[i]The sun... the only thing shining is the sun, thing here, the only thing...[/i] Wilhelm's eyelids slipped closed as Hap's confusion made itself as clear as his own had felt. His mind wanted to rest along with his body, and even when he opened his mouth to shape something, nothing emerged. It was a battle just to end the blink so he could once more see his surroundings. "No..." The rumble beneath the word eased away quietly on his breath, elongating it into a smooth denial awaiting explanation rather than a blunt negative. Yet it took the troll another long blink to work his way around to it. In truth, he may have dozed a little between each opening of his eyelids. Thankfully, trolls were a patient people, well able to carry on a conversation for several days in fits and starts when time allowed. The longest conversation Wilhelm had ever had lasted three years, between himself and a traveller often walking through his land. He was well accustomed to remembering where he'd left off without needing to consciously scramble for the words. 

"The sun is her home." The place or thing or person where and with whom she felt most at ease. "He likes her temper. She dances with fire and plays on the water. She is our Mother, the light and lifesource. Ahhhhh..." He sighed as the words slipped their way past his lips, each accompanied by its own low note. It had been a long time since he'd told his children any of this, and since they had, in turn, told theirs. But he had not forgotten the words. It felt good to speak them aloud again, and he lost a little of his fatigue as he settled into the role of teacher. "She brought us into the world from the warmth and the wet, and she let us grow. We know she is our Mother, because we can see her so well, and when she suffers us within our eyes are so darkened to remind us that we are her children." 

No troll could see well in the daytime, even when the sky was cloudy and completely overcast. Some could make out a small amount of colour and shape. Most were completely blinded. And if they tried for too long to see anything, they would stay that way. But it made sense to them that they should be sensitive to a Mother's presence. And she was much gentler at night. "Mother is not always kind, little one. She is not easy to live with sometimes." But then, no troll was either. Nature was not a gentle, guiding hand. She was the rest of a body too, and that meant imperfections. "But that is no reason to keep her inside these walls."