Bleary eyed, he made his way downstairs. Uundah had taken the staff form, and gone back to sleep. The innkeeper woke him as promised, so he was on his way to meet his new companions for the foreseeable future. It was particularly cold when he woke, so he dreaded the prospect of stepping outside. Thankfully his cloak offered adequate protection against that bite, though the idea of walking through snow seemed like a terrible way to spend the morning.

There were two people standing in the main room. One of them was an obvious Demai man, standing a few feet taller than the person next to them. He was wearing heavy plate armour, its jet black metal decorated by a crimson pattern of thorny roses. He rested his hands on the cross guard of a great sword, the blade as long as the tired Warlock was tall. Next to him stood a woman. She appeared to be Human, and wore a long brown coat, the hood was fluffed around the edges by some kind of fur, doing a good job to hide her face. On her back was a bow, clasping to the fabric somehow. The quiver sat at her hip, with a dagger adjacent. Both of the adventures glowed with a range of new and familiar aspects. The sight was enough to free him from the final stages of his slumber. It was exactly the kind of thing he'd been hoping to see.

The Demai man spotted him, and sent a big smile his way. "A mage, now that will be useful."

The woman silently nodded in agreement.

"My name is Serril, and this is May." The Demai continued, holding out his hand for introduction.

Murphy introduced himself, trying not to wince at the man's crushing grip. "I'm going to feel safer out there with the likes of you" he said, looking the big man up and down in admiration. "That's a mean blade you've got yourself."

Serril smiled wide, and slung the blade onto his shoulder. "Taikir-bahneh is her name. Chances are you'll get to see her work soon, big job we have ahead of us."

Murphy turned his attention to the hooded woman. "It'll be good to have an archer too."

She put one thumb up, still remaining silent.

"May don't do much talking" Serril informed him. "Cut out her own tongue so nobody could get her secrets" he said, nudging the woman with his elbow.

"So you two know each other then?"

Serril nodded. "Came 'cross the dune sea from Tane-Blahdan together. Been working with each other since."

May shot the big man a look, letting Murphy see a glimpse of her face. She had an olive complexion, and pale blue eyes so bright they almost glowed. The thing that stood out the most, was the deep scars that ran across the corners of her lips. Serril laughed nervously. "I mean to say, we've been with each other since."

She nodded, and folded her arms. Murphy got the idea that she was being a little territorial. He didn't mind, he had no intention of romancing a man that could crush him. He was still stuck on the fact that they came to this land from another constellation, and it had his mind racing. The stars that made up 'The Blade', the constellation the Demai claimed to come from, were not the closest stars to 'The Fruit', the constellation they were standing in. There was Tane-Esnahkir slivering between them. That was a bunch of stars that had slowly been moving along the sky. His grandfather once told him that they were islands floating upon the sands of the great dune sea. He'd never seen 'The Snake' anywhere other than where it was right now, since the Hollows was such a large place, it took them tens of thousands of years to drift a discernible distance. The stars were something he knew a lot about. He'd dreamed of visiting each one of the countless places he could see glowing in the sky since childhood. The reason he was so taken back by the Demai's claim, was because of the incredible distance that they would have had to travel. It made sense for Serril to be able to justify the roughly two hundred year trip, but if May was human, it would have taken her whole natural life span to just be on that boat. That meant that she had to be significant in some way. Either she was a Warlock, or she came from extreme wealth to be able to afford the longevity magics.

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Before he left them in silence for too long, he stepped out of his distraction and rejoined the conversation. "That's quite the trip. Sounds like I'm in the right party."

"Glad to hear it. Now, before we do anything, we need to work some things out. I won't have that nonsense of assigning roles on the road. If you know what you can do, call it and settle into it" Serril said, getting right to business. He and May brandished their medallions, so Murphy did the same, not wanting to let his inexperience show.

May's crystal was blue, surrounded by a simple iron hexagon. Serril had a red crystal set into his, the metal was the same black as his armour. The red crystal was interesting, but he was getting increasingly curious about that black metal.

"You or me then" Serril said, looking down at Murphy.

"Seems to be" he replied, having no idea what the man was talking about.

"I'm good with logistics, my skills are in combat command. I don't mind if you take it though, wouldn't mind a wizard in charge. I value the opinion of the educated." Serril stated.

Murphy caught on. The idea of being the party leader was a terrible one, he didn’t even need to wake Uundah for advice on it. "Oh no, not me thank you."

Serril laughed, and put away his medallion. "Spoken like a true mage. I'll take the head post then. Next thing is, we need an auxiliary."

"Correct again" Murphy said, pretending to be following along properly.

May pointed to the bar, and looked at Serril. "Could do" he said. "May reckons we put the request at the bar. Sure would make it easier."

"What about our other options?" Murphy asked, trying to prompt more information.

"If you know someone willing to cook, clean and carry, welcome them. Otherwise we can look around the city for a Greener that wants some experience."

"Afraid I don't know anyone in this city. Probably best to put the request in." Murphy said, gaining an idea of the conversation again.

"I don't much like spending my coins before I make them. What if we go looking for Greeners instead? If nobody finds one fore midday, we will ask the innkeeper."

Murphy thought about the options, and decided he didn't want to spend money either. "Sounds like a plan" he said, nodding at his temporary leader.

"Excellent. We meet back here an hour before midday, then we can compare gear and charter travel" he pat Murphy on the shoulder, nearly making him crumble to the floor. "I have a good feeling about this one wizard. I hope you're ready for a fight" he said with a dark smile.

They parted ways with their plan in motion. He wanted to get to know his new companions more, but realised he'd probably be with these people for a good few months. The innkeeper told him the location of their quest. It would get him one step closer to Creeden, and he would be able to retrieve his pay from the next Tavern if he was successful in his mission. The village was two months travel by ship, so they had plenty of time to get to know each other.

He set off into the street on an aimless wander. Figuring 'Greeners' were patrons with green crystals, he focused his search on young people carrying weapons. It wasn’t an absolute, he was proof of that, but he thought it was a good place to start. A few hours ticked by with no success. One man considered the offer for a moment, but laughed the idea away once he heard Murphy utter the word "Wyvern". He was strongly considering giving up, and going back to the Tavern to eat, the cold being as miserableas he'd expected. Skipping meals was something he was morally opposed to, his excitement had distracted him from his beliefs. Breakfast called to him, so he took a shortcut in the form of climbing over a wall and dropping from a rooftop in order to shorten his hungry run. The smells of manure and animal feed weren't enough to deter him from his mission, but it was a strong enough odour to let him know he'd jumped into the yards of some private stables. Several men and women looked at him strangely while he skulked obviously through the yard and around the building. He thought he was home free and about to start into a jog, when someone calling out caught his attention.

"Carrot man?" The joyful voice called. "What are you doing standing in poo?"