Nod. "We probably can't screw up too badly."

Nod. "She doesn't have absolute power, besides - the Great Speaker mostly only controls international matters and the capitol, and then she has to listen to the council, so it's not like annoying one person will get you executed."

"That is reassuring."

"Indeed."

"Well, I can't think of anything else that's important. Do you want to see if young Pati or Meya are receiving visitors?"

"Of course! Thank you for everything."

"Oh, you're welcome. Hospitality to travelers is part of my job, after all. Now, let's get these old bones moving, and we'll head right on over to Pati's - she's nearby."

She leads the way to an understated stone house, and knocks on the door. 

A woman who looks to be in her late twenties opens it, and smiles broadly when she sees the old woman. "Lady Tshu!" she says. "And our new visitors. Come on in!"

The entryway is as plain as the outside, though peeking past the curtains that cover the interior doorways it's obvious that the rest of the house is more opulent, decorated mostly with gold and turquoise and rich weavings.

"Thank you for sharing your time with us." They come in.

"No problem at all," says Pati. "Why don't we get comfortable? The sitting room's through here."

The seats are mostly soft - pillows and padded stools - and the floors are covered in rugs. Pati talks quietly with another woman, who ducks through another door before returning with drinks.

"Now, why have you sought me out?" she asks, sitting on one of the pillows.

"Lady Tshu told us that you're the face of the mercant guild and might know relevant travel information. We are new to this world and would like to cover all bases."

"Hm. I've mostly been to Hayadi, but I went as far as Amadahni once, when they called the election. From Hayadi to Amadahni is a well-traveled route, you might see navy ships who'll ask your business, your ship being so strange and all, but it's unlikely that you'll run into actual trouble, long as you stick to the travel lanes. I can show you the signals the ships use, too, in case someone tries to flag you down. Between here and Hayadi is occasionally a problem, there's pirates to the south of us who like to pretend to be a legitimate political faction. There's a few sea beasts, but nothing that'll trouble a flying ship. ...Up there, you'll want to be careful not to hit the tooth-birds, some of them get big."

"We would love to learn the signals. What is a tooth-bird?"

"Flying birds, but they have teeth, wings are kinda like a bat's? Mostly eat fish, far as I know."

"...Well, can they be killed without magic? We have weapons."

"Don't see why you'd want to kill them, they don't have much meat and aren't aggressive, but sure, they're just birds."

"Just checking."

"Has Lady Tshu already explained not docking in Amadahni itself?"

"She mention that we would be shot if we didn't have permission and that we should dock at Atencallah first and then see which way we are allowed to cross the bay."

Nod. "You'll likely want to talk to the portmaster after docking - he's just off to the left of the docks, building sticks out a bit, though he might also send someone to approach you when he sees you come in... You'll probably want to dock somewhere meant for ley-ships rather than watercraft, those're more fit for a flying boat, or just do what you've done here, long as you're away and out of the travel lanes."

Note note. "Do you have cost estimations?"

"There's no docking fee if you're only there briefly, for any of the cities... Food in Amadahni can get a bit pricey, but it's not so bad if you don't mind living off of fish. For money - Asheli's been trying to renovate the economic system, but most transactions are still based on bartering. We used to use cocoa beans and lengths of cotton cloth, and you can still outright purchase coins with cocoa beans or cloth-lengths. For money, the merchant house in Hayadi actually specializes in information and exotic goods, so you might want to talk to them, or you can go to the university at Huicoa, or get a stipend from the government."

Note note note.

"We have some silk cloth," she absently comments. "Does the stipend comes with any restrictions or obligations?"

"I don't know. Haven't gotten something like that before. But I'd also be happy to trade with you myself."

They ask more questions test if the water is not acidic (it's not). They want to trade some cargo for emergency money and equipment.

Trading can be done! They're limited in what equipment's available, this's a pretty small village, but she'll do what she can.