Ah, it's for disputing transactions? Then it's fine (or at least, the best she's going to get). She does need to know how she can authenticate herself to them in the future, especially at other branches.

Tanya signs on the dotted lines. They won't pronounce her name quite correctly, but given that it's a heavily mangled Russy name to begin with, she doesn't really care.

Then Tanya will be issued a small leather-bound booklet with the bank's name and coat of arms on the cover (a pair of crossed arcs inside a triangle), which she needs to sign a few more times at various points on the first few pages. The rest of the passbook is a blank ledger which will be used to replicate every transaction with this account. The passbook is a necessary but not sufficient proof of identity, and if anyone shows up at the bank claiming to be Tanya von Degurechaff in need of a replacement passbook because the current one is lost, that person is not going to get one without undergoing invasive questioning. If Tanya has any magic that might be helpful here – a way to indelibly mark something as her own property, or a way to make small objects unlosable, perhaps – the bank will happily accommodate her.

She can't mark any objects but she can demonstrate her flight magic which shouldn't exactly match anything around here, do they think they can identify that magical signature? Tabya is assuming they don't have a way to copy and spread around her personal mana signature, or they'd have said.

The bank teller casts a spell to observe Tanya while flying. After watching her for about thirty seconds his expression slides from detached to disturbed.

"It is very unique, no? I have never seen its like in all my life. Any learned Abadaran will recognize this spell, once they know the trick of it."

… yes, if Tanya is prepared to demonstrate this spell every time she comes into the branch, this exact spell and no other, the Triangle Gate Bank of Sothis is prepared to accept it as authentication. He will make a note of the relevant details.

And that's it! Does Tanya have any other questions for him before he goes to finalize the records?

Identifiying spells, and sharing updates so others will know to recognize them, is a core requirement for military mages. In a world where non-military spells are routinely cast directly on people, that must apply to everyone.

Yes, she can demonstrate it every time. (...unless something happens to her orb and she needs access to her bank account to, uh, continue living. But she can prepare for that when she knows more and has some actual plans.)

...she can demonstrate it every time, but might want in the medium or long term to replace this form of identification once she is more acclimatized. She understands that will involve detailed checks and maybe a fee or something.

Tabya has no further questions related to opening the account! She will have unrelated questions later that should probably be directed to someone else.

"Nazir and Hurayra are busy," Iomedae says abruptly. "We should find you lodgings in the city, unless you have magic for it, and someone to sell you Share Language each day until you no longer need it. Twenty scarabs is highway robbery."

That's the price you pay if you want to buy spellcasting on demand. The teller doesn't say this; basic economic truths rarely soothe angry customers. He gathers Tanya's paperwork, extinguishes the light on the desk with a wave of his hand, and bids them a polite farewell.

"Iomedae, right? Thank you for your presence back there." Tanya hadn't missed the glares, and now the intent is clear too: Iomedae thinks they're overcharging her. (A very bad thing to learn about one's bank where one has just deposited a large amount of money! She hasn't seen any schedule of fees, she assumed the fact the deposit didn't earn an interest would cover that, but maybe she should have asked?) 

"Did the Share Language not have a listed price? I couldn't follow Nazir's conversation before it was cast, obviously."

Should she trust Iomedae though? Well, she's here by Nazir's recommendation and Iomedae works with or for Nazir, so Tanya might as well go all in; if they had any nefarious designs they could have executed them already. She'll spend her time for the foreseeable future learning about this new world and country (and eventually other countries too) and it shouldn't matter much which hotel she happens to pick for the first few days.

"I don't have magic that replaces lodgings." (How would that even work while she's asleep?) "My immediate concern about picking lodgings is security. I don't know if that's at all appropriate here, or what the threat profile might be, and the appropriate defenses. As a soldier, I'm used to operating in groups and sleeping under guard when necessary."

"My pleasure," she says warmly. "Abadar's men are, hmm, meticulous and fair, but not always scrupulous. He said it would cost twenty scarabs, and Nazir agreed on your behalf… we can find better prices elsewhere though. When I learned Osiriani I paid fifteen scarabs a day to a man from Oldstone, and I know I could've bargained it down to twelve."

And they can head out! Triangle Gate is another city district made of sandstone and sand, with even more aggressive use of water features and street trees. The heat is sweltering, but nobody outside in the afternoon is foolish enough to loosen their robes.

"This is not my favorite city, but it is not famous for public unrest," she continues. "If you fear strong enemies you would be safe in the pharaoh's palace, or perhaps the Pathfinder lodge, but the price is high. Mages often sleep inside an extradimensional space – permanent ones are feats of legendary spellwork, but temporary ones are not – and rely on their own wit during the day. I take it you have no spells like that? You can buy them, they are not much more expensive than Share Language. That will protect you from the man on the street who thinks you an easy target."

Tanya has no spells that would directly cool her down. She can make mirrors to reflect the sunlight and most of the heat radiated by the stones, but she'll still be breathing hot air and unable to radiate her own body heat effectively. The desert campaign had them flying at cooler altitudes, but they still had to carry a lot of water, and took dips in the ocean whenever they could get away with it.

...'Abadar's men'? Isn't Nazir one of those?

"I'm not familiar with extradimensional spaces, how do they affect security? Do you need a special spell to enter one, some kind of key? I don't know that I should fear anyone; I have no enemies here unless some of the dragon's friends want vengeance. I certainly hope this place is peaceful and law-abiding enough that I should have nothing to fear!" 

On Earth, if Tanya had somehow ended up in another country and at the locals' mercy, they would certainly have wanted to confiscate her orbs for reverse engineering. Laws don't stop a government acting in its national security interests, and Osirion doesn't need to worry about its diplomatic standing with Germania... Unless Nazir is right and Tanya is going to be abruptly sent back to Earth, in which case Osirion should be interested in possible trade (or else confiscate her orbs before that happens).

Obviously she's not going to point out that they might want to rob her, and it's very much to their credit if they don't (but she hasn't spoken to the relevant parts of the Osiriani government yet). And any security a private person could buy wouldn't help against the government. Tanya can probably go to a regular hotel, it's just that she's mentally out of practice going to sleep without considering her security situation.

And it looks like she lucked into a windfall that would let her live comfortably for a long time as a humble private citizen. Which is great! She doesn't plan to sit around unproductively, but it will take her a long time to learn enough to commit to any specific plan, and now she doesn't have to hurry.

"What's your relationship with Nazir? Do you work for or with him?"

She does look like she's overheating. Iomedae will stop at the next temple that isn't run by cheapskates and get some water.

"The spell is called Rope Trick, and it is a much simplified version of a far more powerful spell. It can be accessed physically through a hole torn in the air, but only eight creatures can be inside of it at once. If you enter with seven mice in your pocket, no one can follow you. It is a place not of this world, and some spells cannot reach it even if the hole is very near. Rope Trick is a rudimentary defense against an enemy mage Scrying your location in secret and teleporting on top of you as you sleep, when you are least able to defend yourself."

Tanya thinks to fear Ymohrglas even when he is dead. Wise of her. They did not capture all of his allies in the aftermath of the battle, and surely his friends and family will hear of his demise.

"Blue dragons are usually lawful. You are more likely to hear from lawyers than assassins. I would be on guard for enemy divinations, if they think to look for you, but this is only common sense. Osirion as a whole is very lawful, though whether the law is kind to you is another matter. I am not sure what would be most surprising to you, but as an example: slavery is permitted here. The pharaoh disapproves of slavery, of course, and the welfare of slaves is taken seriously in Osirion, so I will even believe him when he says this. But in Osirion, a law to be rid of slavery is a law that deprives slaveowners of their property, and so they must be compensated. For reasons I do not fully understand, the government either cannot or will not do this. So men are still enslaved for their crimes, and when foreign slaves flee their masters, it is the law that returns them. I do not know if this is surprising to you, but there may be some similar surprise elsewhere you ought to watch out for." Iomedae would have lead with 'Osirian women generally do not have bank accounts', but female adventurers are used to being insulated from the treatment often due their gender.

"Nazir and I are partners, along with a few others. We have been working together for nearly our whole adventuring careers. When we incorporated we decided that equal shares were the only way to avoid sour argument, but if anyone is in charge, it is Nazir." She sounds fond of him. "We assigned ourselves more traditional combat roles, back then, but today I wouldn't say he or I have one particular position on the team."

Tanya will remove her flight jacket, drink as much as she can and soak her shirt if they'll let her, but while she's at no risk of sunburn she is steadily overheating. Even if she were dressed for this weather, it feels unsurvivable for long if she has to move at a walking pace.

The 'extradimensional space' raises so many questions. Why build a spell to enforce 'eight creatures' (how do you make a spell count mice and men?!) and not some kind of password or key? If you can make a barrier some spells can't cross, can you surround yourself with it in combat, or make a room safe? Can you use it in reverse as a prison? Why is it called a rope trick?

How do you make extra space to begin with - presumably there's an excellent physics answer that Tanya isn't equipped to understand and wouldn't help her if she did. And they have a way to make the spell last without anyone casting it, and even let non-mages cast it. How does that work if she buys a daily casting, can she take the opening with her? Does it put her in any extra danger if something happens to the casting implement (?) while she's inside? Where is she supposed to get seven mice, do people here carry emergency mice in a pocket? How do the pocket mice handle this heat? Can she get a rope trick with an air conditioner?

'Scrying and teleporting on top of you while you are asleep' is a terrifying proposition! Tanya really wants to have more layers of defense between herself and certain death than the seven mice!!

"I expect it will take me some time to mentally adjust to the new threat profile; 'scrying and teleporting to a sleeping target' sounds like certain death because I'm not used to the idea, but I'm not used to the countermeasures either. Just for comparison, how much do you think the other options you mentioned cost and how much better is their security against assassination attempts?" Do they just have armed guards, or something else? Why is the pharaoh's palace available for rent - ah, he must have several and converted one into a secure hotel for foreign dignitaries. 

"Nazir seemed to think I was in no real danger from a lawsuit. Can unsuccessful lawsuits be a serious harm or cost to the defender in Osirion? Should I retain a lawyer ahead of time just in case, I think that's recommended in some places?"

"As for slavery - I'm used to the idea that it exists... somewhere, mostly in the past... even if I'm not used to living with it." Because it's a terrible idea that both Germania and Japan sensibly avoided! Slavery is something foreign barbarians do!

"Some governments on Earth abolished it, with or without compensating the slaveowners. Obviously it's better to compensate them if at all possible. Some had it done by revolutions or revolts - which is another reason to proactively abolish it. I'm not aware of any good arguments for keeping slavery, especially with private ownership, but I don't know the tradeoffs here." In the best possible case, if it's used only as punishment for a crime - not just to replace a fine in case a person cannot pay, a lien on a percentage of future earnings would be better, but as an actual punishment and deterrent - then it might be defensible? Prison isn't obviously better if slaves have rights, and it's so expensive that the actual alternative might be execution. However, private ownership of penal slaves by the injured party sounds like a terrible idea.

"Even ignoring the direct harms and perverse incentives, though, it's terribly economically inefficient. A slaveowner has a better relative position in a worse-off society. That's the best possible justification for government forcibly buying property at its former market value; if the markets are confident enough to make the necessary loans, it should pay for itself in the long run." 

Tanya doesn't want to sound like she's lecturing Iomedae about it when Iomedae must have spent a lot more time thinking about this than Tanya has, but she assumes Iomedae mentioned slavery to judge Tanya's reaction and so Tanya should make it clear that her opinion is entirely orthodox.

"It is a habit of Abadar's men to name a price for all things, but I have never had cause to ask about the price of a night in the royal palace. It depends on how much the pharaoh likes you, I suppose, and whether he or Osirion stand to gain anything thereby. It is extraordinarily secure. One night in the Pathfinder Lodge costs ten times or more than a stay in a nice inn for merchants, but their guest rooms are warded against Scrying and their walls will redirect inbound teleporters into an oubliette. It would not stop an assassin from entering in other ways, but what you're really paying for is the company of extremely dangerous men who will be annoyed if their sleep is disturbed." She shrugs. "It is always better to outnumber your foe, and to be stronger than them, and to prepare for anything they can bring to bear. Defense in depth."

"I have never been sued, so I cannot say— aha, we should get water. Here, here."

They're passing a building that looks like a small fortress, architecturally out of place. The narrow entrance stands open but the door is a massive stone block that looks like it'd be hard to move even under ideal conditions, and immediately after crossing the threshold the temperature drops by a solid fifteen degrees.

The inside is spacious with low ceilings, and is absolutely packed with children. The oldest of them are Tanya's age, saddled with looking after infants and toddlers while other children play or nap or sit in corners doing nothing in particular. Most of them are clothed; none have magical signatures. Tanya and Iomedae draw curious stares, but they're not the only adults in the building – a man with a full water skin passes them on his way out.

"Slavery is a great evil," Iomedae confirms once they're inside. "The righteous nations forbid it wherever they can, and the wicked embrace it even as it stains their souls. In Osirion there are criminal slaves owned by the state, and private slaves from before the reforms, and slaves of foreigners passing through… Khemet I is widely beloved for this, there was no protest against the reforms, but there is a reason for that. Across the Inner Sea is Andoran, which rebelled against Cheliax during his reign and set all their slaves free and killed hundreds of thousands in the war that followed. He was still arranging a bloodless secession when the Chelish Civil War started. It must have influenced his thinking. Khemet III employs a number of former slaves as advisors on the subject, but perhaps his thinking is influenced too."

It was not a subtle conversational cue, but it's really good that this extraplanar visitor is so staunchly abolitionist! Maybe she's from a far-flung part of Heaven where kingdoms of mortals are a touch more Lawful and Good?

There is a wet basin against one wall which is almost completely empty, apart from a small puddle on the bottom.

"Feh," she says, running a finger against the inside. "Let's find someone to refill it."

If it's the actual palace where the pharaoh lives then it's presumably one of the most secure places in the country! Tanya can't imagine it's actually available for mere money; admitting the wrong person could drastically reduce the security of others, not even by letting in an enemy assassin or spy but just by serving its function of hosting people who have powerful enemies. The Pharaoh's personal security team isn't charged with earning money but even if they were, the cheapest solution might quickly become building a second, equally defended palace.

And the principle of quoting a price for everything may sound admirable at first, but it's a naive oversimplification; even if you're willing to sell finding out the exact price can be a long and expensive process, involving planning, negotiations, tenders and market discovery. The bigger the deal the longer it takes to close, and that's not just because there are more people interested in it and more money to share between them. The idea that everything (legal) has a price is a nice one to aspire to, but asking the pharaoh how much it would cost to stay a night in his personal quarters is taking it too far. (Also possibly lèse-majesté or something?)

The 'Pathfinder Lodge' sounds more reasonable at first. There's safety in numbers, and everyone is quoted the same price (and doesn't know who the other lodgers are), so people can decide whether it's a good deal. Tanya can agree to a pact of mutual defense if disturbed during the night (and if she has a way to tell apart intruders from guests). However, the obvious problem is that would-be assassins can also pay for lodgings, and some of the frequent guests are probably spies for intelligence operations selling inside information. Whether the bargain is worth it depends on the place's past record. Anyway, Tanya shouldn't put herself in a situation where she might have to fight on behalf of others while she has such an utter lack of understanding of what magical offense and defenses are even possible here.

(Teleports! Scrying! Telepathy! Mind-to-mind knowledge transfer! Rope tricks with mice! Tanya doesn't know how this world works yet, not even a little bit.)

Air conditioning!! And - aha, there's a spherical magical effect that's doing something to the people inside it (including Tanya, now). Now she knows what to ask for in her hotel room slash extradimensional space.

It's a day care center (or orphanage). But why aren't the older children in school (which could conveniently be held in this building)? You have to invest in the long-term earning potential of the next generation! ...unless these are after-school hours? Tanya isn't sure what the local time of day is, after the teleport, except that it involves too much sun.

The building seems to be an old repurposed fortress or bunker, which means it's an obsolete design (why put a fortress in the middle of a city, anyway?); such a heavy stone building might be too expensive to demolish to build something more efficient. Or perhaps the air-conditioning spell would be expensive to recast - no, the building would be allocated to a more productive use if most places couldn't afford magical cooling. Although there are so many children here that their parents probably can outbid people looking for office space. Or maybe it's government-subsidized; it would certainly do these children no favors to overheat at home while their parents are at work, and they definitely can't play outside.

(Heavy stone isn't entirely obsolete on Earth; add a point in the 'Tanya does not understand the local military balance' column. This is entirely unsurprising; people on Earth even half a century ago did not anticipate modern technology, and doctrine evolved rapidly in just a few years of war.)

Some children being naked is... probably culturally unmarked? Surely no parents are so poor that they cannot afford any clothes at all for their children. ...unless they are the children of slaves. Ugh.

"It sounds like Osirion is headed in the right direction, at least. If the private slaves are, uh, legacy ones from before the reforms, perhaps he's just waiting for them to all die and resolve the issue that way? Or are the children of slaves also enslaved? What proportion of the population is enslaved, anyway?" That is also a proxy for what proportion of the population are lawbreakers.

How will whoever refill it? Tanya can't see any plumbing, and carrying water is hard; why not use it where it is? This question will presumably answer itself shortly.

"He could be waiting. It would be an injustice, but a finite injustice; children are born free." She is distracted, looking around. "I don't know how many slaves there are, most of them live on farms, the census… you there! Yes, you! Where is your shepherd?"

That doesn't get a useful answer, only excited jabbering from a cluster of bored children that even a native speaker would have difficulty understanding. Most of them have some basic respect for personal space, but it's the ones that don't who want to play with Tanya specifically. Does she have any toys with her? Games? Books?

One of the older ones across the room rolls his eyes and whistles loudly.

Tanya has a spherical barrier, which means it extends out over two feet, and now it's impermeable to children and other non-gaseous material and consequently very faintly glowing blue. (She doesn't really know how to interact with children. It was bad enough in the orphanage despite the nuns telling the other kids to leave her alone!)

Slavery isn't an injustice if it breaks no laws. Perhaps Iomedae believes in natural inalienable rights? That might be as good a foundation as any, but the nations on Earth that claim to subscribe to them didn't actually enshrine them into law as absolute principles, so Tanya doesn't know how it works out in practice. However, there are plenty of other reasons to dislike slavery; even the rich slave-owner must live in fear of rebellion or simple murder.

"Free children born to slaves probably don't have very good lives," she observes. "How long ago was the reform, if there are still legacy slaves around?"

Iomedae casts another spell, and soon there are four ethereal lights whipping through the air at knee height for children to chase after. If she's bothered by the one still trying to hug her, she doesn't show it.

"It was a hundred… ninety… eighty years ago? All the human slaves from before are dead, but the census takers keep track of children… no, I remember there being a tally for children of slaves, but not for children of criminal slaves or legacy slaves, and they could be very different now. And better off, I hope? Even nations that are more reluctant to follow Andoran's example agree that children ought to be born free." Oh no, is this one of those complicated moral questions where you're supposed to do something counterintuitive because the alternative is worse? Why are there so many of those?!