"That would be lovely, thanks."

They set off. The weather is overcast and damp today, not pleasant and sunny like it was yesterday. Still, the roads here are good quality, and they make good time. Though George does ask Marena to pay half the toll, when they encounter bridge tolls and toll roads.

By late afternoon the city of Bristol is visible in the distance. It stretches along the river from a port to at least two dozen miles inland, into some hills. Sailing ships are heading in and out of port, as well as a few ships with iron constructions of some kind, trailing smoke. George goggles at them and tries to guess why - presumably they're some kind of motive engine, to replace wind? The sails are furled, on that one, and yet it moves...

Even from here you can hear the low noise of a city. The character of this city's din is a bit - clunkier - than usual. Lots of construction going on? And there are clearly a lot of witches in the city. A few dozen, perhaps, though it's hard to make out individual ones from the essence impressions at this distance.

"I've heard of boats like that. Usually magically powered, but your tech is likely different."

Yeah those boats are super weird. She's heard of First Age tech like that... but that was First Age.

And the nice thing about Essense impressions is it's going to make it easy to find where all the witches are.

There's a fair bit of traffic on the way into the city. George continues speculating and gawking as they proceed inward.

The noise of construction is, apparently, half the city being torn up and built back down again with a sewer system underneath it. There are signs everywhere shouting that not using the sewer system in places where it exists is now illegal - it causes plagues, you know! It seems like kind of a monumental project - there are thousands and thousands of people working on it. Though there are also plenty of factories and workshops and shipyards.

It turns out that there are stables in the city. Though now that they're here, he'll probably sell his horse.

"I suppose this is where we part ways for now? I'm going to go looking for schools, and you're going to do whatever it is you came here for. Looking for a way home? I'd try the ports, I suppose, for that."

Indoor plumbing. Sweet.

"Yeah, I'll see you again, if I see you. Good luck with schooling!" And then she heads off in the direction of the greatest amount of Essense disturbances.

There are two roughly equally strong greatest-essence-disturbances. One close to the shore, and one towards the east end of the city. There are more witches scattered throughout, but those two feel like groups of about a dozen. The shore is closer.

To the shore! To pretend to be a witch!

The collection of witches near the shore, it turns out, is a few blocks inland from the docks.

It's a rather luxurious-looking three story building in the richer parts of town. There's a doorbell. A collection of sparks are inside, mostly on the second story of the building. The sign says St. Lucille Preparatory School for Young Witches.

Hmm... On the one hand, she is young, but not that young, as much as she hates to admit it. Probably not going to fit in in a school.

...And she can always head back here if it turns out to be her best option.

She heads towards the other concentration of witches.

At least one of the other random witches in the city is flying! She can see them sitting side-saddle on a broomstick, floating almost leisurely over the city, though far from where she is at that moment. The essence-feeling is muddled from this far away. And the smoke and soot from all the factories and workshops, and the dust of construction, makes it a bit hard to see.

The other collection of witches is a post office. Actually, the post office is just the closest entrance of what looks like a decently sized complex. Storage areas, some kind of training ground, living quarters, offices. Uniformed and armed men stand at the other entrances to the place, carrying - obviously weapons of some kind - a metal tube and a wooden frame and a short blade attached to the end. They look bored. Most of the witches are inside the complex, in the housing buildings or offices. One is walking towards the post office from inside the complex.

The post office itself is inviting and fairly busy. There are lists of prices to carry mail and packages to various places. (Apparently there's also a new tax on mail, according to the signs.) There are orderly queues, scales, carts loaded down with stacks of letters and boxes, busy clerks who occasionally shout 'NEXT!'. There is also a sign that says - 'REFUND NOT AVAILABLE if any witch-carried mail is delayed due to military priority'.

Okay, trial by fire time. Lets see if she can successfully pretend to be a witch.

(...and why are the broomsticks flying? Why.)

She looks for someone who looks in-charge-ish and not-busy-ish.

There's probably a manager or something around here somewhere? Most of the clerks seem-

Wait, yeah, that guy right there who just came out of a side office and got called 'sir' and started issuing instructions, he looks in charge. And he looks and smells bureaucrat-y.

Yes! A bureaucrat!

She walks over to him purposefully. "So sorry to bother you, I was just wondering if there was a way a somewhat lost and foreign witch could help with the war effort?"

"Oh, how unusual. That's not really my department, I'm in the Royal Mail Service. I organize the mail, sorting and dealing with companies and coordinating it all and so on. I don't usually talk to the couriers. There's always demand for witches, though. Hmm, maybe logistics? You won't have the training for... Hmm... What's your special ability? Do you have any specialized skills or knowledge? We could always use more couriers, but there are other magical needs and there may be somewhere else I should send you than the logistics service recruiting office."

"I'm a shapeshifter, with wilderness survival skills-- though for a different kind of wilderness, unforturnately. If you tell me where logistics is, I should be able to find my way there."

"Wilderness survival might be helpful, actually. I wouldn't know. There's a logistics office in the compound out back but you probably shouldn't just walk up there. I can send a runner to ask for an appointment and get back to you. As long as it's not a total waste of time and you are, in fact, a witch."

Ehh, she can spare the Essence for dramatics. She turns into a small bird, perches on the nearest perch like thing, cocks her head, and does her best to look expectant.

He blinks once. He writes something down on his clipboard. He turns to one of the clerks and commands, "Jeffrey! Go tell Lieutenant Reynolds I have a witch who wants to chat, please. As soon as possible, I presume?"

She turns back into a human. She now also has a silver glow around her, and a crescent moon in the middle of her forehead.

"That sounds lovely, thank you."

The bureaucrat asks, "...Is that a side-effect of the transformation?"

Jeffrey the clerk goes off at a fast walk, nearly bumping into the witch who has been walking towards the post office on his way out. The witch dodges around him. "Well, excuse you. Oh, hey, Sims! Turns out I'm free for the afternoon if you need an extra broom. Oh, and who's this?"

The bureaucrat shrugs. "I haven't actually caught your name, miss...?"

"Yep. And I won't be able to transform again until I stop glowing. It should only last a few minutes though.

I'm Marena."

"Weird. I can do my thing whenever, however as long as I got the mana. I'm Sandra."

(The bureaucrat excuses himself to go over to a desk and starts investigating some paperwork.)

"You're new in town, huh? Noisy, isn't it?"

"Nice to meet you.

I am, but I've been in louder places."

"Likewise, probably. Well, now I'm curious. No offense, but you kind of seem like the 'wandering the middle of nowhere' type to me. You going to sign on with the military? Fight the good fight, it's all for the good of the world, be happy for the opportunity, all that junk?"

"Yeah, not normally a middle of nowhere type. I don't know the details, it happened, but I ended going from being in a forest with my friends to being in a very different forest sans friends.

Probably. As much as I'd like to reunite with my friends, there's not really a clear path to that. Clearer path to helping people, by joining the military. Also 'with great power comes great responsibility' and all that junk."