"That one," he points to the green statue, "is holding a crook, which is for herding sheep. I don't know what his other stick is. The one in the corner by the stairs," he points to the golden-skinned one, "is holding a scroll, I think. I'm not sure who she is, either. The one with the falcon head is Heru-wer, and the one with the basket has to be Neselthia; I don't know what their sticks mean."

"Do you know when we'll be okay to interrupt?"

Daernir squints at the two women standing opposite them, who have barely moved since they arrived. They're looking at them, though. He doesn't like the effect; it's kind of creepy. He thinks they must be the priests, though.

"I think we can talk to the priests right now, just not the other people. They're the two staring at us from across the room."

"Okay." She walks right up to them. "Hello. Are you Neselthia's priests?"

"Hello, child of Neselthia. Welcome to her temple. What do you seek?"

"We are her priests. We speak to her, for her, and about her."

Priests are weird and this is why he wants to be wizard, he doesn't say.

"Lintalai wants to learn more about gods and things."

"Yeah, we don't have gods where I'm from, and also people thought I was involved with Neselthia in particular because of my hair, can you tell me about that?"

"A misunderstanding, nothing more. While the ability to change our hair is something associated with spellcasters, it is not very common among Neselthia's priests. However, we do pay for magic performed on others outside her priesthood, such as the kind that changes hair color. Yours was not magically granted?"

"She makes it blue because she's blue. She doesn't even need magic for it."

"It turns the color of whatever I eat. I have a bottle of food coloring but since I don't know if there's food coloring here I will have to find somewhere to get blue food eventually. I guess that means you don't know what species I am."

"If you remain in Neselthia's district, we will facilitate a trade. Our lady wishes to ensure that women are able to accrue wealth for themselves and their families, and although you are young yet, there should be no barrier for you to do so. We will find a wizard who can color your hair the shade that you prefer, so that you are free to invest in your own interests."

"...women?" she says, puzzled.

"Women like us, and like you will one day grow to be. Circumstances often work against women, because motherhood demands so much time, and so few women are able to work while alive. Things are different here, more free, but there are still social expectations. Even in death, mothers and widows are left with little time and little wealth of their own, unless we intercede."

"I... don't think that's a thing on Amenta, so I don't know if I count."

"-we would need to speak to our lady to be sure. We do not turn men away from her worship, and certainly not boys, but we will not assist in the same way, no. However, through her and our actions, Neselthia's district has become a place of markets and businesses of all kinds. You may find a wizard who will assist you without our direct aid."

So weird. But also-

"What's not a thing on Amenta? Men taking care of the money?"

"Women not being able to work and doing more parenting."

"What do they do when they're pregnant, though?"

"When the family or the community assists with childcare, there is less need for the mother to sacrifice her options."

"They... be pregnant? And really happy about it all the time? I think they can still go to work till they have the baby and then at least one parent will usually stay home, both if they can afford it, but it doesn't have to be her."

"That sounds a lot different than the Prime Material. My adoptive parents always said that Arcadia was a nicer place to be parents because you could spend time with them, you didn't have to spend any time pregnant, and you could work while you were raising kids."

"I think Amentans like being pregnant and raising kids instead of working when they can! I'm not grownup myself and I might be a species that isn't that way so I may never personally experience it but I am pretty sure!"

"That makes sense."

...Daernir looks to see what the priests make of this.

One of them is smiling indulgently at Lintalai, rather like she thinks she's making Amenta up.