Remembering that Othello had spent some time living in Coheed, Ber didn’t find his answer particularly surprising. The name Rael Quinnson, of course, meant nothing to him, but he understood close friendship and what it was like to go without. Othello’s story of Cambria, however, sent a chill down his spine. He’d heard that some of the Cambrians weren’t particularly tolerant of men, but this was the first concrete example he had of what they thought of them.

At least hunting down any man seemed to have stopped with Nevermere’s influence, for many seasons of soldiers had gone to and returned from Cambria with no such stories. No, the men in the barracks were far more interested in the other activities a kingdom full of women had to offer. Ber made a thoughtful noise. “Maybe you should stay out of Cambria for a while then,” He said, only half joking. Although Othello’s Gift made him more powerful than any Nevermerean-born man, the soldier thought that avoiding a vindictive Cambrian couldn’t hurt regardless. “That’s pretty fucked up, what they did to you and your men.”

It sounded like something the Eldouir would do – had probably done – to the Dresmondi in Elderkeep.

"yeeeah agreed, Regan said a Cambrian woman was in Coheed the night they took me and this woman chased her down demanding her hand me over so she could kill me," he shrugged, "I think it's the ones sister from the clearing...she wants me dead. I say get in line, I defended myself that day."

Ber paused and blinked at Othello. “Maybe you should stay out of Coheed for a while, too,” He added, amusement still lacing his tone. He shrugged. “But yeah, she was trying to kill you first. Can’t blame you for not wanting to be killed.” That incident brought up a curious question, however, and Ber voiced it idly, not necessarily expecting Othello to have an answer. “What was a Cambrian woman doing in Coheed? I thought they didn’t like each other.”

"They call her Wren, she's feared among the Coheedsmen I believe, or respected they let her come and go as she pleases," Othello shrugged, "I was placed so far away from the main parts of the village of Gilead and I spent a fair amount of time on the sea with Rael."

Wren. Ber stored the name away in the back of his mind for future pondering, wondering where she fit in to the whole mess with Isolde. If she was a former Chieftess, was she the one that Isolde had replaced? Did that mean she would help or hinder efforts to install Odina as the new Governor? Clearly she held some sort of power if the men of Coheed feared her… But that was neither here nor there. “If you got to hang out with your friend all the time, I can see why you liked it there. What’s Rael like? Think I’ll ever get to meet him?”

"He's fearless and complicated, when he spoke his words were always calculated and wise but I think sometimes he carried a heavy weight on his shoulders," as he talked about Rael he mentally reminisced on their sea fairing days, "Coheed took some heavy losses: Kaalim the former Governor and his family the head of the Eldouir personally kills most of the man's wives and children, brothers, nieces nephews, and his Father. Other tribes like Raels were completely wiped out. One tribe lost all of its men and another all of its women...those men carry that in their hearts, they won't show it but I think they do," Othello sighed thinking about all of that, "When I'm free of this collar and my ship is rebuilt, we'll go find Rael and let him know I'm fine...you can meet him then."

As Othello spoke of his friend, Ber thought he could see just how much the Coheedsman meant to the Champion, but the pleasant conversation soon turned tragic when Othello detailed just how much Rael and the others had lost to the Eldouir. Though he’d been old enough to understand the motivations behind Coheed’s decision to bend the metaphorical knee to Nevermere, Ber had never given the acquisition of that particular territory much thought. “The Eldouir got them too?” He asked, shaking his head, though the words were more of a statement than a question. “Dresmond, Coheed – it seems like they do nothing but hurt people.”

However, Othello’s plans to reunite with Rael had a smile rising to Ber’s face, even as his heart clenched under a wave of bittersweet hope. Ber, too, had someone whom he secretly would like to one day inform of his continued well-being. “I’d like that,” He said simply, nodding resolutely. “Yeah, when you’re free of that collar and you’ve got your ship, we’ll find him and let him know you’re okay.”