Oh, wow, someone in this country who didn't immediately say grace as their greeting, that's her first.

"Um, hi, yes, I saw the wanted poster on the bounty board and wanted to inquire about it?"

Curly's mouth twists. "Oh, yes, what an awful - well! What do you need to know? Are you an adventurer?"

     Stubbly looks her over. "She's got a gun, Meri. If she isn't an adventurer, I'd love to know what she's doing with it."

Meri glares at him. "I don't like to make assumptions, Salo."

She grins. "I think the floating robot legs were more of a giveaway! But yeah I'm an adventurer."

"Whatever you need to know to catch that little rat, I'll give you what we've got," Meri says firmly.

     The nebbish stage-whispers "Meri has opinions about this case."

Meri glares at him too. "Shut up, Niriban. If either of you had any love for Freyja in your heart or soul, you'd have opinions too."

...interesting.

"Well, can you give me a rundown? I want to make sure I understand what happened and what, um, success would look like, I guess. I mean, finding the culprit, yes, but the poster mentions a jewel, too?"

"If you can find the Sacred Opal, we'll be thrilled," drawls Niriban. "But, you know... it's usually not easy to find stolen goods without finding the thief. Not when the goods are unfenceable. ...Salo, you want to explain the facts of the case?"

     Salo grimaces. "Since you're lazy and Meri's crazy, sure." (Meri stares daggers at him. He doesn't care.) "Facts of the matter. The Sacred Opal is a holy relic of the church of Freyja, part of a set of crystals blessed by the Goddess herself. The Opal is in the possession of High Priest Zhed, a reformist with some damn good ideas in my opinion. Enter Phobe. He's a servant in Zhed's estate; Zhed likes to employ natives and half-natives, because he's a better person than anybody in this room. He gives them some honest work, they bring the coin back to their families and learn that Freyja's love isn't just for cops and politicians - everybody's happy. But Phobe was a street rat, and you can take the rat out of the street... he hears about this big chunk of precious rock. And if Niriban and I don't have any love for Freyja, the natives have a lot less. The Opal vanishes. He vanishes too. Zhed tries to keep the details quiet, just says the Stone is missing, but, well. How long does that last. It's as clear as day."

...natives. Are these people... not natives? Were they not born here? What the fuck does that mean. And "reformist", is that something to do with how Niren and Zhed were acting earlier? 

She shouldn't ask that because it'll make her look ignorant and they won't respect her. And there are other, more pertinent kinds of ignorant that she can be instead. "But why did he steal it, if it's unfenceable? And why is it unfenceable? I'm sorry if these questions aren't very smart, I'm a foreigner and I'm realising I really know very little about Arunafeltz and its people and customs." There, that sounded cool and mature and diplomatic, right?

Meri forces a smile. "You're being more respectful than Salo, and he's lived here his whole life. We can deal with a bit of... missing context. Why he stole it, we don't know for sure, but I think it's because he didn't really know how much we do care about it, he only knew it was pretty and that pretty rocks can be sold. But no honest citizen would be wicked enough to buy it, and no fence would be stupid enough. Everyone recognizes it. Even if he teleported somewhere else, any city big enough to have enough cash floating around to actually buy it would have too many people who could recognize it."

She is somehow doubtful that people would actually recognise it, but maybe. It's not like she is from a big city.

"So what happens to the High Priest, if he doesn't have his crystal? What's its significance?"

"Well, he can't perform the ceremonies of his office. It's a sign of the Goddess's favor, and only through it can he channel her blessings. I mean, he can still - do magic. But not create holy water, or, or any of the other really important things."

     "What Meri means," Niriban contributes, "is that it is of ritual significance. As an archaeologist might say."

"...so he just can't be a High Priest until the jewel is found? Like, do his... regular job?" That is a pretty big deal. She thinks. She confesses she doesn't know much about organised religion. But it sounds like a big deal.

Salo nods. "He's still a holy man, and he's still got the ear of the other clergy, but without the opal, that's all he is: a healer and a politician."

"That sounds awful." It doesn't, actually. "And he can't, um... Forgive me if this is insensitive or offensive, but could he not somehow get a new one? Surely something like this must have happened before...?"

"The Pope can invest a new stone with Freyja's power," Meri confirms. "But... you have to understand, this has happened before, and that is not a good thing. There shouldn't be two Sacred Opals. With one floating around the criminal underworld, and them - doing Freyja only knows what with it! It'd be like, like walking around knowing that someone's made a doll that looks like your mother and they're selling copies for coin. It's wrong."

She also doesn't have a mother! These references are all falling flat on her. But she can make the appropriate sympathetic noises. "I understand," she says, nodding with a frown. "It's just... it sounds so senseless, you know? 

"But I think I've got a good understanding of the situation now, unless there's anything more?"

Niriban gives her a considering look.

"No," he says after a moment, "nothing more. Best of luck."

     "Freyja guide you to the truth," Meri agrees.

          "Don't get stabbed," Salo grunts. "The paperwork is annoying."

"I'll do my best," she says with a grin. "Thank you!"

What on Midgard are natives and how are they different from non-natives???

There's probably a lesson of some kind to be learned here about the feasibility of "just helping people" without getting involved in politics, but she'll try to learn it later. What she's going to do now is find Zhed's estate and talk to his employees. There's something fishy about this whole situation and it might just be Lucky's bias against organised religion but she won't know until she investigates more.

The sermon is quite very tedious and not really very informative, but Taharqi can tell that the High Priestess appreciates them for coming. And it'll help them establish their credibility with the locals, if they're seen as sharing in the faith.

The priestess does ask about Lucky, but since Taharqi doesn't know what she's up to he doesn't come up with a lie more elaborate than "she's a devout Odinite". Still the same overall faith, different emphasis in the manner of worship, it's a satisfying enough answer.

When they meet up again afterwards, Lucky places four enchanted chips on the ground around them and activates them, causing a subtle forcefield to be erected around them. It's invisible but for a faint mirage in the air, but it makes it much harder to eavesdrop on them without trying really hard. It wouldn't stand up to anyone who knows what they're doing but the point isn't being perfect camouflage, it's making it harder for them to be overheard accidentally. 

"I think someone is trying to frame a kid for stealing a precious religious artefact," she says once that's set up.

(This is really impressive tech. The fact that you can activate it without needing a Skill... Taharqi bets Lucky invented it herself. It's insane. He has to keep her in his party.)

"That's an opener."

"—sorry. Um. Did you guys find out anything more about our, um, actual mission and stuff?"

"No."

"Not very much," Taharqi agrees. "Some creatures have been getting more agitated than usual, they're not very dangerous for adventurers but they're sufficiently numerous that they're starting to interfere with civilians who are just walking through the area between here and Lighthalzen, especially ones on religious pilgrimages. The job is to just figure out what's up and, if there's nothing in particular up, cull the numbers of the monsters a bit.

"Your thing sounds more interesting, though."