"And you said he was stupid!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk added.
"He was stupid! He was the stupidest person I ever taught!" Old Charlatan looked back on the past. "When I first met your father, he was still a child, quite a bit younger than Lirath Windrunner is now. I was passing through their village during a festival, but it was already dark, so I had to spend the night at a villager's home. It was a tiny village. That evening, the adults and children gathered beneath a large tree to enjoy the cool air. The adults chatted while the children played together.
"In Quel'Thalas, cities and larger villages set off fireworks to celebrate festivals. But their village was simply too small and remote. Fireworks were expensive, and the city where they could buy them was far away, so the adults generally wouldn't make a special trip. Still, the village children all envied the dazzling fireworks children in the big cities got to see during festivals.
"So that night, I used magic to imitate fireworks and put on a little show for the village children. They were delighted, and I enjoyed myself too. The next day, when I was leaving, all the children came to see me off. Most turned back once they had walked me to the village entrance, but one child silently followed me much farther.
"I stopped and asked why he was following me. He asked whether I would come back at the same time next year. I lied and said I would. He didn't believe me, but he still gave me a flask of water. He said he had drawn it from the village well that morning because he was afraid I would get thirsty on the road and have nothing to drink.
"When I accepted his