Swamped

It looks like a whistle. You can't see anything special about it, but the leader's eyes are widening at the sight of it.

"Where did you get this?" he asks. His gaze is fixed on the whistle.

"It was passed down to me by my mentor," Ember says, handing it over. "Now I'm trusting you with it. I think you have some idea of its value."

The leader nods.

"I will keep it safe for as long as I must."

"Good. Now, you said you could provide adequate human-sized barrels, or something similar?"

"That's right." The leader turns to the small and fast Protector. "Go to our resting grounds and tell them to proceed with the delivery." The little one nods, and rushes off.

"Resting grounds?" you ask.

"It's not easy to get to this camp from the outside world, you know. We brought our own tents and supplies."

And yet they make a point of eating in the camp that's already here.

Well. Seems there isn't much to do now except wait. You wonder if you can get anything more out of the Protectors' leader, since he's in a relatively talkative mood; then again, he might just give you the silent treatment.

Still, even if he does, it's not like there aren't plenty of other people around here to talk to, even if most of the Protectors won't give you the time of day.

So who are you going to talk to, and about what?