"Some kid came in and said the whole enclave was gone. It must have been really recent, they didn't get a chance to reallocate their spots." Information is a resource, says mother's voice, but so is goodwill.

The whole- the whole enclave?

A new breed of mal? Enemy action? (What kind of enclave would dare move against an American enclave?)

Focus. He can pray later.

"I am sorry to hear that. You are from one of the European enclaves? I came from Dubai."

"Daria Chernova, from Kiev." Accent suggests switching to Mandarin but he approached her in English and switching languages on someone isn't something you do unless you want them dead, which she doesn't.

Ghassan tries to recall everything he knows about Kiev- old, traditional enclave. Old spells, few slots. Competent, but not a major player.

"Kiev! An old enclave. Are you considering languages, then?"

She's perfectly aware her enclave's old and has to push the urge to roll her eyes somewhere far down where it won't show in her tone. "I've got an affinity for wards, I'm going artificing. How about you?" 

She is giving him very little to work with. Usually there would be something, some hook to build rapport, but he can't get a good enough of read from her- not one that would suggest a better option than ending the conversation. Ghassan is not going to do that, so. Here they are.

"Poison. Creative writing will be my main focus."

Wards are useful to him, but he can't really offer to help her by adding poison to them, can he. And this isn't the right person to try to trade some of his clothing; she can ward her own things.

"How many siblings?"

Because if there is something he can salvage here, it's a connection he can use later, when they both need each other more.

"Huh, poison. I have these poison darts that'll need refills, if you have anything to spare that won't mess with their enchantments I'd trade you for it.

Two brothers in my cluster and a little brother in the next."

Nod.

"I have some. How much do they need?"

"Is it magic and just non-inert or a mundane poison? Have you tested it against mals? Does it still work if you dilute it some? They hold a couple mililiters each but how much I want depends on what your poisons do."

"At full strength it kills any animal we tested on, but it only paralyzes mals. Diluted- it could cripple up to mid-sized animals, but it might be near useless with mals. I wouldn't dilute it. I have others I think could kill mals immediately but they were never tested."

Collecting the stuff took time and working with the enclave; the one thing it did for him. He's not an artificer- most of what he's managed to do with poisons is spells. Hopefully Ghassan finds one who complements him before the day is up.

Oh, that's very good. She doesn't care if the mals end up dead, she cares if they stop trying to kill her long enough that she can slit their throats. Metaphorically, in most cases.

"Which mals have you tested on? How much did you need before it paralyzed a mal?"

"Blood-clingers, groglers, lockleeches, and wauria. Scratchers did not respond; maybe another poison could do it. I would wait for better poisons before using this on anything with a strong shell. Blood-clingers and lockleeches took .01 milliliters, the groglers took .03 milliliters. With the wauria I do not know how much I used, but they went down easily."

"I might be able to use that. I'll find you at dinner sometime when I'm running low, see if we can work something out."

"Of course. It was lovely meeting you, Daria. If you meet any interesting alchemists," which is to say, those who might have an angle on poisons, "you can always invite them to eat with us."

She scrounges up her manners with some effort. "It was good to meet you too. I'll keep an eye out."

Yeah, that's good enough. Not exactly a stellar conversationalist, but competent enough, and someone who might return a favor when he needs it.

Ghassan goes looking for more prospective allies.