It seems that gold is higher valued here than in Golarion, which is great.

"In that case, I think changing ten coins will be sufficient for now, barring unexpected circumstances, and then we can change more in Temeschwar. Temeschwar is the bigger city, so presumably we could change more while still getting a good price."

She can already feel Elias's stare of disapproval over 'frivolous' expenses like fancy restaurant meals, but she ignores it. Depending on the price of weapons and armors here, Elias might come away with something shiny of his own.

"I see, so the Navarr – er, don't know the demonym – are mostly nomadic, then."

"It might be harder to not get ripped off in Temeschwar, that's League territory and sharp dealing is basically their national sport. I'm hoping to get some recommendations from Verys to avoid that, though.

Navarr is the demonym, or Navarri if you prefer."

There are a few people around as they turn onto a much wider, more heavily travelled road, but nobody seems to find it particularly odd that Allegra has a slightly oddly dressed Changeling and a guy in full armour following her around; she nods to a couple of them, but they seem to be in fairly small groups, so she doesn't angle closer or let anything slip yet.

The forest is cut back around the immediate vicinity of the city in a clearly deliberate fashion, although further out there are striking golden-leaved trees that extend into the treeline. A tall wooden watchtower wreathed in imposing thorned brambles guards the approach, with a wooden pallisade at its base that looks like a small military encampment. They don't seem to be directly checking travellers, just keeping a general watch on the road.

Seren itself looks a bit like Foundhome, really, just on a much grander scale. There are some much more elegant buildings, many looking almost more grown than built, but also the entire thing seems to be built into ancient ruins - there is stone and marble as well as wood, but that mostly seems to be the outline of a much greater city that has been used as a frame for more recent buildings in more organic materials.

There is no apparent order whatsoever, and the road is getting a little more crowded as they draw nearer to the start of the ruins.

Felicia cannot help but gawk. The architecture is strange and beautiful, and what are those trees? She'll have to ask Allegra about those. Perhaps later. Based on the buildings, she's thinking they must have some sort of druidic magic to produce them.

Her expression loses a little of its enthusiasm when she sees the guardhouse. Right. This is a foreign country, and she might have to deal with the city watch. She hopes there are no incidents.

She almost wants to hold Allegra's hand so she can lead her while she stares off at this and that, but that would terribly awkward, so she restrains herself and puts more attention to what's actually happening. They're approaching the actual city now. Better stay sharp.

Elias is trying to make sure there's no risk of anyone coming too close to him, so he inches closer to Felicia. She's immune to his aura, so it's fine if she's inside the area of effect. He balances between staying close to Felicia so that other people can't get to him, but also not being too close that Allegra starts getting caught in it.

Allegra heads confidently into town and starts weaving through the meandering streets towards the Eternal family's location. She is maybe being a bit careless about how crowded places are and how much she gets out in front of her charges.

She's still not sure she wants to get them in trouble with the authorities, especially now the Owl's Wisdom has worn off and it's noticeably harder to think clearly, but she really, really wants it to be someone else's problem. 

So, on the one hand, she appreciates that Allegra is moving quickly to their destination. On the other hand, they're straying dangerously close to passers-by. She's currently behind Allegra, and she's taken to holding Elias's hand like a mother to her child. The image of the woman seemingly dragging the fully armored person along is amusing, but she's not laughing.

"Are we close? There seems to be lots more people now."

"This is our capital city," Allegra points out, a bit distractedly, "and Brokers tend to like places with lots of passing trade."

They are attracting a bit of attention - nobody else here seems to be in full plate, and most people are in practical brown and green clothes with maybe a bit of nice embroidery - but the general chatter that accompanies people looking is an argument over whether they're Heralds or just Dawnish, rather than any intention to do anything about it. 

Right. She had been so focused on enjoying the Nature™ that she hadn't considered what their cover story was supposed to be. Not that she can ask Allegra right now in front of all these people. Or ask what 'Dawnish' means.

Felicia is annoyed that Allegra didn't actually answer her question, but she decides not to press the question. They'll get there when they get there, she supposes.

Allegra heads into a bustling marketplace. It's still not impossibly crowded, but there's an added hazard of groups of small children weaving swiftly through the crowds, apparently playing some kind of huge, anarchic game of tag - and sometimes depositing wooden pegs on the clothing of adults that aren't paying attention.

There's also a visible guard presence here, watchful individuals with distinctive black and white sashes, lightly armoured at most and armed with spears; they don't react particularly to the newcomers.

Sigh. The children playing among the city guard reminded her of her days as an orphan in Mendev, swiping bags off of people to survive. She puts aside the memory and focuses on the task at hand: preventing Elias's aura from touching anyone. She decides to adjust her demeanor and straighten her back, trying to make it seem as though she's marching purposefully on official business rather than just being some weirdly dressed person.

Elias catches on – seeming important will likely keep people away – and uses the same gait he was taught for parade marches. This other way of walking emphasizes the clinking of the armor he has on, rather than trying to muffle it for stealthy movement.

He pulls off the imposing energy much better than Felicia: he's much more Splendid than her. Felicia looks mildly ridiculous doing the same thing, but she refuses to let the embarrassment show on her face.

People conclude that those two are definitely Dawnish. A small child tries to sneak up on Felicia to put a wooden pin on her, it doesn't look like the plate guy has anywhere to put it but Felicia looks like a very tempting target now she's probably not a Herald.

Allegra continues to fail to spot anyone she knows, she could look distressed at one of the militia but they're as likely to be unhelpful as helpful. She falls back a bit to make it more obvious she's keeping an eye on her charges - at this point she's realised there's considerable danger of a kid getting hurt, which isn't really acceptable collateral damage.

Felicia is Dextrous and on-edge enough to dodge the child, moving her hip to the side to avoid the pin. Unfortunately, the child probably went inside Elias's aura, albeit temporarily.

"Don't do that!" she says, in a tone of concern rather than anger.

Elias stops walking abruptly and stands still as a statue, as though he were still in parade formation. He sees the scene in front of him, but doesn't make any outward indications of reacting to any of it.

Oh dear. Let's hope this doesn't get ugly. It's been a while since he got in a fight – he wouldn't mind getting into one now – but Felicia would not be a fan of that. And it would complicate their plans.

The child screams, stumbles backwards, then runs away into the crowd at full speed.

Allegra turns round as if to confront them. "It's not nice to scare small children," she lectures, in a slightly carrying voice clearly intended for the crowd.

The child has run to one of the guards and is trying to tell them something while also hiding behind their legs, but is mostly incoherent.

She steals a few glances at the child and the guards, then follows Allegra's lead.

"Yes, of course. We'll be more careful next time," she says, like an older sister being admonished by her mother.

Idiot child. Did they really think running up to the armored person's companion would end well for them?

He remains still until either Allegra or Felicia start moving.

"Let's get you out of the crowd, it's just round the corner from here," declares Allegra, and starts moving forward again, this time looking a lot more like an alert escort that nobody should mess with.

The rest of the crowd don't seem to think this is especially remarkable, although the general muttering has updated to 'probably Heralds'.

The guard has knelt down and is awkwardly trying to comfort the child, but doesn't seem inclined to start chasing anyone.

"Yes, let's."

They follow. Finally, the end is almost in sight. It's awkward having to maintain this odd marching gait. 

What does the money changer's place look like?

The wide market street with lots of space for open, fabric covered stalls turns into a more solidly built set of wood-and-ruins constructions, some with open hatches; there are ornately carved wooden doors; there's not so much of a crowd here, but more people pulling laden hand carts.

The hanging wooden signs are generally words rather than pictures - things like Shorthaul Trading, Broadback Logistics, and finally, Eternal Brokerage.

This one doesn't have an open hatch: Allegra knocks sharply on the door in a specific pattern.

For a few moments, nothing happens; she listens nervously at the door for movement inside. 

That's...an odd pattern. She commits it to memory – it might be useful for them later, although she doesn't expect it will. She stays behind Elias and turns to look at the street they just passed by, just in case someone might be trying to approach them.

Finally, someone comes down the stairs and opens the door.

"Is Verys in?" asks Allegra. "Or any of the brokers, but ideally someone who's confident at dealing with foreign coins and - unusual situations."

There are fewer passers by here, but a couple of people pulling merchandise carts are in earshot.

"I'll see if he's free," replies the door attendent. "Would you like to come in, get some tea?"

"That sounds lovely, as long as you have somewhere we won't get in your way," replies Allegra. "My friends here like their personal space..."

"Of course," replies the door attendant. "If you'll follow me? I'm afraid the corridor is a bit tight but the downstairs office should be available."

Allegra glances back at the two of them, then follows the attendant deeper into the building, which turns out to be an absolute warren of wooden corridors within the larger ruin shell. 

Is this structurally sound? She hopes so, although the creaking wooden floors don't exactly inspire confidence.

They follow Allegra, with Felicia in the middle and Elias at the back.

Neither of them speak, instead following wordlessly. Elias reverts to his old gait to reduce the clinking noise his armor makes.

Another person starts coming the other way down a corridor; the attendant, out in front, tells them "Sorry, but can you back up a bit, one of them's in full plate," and they turn around and wait in an intersection. It's a bit tight getting past them.