Hephaesta's face falls. "Shit. Clara doesn't deserve that. Well. None of us deserve any of this, that's not useful. There anything I can do to actually help?"

"Do you know how to get warm amber on short notice? Or even less-short notice."

She frowns. "Could ask one of the Rubberies at the Carnival. The one at the Anatomical Exhibition tried to give me some once, but I think it was flirting with me, and I didn't want none of that."

"That might be useful, thanks."

"Luck, then. I'm here if you need backup for anything."

"I'll let you know."

She takes her leave and heads for the Carnival.

The Carnival is, as always, bustling. There's the Most Educational Anatomical Exhibition, where "the NOTED PEDAGOGUE Mrs Plenty presents an INFORMATIVE and EDUCATIONAL EXHIBITION of ANATOMY and DANCES OF ANTIQUITY for DISCERNING GENTLEFOLK. You will BE IMPROVED!" There's also "MADAME SHOSHANA, the NEATH'S FOREMOST CLAIRVOYANTE," who can "SEE the FUTURE, the PAST, and THAT WHICH SHOULD NOT BE SEEN", and "the HOUSE of MIRRORS," which does not appear to have much of a line out front.

...You know what, she'll go see Madame Shoshana. 

Madame Shoshana takes one look at her and begins to cackle. "I wondered when you'd step into my tent. I've seen much of you, Wastelander - and heard much. Cross my palm with moon-pearls, and I'll tell what I know."

Does she have any moon-pearls...? Oh, right, yes, ten, from couriering for Mahogany Hall. She hands them over. 

Shoshana secrets them away. "I'll start with what I've heard. You've made quite a stir, in not much time at all - here and elsewhere. Mr. Fires hasn't acted against you yet, and that's strange, given how many times you've spat in his eye in just the last few days. Fires is not a Master known for his restraint. As to what I've seen... well. I saw you helping to birth a thing that cannot be in a place that is not. I saw you trapped beneath the earth, not afraid, only furious. I saw you walking down the aisle to marry a man wearing a sorrowful mask, only to turn into some kind of giant crab and kill him."

She pauses. "I think that one may have been allegorical. Not all that I see comes to pass in the way that I see it."

"--I'm more concerned about the walking-down-the-aisle-towards-Poor-Edward part than the crab part, personally."

"I didn't get enough context to determine why or when you were doing it, I'm afraid," the fortune-teller apologizes. "I doubt it was a union of mutual adoration, though. Given that you turned into a giant crab and killed him. Did you have any specific questions for me, or were you just looking for a general reading?"

"Uh, any advice on where to get Warm Amber?"

"Try Lurulel at the Anatomical Exhibition, he gets off in five."

"Thanks! Oh, and do you have any more detail about the place that is not where I assist in midwifery?"

"Parabola, the land behind the mirrors. You'll need help from a Glassman to get there, but once you've been a few times you'll get the knack of it."

"Where do I find a Glassman?"

"Mm... I know one who might help you out. He's always up for a bit of nonsense."

She scrawls the address of an Ebullient Rakehell down on the back of one of her own business cards and hands it over.

"Thank you! I'll remember this next time I have moon-pearls and need advice." 

She goes off to the Anatomical Exhibition.

The Anatomical Exhibition is wrapping up a show. Patrons are exiting the tent, blushing and fanning themselves.

One of the ticket-touters stops her before she can enter the tent. "Show's over, lass. No Specimens to Behold for another half hour."

"I'm not here to see the show, I'm here to see Lurulel."

He raises his eyebrows. "Well, I'll ask it if it wants to see you. Who's calling and what did you want to discuss, if you please?"

"I am the Light-Hearted Wastelander, and...warm amber, and any other matters it pleases."

He turns and enters the tent. After a few seconds, he comes back out and gestures her in.

Inside the tent, the Female, Male, and Rubbery Specimens are sharing tea at a folding table. Lurulel, the Rubbery Specimen, stands in the undulating way that Rubberies do and walks over to her.

He burbles inquisitively.