Conversation with a Cow

"The dragon occasionally unchains me so that I can get some exercise. But when he does, he always keeps me tethered by a very long chain, so that I can't escape. But we are wasting time. The dragon could return at any moment, so please start searching."

While Rick, Gabriel and Mara looked for Astra's kit-bag, which would hopefully contain something that could be used as a lock-pick, Freda stood passively not far from the princess. Having no hands, she wasn't really equipped for searching, and in any case wouldn't have searched without being asked to by Gabriel or Mara.

Astra was puzzled as to why the four newcomers had appeared here. Was it the result of some spell of the dragon? And why would the group include a cow - even a talking one? Though it seemed strange to try to hold a conversation with a cow, she did not want to distract the others from their search and in any case they were far enough away for her to have had to shout. So it was to Freda that she addressed her questions: "Why are you a member of this party? And how do the four of you come to be here? It must have been by magic, as you appeared here out of thin air. But whose magic?"

There was a lengthy period of silence as Freda's limited intelligence struggled to make sense of all that Astra had said. For a moment Astra wondered if this Sir Ricardo O'Farrell had been having a joke at her expense when he claimed that the cow could talk, though it hardly seemed like the right circumstances for that. Perhaps he wasn't even really an Allarian knight. But then Freda spoke. Since it was Astra's final question that she remembered best, it was that which she answered. "Belboz."

1. Astra had heard of Belboz. She knew that he was a necromancer with an evil reputation.
2. Astra had never heard of Belboz.
3. Just then Gabriel called out: "I've found a dagger. With any luck I should be able to pick the locks with it."
4. Just then the dragon returned.

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