"Huh, I wonder why they didn't give you the same details?"

"I dunno! Did you get just one version or multiple versions?"

"I think she said there were multiple versions but didn't go into the others."

"Mmm. The person I talked to said that she thought there were a few versions of the story but this was the only one she knew. I wonder if it really happened that way - the woman being turned into a sword, I mean." 

"I would kind of like to meet a swordperson."

"- I would too, except I'm not sure about the part where maybe she's just set on getting revenge?" 

"Well, it isn't against me, I'm pretty sure, and I don't think meeting her would make it worse?"

"I guess in the song I heard, it - wasn't that clear whether she hated all men or just men who'd done bad things to women - which the ballad said 'most men have' - I don't think I have but it's still kind of nervewracking..." 

"I'm not aware of you having done? I don't know the prevalence."

"I don't know what she'd be defining as 'done bad things' - I've probably been rude to women or inconvenienced them by accident..." Ma'ar shakes his head. "- That's not really the point. I - think I also just feel nervous about the idea of a person becoming a sword because of a god-miracle, and - why the gods bothered, whether They slipped anything else into them in the process." 

"Well, that's the sort of thing I could ask if I met her."

Nod. "It does seem worth trying to. What else would you ask her, if you could meet her?" 

"What it's like to be a sword, I guess? How she feels about that and whether it seems like a good solution to the problems she was having at the time."

"Do you have any ideas for how to go about finding her? The ballad I heard wasn't very helpful for that." 

"I have no ideas for that at all."

Nod. "Anyway - uh, do you have any questions on mine, or do you want to tell me about the battle goddess one now?" 

"I don't think I have questions mostly because what you've got is so vague." She lays out her Bestet notes.

"Interesting. She sounds more - narrow-minded - no, that's not quite what I mean, but - like She cares about a smaller set of things than the others?" 

"Yeah, I thought so too! Unfortunately they didn't have much in the way of books and intellectually curious priesthood."

"Guess that makes sense, if she's, well, like that." 

"Yeah. There was a martial arts class going on in the yard when I got there. I declined an invitation to one."

"Do you think they'd have been less helpful if I were the one who went instead?" 

"Yeah, I asked what if I'd been a boy and it did sound like she wouldn't have wanted to spend much time talking to one even if they're, like, allowed to also worship Bestet."

"But there weren't any men with this temple order, right? Are there just separate temples for them?" 

"She thinks some other cultures might have men worshipping her but there were not any in the temple, and maybe not in the whole country, I'm not sure."