"Huh. I wonder if you can also learn human magic or if people on this planet can learn yours. Anyway, you were going to demonstrate a - cantrip, you said?"

"Ghost Sound." She twitches her fingers a little and woodwind music strikes up out of nowhere.

Tyela applauds.

"That's certainly different from all the magic I know," Tema says. "Not that that's a surprise at this point. Human magic is all about changing the connection between body and soul - the most common kind just puts you to sleep but it's also possible to put souls in jars or switch two people's bodies. You probably don't want a demonstration, I expect."

"I can't say that I do. I have a sleep spell but I'd have to prepare it, at my circle it's not useful against anything much."

"At your circle?"

And meanwhile here are some stairs down.

"My level of magic advancement." Down the stairs she will go.

"Hm." And they pass some doors leading to rooms she describes vaguely and come to the kitchen where the cook is just finishing sealing some jars of pickles-to-be. "And this is Chanai - Chanai, this is Belmarniss, who showed me some alien magic and says her species is from the planet Castrovel but that she can eat human foods, and I need you to make her comfortable while I find a world map."

Chanai turns to look at Belmarniss and grins.

"Hello. Do you want to see some alien magic too?"

"Absolutely. What's your theme?" Chanai asks.

"I don't know what you mean by theme. I'm specialized in transmutation but I can cast from all schools. - Golarion magic is divided into schools." She does Ghost Sound again.

"Oh, that's very different - what I mean is that human magic all involves the alteration of the interactions between bodies and souls, and mermaid magic involves the creation of life, and I'm wondering if yours can be summarized like that."

(Tema meanwhile slips off to find that map.)

"No, it can't. There are some generalities - arcane magic is worse at healing specifically than divine magic, say - but not very many of them. The one I just did is an illusion, I'm not good at necromancy or enchantment, I'm all right at evocation and conjuration and abjuration and divination. Loosely, transmutation is making stuff be different, illusion is making stuff seem different, necromancy is making something be more or less dead except for complicated technical reasons it doesn't include healing which is conjuration, enchantment is doing stuff to people's brains, evocation is making stuff be on fire or whatever, conjuration is making stuff exist where previously it didn't, abjuration is protecting stuff, and divination is learning stuff."

"Are spells divided that way based on their own fundamental traits or based on how people use them?"

"Fundamental traits, otherwise there would be livelier academic debate about whether healing ought to be counted as necromancy instead of confusingly yet obviously being conjuration."

"Interesting! - I should be offering you something besides questions, would you like some berries?" Chanai offers her a bowl of them. "Or if you have questions of your own, I can try to answer them."

"Detect Poison... is this just a private residence?"

The berries are not poison to humans, at least.

"Yes, this is the Miara estate."

Nomf berries. "I appreciate the hospitality, at what point should I be making my way to a city or something though?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if Tema thought you were interesting enough to invite to dinner, but if not I'm hoping you'll stay put for me to quiz you about your magic - I can show you mine, too - at least until I have to get dinner started. You're free to leave now if you want to, of course."

"For the time being I would like my soul to remain in its current relationship with my body."

"A very common preference, that. If I were going to demonstrate I'd let you watch me prepare a sleep spell."

"That does sound interesting. I have one of those but don't have it hung today, it's not useful for most things that try to attack me these days."

"They don't sleep?"

"Spell doesn't work on more powerful targets."

"Sounds very inconvenient for everyone."