Tobias just stared at the boy. “You seriously have no idea?”

“Look, it's been a rough couple days for me,” Enzo explained. “Short version is, I have no clue how I got here and don’t really remember much about before being here.”

Tobias just shook his head. “Well, that makes some other things make sense I guess. Was wondering how you planned on carrying that sword around without a belt or sheath.”

Enzo felt his face flush. “About that… know where I can get those things?”

Tobias smiled. “For a measly 15 silvers, I’ll sell you the belt and sheath. I’ll even throw in dinner at Olena’s, since God knows you’d be ripped off otherwise.”

“I feel like I’m being ripped off now,” Enzo said under his breath as he pulled the coins from the pouch he’d just received.

“Come now, all’s fair here, you're just paying for your lessons,” Tobias said as he smiled at the boy in front of him and took the money back. He handed over the belt and sheath and helped Enzo put them on. When the sword was secure, Tobias led Enzo from the shop and down the road to the inn. Dusk had fallen and the townspeople had finished their work for the day. Most houses had light in their windows and the smell of meat cooking over an open fire filled the air.

“There’s 10 coppers to a silver, and 100 silvers to a gold. We like to keep it simple here, boy. Dinner at Olena’s will cost you a couple coppers, and a bottle of mead will set you back a silver. Absolutely worth it, by the way,” Tobias explained as he opened the door to the inn.

The inn was busy, customers sat at most of the tables near the fireplace and the bar was dominated by a rowdy group gambling with dice. A young woman glided between the tables and approached them.

“Any where's fine Tobias,” said Olena as she slid behind the bar and opened a bottle of mead. “Will you two be eating or just drinking?” she asked as she moved past them again and brought the bottle over to another group.

Tobias and Enzo took a seat at a table near the wall. “We’ll have two plates of whatever is on special, and a bottle of mead. Boy here’s new in town and helped me move through a good bit of iron, so dinner’s on me,” Tobias called to Olena. She nodded in his direction and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Busy tonight,” Tobias mentioned to Enzo. “Must have some traders in town, it's not normally like this.

Enzo glanced around the inn. People laughed and talked and drank, the general din of it all made having a conversation with Tobias a bit easier. Shouldn’t have any problems with eavesdroppers. Olena returned with their food and they ate in silence for a moment before Enzo worked up the nerve to dive back in.

“You never answered me earlier,” he started.

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Tobias didn’t look up from his food. “The sigil wasn’t enough? What else do you want to know?” he responded eventually.

“Where did you come from before here?” Enzo led.

Tobias sighed. “Let’s just say, I needed to leave the north and an opportunity arose here. You know why this town is called Starstone?”

I didn’t know it was called that in the first place, Enzo thought as he shook his head.

“Some rock fell from the sky a few years back. Shook the world when it struck, they said. Back then, this place was wild. Baybreach was just a tiny resupply port at the edge of the world. More likely to find pirates hiding in the coves along the coast than anything else out here,” Tobias explained.

“When news of the stone made it up north, companies formed overnight to come claim it. Dragons, mages, even the king himself, set up teams to investigate. Of course, that led to quite the battle when we all finally got here. In the end, I joined up with a group under the king’s banner. Everyone figured there’d be nothing left by the time we got there, but the dragons were distracted with their own problems, and the mages didn’t have the skill to work the metal. Begrudgingly, they let us through, and I went to work breaking and refining all that starmetal.”

“Why didn’t you side with the dragons?” Enzo asked quietly. “You have a mark, a clan must have been willing to work with you.”

“My clan is dead,” Tobias responded heavily.

Silence grew between them. Enzo didn’t know how to continue. He picked at his plate, and Tobias took a long draught from their bottle of mead, finishing it.

“Starmetal is a rare mineral. Doesn’t form in the ground,” Tobias continued eventually. “Only the dragons knew how to work it, and few clans remain with the skill. When they saw my sigil, the king’s company cleared the way for me to work here, quietly. Been here since.”

His story told, Tobias waved down Olena and bought another bottle of mead.

His power must have to do with working metal. Not deadly in its own right, but extremely useful in supporting others. Can only imagine why his clan was wiped out. Images of dragons struggling against each other, trying to gain dominance, flashed through his mind. Clan members being pulled into opposing sides and crafting tools for war, only to be rent apart. I wouldn’t want to stay amongst that chaos either. Talwen mentioned her mate was caught up in a similar power struggle. I understand his concern when I mentioned her in the area.

“So, what can you do with starmetal?” Enzo asked, changing the subject to something he hoped would be less traumatic.

“Well, it’s an interesting metal to work with,” started Tobias, brightening at the chance to talk about his craft. “It takes incredible heat to melt, but once it's workable, the metal is incredibly malleable. A wire a hair’s width wide is as flexible as string, but is utterly unbreakable when treated properly, though is less resistant to heat. It's lightweight, and makes wonderful rope or ship rigging. Even seen it used to string a harp, though that was long ago. Larger pieces lose some of the flexibility but retain the high heat resistance. Aside from red dragon scales, starmetal makes for the next best metal to face fire from any source.”

Enzo sat quietly and drank in the information as Tobias continued to talk through the evening about starmetal, steel and everything smithing. By the time their second bottle of mead was gone, most of the patrons had left for the night. Tobias paid for their meal and booked Enzo a room at the inn, before heading home himself.

Alone in his room, Enzo sat on the bed and processed everything he’d learned that day. Tomorrow, I’ll grab the supplies I came here for and head back to Talwen. I think I need to find a way to spend more time here. There’s so much I don’t know about the world, and Tobias is keen to teach me. It's too good an opportunity to pass up.