"...so, what do people actually do?"

"Heal, fly, fight, build, destroy, create, I'm not entirely sure how you want me to answer this question."

"Like if you find out that you are magic what are your career prospects."

"Oh. Depends on which kind of mage you are. An enchanter could maintain artefacts for a living, or study old ones to figure them out, or make new ones and sell them, perhaps specialising in certain types of artefacts. An arcanist could sell spell scrolls, or work on spell refinement research, or work in communications or as attendant for royalty. An elementalist could help build things, explore, work in law enforcement, get lots of cognitive boosts and learn a lot of things. And a metamancer needs to hide that fact if they want to not be beheaded."

The kids look queasy at "beheaded".

He shrugs, uncomfortably. "It is not a very nice theocracy to live in."

"It sounds maybe nicer than Ryganaav but not as nice as Iraam?"

"Sounds about correct, yes."

The kids munch on their dinners. (The vampire doesn't have one.)

"So, another reason I came here was that there were two magical things about you," he says eventually, to the vampire. "One's extra and nobody else here has—guess that's the light thing—but what's the other?"

"I... don't know how your thing works, I don't know what you'd see..."

"It's something you have, none of them," he gestures at her friends, "have, and the other pale people who are not eating have, so I expect it's a species thing."

"Oh, I'm a vampire, I guess that's sort of magical."

"What do vampires... well do? Have? That's magical."

"We turn into bats."

"Oh that's cool! ...and kinda very specific."

"What do you mean specific?"

"Turning into bats in particular, as opposed to other mammals in general, or animals, or anything else."

"Well, you could also say that we're bats who turn into this." She gestures at herself.

"That's... also a bit specific but somewhat less so, given that lots of other sapient species around seem to favour this shape or similar."

"It's pretty convenient, hands and such."

"I'd imagine so. Are vampires born as bats, then? And... do you not eat in humanoid form or something?"

"We're born in this form usually. And only eat in humanoid form but only sleep in bat form."

"Huh. Why do you only sleep in bat form? And, er, why aren't you or any of the—very few—other vampires here eating?"

"We can't sleep like this, we have to be bats, doesn't work otherwise. And we don't eat very often, I'm just here to sit with my friends."