The crew celebrated their return with mugs of ale held high. Serril had recounted the events to the party on the way back. By the time they reached the ship, Oats had already spread the word of their success. The revelry began the moment they stepped foot onto the deck, and Murphy was celebrated under his new name. It was tradition among most humans to celebrate a name given. To say that sailors aboard the 'Lady Luck' were superstitious would be an understatement, so they weren't about to ignore a tradition. Even May lifted a mug to him. In the past two weeks, she'd grown comfortable enough with the crew to mingle among them without her hood. She was entirely bald underneath, and had distinctive pointed ears. He'd never met a person with pointed ears, so he found the fact intriguing.

Oats prepared a feast of swordfish and craftily prepared vegetables for the occupants of the vessel. They had another traveller aboard, though he mostly kept to his cabin, even he joined for the meal. By the end of the night, Murphy was convinced that the title of Eseyfirr was a glorious one, despite its foreboding context. The older he got, the more he was likened to Eseyrakir, and that fact had a pit growing in his stomach.

~~

Three days passed, and he was standing eagerly at the edge of the ship, staring with wonder at the floating Island they approached. He'd never seen one up close, his only experience of the flying chunks of land was seeing the tiny dots in the sky when he lived in Malnir. His hometown had a history with an island, though that was long before he was born. One of them had fallen from the sky, and crashed into the young town. The legend was that the crash is what gave Malnir its wealth, as well as a good portion of its population. Their chief himself was a descendant of the island town, his dark complexion being an obvious give-away.

The island they approached had no pyre, since a ship could just port off to the side of the landmass. He was studying the port to see if anyone would be meeting with them, since the captain had requested that their party stand with him when they make land. Having them by his side was intended to intimidate the port-guard into a fair deal and honest treatment. It was apparently common practice, since travelling the Hollows was such a dangerous endeavour. The ship was lined up to the catwalk, and tied in at several points. Some of the crew, Tugger among them, had to jump from the ship to manage the tie in. The idea of falling was enough to make Murphy believe that the men must be insane to work aboard a ship.

They were greeted by three men, two of which were dressed in crude leather armour, holding worn and decrepit looking short swords. The sight of them made Murphy anxious, not from fear, but from the quality. He didn’t think it right for a man to be defending himself with such poor weaponry. He considered that he may be able to make a few coins at a forge while he was there, perhaps he could even replace the sword he'd just lost while he was fishing.

The third man was older, and wore a simple and dirty white knitted robe.

"Greltinig eskey mal, mayuun Weyah" the older man said in fluent Dolmic.

The captain looked around at the people with him, not knowing the language. It was known as the common tongue, though most humans never learned to speak it. The Demai were the spreaders of the language, since it never changed after its creation. Their long lives made language a tricky concept, given that it could change over the span of even one hundred years. Dolmic was a way to ensure they could always speak to one another, and the other races of the world followed behind the god-like beings, as they always did.

Serril took charge of the translation, and Murphy listened along easily. They ended up porting the ship for eight silver, and were let into the village. It was a small island, housing a population of about thirty people, so most of the crew stayed on the ship. Murphy was lucky enough to get a room at the village inn, though he had to share it with Oats. They spent the first day exploring the island. The curiosities were limited, so Murphy grew bored of it fast. Sausage was exhilarated to be out of his pen, so he decided to continue watching over their adventure, since the donkey deserved to be able to stretch his legs.

In their room at night, he was itchy to work on his Runecraft. His own handwriting was atrocious, so he needed Uundah’s help. Frustrated, he tried to write his practice runes with only the O'jin’s guidance, but it was becoming quickly apparent that the idea wasn't working. Oats was sitting close by the whole time, giving them no time to attempt a transformation. He'd been dwelling on that fact for some time, until he decided on taking a risk. The strange man had been good to him so far, and he had also already sworn not to betray him. Keeping Uundah a secret might do nothing more than damage the budding friendship they had, so he asked Uundah’s opinion, and took a chance.

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"Oats, buddy. I'd like to show you something" he said nervously.

Oats raised one eyebrow at him. "I don't know if we're that kind of friends" he said with a smirk.

"It's nothing like that" Murphy insisted. "It's about my staff."

"Can't tell me a turnip is a pumpkin sir. I don't want to see your pecker."

Murphy responded by holding Uundah out, and fixing the man with raised eyebrows. "I'm talking about Uundah."

"I don't care what you named it frankly."

"Do you know what an O'jin is?" Murphy asked, ignoring his friends' jokes.

Oats expression grew serious. "I do" he said slowly and suspiciously. "I knew an O'jin feller once. Had a big opinion of himself he did, and he told Sausage he was adopted. Poor lad wasn't himself for weeks thanks to that monkey. I had to pull the cart myself 'til he cheered up some. Fancy that, ol' Sausage bein' adopted. Silly bastard falls for everything."

Murphy shook his head in confusion, blinking away whatever Oats was trying to recount. "So you don't like them then?"

"Oh I never said that sir. I don't mind them much, I just wouldn't send my kids to school with them is all I'm saying."

"What if I told you that Uundah is an O'jin?"

Oats looked the staff over curiously. "Well if he is, he keeps to himself at least."

"Maybe this is a bad idea" Uundah thought with a sliver of panic.

"It's fine" Murphy thought back, not completely convinced by his own words. "If Uundah shows you his other form, are you going to attack him?" He asked his new friend bluntly.

"You’re serious about this aren't you?" Oats asked, finally catching onto the weight of the conversation.

"Do I need to have you swear it on the medal?" Murphy responded, not letting the man's faltering attention slip.

"No need for that nonsense" he said, looking Murphy in the eye. "I've come to trust you wizard. I'll hear you out."

Murphy took in a deep breath in anticipation. "Okay, it's time to get ugly now" he thought to Uundah.

There was a sense of hesitation from the staff at first, then resignation. With a blinding and hot light, the staff exploded outwards, then returned in on itself in the same instance, forming a glowing rodent shaped glob. When the flash cleared, Uundah stood on his hind legs, with his raccoon face staring up at Oats. To the man's credit, he never flinched. He simply blinked away the spots in his vision, and addressed Uundah directly.

"Hello there. I'm Oats". With clear trepidation, he held his hand out to greet the O'jin properly.

Uundah responded by shaking his hand firmly. "Uundah, it's a pleasure to formally make your acquaintance."

"Don't talk weird" Murphy chastised.

"I'm not" Uundah replied with a delicate and deep tone. "I'm just being polite to our companion here."

"Does he always talk like a lord?" Oats asked, looking at Murphy.

"Only when he wants to seem smart" Murphy laughed.

"I am smart" Uundah defended, suddenly feeling like the butt of a joke.

"And I'm the chief of Malnir."

"You’re the chief of stupid."

Oats held his hand up, drawing the attention of both of them. When they stopped bickering, he spoke. "So does this make you a Warlock then?" He asked, the question nearly taking the air from the room.

Murphy gulped. "I am" he said slowly. "Is that going to be a problem?"

The man considered it for some time, the look of deep contemplation was set firmly into his eyes. After a full minute of silence, he brought forth his medallion. "I need the same oath from you sir" he said, holding it out. "I trust you wizard, but I need to know that Sausage and I are safe by your side."

Murphy nodded, a feeling of relief bringing his breath back to him. He summoned his own medallion. This time, it had mud on it. He wondered where it was before that moment.

"I will not betray you friend, and I will do what is within my power to keep you and Sausage unharmed. I swear it on the medallions honour."

"And I swear I'll keep this secret for you, unless you are to tell me otherwise."

They sat in silence for a while longer, feeling the tension ease. The rest of the night went along smoothly. By the time they went to sleep, Uundah and Oats were talking to each other without any awkwardness. Murphy drifted off to sleep, feeling a lost sense of comradeship return to his sad heart.