"I suppose not the most important thing to learn first, but it's probably best not to make others uncomfortable when greeting." Caim notes and nods to himself.

Soot speaks up from beside him and claps his hands together, creating an odd sound reminiscent of smoke suddenly puffing.

"Perfect, Arc! Now we can get into the meat of things." He gestures to the general air and surroundings. "As you know have heard a bit about, we are now in the realm of Maja. Planet, world, dimension, or any other name works as well. We don't really know in truth. As an explorer, it's actually part of Hal's and mine job to find that part out."

Day nods her head and looks ahead focused on Soot while I speak up with a question I'd thought awhile.

"I know about my dimension, the one the Wyrm is from, and yours exists, but are there others too?" Thinking about the Wyrm, I assume there must be that least a few others.

Soot gives a sudden, smug smile as he answers.

"At least a couple dozen by what we know. Too many to name, but the pamphlet there," Here, Soot gives a pained grimace, "should detail maybe ten or so of the ones locked to our realm."

I look through the papers quickly and find a section labeled Maja and other Dangerous Planes.

"By the way, I'm not actually from this world. Me and other Elementals, my race, come from the Plane of Fire. Others could from any of any of the elemental planes."

I'm somewhat shocked at this explanation but realize quickly this all makes sense in hindsight. Elementals, as it turns out Soot's race is called, seem to have similarities to myself. It would make sense that they're from other planes too.

I look up from giving the pamphlet a quick once over as Caim continues where Soot left.

"Just for reference, my people, including Aster, are what's known as Elves. I'm specifically a Wood Elf and originate from Maja. Paama is a Goliath and Hal is a Human. In regards to how others like you, Arc, get here, rifts and portals can open up to any dimension and usually lead to Maja. These can be temporary and close naturally or semi-permanent and need a Worshipper of Shutter to attempt to close. Portals officially refer to rifts that are too locked to Maja to be closed permanently but otherwise the two are sometimes interchangeable terms."

Okay, most of it seems to make sense with what I know so far. Rifts are what I came through and the one the Wyrm came through may end up being a Portal. They can only be closed by worshippers of something, but I don't quite understand what that means exactly.

I do note that Caim specifically pointed me out with the portal, however, and this makes me wonder what he meant by that. Is Day not from another world like me? Why is she here then?

I let Caim continues explaining rather than interrupt him repeatedly.

"Now another important topic that you both severely need to understand if you continue living here. Gods, Boons, and their Worshippers."

Caim gives a small wave to the pamphlet again.

"The name of another of the sections in there as well. Gods on Maja are some of the most active in all the realms, granting boons that give strength in exchange for worship from their followers. Boons and Worshippers are the general names for this interaction. Stronger faith leads to a stronger Boons."

Caim shivers and his body blurs for a moment as he undergoes a brief metamorphosis. His arms sprout bright blue feathers that end in talons in his hand and large, completely black eyes replace his old eyes.

I startle just bit, completely not afraid of course, but aren't surprised by too much. Hal had somewhat of a similar transformation. A look to my side and see that Day does have a slightly confused expression on her face but takes this in stride as well.

Caim raises one eyebrow expectantly, large dark eyes staring at us before he continues his speech.

"Hmm, I'm surprised neither of you jumped more than that. My transformation is one of the most startling here."

Large, glazed eyes look us both down without blinking.

"I'm a Worshipper of Bison the Everclear. He's the God of Weather and Animals. Keep in mind that most people don't mind too much talking about their religion, but it can be sensitive to some."

Day and I both nodded our heads in understanding. Makes sense, I can get how some people might not like to talk about a religion like that. Especially if it's much more of a personal relationship with their God than any in my world.

"Bison is actually a major god and you'll find quite a few followers of him here. Worshippers and not. If you've got an animal companion or pet, his Boon connects the two of you through a divine link. I have a pet blue bird that is out foraging right now. Incredibly intelligent and impossibly long-lived compared to her normal kind, she gains these traits from me and uses them to survive while away in nature."

Shortly after he mentions his blue bird does it fly by and lands on the perch. With the window closed, it flicks it up and open with a swift movement of its beak. The blue bird then flies towards Caim and lands on his shoulder.

He pulls out some berries from a pouch and the two of them share a small moment of peace and quiet as we observe part of what his Boon allows.

"This is Mary. She's a Mocking Bluebird, a very vocal bird commonly paired for Boons given by Bison. She takes my traits and, as you can easily tell, I can pick up hers. Depending on the strength of our bond or mine with my God, we can control this link and take more traits, amplify and choose how they manifest, or we can both perform full, long-term transformations."

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Hmm, I think about what he’s telling me for a moment. Paama must have some type of Boon that allowed her agility she demonstrated earlier. Obviously Hal might be some kind of Worshipper of Bison with his transformation as well.

While I think on the possible Boons of those I’ve met, Soot raises a hand and conjure a small flame a few inches in height.

“As a flame elemental, this level of flame would normally be the most I could summon under my control. Any more and it would grow outside of my complete control.”

After this, he changes the shape of his fire into a bird the size of Mary. It flies around and starts to bother her before they both fly around as he continues speaking.

“I worship Sol the Lightthief, Goddess of the Sun and Light. She gives me a Boon that allows me to conjure and control fire. Most elementals like me will follow a god that matches their aspect. There is also a god and Boon like mine for water, earth, and air from what I recall.”

As he speaks, Day maintains her focus on him while I’ve gotten somewhat distracted by Mary and Soot’s fire’s chase. Caim pours a cup of water he managed to get and calmy begins to pour it over the table. The four of us in the room stop for a moment to stare at what he’s doing.

The water cascades and flows over the table. I begin to back away and grow wary. Even that small amount, if it were to pour over the edges onto me, would melt my clay flesh and begin to sear me very unpleasantly.

Mary catches sight of what her partner is doing and carefully land on the water, looking up with glaring eyes at Soot. His bird circles her and he gives a cheeky grin before landing it in the water. Liquid starts bubbling immediately as the flaming bird’s feet kiss the surface of the puddle. To my intrigue, the fire doesn’t simply die out! It grows smaller at a slow rate but doesn’t dissipate like I had thought it would. Mary stands still in her part of the puddle as Soot’s bird steps over to her, growing smaller at a gradual rate.

I’m very invested to see what’ll happen to these two birds at this point, with Soot looking at Mary while she glares him down, all the while the flaming bird steps slowly to her. Eventually, I’m able to figure out the outcome easily. With a series of hissing steps, Soot’s fire succumbs to the evaporating water and disappears into thin air, nothing but a thin plum of smoke that fades away as well.

Everyone just stares for a few seconds as Mary looks as smug as a bird can at Soot. He smiles back challengingly before Caim claps loudly and chimes in.

“Thank you, Soot and Mary, for that perfect representation as to how Boons work and what they can do.”

The both of them stop staring at each other and focus back on Caim. They nod at him and turn back towards us, Mary flying to perch on her friend’s shoulder.

“There’s many gods and Boons for you to look up in that pamphlet but this should be able to answer how they work for the most part. If either of you have further questions religion-related, the church on site can answer them, unfortunately we can’t advise much there.”

I definitely have more than a few questions, but I suppose I can wait for the church. Maybe after I get a chance to read these papers and sleep finally.

“Yeah. Sorry, Arc and Day. Not to change topics suddenly, but we can head over to the church tomorrow. We still have a few more topics to cover today.” Soot answers next. “I do think we can continue this lecture while we stretch our legs and get some lunch though. That sound good, Caim?”

Caim stares suddenly at Soot before he glances down at what I recognize as a watch. He looks back up and answers.

“Mary could use something to get her energy up again and these two might get a cramp sitting any longer. Let’s get lunch then.”

With that, Soot beckons us up to follow him as Caim gathers a few papers and takes out a handkerchief to clean his spill. It doesn't take him longer than a couple moments as our group wait by the curtain at the entrance for him.

Caim appears ready and heads to open the curtains for us.

"After you, Soot, does the Hallowed Ground sound like a good lunch?"

"Ye, that'll probably be good." Soot agrees. He turns back to us and explains. "It's a little stall that's got some good beef and cuts up a couple kinds of salads. Think that should meet your needs?"

Day looks interested at the mention of a salad and nods to agree while I think a bit about what I can eat.

In Alma, my people still farm animals and plants to feed ourselves. We're omnivores for the most part by our standards but, obviously, I have never eaten the type of meat and plant matter that exists on these other realms. I suppose I can always see what it smells like and try what I can from there.

"That should be okay with me. I'll see what looks good but worst case scenario, think we can find raw clay for me to eat?"

Caim and Day both look slightly disturbed at my mention of eating clay, but it doesn't seem to bother Soot too much. He's heard a bit about me already and I wouldn't be surprised if he could eat fire as well.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Soot answers back, "Plenty of clay here if we visit a smithy."

Caim agrees with Soot promptly, "Ready to head out then." He lets the drapes fall sure over the entryway as we walk ahead, Soot leading the way.

It takes just a brief moment for our group to walk down the hallway and I'm greeted by Shaun as we exit.

"Hope the course wasn't too intimidating, Arc!" He waves hello and gives me cheerful grin as we pass by. He points generally at Soot and Caim. "Try and make friends with those two, they can help you out a lot more in their position than I can in mine."

The two of them wave him off with a small chuckle with his good mood. He goes to say hello to Day as well, but I notice he dips his voice into a deeper range for some reason when he speaks to her.

"They treat you alright, Doe Ray? Let me know and I'll get a higher up to berate them." He smiles warmly at her as she does the same, put at ease by his warmth.

"Of course, Shaun. You can call me Day if you'd like, by the way. They've been really nice and respectful. We're actually going to eat now."

Shaun raises a wrapped sandwich of some kind that's stuffed with layers of meat. I'm able to spy a small stack of leafy greens that've been sorted into a napkin in his side.

"My son just brought over a grilled turkey sandwich my wife managed to make in time for lunch then, Day. She's trying to get me to stop eating out as much."

"Really? We're heading to somewhere called the Hallowed Ground. Do you like it?" I speak up to ask him.

"Hmmm."

Shaun holds his chin with his hands and ponders a bit before answering.

"They're really good actually. One of the few places around here that manages to have a Worshipper of May helping with their farm, so they put plenty of veggies in with their meals. Nice, but I like a meatier lunch."

Worshipper of May? I haven't heard of that god yet. I'll ask about it a bit later.

"Mmhmm," Caim nods to him, "That's why we're heading there. Hopefully they have food suitable to our new inhabitants."

"Whelp, in that case. I hope you two like it."

Caim and Soot beckon us to them and we all give a brief wave goodbye to Shaun as we leave the building.

The bright sunlight in the plaza shines in our eyes for a moment before adjusting. I see the few stalls around and try to read the signs for our choice of lunch. Day stands beside me and seems to have less of a wandering face than me, interested in staring mostly a few passing animals. She does turn her head occasionally towards the thumps from a merchant dropping heavy bags onto the ground.

Our group starts walking around the area and heads towards a smaller wooden building father away from the larger, official looking stone ones we were just at. I read the sign and find The Hallowed Ground hovering in neon green on it. The others pull back the curtains covering the entrance once again while I look under and around the sign. It looks like the words are painted with an earthy green color onto the wooden boards. In front of the letters however, the name is hovering in bright, large neon in the air in front of it.

I'm... very confused by this. We have neon signs on Alma but made with a special glowing clay. I've never seen words just hovering in the air like this before.

"You not hungry, Arc, or just wanna wait outside?" Soot calls to me, holding the curtain once more for me.

Startled out of my examination of the sign, I glance once more at it before heading to him.