"I used to sell fruit back in Erhau before void magic was legal anywhere, but now I do magic research. What do you do?"

"I was a scout! Scouts go places, look for people, watch for danger, help other people survive in nature. Probably not anymore. I got hurt pretty bad doing that."

"That would be useful. Did it pay well?"

"Nope. They promised me a spot in one of the cities for my family, but they didn't pay up on that." Sigh. "Everything was falling apart, the government collapsed, and money wasn't worth anything more. It paid in food and other stuff I found and scavenged, I guess."

"Oh, no wonder you came here. Our government usually keeps its promises. Unless you count campaign promises, maybe. Are you still with your family?"

"Nope. They're... Gone. Such is life."

"Yeah, I never stick with one partner more than a couple years either."

"That's not what I meant. Family is for life for most of us. It hurts that they died."

"Oh, that makes more sense. I would never do it that way, it sounds horrible, but I know there are agerah who do."

...Sigh. "Yeah. Well. Goodbye, hope you learned something."

"Find me again if you want to talk more."

"I'm sure plenty of people want to learn Hari over in New Dover, just head northeast until you see a tent city. Or catch the bus. Either way."

She walks away. A stroll down the market might cheer her up. Or be depressing again but in a different way if there are slaves for sale out in the open.

There aren't any slaves for sale today. There's a child who's technically a slave but he doesn't seem to be for sale. He's sitting in front of a store reading a scroll.

There's someone hanging out turning things different colors. There are some frustrated people wearing magic symbols but not getting any customers. There's a doctor's office. There's someplace selling illusion shows.

She should probably figure out what kind of magic corresponds to which symbol at some point.

Hey, shows! Like the videos Bar showed her. Those are liable to be good Hari practice! She heads for that place.

The illusions are in sound-baffled boxes with still pictures and labels on the lids, maybe because it'd be really obnoxious to have ten shows talking at once. Three of them have names that are spelled in ways that Hari words are never spelled: two of those are illustrated with pictures of caralendri, one with a map of the mainland. Others are titled in Hari. They all have summaries in smaller, denser text that might be hard for Liane to read yet. There's Where Is Exav This Month, illustrated with a picture of a belul on a beach. There's The Ring Of Twilight, illustrated with an adult human and a baby agerah. There's Understanding Ereli, with a picture of an erel.

Is there a proprietor around she can ask about the shows? Ring of Twilight looks like some kind of fiction, but a lot of the others seem to be documentaries.

Yup, there's a caralendar politely trying not to obviously watch her.

She hasn't made the connection that eye contact is impolite here, yet. "Hello! I want to ask about the shows, is it okay?"

"Of course. What about them?"

"I want shows that are... Not about people and places? ...I am not good at Hari. Do you know English?"

"Not much," he says in English. "I try?"

"Fiction shows? Fake stories, made-up, not about real people and places? Is The Ring Of Twilight one? Do you have any more?"

"Yes! The Ring of Twilight is not real. You want them," he points to four shows including that one. It's not very many at all compared to the total selection. "They are a little different than Hari is the Language of the Empire. You touch them and you say 'liceti' so you see them. Say 'morati' so you do not see."

"Oh, that's handy." Do they have price tags? If not, she'll ask how much they cost.

"Can I buy one not sound box?"

They have price tags.

"I don't sell the sound baffles but my son does! At the moment he'd be up on the third floor of that building," he points. "Tell him Anran sent you, he'll probably answer."