Hm, can he test the writing tablet? He'll try drawing his Arcane Mark: a cursive 'Conrad' with flourishes on the borders. It took a while for him to develop that, and he basically has his Mark on everything he owns. Well, until now. He doesn't have it prepared. Tragic. He supposes he can carve the mark into the objects themselves, but that probably isn't good for their longevity.

This just keeps getting and better. No wonder Lord Echo directed him to that facility – they're already very aligned with Them, it seems. Thank You, Lord Echo, for your gift of Sending, which you generously bestow upon the people of Swarthwalls.

Absolutely, he can test the functions of the very same tablet that he's reading the product information off of! It's maybe a little weird to writing directly with his finger rather than a writing utensil, but the illusion of the tablet's surface is tactile as well as visual, it feels just like the paper he bought back at Jewel's, crisp and clean.

As he signs his Arcane Mark, he'll brush against a bit of the linguistic information he received from Echo, and knows how to write his first name in the local script (the local language having a direct parallel to his name, conveniently enough), as well as an approximation of his last name.

As he's testing the tablet, a distinctly eye-catching character walks down the stairs at the back of the store. An enormous man, easily over 7 feet tall and built like a brick house, bare-chested and pale-skinned except that every inch of skin is covered with lines of fine blue script, with a shaved scalp and long, bushy mustache, he walks up to the pay counter, the clerk there quickly coming to attention and putting on a fake smile as he places a very large tablet and two small ones (that only seem smaller when held in his hands) on the counter. "I am purchasing these." He says, voice as deep as one would expect and with a thick accent.

"Th-that will be 122 ducats, sir," the clerk replies with half-hidden anxiety.

The man retrieves a billfold from his pants pocket, pays, and picks his tablets back up, all with odd slowness and sense of gravitas. "Thank you. Good day."

Hm, do they sell styluses or similar that you can use for the tablet, or are you obligated to use your fingers? That's not a dealbreaker – he'll still buy it even if there aren't any, because it is vastly superior to paper – but he doesn't imagine the skin on his finger having a good time if he has to write a lot.

Thank You, Lord Echo. He doesn't have his surname on his Arcane Mark, but it's good to know that this language has phonetic support for his name. The cursive looks fine – Chelish Taldane writing drills work – but he doesn't get the flourishes quite right. The spacing is wonky. The tablet doesn't support having increased line width on downstrokes like how it would be with a calligrapher's dip pen, but he didn't expect it to.

He's in the middle of asking his questions when the man walks in. His eyes are most certainly caught.

Oh, what an absolutely gorgeous man. He wants to feel the runes on his skin. He wants to – 

Still looking at him, he'll put down the tablet gingerly and approach. It's good that wizards have good Will saves. He walks headlong into fear. He looks up at him.

"Good morning. What use could you have for three tablets?" His tone is curious, not accusatory. 

There are styli! They're a separate accessory, there's a few different varieties, some of them have extra features of their own but here's one that just works as contact-point for tablets. Conveniently it's built so that Conrad can slot one of his pen-shells on it as well, so it's really just like using ordinary pen-and-paper.

The man turns to Conrad and gives him a wide smile. "Large one is for my friend back home, she is artist-- painter, specifically. Small ones are for my, err..." he searches for the word, "my ward and I, so that we can keep in touch even when she is out. Please pardon my dalmercian, I am new to country, not much of traveler."

Conrad is going to absentmindedly pick up a stylus too, not really checking what's the price on it. He'll take care of that later – so long as it's one without fancy features, it shouldn't be too expensive, he thinks.

He smiles too, and nods. "Oh, I see – you have a child. And that's fine, I haven't really traveled either." Kind of a lie – he traveled between planes – but he hasn't traveled much on this plane specifically. 

"Are you a Recognizant? Let me guess...metabolic? Or maybe chorismic: it looks like you could wreck things with those arms of yours." He successfully makes his Will save against fondling the man's arms. 

"I'm Conrad Ferrer – I'm an echoic Recognizant, but I've only been one for a short while."

"Yes, child, but not child." He huffs, quietly cursing in an unfamiliar tongue. "My job is to nurture and protect her. I am not her father. Her father hired me."

He chuckles. "I am not Recognized. I was chosen by priesthood as child to bear Waker's marks." He gestures to his numerous tattoos.

When Conrad mentions that he is a Recognizant, the man immediately tenses, then falls to one knee. "I am sorry konokhttagesh Conrad Ferrer. I meant no disrespect to you, and beg your forgiveness."

The clerk and the other customer are both looking at Conrad and this man, the clerk with great weariness and the other customer with bemused curiosity.

Oh, so it's a nanny type of situation. Or, no, given his look, he's probably more of a bodyguard. Must be someone important or rich.

Right, the Wind-Waker, like the Mother-Maker, has a church. New life goal: get arcane tattoos that enhance Strength and Constitution. Wait, the guy said that he got them as a child. Damn it! It's probably the sort of thing where you have to grow up with it.

His smile fades when the man genuflects, but he keeps a neutral expression. No one genuflects in Cheliax – everyone, including military personnel, kneels – but he does understand what it means. He's confused now: people, even those who knew he was a Recognizant, acted toward him normally, even flippantly, and yet this powerful man is kneeling before him and begging for his forgiveness. Probably a cultural thing, then. He feels mildly weirded out, but, well, it is not for him to stop someone from showing obeisance to one of Lord Echo's chosen, who of course must be treated in a manner that befits their status.

He disregards his initial theory of people being able to recognize Recognizants by sight, since he bets the person would have knelt immediately if he knew he was a Recognizant – he only did that when he told him he was one.

"Arise. You did no disrespect to me, so there is nothing to forgive." When he presumably arises, he'll ask, "Where are you from, then? People in Dalmercia don't do that. I didn't understand one of the words you used – was that a title?" Certainly, no one kneels to third-circle wizards except slaves. Usually Conrad is the one doing the kneeling.

The man quickly rises when Conrad gives the word. "Thank you for your allowance, konokhttagesh. I am from Mimkhu'ish, to southeast of Dalenmercia, which is much more--" He seems to remember that he is in a room with two probable dalmercans, "Gishut hold place of great respect and reverence there, as they once did in Dalenmercia stozottat-- before Great War. Yes, and no, konokhttagesh is word for 'echoic Recognizant' in mimkhuun language, but, also it is title for them."

"You are welcome. I assume 'gishut' is the general word for any Recognizant, then?" He's quite good at languages – he was in the upper quartile of his Infernal class, but he kind of stopped bothering with language learning ever since he learned Comprehend Languages. He's kind of dreading the process of learning a language the mundane way. Perhaps there's an echoic way to get another? He'll have to look into it. In any case, he's already more than grateful to Lord Echo for giving him Dalmercian.

"I see. Admittedly, I'm not from Dalenmercia either – even though I speak the language. How is the culture around Recognizants different there?"  

He looks at the other people in the shop and decides to bring his stylus and tablet to the counter. "How much will this be?"

Then, to the man, "Where are you headed? We can talk more while walking."

"Yes, gish, or gishut for more than one, and gishut only stand below mhiinurlut, royalty such as my ward, and alongside ozelleklot, nobility." He seems to be taking some joy in using the mimkhuun words, even though he clearly knows their dalmercian translations.

The clerk coughs, and the man pauses his explanation so that they can speak to Conrad. "That will be t-twelve ducats, thirteen pounds, Mr. Ferrer."

"Next, I go back to hotel, to give her tablet to my ward. She is probably very bored of waiting. After that depends on what she plans. If you come, she will be pleased to meet you, I am sure."

Cool! So he has the status of a noble...in another country. Hah. Damian was a baron's son, and he was much richer than Conrad. He'll see if he can make as much money, now that he's technically one too.

He pays the clerk absentmindedly, but does stop to check he receives the correct change before thanking them and leaving. He'll stow the tablet into his sling bag.

He's not sure if he wants to meet a royal child, though. At least in Cheliax, coming into the attention of a Thrune usually means very very bad things to you. But – this isn't Cheliax, he has to stop thinking in terms of Cheliax – he'll be open to the possibility of it.

"That sounds good, although I have to meet someone in the afternoon. I might not have time to talk with her."

Afterward, when they're out of the store, he'll ask, "I have never seen anyone with inscriptions on their skin. What wind does it invoke? I guessed metabolic and chorismic; is that correct?"

It is very easy for the clerk to give him the correct change, given that his purchase is a whole number of pounds, but with how distracted they are by this hulking man's presence double checking isn't a bad idea. No mistake, though, so he's free to go.

The man nods. "Meeting will be good even if it is only brief, and, shtossa, half correct. They are mix of stiizittu, chorismic wind, and stabetta, poetic wind. Together they ensure there is everything I must have and nothing I must not have. Example; I do not need to eat or drink or breathe, mostly."

He's struggling between the impulses of 'maybe don't reveal that you're from another world to a royal's bodyguard' and 'you definitely need to impress this beautiful beautiful man'. It's very stressful.

"I have never seen anyone in Dalenmercia with tattooed inscriptions. You said you got them as a child? Is it necessary for the inscription to be placed on someone young? 

It seems that people in Dalenmercia are less, hm, religious. When I came here, I asked someone where I could find a shrine to Lord Echo, and they scoffed at me." 

Time to learn about theology and the corresponding heresies that he must then learn to keep track of. He'll let the man lead, being a little behind him so he can tell where he's going.

"Oh, and I forgot to ask you your name."

"They are controlled by priesthood, cannot be made without them nor without mhiinurlut. I do not know how secret is kept, but I know other peoples covet it yet do not have it. Yes, I was given marks as child, baby even. I have had them for as long as I can remember, and this is always true. I have never seen marks given to grown or child old enough to walk, but priests say that it causes painful illness and often death."

He nods. "Dalenmercia was once very right and proper, respectful of gishut and taat and ozelleklot. Laskazelleklot, nobility of Dalenmercia became cruel to common people, so after Great War, when armies were depleted, common people rebelled and overthrew. Jowoka--" He takes a moment to find the right translation for this one, "Faith was esteemed by nobility, so when common people overthrew nobility, also they overthrew faith. Such is what I have read."

He pauses for another moment, his face inscrutably neutral. "It is...faithful, for gish to call his taa as such, though I am not used to this. Back home, priesthood and taashrejat are sometimes good allies, sometimes bad enemies, but always suspicious, never friendly.  Thus I do not have the opportunity to hear it often."

His joviality returns at Conrad's last question. "I am meknot Bavel Uuin, though you may call me what you like, konokhttagesh."

Oh, precious Bavel, you do not know how much Conrad covets it. And covet other things beside.

Hm, Echo implied that he could develop his invocation to decode and store inscriptions at a distance. 

It would do well for him to take a vacation to Mimkhu'ish some time from now. The priests say that it causes painful illness and death...but that might just be propaganda. And he could capture someone to test on, someone who won't be missed. The eternal dilemma of a man who likes men: do I want to be with you, or do I want to be you? Conrad would prefer to take both at once, but somehow he knows Bavel is going to react badly at him doing inscription espionage.

He nods and makes thinking noises at appropriate moments. So Dalenmercia underwent Andoranization, as he suspected.

He guesses 'taa' is 'wind', and 'taat' is 'winds'. 

"What is 'taashrejat'? It has something to do with the winds? And is it that the priests are never Recognizants?

What title is meknot? It is a pleasure to meet you, Bavel Uuin." He pronounces the name carefully, and a little too slowly.

"Oh, yes. Taashrejat are worshippers of wind, generally konokhtta. They often travel, and worship in secret, learning many things and sharing their knowledge to one another but not to outsiders. Gishut..." He pauses again, thinking, "gishinguzut and jela'engazot are separate priesthoods. Gishinguzut are superior, naturally, but they hold distinct duties from us and only rarely we work together."

Bavel doesn't seem to notice, or at least mind, Conrad's pronunciation, but he seems pliable to Conrad's positive reinforcement, smiling as he answers the last question. "Meknooj are those who bear marks, such as myself. We are strong hands of priesthood, and also it is a pleasure to meet you, konokhttagesh Conrad Ferrer."

"It's quite peculiar, that the worshippers and the clergy are...suspicious of one another. Why is that? And it is also interesting how the Recognized and non-Recognized have separate priesthoods – you are part of the latter? Which duties does each one have, since they are distinct?"

He's going to wonder idly about whether the inscription needs to be exposed to work. Right, 'wind' isn't 'literally the wind', but perhaps exposing the inscription to the elements lets it absorb anemonomastic energy? Regardless of the etiology, he will be happy that it makes Bavel go shirtless. It could just be a cultural thing, now that he thinks about it. Are Bavel's clothes different from the Dalenmercians?

"Priesthood carries legacy of Taajonpja, the Waker. Taashrejat go their own way. Often this creates disagreement between taashrej and priest, and sometimes disagreement between taashrej and gaznellog, religious law. I am jela'engaz, in a technical sense, though among them we meknooj hold duties most like those of gishinguzut. Mostly jela'engazot provide guidance and aid to their communities, record history, study scripture, and pursue art. Gishinguzut are keepers and enforcers of religious law, administrators and advisors to mhiinlizuj, king or queen, and warriors in defense of Mimkhu'ish."

He flexes his muscles for moment. "Body of meknot is much like weapon, even if it is also art, so we are often given to command of gishinguz or, in my case, mhiinlizuj himself, and through him to his daughter."

Bavel is currently wearing only pants, held up by a simple drawstring. They're quite nice pants, though. They're a clean and very dark black with two inconspicuous pockets, and made of a shiny and flowing fabric, perhaps the same as the strength-enhancing shirt in Conrad's pack.

"Mm. Near here, there's a shrine to the Mother-Maker. Do you worship the other three popular Recognizants – the Mother-Maker, but also the Road-Builder and the Storm-Slayer? 

What is religious law like?" Heresy time!

Ah, that sounds more like the clerics he knows.

"Oh yes. Very artistic." Hah. That might have been a little too much.

"Are there differences in the way the Recognizants of different winds are treated there? In Dalenmercia, poetic and chorismic inscriptions are regulated much more strictly than metabolic and echoic ones, because the former two involve permanent addition and subtraction of matter from the world."

"No no no, we do not worship humans. Even Taajonpya is only our teacher, first priest and first king. He is example, goal for rulership and for good life in general, but not to worship. Mhijunbuzri, the Mother-Maker as said in dalmercian, was his wife, and also example and goal for women especially. Teededaja and Sottabeleg, the Road-Builder and the Storm-Slayer were great gishut and important historical figures, particularly Sottabeleg bringing great honor to Mimkhulut by what he did, but only those things."

Like any good priest, at least according to Bavel, he has the entire codex of law memorized, both secular and religious, as well as many scrolls of case law, so he can go into great detail about any particular area of the law that Conrad cares to ask about.

He will also give Conrad another flex in a different pose, if it looks like it would please him. "I find art of body is often underappreciated, at least back home."

Bavel nods to that. "Gishinguznilukh is divided into four branches, one for each wind, each one maintains separate quarter of religious law, generally relating to use and study of wind, duties and privileges of gazot and gishut, sundry matters which touch upon livelihood of gazot and gishut, and irregular further matters enshrined in case law."

He can expand on any of the four branches of religious law at length, though an overview will reveal that, while not supported by any high-level principle or explicit demand for additional regulation, the case law for poetic and chorismic anemonomastics does seem much more voluminous and to include more restrictions, though this time it's chorismics that are subject to the most restriction while poetics are somewhere between that and the other two.

"...'but only those things'? What do you mean by that? Did they end up doing something dishonorable?"

Very impressive. He doubts he could do such a thing, even being Intelligent enough to be a wizard. Not without several years, unless their law code is somehow really short. Which he doubts.

Conrad is very pleased, and he smiles really wide. He looks simultaneously abashed and shameless.

"The same is true for myself. I'm...what you would call an artisan or a researcher, but also a soldier. Hm...perhaps military engineer would be a better translation. I take care of my body, which is rare for people in my position.

I don't think you've used the term 'gazot' before. Let me guess...hm, does that mean non-Recognized? 

Does the reason why there seem to be more restrictions on chorismics have to do with the Storm-Slayer? 

I'm particularly interested in case law for echoics. What sort of echoic effects does Mimkhuun law probihit?"

"Only that they are not more than human. Excellent humans, powerful gishut, but not more than that. Yet, they allowed themselves to be idolized! They allowed paamemkhoon to place them alongside Taajonpja and Mhijunbuzri, or even above them."

To be fair, Bavel has been raised from infancy to be a priest, and the meknot inscription apparently makes remembering things easier, even if it's still not trivial.

Bavel is also glad to hear Conrad does so, and even proposes that, if they are able to coordinate a time for it, that they might enjoy a spar.

"Ah, I am sorry. Gazot are priests of both kinds, jela'ot and gishut. You are comfortable to speak with and I slack in my dalmercian."

"The Storm-Slayer is source of much case law, yes, though not only one. Wirklu, Bloodstained One, was vile gish, who slaughtered many jela'ot with his stiizitunjulz, chorismic invocation, finding new ways to use gaznellog as shield each time. In some sense we are fortunate for his existence, since laws born of his malice helped guide future generations of gishut and ozelleklot to avoid the fate which befell nobles of Dalenmercia."

Mimkhuun law is fairly lax on echoics, with laws primarily limiting its use to propagate falsehoods, obstruct the enforcement of laws or the transmission of state or priestly announcements, lead others into danger, and similar sorts of things.

"What is paamemkhoon? It has something to do with your country, but I don't know what the first part stands for."

A spar sounds lovely, though now would not be the appropriate time.

"I see. I don't think my invocation is suitable for translation, although it seems like the sort of thing that an echoic effect would be able to do. And besides, I was only Recognized recently. I could try, though. My invocation does simple speaking and listening."

He wonders (not aloud!) whether Mimkhuun law prohibits derivation of secret inscriptions using echoic effects. That is neither falsehood propagating, law enforcement obstructing, official transmission obstructing, nor danger leading. 

"Lord Echo implied to me that my invocation is very flexible, but I currently can only do a basic speaking effect. I'm meeting with an echoic researcher later to help me with it. Listen: Thank You, Lord Echo."

"Dweer, Bavel Uuin." Comes Echo's unique voice, evidently speaking mimkhuun, emanating from next to Conrad but significantly higher in the air, above even Bavel's head.

"Ah, 'paa-' means 'not'. Paamemkhoon are people not of mimkhuun, or technically anything that is not of mimkhuun but in practice it usually is people unless otherwise specified."

No, now is not good. They're actually pretty close to the hotel where Bavel's ward, mhijundwir Hilgrunzrikki Mhiinurlujn is waiting.

"Please, do not strain yourself for my sake. It will cause me no trouble to be more strict in my language. I need to try harder to integrate it regardless."

Bavel stops in his tracks when he hears Echo's voice, turning directly to where it emanated from with lightning speed. "That was not your voice, and, I have not said 'dweer' to you. That was not a recording?"