"You can't have already been counting on us going at the same specific time.  Just send us on double whatever you were already going to."

"I'm not counting on you at all, you can fuck off into the cold without making it worth our while to give you coats first if you want. If you do want it worth our while I want you shoring up two understrength squads, not one."

"Fine."

Finally. They didn't have to be so bitchy about it. Here are their assignments, their squad leaders will have their cold-weather gear.

When are they for?

Aten's leaving during the prayer hour, Feradi an hour and a half later.

Huh, not for a while.  Aten checks for things that are non-obvious about how patrols work, and generally how to do well at them.

Patrol Facts: usually nothing happens and it's just a long annoying hike. Sometimes the weather kicks up and you must make shelter right where you are because the alternative is risking wandering into the Worldwound right through the wardstone line. Sometimes there's demons and then you have to fight the demons, and the following common knowledge is available about their usual weaknesses. The sergeant will make a report at the destination fort after the patrol and they have a brief rest to eat and then usually turn around and go back. Some patrols carry mail or other cargo.

Does it seem like they will be equipped with weapons.

Yeah, they're getting cold iron spears, there's no point in having them along if they don't have even those.

Well, then, probably the thing to do is move the next round of their card game wherever people seem to be hanging out, if that's a thing that's happening anywhere in this strange place, and keep half a mind on watching out for and picking up useful context and skills and whatnot.

People hang out in the dining hall! Every normal person has to eat, after all.

"And risk getting food on the cards -"

"We can prioritize staying clear of it."

And they do.

Yeah, people hang out there even when they are not actively eating. They attract some rubbernecking. There are local card games, too.

Oh interesting.  Do they use the same cards?

Nope, they seem to have a smaller deck (though at least one popular game uses two shuffled together) and different suits and stuff.

- this rubbernecker is interesting! What the fuck even is that! Besides the owl. He's also interesting in non-owl ways.

- That is so interesting, and now it's Fiaten's.  It's so much more scrutable than the commander's thing, and so much more concrete than the thing off Feradi - what does it do -

If he'd like to also rip a bunch of Owl Guy's knowledge on the subject -? Then with some Math Homework he can determine that he's got - lots of Endure Elements, and a Communal Endure Elements, yep. - nope. He can't hold that last one.

They're pretty good at math, and if they weren't, they could be in an instant.  - Okay yes, that's an unfamiliar concept; they need something for that.  Easy enough.

Fia thinks it wise to finish out the game, and Aten successfully communicates this to Feradi via facial expression.  (And Feradi has this ability as well, they can see.  Probably had it faster than they did.)

Do any of the rubberneckers have questions?

(Fia would especially like to leverage conversation into starting to build rapport with Owl Guy, if possible.)

A non-owl guy eventually asks why it was okay to play a six that time and not the time in the last hand when a six was present.

"I'm not telling."

"My current guess is that it's because all the dealt cards are of keyhole suits instead of being three different ones, meaning that cards within their range are legal.  I haven't determined whether this holds true for the other halves."  Wow, he's notably worse at being friendly with strangers than Fia even when the words they'd use are pretty much the same.  But maybe Feradi's right about this style working better with the local dispositions.

"You're guessing? You don't know the rules?"