A group of women played a complicated card game around a table that was just adjacent to the road. The table was made of stone and looked like a communal area, though the Peddlers staff stopped by them to deliver food once. I gestured to Egiya then the table, questioning if she wanted to talk to them. She shook her head no, so I took the lead on that one.

I briefly wondered if flattery would work. I hated to interrupt people playing a game while they clearly were in it. These women, with their well coiffed salt and pepper hair were probably used to decades of internalized misogyny and deference either to the men in their lives or cultivators. I didn't want to be another person asking them to do something for no good reason.

"Is there a reason that you're staring, dearie?"

"Oh! The young master is probably thinking about his star crossed lover, isn't he. Tell us her name young master!"

"Oh what lovely curly hair you have!"

I had a flashback to meeting all of the local women that attended Tai Chi with my mother. Of course they didn't go out for after class drinks, but when they had tea, they had a heaping helping of both the herbal and verbal kind. Listening in on those women as a teenager, let's just say I learned how much I didn't know.

"Ahem. Pardon me ladies. I don't mean to interrupt, but I don't know this game that you are playing and it looks curious to my eyes."

"Have you never played Crew before?" A woman in accented yellow and grey said. Her face was smooth but her hands told me that wasn't the entire story.

"I honestly haven't. But it looks very interesting-" I began to say.

"Auntie Low, deal him in. We're starting a new game now anyway."

The women who I found out were all specialists of various maritime disciplines all briefly explained the rules of their deck building game before tossing me unceremoniously into a game against three of them.

I held up my cards trying not to appear too green. The thing is, I was liking the idea, I just wish that this was a different type of game.

Ten minutes later, the three women were crushing me like grapes under their feet. Metaphorically, of course.

"Auntie Low, didn't you think that our new player would benefit from a few more games?"

"Auntie Chin, of course he would. But then maybe we can figure out why he deigned to visit the Peddler around mid afternoon. It's quite suspicious."

Aunties Low and Chin both wore nearly the same grey and green robes. The main difference was Auntie Lows green glasses, giving her a practiced casino look.

Auntie Wei had barely said two words the entire time as she mopped the floor with us. Auntie Chin had to explain that she worked in textiles but for specific types of things that needed to be offloaded and then laundered while a ship was in port. Real custom jobs.

"I'm here in business actually. I was checking out the boutiques around here."

"That's a lie," Wei said.

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And did I mention that despite never saying anything she knew instinctively when to call my bluff? She clearly wasn't a cultivator and just as clearly had some sort of truth telling prowess. That or she just really read body language well.

She had worked for the longshoremen's union as a rule enforcer so she knew all the minutiae of naval laws. I wanted to ask her about shipping things but she was so reserved that this was the first hook I got into her.

"Okay but the truth-"

"The truth will set you free, young master. Tell us what ails you," Auntie Chin said.

I really wanted to spill the beans. Egiya had been watching us this whole time. Her insistance on staying back and not engaging, made me seem a bit weird every time I looked back at her.

"Well you see, have you girls ever been to that shop?" I putting my best neutral face on.

I continued on to explain that so long as I got a peek inside I would be able to select a beautiful pirate shirt. You know the kind with the frilly sleeves and the collar that just won't quit. If they had a boutique shop selling wares to sailors and didn't have that shirt, I would be quite cross.

Of course when we talked about amazing deal that I had spotted earlier that day, they were all ears. Min had told me about a second blouse half off policy that was clearly aimed at driving up sales of the frilly numbers. They had to be hurting to make the blouses as I had seen exactly one person wearing them since I had arrived.

"You know what, young master, I believe that they know that they have a dud on hand. This might be why the blouses are on sale."

"My thoughts exactly," Auntie Low said, "And as much as we all love to support small businesses, what they're doing doesn't make much business sense. It can't be helped though. When you're out on sea, trying to catch a leviathan, you need to wear clothing that the common sailor wears. You definitely don't wear the same thing but with a more expensive blend of cloth."

"Hear hear! And for no good reason!" Auntie Chin said, before laying down a combination that wrecked both my hand and Auntie Weis.

"That discard combination was as bad as those blouses are," I said, "And that's saying something for someone who until recently had zero fashion opinions."

The aunties chuckled a bit. I realized that I was suddenly hungry again and I hadn't even gotten one of them to test the waters for me. It was hard enough to try to socially engineer people to do the things I asked them to do, but these women had turned me on my head and I had kinda been enjoying myself.

I had kinda forgotten why I was there.

"Do you ladies do this kind of thing often?"

"Oh every time we get together we like to talk and play something. Sometimes it is mah jahng, sometimes it is Auntie Lows game."

I looked for Egiya, and not seeing her, tensed for a second. She would have said something despite her snickering looks every time she looked over. She had brought a lot of formation homework. She she had known what to expect and plan for it was enlightening. That she was working on something that could help the crew, also made me smile.

"Auntie Chin, I get the copper, silver and gold but the themes of these cards is a little bit off. I take it we are all playing as rival gangs?"

She smiled back at me.

"Yes. The theme might be problematic, but I think it's quite nice."

It was then that I saw Egiya standing around talking to Xueyie.

"I have a similar game that I like though it doesn't require cards. It's called demonic Mafia, and I have two," *Patsy's* "friends who are joining. Would you care to play a slightly different type of game?"

The three older women followed my gaze as I raised exactly one eyebrow.

"Tell us more about this game," Auntie Wei said, "And invite your ..? Daughters?"

"They're my friends," I said, waving for them to join us.

They obliged, sauntering over to my location. I did a round of introductions but by then the bait had been set and they were in my trap.

"And now, let me introduce you all to a game of social deduction that I think you will all do quite well at.”