Rhiow was still not clean to her satisfaction, not at all, there was gunk clinging to her fur in places that she didn't want to even imagine.

But the people all around her looked as lost and confused as she did, looking around, bewildered, trying to get their bearings. The avian creature next to her had the look of a mantling hawk, and that made Rhiow nervous.

But if wizardry had taught her one thing, it had taught her that appearances were deceiving. Rhiow straightened herself, even though her tail was puffed up to bottlebrush proportions. "Greetings," she said - in the Speech, just to be sure.