Boldly, Alfred calls out to the distant figure: "Well met! How's your morning?"
The figure raises an empty hand above its head, waves, pauses in its steps, and then sits down on a big rock to wait for your approach.
As you get closer up the slope, you see that this person is an Elf equipped with a hunting bow, arrows, a limp pack, and a falchion. Like those of many elves, his feet are bare. He has no beard. His expression is curious and friendly.
"Well met," he says when you're barely within a conversational distance of about a hundred feet. His voice carries clearly down the slope. "I'm Lligarond, of Dienstal Wood." He says nothing more, just waits for you to speak.