There's a fluttering, wavy impression of a dry and rocky landscape. The details change moment to moment, a bit like a dream.

The details changing is Concerning, given that it's not a bridge.

He briefly re-checks the status of his Duplicates, both the two awake ones in his Bevin and the many, many dormant ones.

He flies in.

What does he see? He's assuming dryness and rocks but is there other things?

There's a few moments where the details swim even more and the landscape - glitches, like an optical illusion you can't quite perceive - the sense of space he has reports something really weird and difficult to parse - and then everything settles. There is dryness, and rocks, and cliffy bits, and a dust cloud kicked up by a caravan of wagons trundling along towards him over thataway, and a wild horse, and what might be a house or something way off in the distance.

...he should really figure out if there's any way to temporarily turn off your Spatial Sense. He's glad he didn't get spaghettified or anything like that by the portal!

He stills in midair for a bit until everything settles.

It's a pretty landscape! He hasn't been to the American Southwest but he thinks they look like this. Deep gorges of sandstone and desert.

He wants to approach the caravan but he doesn't know if that would be like. Alarming. And cause them to attack him. He could go put on armor, but maybe that might send the wrong message...

He's going to fly to them, slowly. His telepathy range for people he doesn't know is nine meters.

Lawrence is...well he's technically naked, but he is permitting the rubber of the Prison coat him save his head, so it looks like he's wearing a black rubber catsuit. He has short black hair. His skin, which is light brown, has a grayish undertone to it. His sclerae are black. He is otherwise human in form.

At the sight of a flying stranger approaching, the caravan does seem to tense up a bit. Three giant birds wearing clothes, presumably people, take off and flap for altitude. People who were already on guard carrying weapons kind of stiffen up a bit and look around in all directions (look at the distraction is bandit tactics 101), but nobody points a crossbow at him or anything.

One of the birds, wearing lots of silver jewelry, angles to land between him and the caravan. She shouts something in a language he doesn't know and waves!

He'll approach the birdperson and land a little less than nine meters in front of her.

:Hello. I apologize, I don't know the local language. Could you tell me where we are right now?:

:Great Canyon Pass, west side. Stranger, I would usually not be suspicious, but there has been trouble around here lately. Rumors say bandits, cultists, maybe a [very dangerous monster]. So I am suspicious. These people and our goods are my responsibility to protect.:

:Thank you.: (Even though he has no idea where the west side of Great Canyon Pass is.)

:I am not offended by your suspicion. I am the Lawgiver Lawrence and I represent that I have no intention of attacking, killing, or injuring any of you, or stealing your trade goods.: He makes it clear from the connotations in the telepathy that Lawgiver is a title and Lawrence is a name, but he is fine with being called either or both.

:If you would prefer that I leave you be, could you direct me to the location of the nearest major settlement? I will travel there and not bother you.

Alternatively, would you permit me to travel with your caravan? I would like to discourse more with you and others. I do not require you to furnish me with victuals and I am willing to contribute to the defense of the caravan. I represent that, to the best of my knowledge, I have not drawn the ire of any specific organization or individuals such that having me as a caravan member would attract danger to you.:

(Well, there's Quellers, but as far as he knows he hasn't drawn their attention and they mostly exist on Earth, as far as he knows. He would be very surprised if they had reach here, especially given the anomalousness of the not-bridge.)

:You can represent things but that doesn't make them true. Are you a wizard or something weirder?:

Lawrence resists the urge to roll his eyes even though it's not even going to be visible because he has very dark irises and black sclerae.

:Something weirder, I'm pretty sure. I have never been called a wizard before and my kind isn't typically referred to that way. Conduit is the more typical term.:

:I see. Well, the nearest town I've confirmed still stands is Hejiro, near the mountain called Windslab, about sixty miles past the Great Canyon behind us, so some two hundred miles from here. The East and West Point canyon stopovers were intact but those are not permanently inhabited. We were hoping to reach the place known as Bitter Spring tonight, but our scouting says that it has been utterly destroyed. So we are taking an alternate, longer route. Would you be willing to be examined briefly by our priestess, to check whether you are corrupted by evil?:

:Thank you very much.

I do not know what the checking entails, but I am amenable to it if it is passive. That is to say, that it will only reveal information about me and not alter me.:

:I'll ask and be back in a few minutes. Please do not approach in the meantime. I do not mean to offend, but we are all very worried for our lives and strangers with strange powers might be a threat.:

Some time passes as this bird-woman flies away and then back.

:The priestess says that some people, especially those who have been corrupted by evil, feel things as the energy of the Light Gods touches them to check, but it does not in every credible case she has witnessed or heard about have any altering effects other than sometimes causing transient sensations, and the thoughts or reactions directly caused by said sensations. She also says that she can use an especially light touch to minimize this if requested.:

:I will wait and not approach.: And indeed he does not. In fact, Lawrence stays utterly still, not even breathing.

:In that case I am fine with being so checked. She may use whatever touch is necessary to confirm the state of my...potential evilness...:

The priestess is a human woman with black hair and a serious expression. She's wearing a loose knee-length kimono-like garment embroidered with patterns of a crescent moon.

She approaches at a jog and has a brief conversation with the leader bird, then approaches Lawrence and holds out her hand and will touch his hand gently if he doesn't reach out too.

...There's maybe something.

And then she pulls away.

:Miss Gana says you are not corrupted by evil forces! That's wonderful news, you're just a stranger and not a cultist. You can't trust strange objects that promise you things, I will warn you. They sometimes even do what they say, but they are evil. They only ever do things in ways that hurt people and worm into your head. Very bad for long term wellness.:

Okay, the priestess wants to shake his hand? Okay...oh, that was the check.

:I am glad to know that I am not corrupted by evil forces. I will keep your advice in mind.:

Do they now seem more amenable to him traveling with them or no?

They seem more relaxed.

:You seem powerful enough to handle yourself, do you need a safe spot to camp or anything like that? Food? Information?:

(That they would say that is heartening but he isn't sure if it's true. He hasn't actually been in a real fight before!)

:Information. I would like to know what jurisdiction the Great Canyon Pass is in, and what laws it has.:

:In the absence of the town that has been destroyed, I think the most relevant set of regulations would be the Noten-Atsos Trade Treaty. Most notably it states that there shall be no war, extortion, tolls, taxes, or organized banditry or other similar activities along the pass- This is not the exact words, mind you- On traders passing east and west. Also that both nations will never send armed forces beyond the far side of the Great Canyon without being specifically requested to. And they both agree to openly declare any intelligence gathering in the region. And nobody is to impede the free travel of any priestess* of the Light Gods, regardless of origins. And no founding towns in here without agreeing to these stipulations. Also the usual common order laws against murder, theft, and so on. I think that is all the important parts.:

*Or priest, but the feminine form is the assumed default.

:Thank you. I believe I will be able to abide by these. Supposing that entities attack us, what recourse is permitted to us? Are we allowed to use lethal force?

I think I have an idea as to what the usual common order laws are but for the sake of safety and thoroughness, could you describe them in more detail?:

:Very rule-minded, hm? We are allowed to attack curses, undead, cryptids, or magic beasts in full generality. The first three in particular are considered hostis humani generis*. Magic beasts are just animals with some magic, and there aren't really poaching laws out here. We may defend with reasonable proportional force if attacked or when catching thieves. The general guideline is fists for fists, weapons for weapons, magic for magic, though you are allowed to escalate first if you suspect danger or detect a hostile posture. I'm not familiar with the full details, but for example, you cannot take a captive into Noten, but when entering Noten you can report crimes against you and sometime receive judgements in fees or other punishments against the criminal. Outside of Noten, the regulations on debt servitude are all but nonexistent, while they do exist to an extent inside Noten- So some such criminals choose to enter Noten and pay back the judgement in relative safety, under the auspices of the law. Others flee and try to hide in the borderlands, or re-enter somewhere else where they won't be found... That was a side track, my apologies. The common order laws are generally held to punish murder, theft, harassment, rape, fraud, imprisonment or kidnapping without cause, arson or sabotage, associating with undead, cryptids, curses, or cursed objects, and the use of indirect means such as threats or mind-influencing magic to perform any of the former acts.:

*Not in latin, but the concept is pretty much the same.

Yes, very!

:I haven't seen any of these before so in the case you see one, please say so so that I know too. If I see something I think is strange, I might ask you to identify whether or not you believe the entity belongs to the categories you mentioned.

Is your caravan heading to Noten or Atsos? I'm assuming the pass is on the border or near the border of both.

No apologies necessary, I appreciate it.: (He'll have to ask about laws regarding slavery more generally later.)

:Thank you for clarifying the common order laws.:

:Undead look like walking corpses. Curses look like inky black blobs taking the shape of animals or people. Cryptids look like terrifying monstrosities but sometimes one is good at disguise. It's only a very little bit of trouble.:

(His Eyeless are going to look like curses, aren't they. Ugh.)

:I have powers which are suitable for the imprisonment and sealing of monstrosities and are likely to be suitable for curses, undead, cryptids, and magical beasts. If I wished to help with this, since the area seems to have a problem regarding them, who should I talk to about this? Miss Gana the priestess?:

:Huh. I think usually the goal is to purify them, not to imprison them. A priestess, yes, or possibly a kitsune or similar spirit - such spirits extremely rare though, unlike kitsunes who are merely fairly rare.: