Saul excused himself from Nadine and Natalie’s discussion, quickly escaping downstairs and leaving with Matthieu in tow. In front of the house, they paused.

After a few seconds, Matthieu asked, “where to next?”

“I’m not quite sure.” Saul replied, looking around. “I didn’t really have a plan for the day after talking to Nadine. It kind of depended on what she told me.”

“And did they give you advice about what to do?”

“She did, but she also talked about a number of other things. I’m not sure what to make of some of it.”

“Well, do you want to take their advice?” Matthieu pointed out, “if so, you could start there and sort out the rest later.”

“Alright, yeah, you’re right. Oh, I asked Nadine and she said that referring to her as a woman is fine.”

“I’m on duty. Captain Geraud has very clear expectations for our etiquette.”

They headed back toward the magistrate. Saul now planned to leave as early tomorrow as possible, so the sooner he told his servants the better. He found Ziba and informed him of the plan and the additional person that would be joining them. Ziba would talk to Dinah and Bart, but he didn’t know where Toby was. Saul hadn’t talked to Toby since yesterday, and didn’t know what he was doing either. Uncle Nathan had recommended visiting market streets last night. It was possible he’d said something similar to Toby, so Saul decided to look for his cousin and see the shops for himself.

Visiting a broad, diverse open market that Matthieu recommended, Saul discovered that what he had taken for personal quirks of some of the people he’d met yesterday were in fact the bedrock of elvish, or at least part-elvish, culture. There was so much dyed wool and blown glass. Most of the stalls were selling at least partially out of the backs of wagons, so the glass was frequently packed in wool for good measure. Saul got sidetracked after the fourth relatively high quality wool clothing stall advertised the same initial self-fitting property in their garments.

“The wool’s from the city’s iconic sheep,” the woman running one of them explained. “I don’t have the skills to use it properly, but weaving a bit in and getting it to do some proper tucking and tightening isn’t that hard.”

She helpfully pointed him in the direction of a store that could ‘use it properly.’ The clothing in this store did a lot more than some adjustments to size when initially worn. They offered clothing that could constantly adjust size, clean itself, repair tears, was waterproof, and kept you warm in the cold and cold in the warm. The best garments did all of those at the same time.

“It clearly isn’t an artifact,” Saul said as he used tiny amounts of focus to manipulate a piece of example cloth. “But it does so many things at the same time. That doesn’t sound like the Artisanal works the glassmaker described.”

“I’m still surprised they let you in,” Matthieu looked back toward the door and the well dressed man guarding it politely but firmly.

“I’m going to ask about how it’s made.”

“Maybe buy something first?”

Saul decided to take two pairs of white woolen socks with every property offered, and one of the most expensive single pieces they had, a dark green cloak that had a limited ability to extend its properties to anything wrapped in it.

“That will be three rings and six half-rings,” the shopkeeper informed Saul.

“Would it be possible to make that an even four rings,” Saul asked as Matthieu made strained coughing noises, “and talk to the artisan or Artisan who makes them? I have some scholarly curiosity about the properties of the material.”

He was shown to an office upstairs with wool carpets and wool upholstered chairs. The three-quarter-elf behind a desk looked Saul over for a moment.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not at liberty to train someone in our enriching processes,” he said. “Even and especially if you are looking to start your own shop.”

“Oh, no, I just have a few questions about the underlying mechanism of action,” Saul clarified. “I primarily study thaumaturgy, but my peripheral understanding of artifice and Artisanal works is giving me some confusion about some of your more impressive products.”

The man was happy to talk more generally. The iconic sheep were attuned animals with enhanced wool of all things, and someone with the wool icon could learn cantrips that would draw some of those properties out. The full suite of properties required the additional help of actual abilities, and the cloak Saul had bought was a true Artisanal work by the definition he had previously been given. He left, curiosity satisfied.

“Did you really spend an extra four hundred quarters just to learn that?” Matthieu asked incredulously.

“I was curious,” Saul shrugged. “I don’t spend my pocket money much. I just got a fair amount for my birthday.”

“You just spent almost half of what I make in a year for socks, a cloak, and a bit of curiosity.”

“So, you only make, what, ten rings a year? That’s what my family pays most of our salaried peons. You’re awakened to mist, you deserve more.”

“It’s already a generous wage.” Matthieu replied, “especially with the other benefits of the militia. I make four times what my mom did. By the way, where did you put that cloak?”

“It’s in my satchel.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“It was a big cloak; I don’t even see a lump.”

“My very nice satchel.” Saul said, “anyway, I’m somewhat annoyed that Uncle Nathan never bought any of this stuff for us while he was here. Wool isn’t considered fashionable, but still.”

“They might not have let him in the shop. A lot of people get…uncomfortable about selling iconic wool to humans.”

They continued looking around the market. Saul didn’t feel a need to buy any of the artistic glass before his trip. He might consider it on the way back through if everything worked out. They didn’t run into Toby, but they did encounter Natalie.

“I wasn’t kidding about being packed quickly,” she said to Saul without preamble. “When do we leave?”

“Are you packed well enough for a three month trip?” Saul clarified. “And we leave earlyish tomorrow. I’m trying to find my cousin Toby to let him know.”

“I have a very flexible wardrobe and a very nice satchel. I’ll be fine.”

Saul squinted at her, “have you been following us?”

“No? Do you want help finding your cousin?”

“…sure.”

“I assume he looks generally a bit like you,” she looked Saul up and down, “what is your exact relation? The more I know the easier it is to look for him.”

“He’s my dad’s aunt’s grandson, and my mom’s…great?…uncle’s great grandson. I think?”

“Oh, he’s a cousin on both sides? That does make it easier.”

She looked around for a moment, then closed her eyes. After a few seconds, Natalie led them out of the market and in the direction of a residential area. She kept her eyes closed, but stepped out of the way of anyone she was about to walk into, usually at the last second. After a few minutes, they reached a sort of public park. There was no grass, wild or otherwise, instead the area was exposed sand and clay soil with quite a few trees. The trees’ lower branches were adorned with colored glass ornaments.

Near a fountain a short way into the park, several people were dancing, sparring, or both. As Natalie, Saul, and Matthieu approached, Matthieu commented, “oh, they’re all in the militia.”

“Toby!” Saul called, recognizing his cousin once they were close enough.

“Except for one, I guess,” Matthieu added as Toby broke off and jogged over.

“Hey Saul,” Toby said, sweating heavily with a relaxed smile. “Need something? Or did you decide what the plan is for tomorrow?”

“I have, yes,” Saul confirmed. “We’ll leave on the early side tomorrow. There is one significant change; Natalie here will be traveling with us while we’re in elven territory.”

Toby looked her up and down as Natalie put out a hand.

“That’s alright,” Toby told her. “You don’t have to touch me, I know it makes your sort uncomfortable. I’m Toby Ficial, Saul’s cousin, Fighter and healer. Nice of you to join us, having someone from around here will be helpful.”

“Natalie,” she replied. “So you’re a generalist with healing abilities? In the death icon, I presume? Would you mind if I experimented with them on the trip? I’m technically a specialized Oracle, but I have a number of meta-abilities that allow me to use the abilities of others, including one that could let me use one of your healing abilities while I’m near you.”

Toby looked between her and Saul, “Suuuurrre…Saul, where did you find her? Did you look in some kind of mirror artifact?”

“She’s the daughter of a friend of Uncle Nathan’s,” Saul explained. “She happens to study thaumaturgy like me.”

“Nice.” Toby nodded to Natalie, “I’m fine with you trying out my powers. Saul’s been talking a big game about how amazing his imitating powers are going to be, I’d like to see what they look like for myself.”

“Thank you!” Natalie said, and held out her hand again. Toby shrugged and shook her hand. Natalie visibly shuddered slightly, swallowing audibly, but forcing a polite smile onto her face. “I look forward to working with you. Sorry to bother you.”

Toby returned to the combat choreography group, and Saul looked around.

“Is there anywhere to just sit and look around here?” he asked.

“This isn’t near where I live,” Matthieu shrugged, looking around.

“There are some rocking chairs over that way,” Natalie added, eyes closed and pointing off to the left. “They’re probably more comfortable than those benches.”

They headed in that direction.

“Do you always close your eyes when using your abilities?” Saul asked.

“For now,” Natalie said sheepishly. “I haven’t put as much time into practicing the Oracular ones. Most of the time when you see me do it, I’m using my domain. Trying to process what I can see and what my domain tells me at the same time is disorienting.”

They reached the rocking chairs, all simple wood designs with one exception.

“Why is that one so big?” Saul looked at Matthieu, who was grinning.

“I don’t know, but I’m definitely going to bring my son here soon,” he replied, looking at the half dozen children climbing on the twelve-foot-tall metal rocking chair that was secured to the ground and unable to actually rock.

“There’s an inscription on the back,” Natalie pointed out, and they approached. It listed the creator and date the chair had been made, but not why.

Saul and Natalie settled into two of the regular rocking chairs, while Matthieu stood nearby so that his field of view wasn’t impaired. Saul looked up at the trees and the sky behind them as he thought about what Nadine had told him. Knowing what he did now, it was obvious in hindsight that she had been trying to gauge his opinions of elves and lead him to a more sympathetic view. He was pretty sure he hadn’t had particularly strong thoughts about them other than some jealousy after he read about their universal affinity.

While the version of history she had ‘told’ him was likely biased in the elves’ favor, he had literally asked for it. The objective facts of what had happened weren’t actually different anyway. It was a difference of perspective. The war three hundred years ago seemed hard to justify even from a human perspective, but the initial establishment of the kingdom was more complicated. What he had learned when he was younger wasn’t especially detailed, but claimed that settling here was a necessity. But even if that was true, did that justify expelling the goblins? He wasn’t sure it even mattered now.

As Saul mused, he realized something he had overlooked. Nadine had warned him that she was biased specifically about what he chose to do about taking the trip or not, due to something about how he had phrased his goals. One of his requests had been related to what was best for his family, which he now knew included her. Presumably, that meant that taking the trip as originally planned, with Natalie along or not, somehow benefited her as well. He was curious how, didn’t understand her role in the city and to the elven council overall well enough to guess if she had ambition to raise her station in some way.

When the evening approached, Saul asked the other two about places to eat other than the magistrate. Matthieu had a cafe he strongly recommended, but he lived clear on the other side of the city, so it would be a very long walk. Natalie agreed with his suggestion, so they wasted over an hour making their way over. Saul snacked on some garlic-rubbed dried strips of beef from his satchel, and ended up not being especially hungry by the time they arrived. After eating, Saul and Matthieu headed back in the direction of the magistrate, leaving Natalie who would return in the morning.