"She met all manner of interesting beasts, of course," Arha says without missing a beat. The company is unexpected but the grin puts her at ease and she gestures to the little fire she has going in a stone ring. Lief, the horse, peers at the new company and shifts a little, while the two birds cuddle in closer to their chosen mage.

"And a skull named Bob who she liked very much. He was an old soul," she continued. "The woman knew this because of the markings all over his skull."