"Kind of a weird number, yeah, we don't know why. My kind have colorful hair and more teeth than you." He grins to demonstrate.

"Ha! I could not even begin to venture a guess. Or well, I could, but I doubt my guesses are worth anything here."

"There's some internal difference too, and stuff that you can only see over time - I can go from as pale as Tarwë to darker than Cassiel in the space of a few days if I get enough sun, and then back again if I stay inside. But mostly you can think of Amentans as humans who really really like babies."

"I don't suppose I could go visit? I'm a wanderer, you see."

"You can! We don't have a bus station installed here for more regular trips but if you'd like to just go up to my ship and take a ride from there to wherever strikes your fancy you're more than welcome. Shall I pop you up now?"

He laughs. "Why not? I'll repay you with advice on spirits later, how about. Maybe even teach someone how to do it themselves- Though it takes years to master."

Nelen pops him up to the lobby of the ship.

He-

Is starstruck, making a beeline for the window and staring out at the stars and planet, open-mouthed.

"That's not your side of the planet, right now, the town we're working in will come up in about three hours on that side," Nelen says, pointing.

"This-

"It's just barely on the edge of my perception but I can feel her. Mother Earth, and Sun's distant gaze. So... Lonely and proud. I- I'm sorry. This is a very moving experience."

"Those are - spirits?" Nelen asks.

"Yes... Supposedly. They- Would be ancient and alien beyond belief, if they are spirits in truth and not - my own wishful thinking, or something. I - This is..."

"The planet is probably billions of years old, and the sun older than that," Nelen says.

"A thousand thousand thousands. We should- I should- Can you bring me closer or take me away while blindfolded so that I can't tell? I want to know if I am imagining it... I would imagine it still if you've moved me and I can't tell the difference. I don't know if I'm making any sense right now.

"I can hand you off to someone who works shipboard and they can take you on a shuttle ride? I should be getting back down," says Nelen apologetically.

"-Of course, of course, you have your duties."

He visibly steels himself before turning away from the window. "Thank you, and lead on."

Nelen hands the shaman off to a shipboard human, who can lead the shaman to a shuttle and take him on a ride while he has his eyes closed.

He can pretty reliably point out which way the sun and earth are, within about a ninety degree cone. And tell when they've moved very far away. He is extremely excited about this and finds it difficult to stop talking about spirits afterwards!

That is moderately interesting to the pilot! He takes them back to the shuttlebay and parks and can give the shaman a tour of the ship now if he'd like.

Sure! "At this point I have no idea what to expect and what not to expect from you all, if you have palaces in the sky and instant travel."

"...what were you expecting before?"

"I wasn't! Your society is a sudden dragon- Er, impossible to predict in advance. Or perhaps I was expecting flying palaces on some level, but the reality is different from the imagination."

"Huh. I guess if I just had the concept 'flying palace' I'd expect it to be made out of stone and not metal? And have fewer computers?"

"Oh, the artifacts I don't understand and gleaming metal everywhere is very on theme. There are plenty of tales of steel sky-ships buried in mountains, waiting to be woken."

"Huh. Maybe there are some, if your ancestors came from another planet."