"Old and stone, mostly, full of sadness and forgotten things," Merrill said softly. "So many memories linger in the stone, in the trees. But they're beautiful, really. And they've been there for so long, centuries that the pain isn't so near to us anymore. It's still there. It still hurts, but... They're places to be quiet and learn if you can, not really to fear. Aside from the spiders, of course."