"Saroshem. Saroshem? Mm. A trap, you say." Sigh. "Can you tell me whether the dungeon will go back to normal? I know it doesn't act like other dungeons do, doesn't grow. Is that going to change? As for Saroshem, never heard of it. Sounds Xanthian. Xantha's an old, old mountain empire a ways north-east of the center of the world that got exterminated by something - the book I read once thought it was dwarves but that doesn't sound right to me - some seven thousand years ago."

"Saroshem is supposed to be in a mountain. How would one get to Xantha from here? And, after it let me out of the core room, it didn't do anything else weird for the entire rest of the time I was in there."

"Well, we're halfway to the south on the east side of the continent. So it's a bit of a hike. If you had a bit more money and experience and I was your quest organizer I'd say go to Columnar and get a ride on a fast ship to the Falsic Sea, stop at one of the big trading cities and gather info and supplies, then go as far up river as you can and you could get right up to the mountains. Instead, as you are now, I'd suggest adventuring in a vaguely north-northwest direction and seeing what happens. But who knows, maybe you'll discover a flying suit of armor, or make friends with a dragon, and obviate the long journey."

"Anything's possible, but I should still probably write that all down..."

"Be my guest. I'll say it all one more time after you go buy some paper if it'll get you out of here today."

Ame glances up at the sun. "If I'm gonna leave today, I should sooner rather than later."

Ame goes and buys something in the genre of 'small blank leather-bound travelogue' if there's something like that available, and writes down what she remembers from last night, first, then goes back to Raz to write down her directions.

They have leather, they have paper, and they have combined the two things.

Also seen in the market: Wary glances from everyone outweighing the horny ones, Gale the slightly stuck-up accountant guy arguing quietly with someone, a female adventurer in wizardy-looking robes is doing something with the wyldfire staff she brought up - or possibly another copy - in a fallow field. It tingles on her mana sense slightly if she gets close.

Ame is less than completely successful in ignoring the wary glances, but she does her best.

She is curious enough to go over and greet Gale and look curiously at what the wizardess is doing.

Gale cuts off the argument as she approaches and nods politely back.

The wizardess (complete with pointy witch hat and glasses) is not using any incantations, she's just standing there in the field with her eyes closed and hands firmly grasping the staff, the butt of which is planted on the ground. But she's clearly doing something mana-y. It's an indescribable ever-so-slight - something - on the mana inside her that grows if she approaches.

"Hi, Gale. Something up? What's she doing?" Ame asks.

"Nothing of your concern, just a Savoi matter. She's channeling, I presume."

"I guess its none of my business, then," Ame concedes, watching the wizardess work.

Feeling magic like this is new and interesting, what can she feel if she pays attention?

"I'm leaving town today, apparently. You think Codri would like me to say goodbye, first?"

(The man he was arguing with busies himself straightening his stock.)

"I think he'd appreciate it. He might give you some bacon - I know it sometimes seems a bit weird to non-farmers but it's closure, of a sort."

She can feel... Not much. It's less like sight and more like extremely numbed touch, with only the vaguest sense of direction and pressure.

And then it evens out as the wizardess breaks out of her trance with a gasp, blinking. She spots Ame and smiles, waving broadly over her head.

Ame blinks in mild surprise, then ambles over to talk to her. "Hi."

"Hello! I'm told you're responsible for this excellent staff!" She waves it excitedly. "It's going to be a big help for my endurance, it's really hard to get ghyran in a dungeon so I keep running out of energy to heal with! And also aqshy sort of auto-accumulates around passion but with more of it I bet I can even experiment with better fire spells!"

"I'm glad you're getting more use out of it than I would've."

Wait, what did she say about the Wind of Fire and 'passion'? This the first Ame is hearing of this connection.

"How's that work?"

"How's what work? Be specific about your curiosity, please!"

"Heh. That's fair. I meant aqshy. I haven't had the chance to learn much of anything about magic in the past; I'm not even sure how many Winds there are. But how does aqshy work in particular?"

"Aqshy collects around fire and smoke - specifically fire as in burning something, not just any heat, the books said so but it sounded weird so I tested it - and also around people, monsters, and animals feeling strong emotions of excitement, eagerness, anger, anticipation, thrill, and passion in general, so it's easy to come by in a fight!"

"I'm intrigued! Even though it sounds like aqshy would desert me if I actually was in a serious fight. If it does come from strong emotions, from passion, I'm gonna be really disappointed in the universe if that doesn't include sex."

"Learning sorcery takes a while. And it's a good idea to pick one or two Winds to do, at least at first, aqshy doesn't have to be one of yours. I haven't read that it does or that it doesn't, but I would be very surprised if it doesn't. Maybe I should check!"

"Maybe you should. Is that why you called me over?"

"Nope, I am very straight, thank you! I called you over to gush about the staff. I know I'll outgrow it eventually but it's pretty and it is going to be so useful in the near future!"

"Alright. Well, you're welcome for the staff. It suits you. I'm sort of supposed to be leaving town soon, but it was nice to meet you while I could."

"I could travel with you! I'm just passing through this place. I'm on Journeyman trials so I'm expected to wander and learn. And from what I've heard you are probably a high-quality adventuring companion! I bring healing, plant manipulation, and defensive buffs to the party with ghyran, and my skills with other Winds aren't as great but I can definitely manage fire support with aqshy, and I know some basic spells in a few other Winds too!"