Astrid leans over to admire the tattoo, while a voice in the back of her head just mutters that Xio is so cool— “D’you still have it? Like, do you get to keep any of the useful stuff you find, or do you have to sell it all?”

Between history-and-mystery or Xiomara’s expertise, Astrid knows which camp she falls into: swinging swords and derring-do. Let the people in Research figure out what it all means, she’ll back them up in the meantime. And as she leans back into her seat in the jostling of the wagon, perhaps there’s another small seed planted in the back of her mind, starting to wonder: so, like, do the Lords take recruits, or…

But swapping stories of Cool Shit is a hallowed past-time, so she adds: “I’ve got an enchanted gauntlet, it carries two knives. After you throw them, something activates and they come flying back to the gauntlet right after.” Ruminative: “Took some practice to not accidentally stab myself on the return. It rules.”