Meeting the competition

You step inside and are immediately greeted with a handshake from a tall, lanky man with glasses. A bit shorter than you, he has a friendly smile as he shakes your hand. “You must be Greg! A pleasure to meet you. I’m Andrew, as I’m sure Helja and Hayley mentioned.”

You nod, looking at Andrew as you recover from your surprise. He seems around your age, though from what Helja mentioned, that means he has likely lived here for quite some time. He seems remarkably average, shorter and thinner than you, but not remarkably so. His brown hair is cut short, and his brown eyes behind his glasses appraise you much as you are him.

You smile. “I am. I’ve heard quite a bit about you, recently.”

He chuckles. “I imagine so. It seems you’ve done quite well for yourself already, hmm? Helja spoke quite highly of you in her letter!”

You chuckle. “Well, we’ve gotten along quite well, yes. I’ll spare you the details, obviously.”

He nods, turning towards the girls. “And how are you two doing? It’s been a while.”

Hayley laughs. “You’re not getting any more details out of us either!”

Helja grins. “We’re doing very well, Andrew. As I mentioned, this is Marin and Sanni, who joined us after you left.”

He nods in greeting, then looks between them and you. Marin laughs. “Yes, we’re with him too, mister curious!”

Andrew smiles. “Oh, believe me, I get it. Working closely like that leads to things a lot of the time. Speaking of, I should introduce my group as well!”

He leads you further inside, where three more people are waiting. A brown haired dwarven woman steps forward with a smile. “Greetings to you. I am Amie, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Next, a giant of a woman, bigger even than Marin steps forward, placing a hand affectionately on Andrew’s shoulder. She has hooves in place of feet, and cow-like ears top her head. She grins broadly and greets you. “I’m Nina, and to answer the question everyone asks, I’m a holstaur, a female minotaur.”

Finally, the third woman moves to join the group. She is about the same height as Andrew, and appears human, though with eye catching blue hair. On a closer look, something seems off, and mor than just her strange amber glowing eyes. With little expression, she bows. “Welcome. I am called Rina. I am a golem created by Amie, with a consciousness crafted by Andrew.”

Andrew chuckles, scratching his chin. “I’m sorry for Rina, she’s still learning to be more than a golem. My magic allows me to animate objects, but we’ve discovered that with enough complexity, something like Rina is possible. She gets better every day, and we’re all very proud of her!”

He looks at you. “I’m sure we’ll be good friends after this is all done, but for now you’re probably wondering what the competition is! In truth, I don’t know either. I didn’t set this all up, he did.”

Andrew gestures towards the door, and you see Forgefather Unir walk in, smiling.