The next day he brings back apples and honey in the mid-morning and a little more money.

"If I showed you around today, what would you do?"

Follow him, look at things, listen to things. First ask him for some advice on how to behave, carry herself, respond to things that might happen, etc.

"Good. You should stay quiet and avoid looking at people too much. If you do look at someone don't look them dead-on in the eyes. If you look someone in the eye by accident blink or look away. It's probably safer if you don't talk to people. Any other questions?"

Is one of her body languages better than others? She's guessing Omega or Iota, but is one clearly better (she can demonstrate them)? What does looking people in the eye mean (she won't do it.) What does she do if someone starts talking to her? What other kinds of things might happen she should be prepared to respond to?

"Not a lot of people are familiar with human body language. If someone is, I don't think either of those is the safest thing you could do. Maybe something like..." He demonstrates. He seems to think she'll be safer looking more confident. "Looking someone in the eye means you're spoiling for a fight or think you can do what you want to them. If someone talks to you it depends on what they're saying but I'll try to handle that if it comes up. Probably nothing will happen."

The ones she knows come out of strata, so it might be different from humans in this world.

Interesting. She watches and adapts and puts together a better one given-information and demonstrates it so he can give her feedback.

Understood. Thank you.

He declares it good enough.

"Want to go now?"

She does.

Then they can go.

There are elevators. How they function is not immediately obvious. The ground floor lobby has a different color scheme entirely than the hallway on their floor.

And just down the street is a market with several open-air stalls and room for more in a big open square surrounded by buildings some of which might be businesses. Someone is transmuting elements. Someone is sharpening knives. Someone is selling meat and blood. Someone is selling nuts and dried fruit, someone is selling fresh fruit, someone is selling honey. An agerah offers to dye their hair or skin or clothing with her magic. Valanda ignores her completely.

She keeps the body language he'd said was fine. She looks around, attentive not to look anyone in the eye or at anyone in particular too much.

(Do they seem to have bread and similar products? Vegetables?)

Doesn't look like they have anything like that.

"This is where I buy groceries," says Valanda. He keeps walking. They pass what might be a very large park.

Huh. (Had she seen any of those in the not-video?) Also, anyone selling alcohol and the like?

Nod.

What kind of park?

There doesn't seem to be anyone with alcohol on display at a stall at that particular market. She might've seen vegetables for sale in a not-video scene in some other city with more humanoids.

The park is wooded. The trees suggest a temperate biome, maybe on the lucky side of a mountain range. The streets do slope but between tall buildings and tall trees it's a little hard to see far enough to confirm that.

The next place Valanda wants her to see is a building designed to give the illusion of being larger than it is and make visitors feel small.

"That's a government building," Valanda says. "It's where I got Hari Ar Sarag Marsaehu."

But no bread and similar products at all. Interesting.

She'll wait to ask questions until they return.

She has a fairly good sense for slope.

She observes the architectural - choices.

Nod.

(Who else is around on the streets? What are they like?)

Most people around here are furry quadrupeds. A couple people have other people latched on and drinking their blood right there in public. An entire flock of Iri's species flies by. A human also flies by, apparently by magic.

"This wasn't a disaster! Want to get something to eat on our way back?"

Observing, observing. Do any people seem richer than others, more confident than others, like they're given more respect than others... Anything corresponding to jobs/positions/familiar status/etc?

Yes, thank you.

Some people wear the symbol for a type of magic. What this correlates with is unclear. Some of those people are free and some are not, the flying human is one of them but the others aren't human, it's not that common a choice but she'll see more than a couple. The person transmuting elements is wearing the sun magic symbol. Free people look more dominant but there don't seem to be strata per se. One of the agerah in the park has what seem to be kittens with her.

"What kind of food would you like?" Valanda asks when they get back to the market.

Any more confirmation or refutation for the obvious hypothesis that it correlates with having that magic? Or, if what is unclear is who wears one and who doesn't, for hypotheses that it might refer to education, or accreditation, or work?

She's already aware of the lack of strata, and looks for what they perhaps do have.

Cooked meat and fruit might be a good choice out of what she has seen, if this is a reasonable option? (What appears available at the market does seem to be sufficient explanation for what exactly he'd been bringing back.)

It seems like it could correlate with having that magic. Nothing obviously refutes any of those hypotheses.

"...Oh, of course you'd do that. You want the fruit cooked too?"

Of course she'd do that?

Either is fine, if one is easier or cheaper or such.

And here is where they can buy fresh fruit. There's apples, peaches, a few kinds of berries.

"What kind do you like?" Valanda asks her.

She is not picky, but she had apples this morning, so, something else? Berries are probably good. (She thinks about nutritional needs.)

He gets a couple different kinds so she can try them and see what she likes best. The seller removes the wards keeping them fresh before handing them over. Valanda eats his half quickly before they move on to the next stall.

"Well, now do you know what you like?"

"Thank you."

She's really just not very discerning. She can pick food mostly based on nutritional needs and cost.

"How about meat, do you care what kind of meat we get?"