That gets a sharp laugh, as he steps aside to let Avery in. "If I was another kind of person, perhaps! But you need not pay, unless you desperately desire what I offer."

Those were the terms he had set, with the forest, with himself. If someone needs or wants him, they will find him; the forest will part for them, lead them to his door. In all other matters, he's nearly impossible to track.

The house itself is warm and cosy. It's relaxing, most of all; even if the decorations range from the ordinary to the macabre (there's plenty of bones, apparently just for ornamentation), it's easy to feel unthinkingly uncomfortable here.

"Feel free to sit anywhere. Make yourself comfortable." Woven rugs are draped over a couch that has clearly seen plenty of use; a chair or two set aside for a table collecting books and papers. Even the floor seems amenable enough, what with the brightly woven rug that decorates it. (Just don't look at the patterns too hard, or think about if it moved or not.)

Ekkehardt himself is content to arrange himself in a chair, draping over it in an almost catlike way. Watchful and angular.

"Mostly curiosity brought you here, you said? Might I ask if there was anything else?"