"Be careful!" Skan tells Azabel, adamantly. "Come back ssoon, all right? I am worried about you sstaying here for long..." If he's not there to protect her, but maybe that's awkward to say or something. 

"Tomorrow morning," she agrees. "I'll check in with you first thing. Go on now!"

Oh right, Gates are tiring. Skan bobs his head apologetically and goes on. 

The effects of the Gate are definitely noticeable on the local magic patterns, and the weather seems to notice as well - the wind picks up, some distant clouds roll closer, there's a faraway rumble of thunder - but no rain. 

"I can do some weather magic?" 

"Yeah, I think the Gate didn't do any harm here but it's not cutting it by itself."

Nod. "- I'll be in trance for a while, then - can you keep an eye out...?" 

"Yeah, of course."

Ma'ar goes quiet, concentrating on the weather-magic. 

The clanspeople mostly talk amongst themselves, occasionally glancing a bit awkwardly over at Azabel and Ma'ar. 

She keeps an eye out. If anybody comes at Ma'ar with a stick she will be ready.

Ta'ana does not seem to think that Ma'ar sitting quietly by himself is annoying, and doesn't go at him with the stick. She doesn't seem very interested in what he's doing either. 

...

Eventually, within about a candlemark, clouds start to roll in. The clanspeople look up curiously but then go back to what they were doing before. 

Ta'ana seems a little more impressed once the drizzle starts. 

Good for Ma'ar.

And eventually he uncurls himself and stands up, stretching and shaking out his arms. He looks very tired. 

"Rain," he says, with quiet pride. "- Did you ever have a chance to look at Aala - uh, sorry, the one we thought might have Mindspeech. I tried Mindspeaking her, earlier, it - might've been easier than usual? And she wasn't as freaked out by it as you'd expect for someone who'd never been Mindspoken to and wasn't Gifted. It was hard to tell though." 

"I haven't looked at her because you haven't conveyed to me her interest in being looked at!"

"Oh, sorry. I tried to ask her but I don't think she really got the question? She - uh, she's being sort of like my grandmother is about everything, she doesn't really believe things unless she can see and touch and throw them." 

"Then I suppose I will not be able to secure her consent. I suppose you could - demo Mindspeech by having her hold up fingers and tell me how many while I'm turned away, if that would help."

"- Oh, that's a good idea. She might still - not update, I think people here...learn not to be curious or expect to understand the world, or something... But it's worth trying. And probably the littles will think it's a fun game to watch." 

He goes off to recruit the children for this. 

And Aza will hold up various numbers of fingers while not looking at anybody. She wonders if Ma'ar's gloss on this is the most charitable - like, the clanspeople could be being reasonable if, say, charlatan scammers came by claiming wondrous powers on a routine basis? And also they don't think highly of Ma'ar personally and wouldn't think him beyond reproach. Or maybe they're... choosing skepticism as a low-energy option, because if they were more curious, more lively, they'd be burning calories they don't have? She doesn't know how many calories being curious burns. Hitting people with sticks seems like a waste of calories they don't have though.

The children giggle and stomp their feet and seem very amused, if not precisely curious. 

Ta'ana watches from a distance, her expression - world-weary, and distantly worried, and very faintly impressed.

And afterward Ma'ar goes over to Aala and talks to her again, in a low voice, and then takes her hand and and leads her over to Azabel. 

:She's - more convinced: he sends. :She says you can look: 

Then Aza will put down her hand and look.

It's a little ambiguous, but - probably that's an early, half-awakened Gift? Clearly not trained, yet, or even much under conscious control - the gear-linkages to the rest of her mind still have that haphazard half-random look - but there's something there.

:So?: