Jay smiled at each introduction, glad he was getting to know this group better. He suspected everyone came here for their own reasons, but as long as they worked together, he was sure - well, most of them would be getting out alive. Some even with their goals completed! Jay privately hoped he'd be one of those lucky few. He couldn't afford to be too optimistic, he knew - traveling into the Frontier, he had been warned repeatedly, was a fool's errand. Traveling with limited knowledge on how to defend oneself was tantamount to suicide. But was he supposed to just [i]give up[/i] on his book? On his memories? On his very identity? Nay, he said, and boarded the cart that had brought them here. But that was beside the point. He still owed everyone an introduction.

Then Lady Aur introduced herself, and his expression fell into a puzzled frown. Was she famous? Should he have known her? The name didn't ring a bell, didn't stir a single familiar feeling in him.

"[color=fff79a]That... will be remembered?[/color]" he offered, almost apologetically. He looked to Burt, then Mira, and then at the last fellow who hadn't introduced himself but [i]had[/i] been freed of his shackles. With any fortune, his arrest and exile were politically motivated. Such things weren't uncommon. How was he so confident of that? He tried to brush off that familiar feeling and cleared his throat. "[color=fff79a]You all may call me Jay. I imagine we all have our goals for being out here, some we don't mind sharing-[/color]" He glanced to Burt in acknowledgement, "[color=fff79a]-and some we do. That's fine! I'm quite willing to assist. I just have a small request: might we visit that settlement in the valley below? Very few people mentioned a settlement here.[/color]" No one had, really. And didn't that seem like something worth investigating? Especially with the smoke. What had happened?