Thankfully there aren't any, although there's a near miss with a young pickpocket towards market-close.

They leave with a wagon train heading to Bharat.

On track to kill a would-be god. She would be lying if she said she was not looking forward to this a little.

Hohenheim spends most of his time teaching and talking to his passengers. He seems to enjoy the teaching more -- sometimes after a session of quiet muttering his brows furrow in a way that makes him look ten years older, and he curls up in a corner of a wagon and tries to sleep.

"I don't expect us to need to get anywhere quickly given that you need down time to learn alchemy. But do you have any abilities that help with transportation?"

"I can extend my own endurance and speed, and that of a limited number of others. For a caravan of this size, I can do nothing. Were I home, I would rely on technological assistance."

"You may yet learn enough alchemy to reproduce those here."

"From what I have seen, the industrial base seems lacking."

"Would you need one if you could simply transmute the materials yourself? It is possible, though difficult, to transmute one element into another."

"It is not only the materials, but the machinery and expertise required to assemble and maintain the vehicles. Some economies of scale still apply. And reconstructing the knowledge involved would be a significant outlay of effort on my part, and talented engineers would be helpful."

"What information do you have easily accessible through that device of yours?"

"A general knowledge database, with the basics in almost every subject. Several Sith texts I am in the process of analyzing. Background information on currently active digsites."

"Digsites?"

"The Sith are thousands of years old, and knowledge has been lost or hidden over time. Much of my work is archaeological in nature."

"You haven't told me much about the Sith."

"You haven't expressed much interest."

"Why don't I do that now, then." His eyes widen expectantly.

"Very well. Then let us begin at the beginning, and the beginning of the Sith is the Code. It runs thus:

     Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
     Through passion, I gain strength.
     Through strength, I gain power.
     Through power I gain victory.
     Through victory, my chains are broken.
     The Force shall free me.

This is the beginning, and the heart, of what it is to be Sith."

"... that explains quite a lot about your perspective on learning alchemy thus far."

She quirks an eyebrow at him.

"A lot about your perspective in general, really." Pause. "'Through passion I gain strength' is a position you've expressed before."

"Yes, it is. The Force is responsive to emotions. For those sensible to its currents, the strength one draws from passion can be quite literal. But more than that, it is a matter of motivation, of the driving impetus to see a problem removed. The first line begins "Peace is a lie". Life is conflict. All things struggle, all things strive. Why do you fight? And what will it take to make you surrender?"

"Oh."

"Things outside yourself are easy for your enemy to remove. But that which is internal is in your own power."

"I- yes, there is also that similarity with chi. But chi seems to be far less connected to emotions than your Force.

I admit I was thinking for a long time about the environments that could have produced your perspective. I thought it had something to do with the person who wanted to kill you, or the ... promotion methods ... of your organization. But I never would have expected it to be enshrined as a code of ethics."

"And what do you think might have produced the man who wished me dead, or the methods of advancement?"

"I could think of many possible incentive structures that would produce either. Having no further information and not wanting to pry so soon after meeting you, I didn't voice my speculations, which would probably be false."