"So many names!"
There sure were, some of which the young wizard recognized, student of geography that he was. And knowing the distance these names represented he rather paled at the journey suggested. What had he gotten himself into? Far from a brief Varsian excursion, this was turning into a border bursting expedition. Not only that, but the stakes of said trek had also increased in an order of magnitude still difficult to wrap one's poor head around. Lost royalty, a nation in danger, and fiendish assassins? It was all far removed from Samton's daily life among dusty tomes and ink wells to say the least.
And yet what could he do but nod dutifully along with Sandru's words? No, more so than that, he wanted to be part of this adventure, an admission that frankly affected him more than the prospect of danger ahead. Perhaps he really had changed over this last month. Perhaps he was only getting to truly know himself now; he was a teenager, after all. The heck did he know about Samton Verro?
But whatever the case he knew he could not abandon his friends now, nor leave the Kaijitsu sisters to their fate. He was in this now, for better or worse. In fact, this rather all felt like fate. Sam thought on his mysterious arcane patron, somehow linked to Minkai. Any chance of this all being a stupendously massive coincidence was now gone. The caravan was driven on the wheels of fate, and he was caught in them.
Asuka's big eyes grow even bigger with the description of their journey. "Wow! The Ulfen really know how to give places cool names. And 450 miles! Such an epic journey! Like Journey to the West except to the East."
Before setting out and on each day of the journey, Asuka begins the day by communing with the local birds for advice about the upcoming geography, locations of good water, dangerous predators, confirming the caravan's general route, and any other questions that an avian consensus might be able to answer productively.