"No elementals, but 'frog people' are plausible. The crux of the problem is that while I may be more knowledgeable about the dream-that-skewers than most, I can't possibly list every species or cultural practice that might take you by surprise."

“Ahhh… well, if its like some roman baths…. Earth culture generally has a taboo thing about sex, especially in public. So uhhh unless that’s a thing… I should be fine.” This is the shyest Tanya has ever seemed. This is so uncomfortable to talk about.

She's adorable! Such a woobie!

(In the Aerb sense of a ravenous predator using cuteness as a lure, not the Earth sense.)

"Sounds like I'd better tell you all about elven customs, in case you run into any of them."

She will proceed to do so in lurid detail, ignorant of how many of the more benign customs are lifted wholesale from Japanese culture.

Joon is also blushing at this.

Leaving Fenn to tease Tanya, Amaryllis turns to Joon and ignites her finger with Aarde's Touch.

"Perhaps I'd better see if you can learn the very basics of blood magic first, to help suppress such reactions."

She's fortunate that the male of the dream-skewered pair is the one with the uncanny ability to learn. A blush can be excused by the heat of the baths.

Eating people isn’t thaaaaat bad…

It’s the sexual stuff that flusters her. Not something she had much experience with in all her lives. Even during the war her men kindly kept talk of that away from he, even if she intellectually knew some probably visited brothels like a lot of soldiers did. She never had to confront that kind of thing in person.

Oh, new thing to talk about that isn’t weirdly sexual talk of eating that is not a double entendre. Magic!

”Blood magic? Is there a list of magics because the ones I’ve already seen seem like a lot of different kinds.”

"For a comprehensive list we'll need a book." She takes out some of the hotel stationery to write out a starting point while talking through the introductory ideas of blood magic, starting with the ones they're already aware of. "Most can be developed through dedicated training at an Athenaeum, I'll mark the exceptions."

- Rune magic: Create runes at one of the five runeforges to control energy. The dejang, the spike used to remove the soul, is technically rune magic.

- Fire magic: Catalyze and supply reagents for chemical reactions within a short range. Acquired ~1% of the time when suffering severe full-body burns. Tanya is a fire mage.

- Blood magic: Draw on the latent powers of one's blood for physical boosts and some healing. Amaryllis is a blood mage.

- Bone magic: Draw on the latent powers of others' bones for healing or temporary use of their abilities. Tova on the fireteam was a bone mage.

- Skin magic: Divided into tattoo magic (defined magical effects produced by tattoos requiring expensive inks and skilled labor) and scar magic (physical boosts through use of scars to capture the energy radiated by the soul). Leonold on the fireteam was a tattoo mage.

- Carapace magic: The analogue of skin magic for species with hard exteriors. 

- Ink magic: Produce unique temporary items that function like entads, dependent on creativity and ink supplies.

- Flower magic: Produce nature-oriented magical effects through cultivating plants.

- Pustule magic: Comparable to tattoo magic and flower magic, biological effects produced via cultivating one's own biome.

- Gem magic: Produce hard-light beams from gemstones.

- Gold magic: Touch-range telekinesis for as long as a hoard of marked gold is continually guarded and gathered. The most powerful figure in Barren Jewel is a gold mage. 

- Passion magic: Powers drawing on emotion, their precise expression varying between passion mages. Typically drug-mediated.

- Revision magic: Obtained by being revised a whole year. Reverse physics, effectively turning back time for an object, failing where any magic is involved. 

- Still magic: Obtained by meditation in a specific temple. Stop movement or other changes within touch range.

- Vibration magic: Obtained via an entad in the temple used for Still Magic. Control the amplitude and frequency of vibrations within range.

- Velocity magic: Obtained by moving faster than the last velocity mage to qualify. Increase velocity via temporarily reduced mass, conserving momentum.

- Star magic, Steel magic, and Warding magic: Logistics magics, used to produce planar or dimensional effects, magestone structures, and selective barriers, respectively.

"I got the spell and the skill!" Joon announces when she's halfway through the list, setting his own hand on fire. He starts working on what else he can do with that blood control.

But… fire was her thing? Now Joon can do it too? Even if via a different kind of magic. This is unfair. He gets to do fire AND have bullshit game powers. “Is it usually that fast to learn? Or is this game stuff? Because I want to learn all the low hanging fruit.”

"Aarde's Touch is more of a party trick, but it takes months to learn with the best teachers in the world. There are a lot of smokers at Quills and Blood and I think half of that is because it provides an excuse to show off one's proficiency instead of carrying a lighter. If Joon can learn the Crimson Fist, that will provide more combat utility. Fire mages do require more resources to show their full potential, but they are generally considered far more valuable on the battlefield."

Amaryllis seems more prone to rambling when she's surprised, Joon notes.

"Alvion's spells only function here. The only other spell I know outside of blood magic is a bit of free magic to put a willing person to sleep. It helps with insomnia."

"Some of us don't have any magic and we get by alright."

"Months of learning in minutes? My 'game stuff' seems strong."

That's cause for concern. If he were the GM, something like that would be in line for a nerf or an escalation in the strength of opponents to match.

“No magic? But the arrow thing? I was hoping I could eventually learn that too.” She says to Fenn.

"Family heirloom entad, that doesn't count. Anyone can use an entad if it's invested with them." 

"Speaking of which, there will be entads waiting for us at Caer Laga. For now, I suggest we go to the baths, get some rest, and start preparing to head out the day after tomorrow."

Nobody did in fact mention sex as a thing to worry about at the baths. So no matter the kind of strange fantasy creature she sees she should be able to stay composed. Probably. She can imagine some pretty weird creatures but maybe something will surprise her. 

“I want to scrub so deep my soul is clean. I’ve been blown into corpse filled trenches that left me feeling cleaner than the last day has. Also I need at least 2000 more calories. Do you have calories? Unit of food energy? Then at least 8 hours of sleep.” Which is an awful lot of sleep for Tanya. She was used to 3 hours a night with enhancement spells keeping her going, and 4 and a half without enhancements.

"You've come to the right place. You know the word for Alvion's flesh, you can have as many calories as you like for as long as you can stomach Barren Bread."

With a detour to store the incredibly valuable teleportation key in a magical tattoo, the party arrives at the Barren Jewel public baths. 

It is taking every point of Joon's 3 POI not to react to the many sights of the baths. Maybe he should've made up some excuse for wearing a blindfold instead, there's got to be something in Aerb's worldbuilding to justify that.

At least he has a 6-pack now? That's nice.

Does… does Tanya feel jealous of Amaryllis and Fenn? Surely only because they are taller than her. And not for any other reasons she might feel inadequate physically next to them. Definitely not.

At least the boy is handling himself. She saw how he looks at the princess, but at least in this situation he is not being hormonal, good.

(Perhaps that maturity is enough to tick loyalty up, to 10)

Oh dear godfuck , the hot water is soooooo good. She will melt into a happy puddle, for once not looking at all severe or in thought. Big baths you can spread out in like this are the best. She missed this kind of thing in the empire. She is a water lilly floating away on a sea of relaxation as the heat permeates her body.