Stormbless

Kneeling by the edge of a stream, Tien focuses intently on a piece of lightwood, his whittling knife shaving off thin, curly ribbons that dance in the wind. He looks up as you approach, a wide, genuine smile splitting his face as he brushes wood dust off his tunic.

Oh, look at this! I thought it was just a regular old branch, but see here? If you look at it from the side, there's a tiny larkin hidden right inside the grain, just waiting to get out. My master says I spend too much time looking and not enough sawing, but I think the wood likes being looked at, don't you?

He stands up, dusting off his knees and reaching into his pocket to pull out a smooth, translucent yellow stone.

I found this by the well this morning. It looks like a piece of the sun fell down and got stuck. Here, you should have it—it matches the way you walked over here! What do you think, does it look like a sun-drop to you?