"This world is so interesting," says Skon.

    "Are there any other laws like that?" princess Sahar asks.

"I'm not sure there are any that are quite that bad. Some drug laws can come pretty close - we have one in Greens against buying alcohol on Pelor's Day that's pretty similar if you think about it."

    "Huh."

"What's alcohol?" asks Uamok.

"It's a drug, which is a kind of thing that you can eat or drink or breathe or things like that to make your body or mind work slightly differently for a while. Alcohol is one you drink, it's made from fermented fruit or grains, and it makes people less inhibited - it's good for making new friends, or doing something that scares you, or just for feeling nicer and less worried, but it can also make you do things you regret later, and some people get violent when they drink. It's also poisonous, if you drink too much, and addictive - if you drink more than you should but not enough to poison you, too often, it makes you want to drink more later, even if that's bad for you. Most people never have a problem with it, but it is something to be a little bit careful of - that's one of the things I give people advice about."

    "We have some around, if you'd like to try it," the prince adds.

"I don't know that it'd work on us," Uamok says. "Or if it'd just, you know, be poison outright."

"Raafi and I can get anti-poison magic that works just fine on it, but it's up to you, of course."

"I'll try it," says Skon.

"All right. I have the spell today - after dinner, you think?" she asks the prince.

    "I'll have a jug of wine sent over," he nods.

"If he gets violent or something is it a problem if I step on him a little till you cast the spell?" asks Uamok. "That's what I'd do if he got hit on the head and were doing something wild."

"That'll be fine, Raafi and I can both do healing if one of you gets hurt. I don't think it's likely, anyway - that basically only happens if someone's already holding themselves back from hurting people most of the time, the alcohol makes them worse at stopping themselves."

"Are there a lot of hummun like that?" asks Kiv.

"Mm - enough that it's worth keeping in mind, not enough that it's really worth worrying about? Or - I guess if you don't know what situations might be dangerous it's worth worrying about a little."

    "It's not a problem you'll have in the palace, anyway," adds the prince.

"That's good!" says Uamok. "But if we go out to the theater or something and a hummun comes at us it's okay to step on them as long as they start it, right?"

"It's okay to defend yourself, there pretty much aren't places with laws against that. But if that happens you should expect that they'll say you started it - people like that don't start fights for no reason, not with strangers, but what happens is that they want to, all the time, right, and then if something happens that makes them think they're allowed, that they might be able to convince other people that this time it was okay, that's when they do."

"Will people believe them if they go around saying we started it?" asks Zoi.

"Some people probably will, unfortunately. Of course it's generally a good idea to stay away from those people, too, once you know who they are. The law - might, depending on the situation - if you actually did do something there's a law against, you might get in trouble even if they wouldn't usually bother, if someone's right there demanding that they do something about it - if they're just saying you looked at them funny, or insulted them or something, the law won't care even if they do think you did it. If you're not sure how much trouble you're in, try to get to a good god's church - Pelor's is best, most places, but any good church will do in a pinch, we'll all try to make sure you aren't punished more than is fair. And anyway all of this is rare to have happen, it is illegal for people to attack each other, no matter how insulted they feel."

    "And again, you aren't going to be maimed no matter what happens - nobody but a professional warrior can do that kind of damage, even armed, and - I suppose I can't say noplace gives that kind of punishment, but it's the sort of thing you'd be warned about ahead of time, it won't be a surprise."

"How do we make sure a church is good?" asks Iss.

"You'd find out by asking around, usually, or you can stop in and ask. Or Raafi can tell you, if he's with you. If you aren't sure, the biggest church in a town or city is a pretty safe bet."

There's a knock on the door, and a servant peeks in. "Your highnesses, Traveler Raafi, Luxuriant Katrianne, honored guests? Dinner is about to be served."

The honored guests proceed to the dining room, sniffing.

The prince needs a moment to peel Raafi off the floor, and then the rest of the group follows.

The servant brings them to a smaller dining room than the grand hall they saw earlier; it's a slight squeeze for Uamok to get in, but not too bad. Princess Sahar goes in to sit, but Prince Maziar stops them by the door to give a quick rundown of who's who - Her Majesty Queen Zaki al-Kaprela al-Mian, sitting next to the king at the head of the long table; their other three children, Princess Kameela, Prince Faadil, and Her Highness Princess Kifaaya al-Kaprela al-Kamar, the former two of whom seem to have reached their adult height and the latter perhaps slightly shy of it; Reedbearer Amaani, priestess of Adnauk, the god of the Kaprela river; and Sandkite Fahami, priest of Shonles, the god of the desert winds.

The table itself is heavy with dishes, most of which incorporate spren in some way, albeit prepared according to human sensibilities; there are large dishes of raw and plainly-cooked spren by the places that have been set aside for Uamok and her mates, though - the males have been provided with low couches set with their short ends against the table, to raise them up to a more-or-less suitable height, and space has been left for Uamok, who will unfortunately find the table somewhat low.

Once they're all settled, Amaani says a prayer for the blessing of the food, Fahami says a prayer for the blessing of the diners, and then they can eat.

"How does being a god of a river or desert wind work? The others we've heard of were way less specific," says Zoi.

"I wouldn't say they're that specific. Local, maybe," says Fahami. "But the wind and the river are just as important as the sun and the sands, here, and have at least as many different effects."

"The way clerics were explained to us you have to think the thing the god is a god of is the most important thing ever?" says Uamok. "Which seems hard to do for a specific river or desert wind in particular, and it's already kind of weird for 'travel' or 'pleasure' or 'community'."

"I suppose if I'd grown up somewhere else I might have fallen in love with a different river," Amaani allows. "Or something else altogether. But here it's what brings life to the desert and makes it someplace that can be my home."

Fahami and Katrianne nod, at this. (Raafi's distracted talking to the royal family about trade opportunities in the new world.) "It's possible for a cleric's calling to be a personal thing," Katri adds. "Oftentimes we'll think it should be shared, especially clerics of good gods, but it's not always that way."

The visitors accept this explanation and turn their attention to their food.