Oh, good: Cal doesn't know German. Not that Sam thought for a minute he would, but it's still a relief to be sure.

"Yeah. Mostly I stay in the same country for a few decades at a time, sometimes more, sometimes less. I stayed in Britain for quite a lot of the late Middle Ages - it was interesting. But just about anything would have been better than the Dark Ages."

He pulls a face. "Hideous few centuries. I don't think I spent more than a few minutes a century free of bloody mud. Mind you, the Middle Ages was when burning magic-users hit high popularity, so."