The beef stew smells excellent and didn't disagree with her last night, so plenty of beef stew it is, even if it isn't really a traditional breakfast food. She considers not taking anything else, but decides if she's just been told she's allowed one, it would look unnecessarily subservient not to take one, so she goes for a fruit - looking for bananas, peaches, plums, apricots by preference.

She's mostly looking at the other people in the room, and how they're behaving - are there obvious hierarchies, how patiently are they waiting, what's the social grouping displayed by seating arrangements, what kind of thing are people wearing? Is the buffet being served up / attended by people, and do they look like the same kind of people on a rota, or clearly servants?

"Where's good to sit?" she asks, figuring she hasn't got in trouble for questions yet.

There are no bananas or apricots, but there are peaches and plums. There's also wine and water. Conradia takes a glass of water and casts Prestidigitation repeatedly on it. The glass starts to sweat from condensation – the water is much cooler now.

Most of the other people have already taken food, so there's no line at the buffet. There's a person behind the counter that's keeping an eye on the sweets section and also cleaning dishes using Prestidigitation.

There's enough seating for one hundred, although that's just based on the chairs. The tables are quite far apart from each other and are arranged in a hexagonal grid. There are about forty people in the room. Most people aren't wearing anything as elaborate as Conradia or Rendon. Most of them wear simple tunics, dresses, shirts and pants. There is some color coordination happening, though.

One group of people wear greyish or silvery clothes like Conradia, and another wear warm floral colors, usually purple. The two groups tend to sit with people similar to them, although there are several tables which are mixed. The vivid-colors group also have many people with visible makeup on, both men and women. And they are notably more conventionally attractive in appearance.

There don't seem to be any obvious hierarchies, and there are no waiters or servants aside from the wizard at the counter, but the counter-wizard stays there and doesn't attend to anyone. People occasionally stand and walk up to the counter to get more food or drinks.

"I can chill your water or wine for you, if you want. Or heat it up, if that's your thing. I can do that for your stew as well. If you're eating here by yourself, you can ask the person behind the counter to do it for you.

Oh, there's no hard limit on the wine, but of course you shouldn't take so much you get drunk. We have spells that can transmute water into wine, it's called Enhance Water. I personally drink wine only at dinner. The transmuted wine isn't the best, but it is still good. I know the Damianites are doing research into making it better, despite the fact that it's a divine spell. We also import alcohol from outside, but that is limited.

I like to sit near the fountain, but you can sit anywhere. It's impolite to sit somewhere that's already occupied, though, unless it's really crowded. Alternatively, you can carry your food to eat in your room, so long as you bring back the plate and utensils."

The light near the fountain is somewhat brighter, and Conradia picks an unoccupied table to sit at. The chairs have the same reshaping enchantment that the chairs in Rendon's office had. The architecture and ambience is reminiscent of a lesser royal or a noble's outdoor garden or solarium. The fountain itself has a life-sized bronze statue of Conrad and Damian. Both of Them are wearing wizards' robes similar to Conradia, although Conrad's is shorter and more practical looking. Conrad is standing straight with a stern expression, with His greatsword resting on his shoulder, the hilt in His palm. Damian's spiked chain is looped and hung around His waist, and He's holding a spellbook. The two of them are standing together and holding hands. Surrounding the statue are bushes of heliotrope and yarrow. There's a spout just in the middle and behind them that sprays water upward to land on them like rain, which then falls to the fountain's pool. Despite that, the bronze exhibits no corrosion.

It's quite nice here really, something like the Court of the White Fountain. Allegra is still certain the other shoe is going to drop any moment now, but she takes a seat and starts applying herself to her stew, not quite fast enough to look like a starving wild animal but also wasting no time.

She has taken water and doesn't ask for it to have the temperature changed. "I'm not a great connoisseur of wine, I wasn't allowed it at home and I've always been fairly good at getting to sleep in bad places without it."

"Huh, why not? Well, I'd understand not giving wine to children, but I don't see why you would be forbidden it when you're an adult."

Her natural eating pace is a little slower than Allegra's speed, but she doesn't bother to speed up.

"It really must have been some magical accident to have brought you here. This is why I chose not to specialize in conjuration, even though I have something for a talent or predisposition towards it. I've heard too many stories of wizards playing with Dimension Door and got stuck in a wall, or powerful casters playing with Plane Shift and were never heard of again. 

How are you liking the Bronze Orchard so far?" she asks, as though they were old friends. Allegra is to be treated as an initiate, and so she'll treat her like one. And besides, she's sympathetic to her position.

She gazes at the statue. "Do you think you'll miss home? I don't, personally. I came from Cheliax, just like Rendon, Conrad, and Damian." She gestures at her face, indicating the similar ethnicity. Well, not with Rendon, though.

"Oh yeah! We could try Scrying someone from your home, if you were close to any of them. Scrying is a spell that can let you observe a specific person, even if they're on another plane. It might work. It's easier if we target someone you're very close to, and if you have a picture, a possession, or body part – a hair or piece of nail will do." She smiles widely. Chelish people tend to be very reserved, but all the time away from it has made it so that she's more open with her expressions with members of the church.

"Oh, I left home as a teenager, been in the army since.

It seems very nice here? It reminds me of one of the better citadels we were trained in. I feel like I should have asked for a bath before coming to the food hall, really!

I might miss some things, I'm not sure what they are yet. I didn't quite get everything Rendon said about Cheliax, there were a lot of words that don't quite translate, but it sounded a bit like Faraden - they're very keen on keeping everyone in their place, they don't believe Ambition and Wisdom are virtues, I don't think I would get on there very well at all.

I'm not sure I have a very good target for Scrying," her expression flickered into immobility for a moment when 'body part' was mentioned, there's probably some of her blood somewhere, but she knows where she is, she's in the Labyrinth, "but we could try one of my previous squadmates, I could draw a frankly terrible picture if that might help."

"Yes, it's very pretty, isn't it? I do think that some of the things the Damianites do or request are obnoxious and unnecessary, but it's undeniable that they have an eye for good design. As for Scrying, I can keep casting it until it connects, but failing means that I'll have to wait a day before trying to scry them again. I can spare one fourth-circle slot a day to try, since it has no expensive material component. Sadly, it's not of immediate strategic importance, so I can't ask Rendon to order the other wizards to attempt scrying. This is more like a favor, although not fully, since I'm also curious to see what your world is like.

Scrying works best if you have a close connection to the target, and also have one of those foci I mentioned. I'd have a poor connection to any potential targets, since I'd only know them second-hand. Pictures or statues of the target work as foci, but they are the least powerful. I'm not sure it would work if the picture was of poor quality, but perhaps I could cast Crafter's Fortune on you. That spell makes it easier for you to make items, which includes art. 

Scrying also permits me to send messages through it, if you wanted to say something to them. Would you want to? I imagine the Citadel Guard would want to know where you are. You were a part of them, right? At the very least, they'll know you're alive and wouldn't like, execute your will and give away all your possessions or something."

She finishes her glass of water, but doesn't rise to get another one.

"Yeah, it'd be good to tell them I'm alive - and probably to report the last known position of my unit, they might not be too late to run a rescue in," replies Allegra, a little guarded. "Other than what I'm due for my contract, which I haven't cashed out yet, I don't actually own anything I'm not carrying, though - and nobody will know anything's wrong until my unit don't make their rendezvous in a couple of days - assuming time isn't messed up as well, which is a big guess, I suppose.

I'd love to try Crafter's Fortune, if that's not too much extra hassle. I've always wanted to be any good at drawing, but it hasn't happened yet."

It's pretty clear by now that if they wanted to kill her, or do anything particularly unpleasant, the thought that her people might come for her isn't exactly on the list of things stopping them. Not that she thinks they really want to hear the whole story just yet. Or maybe they do, maybe that's the kind of anecdote 'chaotic evil' people really enjoy?

"Yes, that seems good. We would need to conceal any information that could lead back to us, but I could transmit the other information. Although..."

She sighs, and clasps her hands together on the table.

"You are in a weird position, as a provisional initiate. There are two interpretations to the phrase that Rendon used. The first is that we ought to treat you like a guest. That is to say, we treat you as though you were a visiting scholar, learn of your world, learn how to send you back, and then erase your memory before transporting you back to the Citadel Guard.

But if we were to treat you like an initiate, then that would constitute a deeper connection. One of the requirements of initiateship is the severing of bonds – you will need to formally relinquish any ties you have to organizations or people outside the church.

That doesn't mean that you're forbidden from interacting with them or maintain friendships, but it does mean that you cannot put their goals and values above ours, and that you do not consider yourself subject to their rules. If this severing of ties would constitute defection, we would protect you from any fallout, and from anyone that would chase after you."

She puts her hand on her chest. "I myself was a defector from the the Chelish army, and Conrad protected me from the inquisitors and security wizards that wanted to punish me. This was back when He was still mortal, but the principle remains true still."

Allegra realises this is an important moment, and would really have liked another couple of nights sleep and a bit more experience of what is on offer here to make a sensible decision with!

"So. Relevantly, I have a bond - it's still active, I can feel it, it'd stop if I died but it's fairly durable otherwise - to the Urizeni Egregore. I'm not deeply attached to my army commission, although I'd kind of like to try handing the mana site I'm due to someone who'll appreciate it if the scrying thing works, but - I'll do it if I have to, but I'd prefer a bit more time to decide, what to do about that bond?

I don't want to be difficult, I'm just not sure I have, enough information."

She manages to stop herself talking to take in the reaction she's getting, to see if she should change tacks. She's not even quite sure why she feels so strongly about it all of a sudden, it'd have snapped when she got to the Commonwealth anyway, but for some reason it suddenly feels very salient and like... the only thing she really has, to connect her back to her home.

"What's an Egregore?" Abyssal doesn't have the word for it, and she's using the syllables Allegra used.

"And yes, you will have time to decide. Until or unless you progress to being an initiate proper, it's not necessary to make that decision just yet. I suppose we'd demand you make a decision if, say, the Citadel Guard suddenly marched up here and said they want you back immediately, but since that isn't happening, we won't make you. It's against our way to force someone to join us – usually it is us who reject people who want to join." 

Ugh, she's really not cut out to be a diplomat. Still, she can tell that that hit a nerve. Hm, talk about something else...

"What's a mana site? Rendon told me via Message to talk to you about crystal mana – does that have something to do with that? Apparently you need crystal mana to cast the magical rituals of your world."

Oh good, we're back to factual questions. Allegra can deal with factual questions, they don't require life or death decisions or emotional responses. And it looks like if she doesn't overthink the language thing she can actually use native Imperial words, good, that might be useful for fewer misunderstandings when they don't line up.

"An 'egregore' is - the spirit of a nation? They were created when each nation joined the Empire, with a ritual that has somehow been lost even though the Imperial Orcs had it cast sixty years ago. Every Imperial citizen swears to one of them, as part of becoming an adult. It was part of the original agreement that meant there's an Empire in the first place rather than a disparate collection of nations, the egregore is meant to make sure that the traditions of the nation are preserved and don't get mixed up into a single Imperial culture. They speak through people they choose, so you can interact with them. Urizen's is called Menos, and generally inclines us to - controlling and using our emotions rather than letting them use us, being intellectually curious, liking our personal space, wanting to be the best we can be at whatever we are good at.

A mana site is a place where crystal mana forms - usually naturally, you can improve production by seeding crystals and adding focusing mirrors and so on. Do you have 'dragon lines'? I think ley lines might be a useful translation? It might be that I can force a mana site to form on a ley line, especially a crossing point, using the techniques we normally use to improve one that already exists."

Wow, that's a little horrifying, honestly. She can't imagine having to swear to the egregore of Cheliax.

"They choose people? What do you mean by that? Do they possess them, or are they turned into heralds, or are they something like clerics?

I don't know of 'dragon lines', but we do have ley lines. There's a Damianite druid that specializes in them, actually. I've never heard of any place where crystal mana forms naturally, although granted, it's not like we've been looking very hard. How much time would it take to grow mana crystals from a newly-built mana site? How big does it need to be? If there's a place here that's suitable, we might be able to build it here, provided it's small enough. It would be much more difficult if it had to be built outside, though. The outside conditions are...not pleasant."

"They - kind of possess them? They still have their personality intact, they just also have all the memories of the egregore and know what it wants to get done - it has to have their consent, it can't just do it to a random person, people who do it mostly think it sounds like fun, gives them an important purpose, that kind of thing. And the host can kick the egregore out whenever they feel like it, often when they want to start a family, or want to settle down somewhere rather than always be travelling.

Takes about a season to grow a batch of mana crystals; you can make a site fairly small if you're focusing it, maybe about the size of that fountain? Ideally it'd want natural light to get in, but possibly your magical light is better than ours."

Eeeeeeeeeeeh. The prospect still seems really horrifying to her, and it shows on her face a little. Alright, ignore the nationalistic possessions. Let's talk magic instead. 

"What is it about natural light that is conducive to mana crystal formation? Does it have to do with natural light being...natural? If it has to do with nature, then you're better served talking to the druids. They get their magic from communing with it. Arcane magic is more general, and arises from power that comes from you specifically.

Speaking of research, have you decided what we should do next? If you want to do magic research now, I'll contact the Damianites via Message to talk to you. Message is a spell that lets you talk to someone nearby: in my case, I can talk to people about two hundred feet away, usually more. I can try it with you now, actually. It's blocked by walls, but we usually construct our rooms to have small openings that can be closed so that people can receive Messages. Whisper your reply back to me."

She whispers softly, and points her finger at Allegra. The voice is soft, but it is as though she were whispering directly into her ear.

"It's a very useful spell, and it's also a cantrip, which means it's simple and can be cast at-will. Given that I'm tasked with tutoring you in Golarian magic, I'd likely be able to teach it to you."

It's kind of reassuring that Conradia is capable of being creeped out by something, actually. Especially something as innocuous as egregore spirits, although if your nation is really Not A Good Place, then even gently enforced compliance to its norms might be rather worse than the Imperial version?

She startles a bit when the message comes in, instinctively dodging away from the source of it - she manages to catch herself before she's entirely leapt out of her chair at it, but it's a very obvious reaction. "Yes, I heard that," she manages.

"With mana crystals and light, I think it's mostly to do with intensity," she continues in her normal voice, trying to cover for the reaction. "Lightstone just can't provide the energy level of sunlight. The light in here looks much better than I'd expect from even a carefully mirrored array of lightstones, so it might do the job, if it can be directed.

It sounds like I should pick up the arcane stamper, drop by my room in case you need to hand me off to someone who doesn't know where it is, anything else I need to know about my duties, then we can start on the research - I'm not sure how easy it'll be to stop and get any of the rest done once we get going."

It's simultaneously saddening and annoying that Allegra is so touchy with regards to spells, especially given the mundane and boring nature of Message. She would have thought Prestidigitation would be more profound. Or was it because it was directed at her? She frowns when Allegra flinches and leaps up, but not at her specifically – just at her reaction.

"I hope you'll be more comfortable with our world's magic after we have – or I have – had a chance to show you how to cast it. For the arcane stamper, I'll get you to the item workshops. If you're done eating, we can put our plates away and go there now. You'll get to choose what design you want for your stamper, but there's a size limit. You can either describe it to Claro, I think he's the one in charge of stamps this month, or draw the design for him to copy."

Yes, yes, it was a shocking lack of poise, but it sounded like a person was right up close by her ear and that has not been good news for quite some time now.

"What kind of thing does a stamper design normally look like?" she asks, hoping that moving the subject on will make Conradia forget whatever she disapproved of. Although she feels it's somewhat just falling into another trap - they seem big on aesthetics here, and she is not very creative on the spot like this. Maybe the constellation of the Phoenix will do.

Maybe the stars are different here. It sounds like she isn't going to get out of this underground fortress any time soon to see them, though.

"Stampers are based off of the Arcane Mark spell, which I showed you earlier, and the designs for those usually involve the wizard's initials plus some decoration. It's not necessary for you to hew to any particular aesthetic or match ours, however. The only requirement is that it's not too similar to any existing design – there's a board at the workshop where everyone has their Arcane Mark on display as a specimen."

Conradia's own design has her initials, C.S., linked together with flowing flourishes similar to calligraphy.

"The board is a minor religious relic for us, given that it has Conrad and Damian's arcane mark too."

"Okay, that doesn't sound too complicated." Allegra picks up her plate and looks for where they go; she considers picking up Conradia's too, but she's still trying to find the balance between cooperative and subservient, and also doesn't really want to make any sudden moves towards her at the moment.

Conradia doesn't expect Allegra to pick up after her, and she places her plates in a metal box along with the other dirty dishes. She beckons Allegra to follow her to the workshops, which are quite near: only a minute away.

The item workshop is half the size of the canteen, with about half the ceiling height: only two stories high, rather than about four for the canteen. The aesthetic of the workshop is different from that of the canteen: it's more utilitarian and sparse, all clean lines and bare walls. There's a sense of looming hugeness to it, as though looking at a giant monument, despite it's smaller size. Despite its purpose, it's remarkably clean: there's barely any dust or dirt on the floor or elsewhere, and the air isn't dusty or sooty.

About two dozen people are milling about the various facilities: there are forges and tables and lathes and tools all appropriate to an artisans' workshop, although there are several more objects whose purpose isn't obvious. From the looks of the people operating them, and how the objects seem to be reacting, it does seem to be related to magic or enchantment.

Conradia looks around for a bit and makes a beeline for one of the men sitting on the tables, working on a ring with a loupe. She introduces Allegra to him, and introduces him to her: he's Claro.

"Are you here for a stamper?" he asks. He directs her to a portion of the wall that has large sheets of metal on it. The metal sheets have the Arcane Marks of everyone who has ever been in the Bronze Orchard. 

"Just make sure your design doesn't look too similar to any one of those already there, and you're fine."

"Have you got something for me to sketch on? I've got a design in mind but it's a bit hard to describe."

She considers putting her initials inside the box of the phoenix, but actually that is AH which just looks like an exclamation, A isn't exactly much better, and she's not sure a whole Allegra will be legible at the relevant size. It's not like anyone else's looks like the constellation of the phoenix, and if she's going to be teaching (and the stars being potentially different doesn't ruin casting by constellations) then people will associate it with her soon enough.

"Of course," Claro says, handing her some paper and pencils.

Most of the marks involve initials, but there are some that don't. Each metal plate is scored to divide it in half, with the Damianites being on the left side and the Conradians on the right. The Damianites tend to involve floral patterns, whereas the Conradians prefer geometric designs.

Claro remains silent, but pipes up after a while. "Would you be fine with us examining the rod that you came in with? We're really eager to see how it works, and see how it might be different from rods and staves from our world. Conradia would be able to show you some of our metamagic rods from the armory once you visit it later." Claro has had enough experience with onboarding to know how it goes.

Allegra sketches out a constellation:

It seems like she has quite a lot of practice drawing this, although she's not very good at neat dots and freehand straight lines.

"Sure, it's just a basic mage implement; I could make another one from any length of wood and most kinds of crystal. Properly enchanted ones are possible and there's a set that doesn't take special materials, but I'm not an artisan myself, so it'd take me a while to figure out how to get that right, if I even can at all."