[ Steve manages to hit the nail on the head in terms of how Hilda prefers to learn. Books are well and good, but she’s tactile in her day-to-day life; watching, learning and doing (even if she moans and groans about the last bit) is how she absorbs concepts. His patience is appreciated too, of course. Her marvelling hadn’t landed well with all the locals.

She watches in awe as the sad, comical turkey starts to rise. Maybe she could make something similar but in the likeness of someone she knew. Now that would be a hilarious joke. ]

Three of them were here before I arrived – Petra, Sylvain and Claude. Felix and I arrived together and thankfully we all somehow landed in the Free Cities.

[ Hidla supposes that if one of them had ended up in Thorne or Solvuun that they could have met here or Nocwich – but there was something to be said about knowing that they were only separated by the walls of their living quarters instead of miles. ]

Any chance you’ve met them?