Fred spent the rest of the night thinking of big drums, and how to use them to signal others. He knew he'd need to strike the drum head with something, but he didn't have an arm to swing a hammer with. He felt confident he could drop a rock on the drum head, but knew that wasn't an efficient solution. He had a surprisingly vivid memory of a man in colorful clothes who swung a big bat at a huge drum, but that wasn't any help.

The night was quiet, and Fred assumed it would stay that way. But just before dawn, a very large group of humans rolled into town. The group was about seventy people, and led by three armored horsemen. Their armor was bulky, shiny, and ornate. Fred felt sorry for the horses that had to lug them around. There were about ten others who looked like armored warriors. The rest were clearly support staff, driving wagons. "Man, these guys must be kings, or princes, or something else fancy," Fred marveled.

The two men (who'd brought a banner to town two days ago) met them when they arrived. Other townspeople came out to see them too. Fred thought, "Wow, everyone's an early riser in this town." Fred was surprised to see the black-clad scout woman come out to bow and talk to them too.

After much discussion and hand waving, the procession pulled up to Fred's big building, and the whole group began to make themselves at home. The group didn't bother going up or down stairs; they took over the ground floor. Out came a surprising amount of high-quality camp furniture. The three knights stood around at the entrance, as everyone else rushed around. Suddenly Fred remembered a song:

We three kings of Orient are;

bearing gifts we traverse afar,

He didn't know anything about this group, but he immediately decided to call them the Three Kings. He watched as the servants erected three… crosses? Afterwards, teams of servants helped each King take off all that bulky armor. As they took off each piece, they laid it on the crosses, so the armor draped around the cross like it would drape on the man. "Huh. I get it. Handy." Fred thought.

Good morning, Fred. Oh, look at all this activity! And they don't seem to be shy about moving into your excellent building.

"Yeah, this group just showed up."

These warriors look a cut above. They may be here to battle the dragon. How exciting!

"You think so? Should I warn Martin?"

I doubt Martin needs any warning. With all that armor, these people won't be able to sneak up on him. But I don't suppose it would hurt to warn him, so long as he knows he can't attack them outside his lair.

"Okay, I have to talk to you!"

That's why I'm here.

"Martin told me about a way Earth Spirits used to talk to each other. He called it Drums in the Deep. Have you heard of it?"

No.

"That's really weird. Martin said it was common for them to send drum beats through the earth, to signal other Earth Spirits a long way away. He said you could hear it, and it was soothing."

That's a wonderful idea, Fred. But there's also a reason I wouldn't have known. I told you the old Earth Spirits were cursed, and were wasting away. Well, I only got here, to Aeru, fairly recently, and I found only a few dozen Earth Spirits were left. And those were in bad shape, and couldn't talk to me, or to anyone. They were alive, but only barely. We broke the curse, Aeru and I, but we couldn't recover the old ones well enough to talk to them.

There are two Earth Spirits, very ancient, who weren't affected by the curse. Their names are Bel'alfalion and Dral Orate. We believe they were spared because they were so isolated from, well, everything. They were both planted at the very top of remote mountains. So they only know what they learned from the few humans and sentient creatures who visited them, over many centuries. I don't think either could have done this Drums in the Deep process.

Did Martin tell you when he heard these drums?

"No. I think he told me it had been 500 years since he talked to a Spirit."

I'm starting to think that Martin hasn't been on Aeru for a while. He seems to be unclear about recent history. Don't go demanding that he tell you about that, though. If he hasn't brought it up himself, he may be very sensitive about it, for whatever reason.

"Okay. So, about this drum thing. Can you help me set it up? Can you tell all the other Earth Spirits about it?"

Yes, it's a good idea. If the old Earth Spirits could do it, I'm sure the new group can. Let me talk to Bel'alfalion and Dral Orate, too. Perhaps they know something about this that they didn't think to share.

See how useful Martin can be? I think it's still a good idea to keep him around.

"Yeah, but you don't have to listen to his snark."

True. But I trust you, Fred. I'll go tell the others now. Talk to you this evening!

"Bye."

Nothing better to do, so Fred returned to observing the Three Kings. They looked much more comfortable out of their armor, and were settling in for a big breakfast. Meanwhile, Fred noticed that the black-clad scout woman was back in his domain, carefully surveying it. He decided to call her Black Mamba, which he thought sounded cool and dangerous, though he had no recollection of what a Mamba was. He watched as she scuttled from lair to lair, careful not to disturb any of the creatures, but also careful to lay eyes on each. The Beetle Brothers, and the Jinpa were both very good at hiding, so Fred wasn't sure that she was sure. But he wasn't gonna stop her and ask her.

After she came back out of the domain, she walked up the slope, and stood at the lip of the main shaft, looking down at the tree. After that, she retreated to the town, and joined the Three Kings at their meal.

"Hey, Martin. I wanted to let you know something."

"Good morning to you too, Fred. What is it?" Gold coins showered around as Martin raised his snout in a truly impressive yawn. It looked like a draw bridge opening and closing, Fred thought. Fred felt a reflexive need to yawn himself, and wondered why since he had no ability to do so. "Oh well, Earth Spirits are weird." He thought to himself.

"There are some new humans in town. They have very fancy armor. Jim wondered if they aren't here to fight you."

"If they wish to die, they've come to the right place." Fred could hear the grin in Martin's voice.

"Yes, WHEN they enter your lair. Remember what you promised."

Martin sighed dramatically, and said, "Yes, I remember."

"Great. Thank you."