Trillia spent the next few days reading and learning the human language. After a brief talk with Kismet and Maldoun, they thought it best if she didn't explore the city during a time when she was unable to regenerate resources.

The fact that her armor was very obviously foreign also led weight in garnering unwanted attention.

It was late into her fourth day of learning about local customs, the history of the city itself, and learning the human language. Trillia was a bit surprised to hear that there were dozens of human dialects. Orcs, by and large, spoke a singular language. Even across different continents, the language was almost identical.

Dwarves spoke three different dialects, one when dealing with other mortal races, one when dealing with each other, and a final one when dealing with what Kismet called 'true dwarves'. Trillia would have to find books to read about all of those later.

She was very interested in the other languages of Alirast. Part of it had to be the thirst for knowledge perk. At least, that was her reasoning.

The more time she spent inside, the less she minded the walls and cramped city space. She still felt better outside, but it wasn't nearly as oppressive as it had been previously, and she had only been here a week.

Maldoun closed the book sitting between them with a nod. "I'm glad that we can communicate clearly now. It should make working together much easier going forward."

Trillia rubbed her eyes and grumbled out an agreement. "It's been a lot to learn in such a short time. I'll want to practice keeping more." She paused a moment, shaking her head. "I'll want to keep practicing more with you. Do you know if there are any skills or traits to learn languages faster?"

Maldoun was walking the book back to a shelf. "I'm not entirely sure. Kismet knows considerably more languages than I do, and I believe Lord Stas knows a few dozen. No surprise, given his age. Plus, there is that trait that Lord Arlyss granted us briefly, the one that let us understand all languages of the realm?"

Trillia laid her head on crossed arms. "I thought that trait might be only divinity natural."

"Only divine in nature." Maldoun corrected. Trillia closed her eyes and mumbled a thank you. Maldoun chuckled softly. "Let's get dinner, and you can take a nap. I believe Rakana will be done with your clothes by this evening."

Trillia perked up at the prospect of food. She was quite interested in trying what Kismet referred to as street food, and the myriad of smells that came from the kitchen always made her smile.

As they began to descend the tower, Trillia reached out through the bond to Ialu, calling the skoll back to her. Ialu didn't care to be cooped up, so Trillia was happy to let her run about in the desert. Most of the citizens of the city didn't bother her.

A few floors later and they arrived in the kitchen. It was a rather simple affair. It had three large brick ovens and a large fireplace with several hanging pots. They didn't use fire due to fears of smoke but used thin metal plates with runes carved into them instead. Once supplied with mana, the plates would heat up and slowly drain the supplied mana.

One of the things that Trillia had come to understand about D'Jamu was that the city was predominantly human and that the majority of humans feared non-humans. They downright avoided Stas and barely tolerated her.

She wondered if that's just how it was for mortals. After all, her tribe was only orcs, and the minotaur city was only minotaurs. Kincairne was a smattering of everything, but the more she learned about its history, it was basically a city of exiles. People seen as too dangerous for polite society but not powerful or dangerous enough to stand against being exiled in the first place.

She waved to the cooks, most of whom didn't wave back or acknowledge her. A couple offered her warm smiles. She'd win them over as allies in time. It was always a good idea to be friendly with the cooks.

Dinner tonight was a bowl of rice with an aromatic orange sauce poured over it. Chunks of vegetables slow-cooked into the sauce made it all melt in the mouth. She had eaten it before, and it was probably one of her favorite dishes despite the kitchen calling it ration food since the vegetables were easily and quickly grown under the tower, and the sauce was mostly water and spices.

Maldoun took a seat next to her and dug in as well, talking between mouthfuls. "I need to handle some affairs in the city tomorrow. I won't be available. But I believe with your new clothes, Kismet wants to take you out into the city."

Trillia nodded as she chewed. When her mouth was empty, and she spoke, she did so in the orc language. "That's fine with me. I am getting more accustomed to being inside, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go outside and explore. Not just the city but the area surrounding it as well."

The two continued to eat in silence, mostly because both were scarfing down their food. Once finished, Trillia brought her bowl to the sink, thanked the kitchen staff, and turned to leave. Instead of heading up to the library, she headed to the ground floor and waited for Ialu, who arrived about thirty minutes later. Trillia gave the creature a hug and smile.

"I get clothes tonight. Do you mind waiting? We can go outside the city for a little." The skoll nuzzled her face and licked her. Trillia giggled, and the two climbed the many stairs and waited outside Rakana's workshop. It only took another couple of hours for the feline-like humanoid to exit. She jumped back a bit with her hand on her chest as she did. Seeing Trillia and Ialu standing there, watching the door.

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"Are you trying to kill me?!" The woman bent over for a second, breathing heavily. A bundle of cloth had flown from her arms when she had turned to face the two of them. "Just come inside next time! Don't stand outside and creepily stare at the door!"

Trillia gave a sheepish little smile as she bent down to help collect the cloth. "Sorry. We didn't want to distract you, but I was told you'd be done by this evening. I'm itching to go outside."

Rakana grumbled a little as she helped collect the cloth. "No offense, but you're going to stand out anyway. You don't exactly look human, and Ialu is going to draw a lot of attention."

Trillia hugged the cloth to her body and followed Rakana as they ascended the stairs. "I know. But at least I won't be walking around in beaten-up make-shift armor and semi-tattered clothes."

The two made small talk as they climbed until they arrived at Trillia's room. Upon entering, Rakana turned and latched the door closed. "Alright, let's see how well I did."

Trillia quickly swapped outfits before standing in front of a mirror. Rakana stood next to her and fussed over a few small details before motioning to some very thin bands of metal. "These are enchanted to store excess cloth. I'll teach you all the command phrases shortly. It's created with the intent you can use this outfit for a few years before you outgrow it entirely. The cloth itself was enchanted as it was spun and created. Its durability is rather lacking, but if you infuse it with mana, it will mend itself."

Trillia smiled as she listened. There were thin silver bands on her upper arms, near her ankles, around her neck, and one last one around her waist. The metal hugged her skin tightly but not uncomfortably so. The cloth itself was a light teal color, layered a dozen times and woven together. It was rather roomy and left Trillia with a full range of motion in every limb.

Trillia ran her right hand over the cloth and realized it was rather deceptive. The wave it moved and flowed made it seem as if it hugged her body much more closely than it actually did. "It looks great. It's much cooler than what I was wearing as well."

Rakana fussed a bit more here and there, mumbling skills that minimally altered the cloth. Once the seamstress was happy, she stood back and nodded. "This will suffice for now. I realize it's slightly counterproductive for your personal goals. But teal was the color of nobility and royalty in this city before everything was toppled. So it will make most people treat you with a degree of respect. Since you are very obviously not part of the resistance."

Trillia stopped when she heard that and glanced at Rakana. "Won't that make me a target for thieves? Kismet constantly goes on about cutthroats and rogues in the city."

Rakana gave a hissing little laugh and smirked. "It will, yes. But you do so love adventure and experience. The people of the city need to know you aren't some defenseless maiden incapable of doing anything without her deity near her. If that means a few lowlifes get sent to a healer or into the ground. I'm quite fine with that. Humans respect strength, and you must show these people that you are strong and are not to be trifled with, especially given your tender age."

Trillia thought about that reasoning for a while before nodding. "Fair points. Thank you so much for making it. I feel much lighter and much better. " Trillia walked over and gave the woman a hug. Rakana returned it and patted her on the head.

"I am quite happy to help little one. Here I also made you something for your feet. They have a minor enchantment on them for speed in addition to the usual list of durability enchantments and enchantments to ensure they stay on your feet." The items produced didn't look like the usual heavy boots that the orcs used.

Orc attire was made for long trips of marching and constant fighting. These shoes were anything but; the soles were a half inch of thick hardened leather, and more leather was molded into a crescent covering for the toes and lower part of her foot. Two long, thin pieces of tightly spun silk were wrapped several times around her ankle and held in place by the silver rings on from her outfit. Rakana showed her several times how to tie and untie them. It would mostly keep her feet safe from stepping on something.

Well, from stepping directly on top of something. It'd do nothing for a [Megapede's] acidic spray that left puddles on the ground. Nor would it feel very good to step in a puddle or mud in them. But she supposed in the desert, those things weren't concerns. "Thank you!"

Rakana had a wide smile on her face. Standing back and looking Trillia up and down. "Wonderful! One last addition!" She pulled out a crimson-red sash and tied it around Trillia's waist. As she tightened it, Trillia felt yet another enchantment take hold. Rakana explained before Trillia could even ask. "It's enchanted the same as your clothes are. With the exception that you can spend a day and some mana to bind items to it. Such as the sheath for a blade, your pouches, and other things of that nature. Once bound, they cannot be taken off without the sash coming off. Which is enchanted to stay on until you run out of mana."

Trillia ran her fingers over the sash, which had the added benefit of covering the silver ring at her waist. "A lot of this is heavily enchanted to work with my mana. My tribe doesn't use enchanted equipment in such volume. Is this typical for human settlements?"

Rakana tilted her head curiously at that. "Yes. Enchanting is complicated to learn but invaluable. We enchant artisan tools for durability. Most kitchens use enchanted metal plates. I've traveled all over this continent, and the central continent and enchantments are everywhere."

Trillia thought once more about her mother's refusal to allow non-combat classes. She wondered how much harder the lives of the orcs were because they didn't have more dedicated enchanters. Closing her eyes and letting out a sigh, she did her best to get those thoughts out of her head. She'd return when she could and have a long conversation with her family. With the tribe. Maybe by then, Tormash will have started his own tribe as well.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked over at Rakana. "Thank you again. It's all wonderful. Ialu and I were going to go explore the surrounding desert for a while. Would you like to come with us?"

Rakana gave her an odd look before shaking her head. "No thanks. I hate being outside, the sun is forever beating down on my fur, and there's not enough water. It's rather miserable. But if that's what makes you happy, run wild. Just be careful. Thank you for the invite."

Trillia chuckled faintly at that before attaching her various pouches to her sash. Checking to make sure everything was in order, she nodded. She had finally retrieved her rapier from Arlyss and bound its sheath to her sash. "Thanks again! Come on, Ialu. Let's go for a run!" The skoll hopped up excitedly, and the two darted out of her room. Trillia grabbed onto Ialu's fur and, with some help, was riding atop her in no time.

The guards had already been given orders to let her come and go as she pleased. None of them wanted to cause trouble for the local deity's avatar. They opened the city gates and watched as Trillia and Ialu ran out into the desert night, Trillia laughing and shouting once they were outside the city. The gates closed behind them.