He stopped when Kesle gave him a glare.

"...43?"

She bellowed a great laugh and smacked him on the back once again.

"You flatterer! I wish I was that young! Even to be 243 would be a blessing!"

"243?!" Just how long do they live for, Clive thought.

"That's right! I'm long gone past being a hatchling, rolling around in the sand and trying not to get washed away with the tide! Don't look so surprised. I'm 473 cycles old!"

It was a weird feeling to meet someone older than your entire country, Clive thought as his watch beeped once again.

"Again, thanks for talking Kesle. You sure you don't have any problems with Sloth or the halflings? I can try and fix it if there is?"

The turtle waved him off though.

"Fret not human! There is no trouble to be fixed! You go about your way and we'll be here should you have anymore stories to share! Hopefully not as morbid as the last one!"

So Clive said goodbye to the turtles and hurried back to the colony and his car, and hopefully not end up late. He waved towards Sloth and waved at the lake.

"Bye Sloth! Bye... lake?"

The Great Sage watched him go with a shake of her head.

"What a strange human. Living with halflings, befriending a giant. And talking to the water!"

She cackled as she waved after Clive.