I caught up with everyone in the group chat on what had happened as we made our way back to town. Abernathy proved to be a natural at animal handling, and guided the donkeys back to the city with ease.

  Abernathy had explained that he was a Quokka Beastkin, a marsupial similar to a kangaroo, but smaller and rounder. His family was from Australia, and he loved the idea of representing as a humanoid marsupial in Veil. He could leap upwards of thirty feet at once, thanks to his racial ability. I looked forward to trying out the form, and had told him the story of my unfortunate start in Veil, and my randomized racial assignment.

  He was very intrigued by this, and spent a solid ten minutes peppering me with various questions, giving me ideas. Since transformation was a skill that leveled, it raised the question: what would higher levels in the skill provide? Sure, a quicker transformation, but would mastery of the skill allow for more specific transformations? Would I be able to adapt the legs of the Quokka for jumping, the nimble hands of the elf for dexterous manipulations, the strength of arms of the dwarf? I really hoped so, and was looking forward to working on leveling up the skill this evening, when I had some alone time in whatever room I rented.

  “I was serious when I said you had a new cart, Abernathy,” I said as we approached the city gates. The sun had begun its afternoon descent. It was hard to believe the ordeal had only taken a few hours.

  “Why, though? And what am I supposed to do with a cart? And donkeys?”

  I laughed. “We wouldn’t have gotten out of there without your ingenuity and materials. I’m sure a resourceful guy like you can figure out what to do with them. If nothing else, you can sell them to fund your crafting.” I nodded a greeting to one of the guards as we rolled back into town. “I have been talking to that group of friends I told you about. We would love to have you join our adventuring party.”

  Abernathy gave me a worried smile. “Thanks, mate, I appreciate it, but I’m not sure if I want to go out again for a while. Adventurer’s Guild needs crafters, too; everyone doesn’t have to go out and fight monsters.”

  He shifted as he spoke, and I could tell it was making him uncomfortable. “Plus, I hate to say it, but I’m a coward. I was hiding under the cart when you were fighting those men. Or crouched behind it, at least. Took all I had not to wee myself. I was miserable.”

  “It's alright,” I said, “I completely understand. No pressure. I would love to have you with us — your quick thinking on that explosive stuff saved us — but I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

  “Yeah, that was neat, wasn’t it? Combined a bit of clay, gunpowder, and a few alchemical bonding agents I had gathered. Said I discovered it, did you see that?”

  “Yeah, and I bet everyone else will, too! You’re gonna be famous!”

  He laughed at that, a high-pitched sound that almost sounded like chirping.

  “No, seriously,” I said, “you should patent that. Do they have patents in Veil?”

  “I dunno, but I’ll talk to Fred about it. He’s my mentor — big orc bloke, one of the senior craftsmen at the guild… I’ll talk to him about maybe joining you all on group missions too, see what he thinks.”

  Abernathy pulled a satchel bound in earthy twine out of his inventory. “Sent me to get this. Once I get it back to him, he’s going to sponsor me for the Adventurer’s Guild. Had to forage a lot of things from the forests and plains. It was horrible. So much running and thinking I was going to die.”

  “But you did it!”

  “That’s right, I did! Oy! My skill in Cart Driving just went up to two! So did my Beast Handling! Hah, there’s so many skills in this game!”

  We made our way back to the Adventurer’s Guild and discovered they had a stable. It cost three Silver a night to hold the cart and both mules, which Abernathy was able to easily pay for out of our spoils for the day. We disbanded the party and split up after handing the mules and cart over to a young forest-elven stableboy. Abernathy was excited to finish Fred’s quest, and I was excited to finish Cahl’s.

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  I made my way back to the Fisherman’s Daughter as the sun began dipping below the horizon. I was surprised to see Cahl standing outside of the bar, not sitting within. I was even more surprised to see he was sober.

  “You’re late,” he grumbled as I approached.

  “Sorry, got waylaid. Here, Henrietta gave me this,” I said as I pulled out his package, “and she also gave this to me, but said it would remain bound unless you decided to give it to me.” I pulled out the bound cloak as well. Cahl’s eyes widened and for just a second they glimmered with dark anger. He blinked and the look was gone, as he swept his package into a pocket of his frayed cloak.

  “Did she tell you anything about this cloak?” He asked, taking it from me and caressing it with his thumbs.

  “No,” I said, “she said that you would tell me if you chose to. I didn’t pry, but it seems like an amazing item.”

  “Yes,” he said. He gazed off into the distance, unfocused as he brought the cloak up to his nose and breathed deeply.

  “Amazing is an apt description. It belonged to my wife, and she did amazing things with it. Thank you for giving it to me. Henrietta must have seen something in you to gift you such an artifact, but I will hold on to it for now.” I saw tears welling in his eyes as he held it close and inhaled its scent again, before stashing it in his pack.

  “I will return it to you one day. Ehem.” He sniffed, wiping his tears and running his wet fingers through his hair. “Right, then. I spoke with Helid.”

  “The mayor of Moswynd?” I asked, surprised. I had not expected his trip to be to that town, though considering his reaction, it made sense. It seemed like he had a history with the town.

  “Yes, he’s an old friend. He confirmed your story, as did Cataryn and her parents. And much of the town. The celebration seems to have been one to remember.”

  I laughed softly. “Wish I could remember more of it. Too much alcohol.”

  He smiled. “I heard nothing but good things about you.”

  He took in a deep breath, his hand going to the pocket that had held the flask the day before before pausing, then jerking down and away. “And so, because you risked your life to save the life of someone precious to me, I will accept your request for mentorship.”

  He reached into a pocket and produced the Mentor Chit I had given him yesterday, as well as a medallion that caught and reflected the fading light of the setting sun in shimmering blue and silver. “This is my Adventurer’s Guild token. Bring it to the guild as proof of my recommendation.”

  Quest Update! Obtain a Mentor and referral to join the Adventurer’s Guild. Return to the Adventure’s Guild with Cahl’s recommendation. Reward: Adventurer’s Guild Membership, 1 Copper Adventurer’s Chest, 10x Copper Coins, 1,000 Experience points.

  He eyed me up and down. “What happened to your lute and the sigil of Moswynd?”

  I pulled the broken lute, which still had the strap the sigil was affixed to, out of my inventory, and showed him.

  “By his blinded eye, what did you do?!” He asked, almost shouting.

  I explained my encounter with the spider and the kitsiho. His eyes widened at my mention of the beast. “Raise your hand, let me see the mark.”

  I did so, and he grabbed my wrist, closely examining the white stars adorning my hand. “This is incredible. Kitsiho were once ideal companions for entertainers, due to their limited transformative abilities. But they are notoriously difficult to befriend. It has been decades, if not centuries, since the last kitsiho bonded.”

  “Transformative what? What do you mean?” I asked.

  “They can transform parts of themselves. Mostly small things like reducing the number of tails and wings they have, or shrinking into a pulsing ball of light, but they can also transform parts of their bodies to produce sounds that enhance bardic performances. Their transformative nature also has powerful alchemical qualities derivative from their blood, and their fur can be used to greatly enhance armor, so they have an understandable distrust of society. Just keep being yourself; it will either happen, or it won't. You can’t force it.”

  “Henrietta said something similar, but wouldn’t elaborate. So, the mark, it means the kitsiho might choose to bond with me? Like a pet?”

  Cahl laughed. “No, never ‘like a pet.’ Kitsiho are very intelligent. It is said their ancestors, millennia ago, took the form of beautiful women, to cause problems amongst people. Over the ages, they adapted to be more bestial, but they are still just as intelligent and mischievous. Bonding a kitsiho is not like taming a pet — more like a friend. Or so I have been told.”

  Cahl blinked a few times before clapping his hands together. “But, I digress. Your lute. You will need a lute, or some other instrument to perform your songs. This city does not have the creative outlets that others do. There are no instrument makers or merchants in the city that I know of… but I should have a spare stashed away. I need to gather my old belongings, anyway.” He flourished the box I had retrieved for him from Henrietta. “Let’s be on our way.”