Not the Sort of Reunion They Would Have Hoped For

The family was out, but Velus saw Fred and Astra arrive and was shocked by their appearance. Not only were they haggard, but they looked as if they were in their fifties at least. Their skin was more weathered and wrinklied than when he had seen them last. Fred was almost completely bald, and Astra's hair was as much grey as red. Fred still wore his adventuring gear and Astra her chain metal bikini. [One of the backstories, at 284, doesn't describe her attire precisely, while the other, at 88539, has her wearing the bikini.] However she didn't look nearly as good in it as she had when Velus saw her last.

Velus ran up to them. Astra was unconsious. Fred was still conscious, though apparently too exhausted to remain on his feet. "Velus, by all that's wonderful," Fred gasped. "It's good to see you again. You'll want to know what happened to us."

Velus barked in the manner that indicated "yes" in the code that he and Fred had come up with when they first met.

1. "We were captured by the dragon and he used an ageing spell on us," Fred said. "We're getting older at about 10 years a month. Eventually we managed to escape, and now we are looking for a wizard to halt or preferably reverse the spell."
2. But before Fred could begin his explanation he lost consciousness.
3. "First could you get us food and water? We're famished and dehydrated. That's why we collapsed." Since Velus lacked arms, that presented a problem for him.

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