You never know who you might walk into

The mysteries continued to unravel and multiply the longer Stolas spent talking with this young woman. So she hadn't even been alive during the Long Night, but she'd somehow inherited her affliction from Widow when she was born. Was that the sickness Widow had been quarantined with just before she'd disappeared? More memories played in Stolas' head—going to Habari to try and see her, only to be turned away at the border by Recluse claiming she was too sick for visitors. Had that illness been responsible for her crystalline affliction? There was still so much wolfkind didn't know about the Long Night, but it seemed like its lasting side effects were still felt years later. The mention of her age had him briefly doing some mental math in the background and coming to the conclusion that Widow must have gotten pregnant shortly after falling ill and around the time of her disappearance, resulting in the wolf before him.

Those mental calculations were interrupted swiftly at the mention of him knowing Widow, however, and the wolf took a keen interest in him, almost startlingly so! She began grilling him like this was an interrogation, asking if he and Widow had been childhood friends. She introduced herself as Cryptis and went right back to hunting for answers from him. Well, far be it from Stolas to deny the desire for knowledge in a curious young mind! "Yes, I knew your mother when she was a pup, back when she was still Widow Klein. Both of us were children when we met. We grew up together—myself in Ashen, and her in Habari. Our packs were sister packs, so we often intermingled." Part of Stolas wondered if he should be sharing all of this information with Cryptis. Sure, she had a right to know, but how much of this was a past Widow wanted to keep buried? Deciding that Triss' right to know who she was outweighed any potential punishment from his Queen, Stolas continued to answer whatever she asked of him. "What are you looking to learn, Cryptis? Ask, and I will answer if I can."

"Stolas"