"I taught him his name, and to say that he was a pretty bird," Adia says as she watches Shadow finish eating his apple, amused by the way he scrunches up his muzzle while crunching his treat. "I tried to teach him a few lines of The Odyssey, but that was a little too much for him. I definitely didn't teach him any naughty words, that was my dad's fault."

Adia rubs her hands on her coat, somewhat surreptitiously. She makes a mental note to wash her hands before eating as she follows Paladin into the inn. "Do any of the animals on your world talk? The magical ones, I mean."