"Oh, that'll be handy too. We know how to deal with cold, but you never know when you'll end up naked, your fire gone, your coat soaking wet, and under an iceberg. It's happened. That was not a fun hunting trip."

Giggle. And now Varrin will not freeze or burn.

"You can test it whenever you're ready."

"Hey, Link! Can I borrow your fire sword?"

"Sure!"

Link comes over. "Ah, Val made you fireproof? Nice. No violence in the bar, let's go out back to test it?"

"Sure. And maybe we can spar after all - there's a lake." Varrin grins.

"Sounds like a plan. Want to come along, Val?"

"Ah, let's not go far at first," Varrin muses, "Just far enough to test it without breaking the rules. Don't want your friend to think I'm running off without paying him."

(Nick calls out, "She used one of your questions, by the way, defense magic guy!")

"Sure. Hey, if I'm not back today it's probably time falling out of sync again, not me walking away from our deal. Come get me if it seems like time might not be passing for me," he tells Nick and then heads out back with Link and Varrin.

"I think I'll follow you, just in case." He picks up his stuff and does just that.

Link brings out her Flameblade and holds the blunt side up to Varrin's exposed left hand.

"...Warm, but barely painful. You sure that's not the sword, though?"

"Very. It's plenty hot, it burns stuff - just magically created."

"Well then. This will be a nasty surprise for the next firebender to fight me. I don't suppose you can also make me immune to stabbing? Or do it to some of my friends, maybe? Wait, shit, I can't go get them even if I open the door. Ah, well."

"I can't make people immune to stabbing. There are people who can, it'd be a little hassle to try to get one in on this but I could. It's not impossible I could be convinced to visit your world and make your friends fireproof but it's not sounding safe so far and you don't have all that much to offer me."

"No, you're right about that, I don't, do I? I guess I could give you a lot of sealbear meat, but my door is in a hunters' shelter alone on a vast frozen plain right now so that isn't really a practicable course of action. I'll be happy with what I got."

"How far are you from any other people?"

"Miles." Shrug. "Hey, even if we were all frost, fire, and stab-proof, we could still get crushed by flaming boulders, drown, starve, so on, so forth. We'll carry on as best we can."

"Prudence and caution is a better lifesaver than any armor."

"Exactly! This guy gets it."

"Only miles... I have an idea, come find me inside if you don't see me for a week."

He goes in to ask Bar if she can sell any vehicles that one person can pilot that can travel several miles in less than an hour.

I have many options for such a thing, of widely varying types and prices. If you remove any equipment from the bar the price will go on your tab. However, you can return it to get your tab lowered, less the worth of the fuel if it uses any and provided it is undamaged.

"I need it easy for me to pilot with no experience, not likely to do anything deadly by accident, able to cross a vast frozen plain, I'm guessing waterproof would be good... doesn't need to protect me from the cold, doesn't need to handle a hundred years of daily transcontinental flights. What's the cheapest thing meeting those specifications?"

Bar shows a picture of a utilitarian gasoline-powered plastic-body tracked snowmobile for one.

If ground transit is preferred. 3000 rings. Fuel cost will likely be approximately one ring per three miles.

And a picture of something that looks even lighter, but the same general aesthetic, with four wide ducted fans instead of treads.

If aerial transit is preferred. It has an automatic piloting feature. 6500 rings. Fuel cost will be approximately one ring per mile. It would be inadvisable to fly in strong winds, however.

"Is the fuel cost included in the prices you quoted me? Can I also get instructions on how to operate them? And how much fuel do they come with, measured in miles I can travel?"

They would come with a full tank of fuel. The snowmobile can travel approximately 100 miles on a full tank. The personal hovercraft can travel approximately 30 miles on same. I can provide refill containers if you wish, as well. As for instructions, of course.

Two users' manuals appear.

He skims the manuals until he's sure which he likes better and returns the other.

He goes back out to tell Varrin he might be able to cross the vast icy wasteland and ask exactly how far in what direction he needs to go to find people.

"Oh, you're really offering to help us this much? Thank you. I'm sure they'll be able to pay you back, somehow."

He describes a route through 8 miles of snow to his friends' camp.

"Hold the door for me and point in the right direction, I shouldn't be long. Hey! Vampire Nils! I'm going on an errand, you know I'll be back because I need the door and my last five questions, you probably won't be ready before I get back."

And off he goes to find out what manner of frozen wasteland these people live in.

"Let me write you a note to show 'em... We've got secret codes and stuff, they'll trust it."

Varrin writes.

"Yes, I know you'll be back - if I stand near the door while you're through it, at least."

Valanda figures no one will trust that he didn't look at the code so he doesn't bother avoiding that.

"Oh, yeah, I'll have to invent a new one, but this's worth it. I'm using words we pre-arranged to mean 'Varrin trusts this guy' - but only once."

"That's a pretty useful thing to have arranged!"

To the vast icy wasteland?