"We're looking for a volunteer. We're planning to attack the mermaids and force them to change us back. But we don't know enough about them. We need someone to live among them and find out what the best way to do it is."
"How can I do that? They don't let frogmen just swim around their homes, do they?" you ask.
Another frogman hands your guide a box. "With this," he says as he opens it. Inside is a starfish, much like the one Clia offered you.
"So this will turn me into a merman?" you wonder.
"No. And it's a good thing. Mermen are rare. The only ones they get are men from land who agree to transform. They'd never trust an unfamiliar merman with no mermaid companion."
"Then what..."
"This will turn you into a mermaid!" he says triumphantly. "Then they'll never suspect you."