The entrance is fairly obvious: a big set of double doors at the top of some steps.

Inside, the room is divided in two by a long counter, at which three clerks sit. Two are occupied, but the free one waves her over as she comes in.

"Hello — what can I help you with today?" she asks, setting aside a sheet of paper covered in densely-packed numbers.

To the left, a man with a comically large backpack is arguing with the next clerk about the valuation of moleskins.

"I'm a new arrival and the person who welcomed me said I should learn what rules I'm supposed to follow here."

She sits up straighter and then turns to rifle through a stack of documents.

"You would be amazed how many people don't do that," she tells her. "I think you might be the first person to actually come for a reference this month."

She finishes her rummaging and comes up with a pamphlet.

"We have a complementary pamphlet covering the laws that apply to non-residents. If you cannot read, I am prepared to read it to you. If you want access to the full legal archive including case law, there's a 25 resh fee. If you want to speak to a legal professional about your obligations while on Terrance, I can sell you a copy of the merchant association's services directory for 150 resh, to cover copying costs, or recommend that you go to the market and peruse the central directory there."

"If most people manage without the pamphlet I think I'll skip the case law or legal professionals. Also, I don't actually have any resh on me. Is there a reliable way to trade for currency?"

"I can trade for silver or gold at a markup on yesterday's prices, but you can generally get a better rate in the market," Laniel informs her. "I cannot take mole skins as payment for city services at this time."

The man to the left shoots her a glare, but she keeps her eyes fixed on Sapphire with a slight smile.

She smiles a little at that. "I don't mind paying more for the convenience if there's something I need to buy from you. What other sorts of services do you offer?"

"You can convert currency, pay taxes, apply for a residency license, certify a document, or file a complaint," she replies. "I can also do more things for residents of the city, but you probably aren't interested in getting a fire permit. I can also give directions to various places in the city and help you with general questions, but those services are free."

"I think I'm good then. I could probably use directions to that central directory you mentioned. Otherwise I'll go review the pamphlet outside and come back to ask if I have questions I think you might be able to answer."

"It's always so nice to see someone who respects clerks' time," she remarks. "The central directory is posted in the center of the main market square, which is just tailward of the library, near the top of Terrance's shell. Look for the large open space surrounded by tie downs. And I hope you enjoy your stay!"

She feels a little bad for the mole skin guy but she's new enough that helping him isn't an urgent priority. "You're welcome and thanks."

She goes outside and reads through the pamphlet. Are there other things that she needs to know that weren't in the abridged list?

Terrance is the official head of government — which is probably fair, given that she's standing on him — and can theoretically make arbitrary edicts, but in practice mostly doesn't bother. Fraud, including selling certain things as 'authentic' without a license, is prohibited. Assault is fairly broadly defined, but has a component of intentionality. Bumping into people doesn't count. Knowingly walking around in a fairy or pixie plaza without extreme care does. Breeding breezes is illegal without a license, as is the sale of certain classes of magical artifact. There's a whole slew of regulations that only apply to her if she rents a market stall. Other than that, it's the sort of common-sense laws that you get in any civilized place.

So there aren't any sort of rules about what clothing you wear or how much of it you wear? She won't strip naked immediately but it's worth thinking about.

Well with that out of the way she puts the pamphlet in her pocket so it can disappear and starts walking towards the market and the library. It's convenient that those are close together.

As she gets away from the edge, it becomes increasingly apparent that this is because Terrance is densely urbanized. He's large, but cities are pretty large too. Away from the edge of his shell, the crowds become fairly close-packed. The square in front of the library, in particular, is highly trafficked, as people make their way up or down the avenue that runs along Terrance's spine, which splits in two to flow around the library like a stream.

The library itself is a much flatter building than the others she has seen — equally tall, but with a wider base. It, too, is painted that violent shade of green that seems to stand for officialdom.

Interesting. She'll head for the library first if there's a fee for using it she'd like to know that before starting to sell metal or gems for currency.

The entrance to the library opens into a room with a desk and a prominent sign.

The sign reads:

Welcome to Terrance's Library. You are welcome to read the books within, and so long as no damage comes to them, no damage will come to you. Policy enforced by defenestration.

Donations gratefully accepted.

On the desk is a smaller desk, behind which sits a four-inch tall person with wings and a tight grey bun. They appear to be reading a leaf.

Huh, so no fee. She'll take the opportunity to read a little then.

"Hello. Do you work here?"

Bwittertree glances up from their correspondence.

"Yes — I'm senior librarian Bwittertree. Can I help you find anything?"

"Yes thank you, I'm wondering if there's books about all the kinds of people there are and also if there's maps of the world."

Bwittertree nods.

"Human-scale books are accessible on all the levels with human-scale stairs. Don't try and crawl into the smaller sections; ask a librarian to fetch the relevant books for you. The main reference section is down that hall and to your right, Terrance's left. There should be a set of atlases in the section labeled 'Geography'. For species of the world, you'll want the natural philosophy section, which is one human-scale staircase up from there."

"I'm sure you saw the sign — but please do be careful with the books. If you tear, fold, mutilate, smudge, crinkle, or lose one, we will find out and it will be more pleasant if we find out from you. The choice of which window you leave the library by in that case is up to me. If you fess up and pay for a replacement, I will choose one on the ground floor."

"If you want to borrow any books, I will need some documents and a large deposit, but there are reading rooms at the central area of each floor that you may use so long as you are quiet. Please leave any tamed breezes either outside or bottled. Once you're finished with a book, if you're not certain about where you got it from, put it on a reshelving cart. We would much rather reshelve your books than have to track down a missing one because you put it back in the wrong place."

The defenestration thing is weird. "Don't damage the books got it. Is there any sort of fee I'm supposed to pay before copying one of the books? For that matter is copying things a service that the library would pay for?"

Bwittertree blinks at her.

"Is this your special talent, the application of an artifact, or were you planning to sit in the reading room for six months with a stack of paper and a quill?"

She shakes her head.

"To actually answer your question: there is no fee because it hasn't come up. If you start copying excessively then Terrance will likely look more favorably on it if you also make a donation in kind of some copies to the library. And yes, we would be willing for copies to be made of specific books, provided the copies were accurate."

"It's one of the special talents I have yes." Part of one but the details don't master that much.

That's a very weird answer.

"Well, wizardry is not forbidden in the library," she conceeds. Mostly because Terrance recognizes that he can't reasonably ask the librarians to defenestrate a wizard, but it counts.

"If you give me a few minutes, I can draw up a list of what books we would most appreciate copies of. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I am a little curious what a wizard is I've just started learning this language today so I'm not clear on some of the intricacies. Otherwise no, should I wait here for you?"

"A wizard is someone who can learn general magic beyond their special talent," Bwittertree replies. "If you have learned multiple special talents, you are certainly a wizard. Although if you haven't been to one of the wizard's colleges you may hear people call you a 'hedgewizard', instead."

"And no, there's no need to wait. I'll write up the list and set it aside for you to pick up once you've finished your research," they assure her. It doesn't do to keep wizards waiting.