"Anything else?"

"I'm wondering if you know that worship from people outside your domain works, actually. My apologies if I'm overstepping."

"Yes, I've noticed from the sailors. Otherwise I'd be much less sanguine about adding rivers and roads crisscrossing me."

"All right." He doesn't particularly like telling unfamiliar gods when he thinks they're making mistakes, in person, and it's not like Kiraavi is especially in need of more physical resources for the refugees. "I think that's all."

"Thank you very much for coming. Safe journey."

"And thank you for your help."

And off to the edge of Iabeltha's domain he goes, if nobody else needs him for anything.

Nobody stops him.

Letting Kiraavi make the claim doesn't take long, and neither does offering the blank notebooks, brought along in a hand-cart rented from the market. He returns the cart when he gets back, and goes to see if the kid from last night is around again.

He can't find the same kid, though there are others of the species about.

Nah, the chance of that kid having told all his friends about what an easy mark Ruel is are too high for trying again from the start to be a good idea. He'll get himself an order of barbecue goat - it did smell really good last night - and sit and people-watch for a while.

People are stirring their meals at the hearth; someone spills hers to a general chorus of sympathy and gets two dinner invitations for her family. Kids are climbing trees. Somebody's repainting his house.

It's so nice here. And if Kiraavi will be around... maybe he'll settle down sooner rather than later.

(The present situation comes first, of course.)

After dinner he looks around for - pubs? music halls? ball games? What do people do for fun at the end of the day, here?

Alcohol seems remarkably unpopular, actually, but there is an amphitheater over there, and there's a play on. He can buy a ticket or if there are extra seats sit down after the first scene for free.

He can afford a ticket, at least as long as the price is vaguely reasonable.

What's the play about?

Somebody in a ridiculous stack of disguises pretending to be someone on behalf of an employer who thinks they're someone else who is a fictitious identity created to avoid a debt collector who is actually after the previous moniker who was etc. The play starts in media res, with the character gradually managing to shed disguises and finally go home to what is his original self - or is it?

Fun and funny!

And then it's time for bed; he'll stop by the temple in the morning just in case they have any last-minute issues for him, and if not he'll start on his way to Kaneer's domain.

No last-minute issues, but a more refined version of the plan for where they can take an influx of refugees updated by the acolytes in Honeyguide Harbor.

Yup, he'll take that, he can read it to Kiraavi on the way.

The updated version includes a vouch for a free ticket to the islands if he wants to catch a boat out of Honeyguide Harbor to go check out the island gods.

Sounds like a neat place to go, plus he does want to see the harbor; he'll tentatively plan on doing that next. For now, he's off to see the river.

The river presently runs parallel to the eastern border of Iabeltha's territory. It's big and slow and clear. Water tupelos are growing in a deliberate double row, making a path of their swollen roots to a bit of island where a church stands.

He hasn't, unfortunately, had any luck in spotting anyone to ask about Kaneer as he approached the river, but that's not so unusual that he's worried about it. Still, he'll wait by the edge of the river for a bit to see if anyone happens by.

There's a big flat-bottomed boat being poled downstream.

"Hello!", he calls out when they get close.

"Hullo there!" replies the guy with the pole, waving. It's a bit far for a conversation.