It's nowhere near the size of, say, the Bazaar of Rephidim, nor even that of Abu Dhabi – more, perhaps, like a convention hall at the Gathering of Earth Mage Alumni and Friends back on Caroban (with, of course, more friends and hangers-on than actual alumni). Mariners swim the channels, while most of the walkers take to the drier paths – though an otter-like Akwavi whips by in one of the water channels, to the possible surprise of any onlookers.

Most of the visitors are feline, and there are a few humans as well, but since the Emir has been more lenient in his issuing of letters of permission for entrepreneurs and explorers to travel to Ashtoreth, there is a higher incidence of other species as well – who aren't merely there because of being forced into the Off-World Legion.

One of the most striking of these would be a winged ki'rin woman in a wetsuit – fairly common attire, except that most wetsuits don't have bite-shaped chunks taken out of one leg (though the leg underneath looks just fine).

Beside the ki'rin, and keeping pace with her, is a large and muscular mer-cat colored in cool tones, who scans the crowd as he makes his way through the water far more slowly than most Mariners can and do use the channels to traverse the chamber.

Once the bulk of the water has been shaken from her wings, Envoy finds it easier to keep up with Arina. It's been awhile since she's visited any sort of trade center, and each booth or group of merchants momentarily grabs her attention when she's not studying the architecture of the huge hall.

Arina navigates the way through the hall, leading Envoy toward one end where the floor slopes up, and several small "waterfalls" trickle down slopes of coral and the steps of huge nautilus shells that have been cleft in twain, so that each cell forms another step in the curving, downward weaving paths of water. Framed between two particularly large nautilus paths is a pool raised above the main floor, where a mer-cat of turquoise and white reclines, her snowy white hair spreading down over her shoulders, and her neck and torso adorned in an intricately woven working of stones and shells, so arranged as to echo her own colors in slightly bolder hues, but formed in a repeating pattern of stylized crashing waves.

Standing by one of the stalls is an example of one of those non-feline, non-human "walkers": a blonde haired gray furred wolf in loose Khattan garb and a long and a flowing coat haggles with a merchant. He carries a large sword of Khattan design across his back, and bears numerous scars across his scruffy looking face, giving him the appearance of one of the more unsavory types to be found around here. "Eh? Dagh's left ear, I ain't gunna pay you that!" he growls.

Envoy perks an ear towards a nearby growl, but focuses most of her attention on the apparent priestess. Not for the first time, she wonders how Mariners show respect, given that bowing isn't particularly practical when one is half submerged.

As Envoy walks past, a light-brownish-furred lupine – or is that a vixen? – standing next to the gruff-looking wolf follows the ki'rin with her eyes. Not that this is unusual in the least. It is generally a given that anyone who sees Envoy for the first time has not seen anyone like her before, after all. A strange noise reaches her ears as the woman's tail shifts. *RATTLE-DING*

Meanwhile, the half-submerged merchant in front of Arkold simply places his hands together in a Khattan-looking gesture of placation, bowing his head forward.

"Fine, yah slick-furred sea-shark, I'll pay yah … but yah gotta throw in that wrench and some of them do-hickers. Second ones down onna list, yah got it?" continues to haggle the large scarred Jupani. He thrusts his finger at the list pointedly, indicating which item he meant – and couldn't pronounce.

Arina looks up to the mer-cat in the pool, and nods as he sees that Envoy's eyes are already drawn to her. "Atalanea," he says. "For a term of respect, it is suitable to call her 'Grandmother'. As for why we call our priestesses Grandmother, and our creator Mother … that is a question often asked and seldom answered."

Some more haggling, and it seems that the "slick-furred sea-shark" has acquiesced to the Jupani's demands, throwing in a wrench and some genuine do-hickers. Hardly has he time to collect his spoils, then his vulpine companion tugs on his sleeve urgently.

At the sound of the bell, Envoy actually turns her head out of curiosity. The voice is slightly different, and the years haven't been too kind to him, but the Jupani (or Karnor, as she's started thinking of them as) is a very good match for someone she hasn't seen in over five years. But her attention is quickly drawn back to the priestess. "How should I introduce myself?" she asks her Mariner guide.

The wolf grins triumphantly at his success, or so he thinks anyway, in bargaining when the woman beside him breaks him from his revelry. "Huh? Hey, I'm bargainin' 'ere Maz; what's got yer bells?" he asks as he turns to look at her.

"Maz" meets the wolf's eyes, then slowly and deliberately turns her own eyes to draw his toward the fairly conspicuous winged visitor to Grandmother Atalanea.

"Honestly and humility are most appropriate," Arina says to Envoy, "but she is well aware that you are not of our people, and will not hold against you that you do not know the intricacies of custom."

Shrugging, the Jupani man turns around to see what Maza is looking at, then stares in surprise. His eyes widen and his jaw nearly drops off his head, and just as quick as he reacts, he turns from the winged woman so as to watch her sideways out of the corner of his eye. "By Dagh's seven trumpeting hell-hounds," he remarks quietly to the woman beside him. "I canna believe it, it's that Exile I ro- … er, met in the Bazaar like uh, um … well a long time ago. You know 'er, Maz?"

Envoy nods to Arina, and steps forward until Atalanea notices her. She bows, since it is a sign of respect she is familiar with, and says, "Grandmother Atalanea, I am a seeker of knowledge and wisdom from afar. I wish to learn more of the Mother, as I have lost my own, and to offer you any information you may desire of myself."

"She has a certain notoriety," Maza whispers back to the Jupani, then returns to quietly and somewhat surreptitiously observing the Exile.

The wolf nods his head in agreement. "Yah. Before them pretty-talkin' cats shipped me to sea-dog livin' I met 'er a few times. She's a, uh, strange one eh? Why don'cha go see what she wants 'ere, and I'll catch up?" he suggests. He then steps over and begins the matter of paying for his purchase, and stowing it in a bag.

Grandmother Atalanea smiles when she looks upon Envoy, and reaches out with an open hand, webbed folds of skin stretching between the delicately clawed fingers. "Please come up closer to me, if it should trouble you not. I see that you have wings, after all." She gestures to a number of coral and shell outcroppings that would no doubt do fine for seating. Arina would likely have more trouble, and it's unlikely that she herself could get up there without assistance (unless that is, the chamber is simply flooded at the end of the trading day).

"Good idea," Maza says. "If she lets slip that I'm about, it wouldn't reflect any on you, after all. But I'll try to keep a low profile nonetheless." And with that, the vixen quietly makes her way a little closer to the place where Envoy is meeting with the Mariner priestess.

Envoy steps up onto edge of the raised pool and takes one of the seats. "Thank you, Grandmother," she says with a smile. "I am honored that you speak with me."

The wolf meanwhile works on stowing all his purchased gear, mostly a selection of tools and other engineering related items. Some are quite familiar, like a wrench, while others take stranger shapes, and some are possibly even organic. He nods to his associate as she talks to him, and shortly after she leaves, he himself moves to one of the stalls closer to where the Exile and the Grandmother speak.

Grandmother Atalanea closes her eyes, and her eyelids crinkle as she smiles primly, nodding her head slightly. "If I have your ear, then so have you mine. Tell or ask, as you please."

"I have heard that the gift of sculpting life flows from the Mother," Envoy says. "My own mother made me by making bones of crystal and applying flesh like clay upon them, then giving me life. I can't help but wonder what your Mother is like."

For the moment the wolf appears to have his attentions taken by the merchant he now stands in front of, who just so happens to sell some alcohol – real alcohol, likely from off-world. He begins trying to bargain himself a bottle of the stuff, though his ears remain curiously perked despite the merchant being right in front of him.

"Ah, it is even for one such as me to wonder at what the Mother is truly like," Grandmother Atalanea purrs. "She has created us all, given us life, but She also at times takes it away, so that we may go on to the waters above. She is all encompassing, spreading endlessly between the horizons, and the source of all life that is part of our existence. There are other sources of life, not part of the Mother, but they are apart from us, and we from them, without soul. But worry not – just as many people name places of water many things, and yet all the water is one, so too is the Mother known by many names. Though you may be made of crystal and flesh, you still have a soul in Her as well."

Envoy smiles to hear this. "How can one tell the Mother's children from those others? How is Her voice heard?" she asks.

"Man, I hate preachin'," remarks the Jupani to himself in a mutter. His eyes flick to regard the merchant, and he grins winningly, saying, "Er, I mean uh, I hate 'Peachin'. The Babelite wine, I mean. Peach stuff. Hate it."

"Ah, that is difficult to tell so quickly," Grandmother Atalanea says, "but it is a combination of many things. But most of all, it is the warmth in us that comes from the soul – and the capacity to love, that shows that it has not been corrupted, that it is a warming glow, and not burning lava that destroys all that it touches."

The Jupani pays the merchant and walks away with a bottle of mid-to-low quality wine, not that the man concerns himself just how good it really is. In fact he looks quite pleased to have actual off-world liquor in his possession again. He carries this, and his sack of supplies, a bit closer and tries to find where Maza hides so he can join her.

Maza gives the Jupani a quick – and obviously bored – glance, then returns to admiring some of the shell-work nearby.

Envoy decides that this is not the sort of differentiation that she can learn easily, unless it simply refers to mammals and other warm-blooded animals. "Is that why Her children can be spliced, because they share this in common?" she asks.

"Yes," Mother Atalanea answers. "Without the common soul, they have no part in each other, but when those are joined that have only a capacity for hatred, the union is doomed, and what is created will destroy itself and others."

"Is that how the Sirenae came to be?" the Aeolun asks quietly, unsure if she's treading in taboo waters now.

The man responds with a faint "it ain't my fault it's borin'" shrug and is shortly close enough to join the vixen. "Preachin' and lovey-dovey stuff. I ain't gunna tell yah I like it, Maz, an I see yah don' either. Heh, I wunner if them unner water fishsticks agree with the granma's opinion," he tells her in whisper.

Mother Atalanea takes in a breath at this, then nods her head. "Yes. They are a product of a well-meaning desire that we should be wholly beings of the water, and closer to the Mother, but we were not meant to be so exalted just yet. In time, perhaps the Mother will give us the ability to breathe water, but it was not our time."

Maza gives the Jupani a sharp glance at the word "fishsticks", and subtly holds a finger to her lips.

"'Ey, yah think tha' explains why King Fishsti- … uh … I mean, Mr. Trident, hates 'em so much?" asks the wolf. He sneers at her attempt to silence him, but relents, and turns away to watch the Grandmother and her guest out of the corner of his eye. He lays the bag down at his side and removes his dagger, then begins trying to pry the cork out of his wine bottle.

Envoy considers suggesting that they try to change the water to make it carry more oxygen, but decides this isn't the proper time. "I came to your world seeking something to help me overcome a spiritual wound I recently suffered. I believe I will find it within the Sutaranakh," she tells the priestess. "Would the Mother oppose this?"

Maza practically does a spit-take at this, and her tail makes a most distinctive *RATTLE* at this. Her ears blush, and she quickly turns away, pretending to be very interested in some shell-bead necklaces.

Mother Atalanea seems somewhat surprised as well at the mention of the name. "You undertake no small quest, then. Many have sought it, and many have failed. It is a place of demons and darkness. To heal your spiritual wound, you may give up your physical existence, if this is indeed your quest. But it would not be for me to argue that the Mother has not shown you such a path. Many are the ways the Mother leads Her children to Herself."

The wolf continues to fiddle with the cork, turning his sneer from Maza to the stop keeping him from his drink. "Nng. Geh, oh … eh?" He glances to his vixen companion and raises an eyebrow. "What's got yer bells in a rattle, Maz? Tha' mean somethin' to you? Suta … Suta … whatever tha' was?"

Maza hurriedly pulls out a scrap of cloth and a stick of makeup, and scribbles onto it something that she allows only the Jupani to see.

"What sorts of demons?" Envoy asks, hoping to learn more about her goal. "And if I remove the Sutaranakh's heart, what would become of them?"

The Jupani's eyes widen, ears perk, and he jerks just enough to thrust his knife solidly in to the cork and send it flying.

"If the Sutaranakh's heart were taken away," Mother Atalanea says, "the Soulless Ones would go away as well. They are ones who devour their victims whole – " She is startled as a cork lands in her pool with a small splash.

The wolf's knife-holding hand reaches up and smacks the wolf's forehead, and he cringes, looking for all the world like a man who just made a mistake and knows it.

Envoy blinks at the cork, and turns to try and find where it came from.

Maza rolls her eyes, and puts her hand to her head as if she's suddenly developed a terrible headache.

As Envoy looks for the source of the cork, she happens to notice the Jupani who had been arguing earlier, holding an uncorked bottle. All right, so it's not good enough for a conviction, but he does look fairly guilty right now. Oh, and yes, he looks … familiar…

Looking about as pained, the wolf lowers his hand, sheathes his knife and quickly takes a swig of wine as he turns away from the Grandmother and her guests. His head turns to regard the necklaces Maza was looking at. "Uh, hey, these are nice," he comments lamely.

Now that she can see his face more clearly, Envoy compares the image to one she last saw on New Year's Eve some five years ago. Allowing for aging and the scars, she decides it is likely to be the Arkold she remembers.

The decidedly likely Arkold tries his best to present as himself as one really interested in sea-shell necklaces.

Grandmother Atalanea smiles faintly as she looks at the bobbing little intruder in the pool.

Interesting, Envoy thinks, and turns back to the Grandmother. Fishing the cork out of the pool, she says, "I think I'll return this to its owner later, if you don't mind, Grandmother? These Soulless Ones … are they flesh and blood, or scaled in metal?"

Maza, for her part, does a remarkable job at looking absolutely fascinated – so much so that the merchant's attention is drawn. "Would the Madame like to try it on?" the Mariner says in an attempt at a Gallisian mannerism.

"'Ey, tha' went pretty well, eh Maz?" remarks Arkold hopefully to the vixen beside him. He takes another swig of wine, and grins nervously.

"Oh yes," Maza says, then meeps as she realizes that the merchant took that as an answer to his question, and immediately puts one around her neck. "Oh," she stammers, "well … it's not quite the right … color … "

Grandmother Atalanea's amused smirk sobers as she looks back to Envoy. "Scaled, though I do not know if it is metal they are scaled with."

As Maza fumbles with the merchant's wares, the Jupani begins looking rather pained again. He glances at the necklace, tilts his head back in a "gods help me" fashion, and asks, "How much?".

"For you, I will mark it down to … fifty shekels!" the merchant meow-burbles pleasantly. Maza tries to not look choked.

"Why do you call them the Soulless Ones?" Envoy asks, curious.

"Twenty five," offers the wolf with a gruff. He eyes the merchant from behind his wine bottle as he goes to sip again.

"TWENTY-FIVE?!" the merchant nearly shrieks in response. "You cleave my already lowered price in twain? You take seaweed from the mouths of my twenty kittens! I am already starving them by lowering the price this much, but I absolutely must sell my wares to put food on the table! Oh, please, I beg you, sir, find it within the boundless kindness of your heart – and consideration for the beauty beside you – not to try to cheapen my offer. What price can you put on love for a beautiful woman such as this?"

Maza bashfully looks up and teases some cheek ruff fur as she goes over this. "Well, he does have a good selling point, but … "

"Boundless kindness of my wha … ?" The wolf raises an eyebrow and lean forward, tapping a nail against his wine bottle. "Twenty-seven, 'an not a shekel more, yah blood-suckin' sea-leech."

Grandmother Atalanea is momentarily distracted by the spirited haggling from such close quarters, but she at last answers, "In the time of the birthing of the Firstborn, there was a conflict between the Mother and Her Shadow, the Cold One. Her Shadow sought to taint that which the Mother wished to be pure, and there was a great struggle between them, one which set waves crashing over all the ocean… "

Envoy listens raptly to the story, trying to ignore the other sounds of haggling.

"Oh, may the Mother have mercy me! To be treated so, and forced to such indignities! Have you any kindness at all in your heart? Oh, please, no lower than forty. For forty, I could at the very least put food in their little clam-shell dishes this night! If only you could see the expressive pools of their darling little eyes, if only you could hear the plaintive mewling of their voices as they ask for food, you would be so heartbroken that you could not think to offer less!" the merchant cries out.

Grandmother Atalanea continues, "In the end, a purifying maelstrom swept across the Mother's creation, and divided the taint of the Shadow from the Firstborn – what was once one became two, as the Soulless Ones were what were formed from what was only of the Shadow's creation, whereas the Firstborn of the Mother were separated from them. The Cold One and her spawn, the Soulless Ones, retreated to the depths, making their home in the cursed place of Sutaranakh, while the Firstborn retreated to the warmth of the Great Abyss, where we, their offspring, still dwell to this day."

"Look," begins the wolf, pointing his finger – and thus the wine bottle also in that hand – at the merchant, "twenty-seven is my final offer, an' I ain't no ship-clinging sea-sucker tha' I'll go for any more, yah got it? An' applyin' to me heart is like finin' a sea-shell in the ocean so don' try it."

Maza nods. "I can vouch for that."

Arkold thumbs his hand at Maza, splashing her a bit with wine from his bottle. "Ain't she a doll?"

Maza flinches, and tries to wipe the spattering of wine off of her tunic.

"Ah, but sir, these sea-shells are from the ocean! Ah! A glimmer of hope! Yes! Here, a true delight to adorn your beloved with – and only … thirty shekels?" the merchant offers, hopefully.

"Bah, she ain't … " The wolf glances at Maza with a momentary grin. "Yah, she may be me lovely, you salt-steppin' scallywag, but I sooner be keel-hauled across the bow of me ship than be payin' you thirty. Twenty-seven is it, an' if you don' like it, I'm movin' elsewhere."

Envoy's mood actually lifts a bit as she hears the tale. One of her reasons for undertaking a quest instead of simply retraining was a need to seek redemption for what she thinks of as her sins. Removing the threat of the Soulless Ones would certainly fill that role. "I will do my best to deprive the Shadow and its offspring of their sanctuary then, Grandmother."

Grandmother Atalanea nods silently. "Be very careful. I would not wish such a quest upon anyone, but if the Mother has chosen this quest for you, then I have all faith in Her wisdom."

Meanwhile, the merchant lets out another wail of anguish. "You have me against the rocky shoals, with a spine-thrower at my heart, but what choice have I? Ah, but the salt in my tears is only lost amidst the vastness of the ocean, but please, please can you find it in your heart to perhaps consider a mere shekel more, so that it might buy yet one more morsel for my starving kittens? A mere twenty-eight is all I ask!"

The Aeolun bows again from her seat, and says, "Thank you for your wisdom, Grandmother Atalanea. If I do not return, please remember that Envoy of Lothrhyn came to try and dispel shadows. I think now I should see to this cork."

"What'd I say, eh? twenty-seven or I was leavin' … But, heh, I'll give yah a chance to keep yer customer." The wolf turns, and begins as if leaving. "Twenty-five for insultin' me by beggin' on my final offer, how 'bouts? Two shekels ought'ta cover me pride jus' fine."

Grandmother Atalanea reaches out, and lightly touches Envoy's ruff with one hand. "May the Mother watch over and keep you, and may you find calm waters, Envoy of Lothrhyn."

The wolf, ear perking, turns from the merchant and clears his throat. "'Eh, hey, yer … ," he starts, then seems to think on proper titles for a moment, " … Splendid Grandmotherness, I got an offer for ye and yer guest yah might wanna indulge. If yer inna mood to 'ear a nobody like me, tha' is."

Smiling and thanking the priestess for the blessing, Envoy returns to the main floor of the hall. "Arina, I have seen someone from my past here. Thank you for guiding me here, but you don't have to stay now. I will be sure to check in with you before I leave though, to thank your family once more for your hospitality and aid."

The merchant gasps as if struck through with the aforementioned spine-thrower, and, with a quivering voice, mewls, "Oh, the cruelties of the ocean, have they no depth? But if that is what it must be, so be it, for at least it will feed maybe a few of my kittens, though the others may starve. Twenty-five, and may the Mother see fit not to frown any further upon me. Oh, what travails has fate wrought for me, that such falls upon my household and my twenty-five kittens?"

The Jupani seems to have gone largely unnoticed amidst all the wailing and Grandmother Atalanea's blessing upon Envoy. Perhaps he should introduce himself properly.

"Eh, twenty-five now?" remarks Arkold as he glances back. His free hand begins digging around his belt for the twenty-five shekels he bargained down to. He quickly all but thrusts the money in to the merchant's hand, then begins walking off towards the Grandmother, slicking his hair back with a hand and putting on his most winning smile.

Arina nods and makes a gesture of farewell with his crossed, web-spread hands. "I wish you calm waters as well. My family is indebted to you still, for saving Riusha, and we will be grateful if you find time to visit again." With that, he disappears into the channel, quickly winding away through the water.

Maza remarks, "My, they multiply fast," and rolls her eyes again, as she follows after the Jupani, her tail-bell sounding off as her brush sweeps by. *RATTLE* The merchant, however, quickly recovers from his great anguish to grinning from ear to ear over the shekels he's accumulated, and sniffs them as if to discern their authenticity.

Envoy finally turns to face the oncoming pair, rolling the cork between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand and raising her eyebrows.

The wolf makes his way forward to assume an audience with the Grandmother. As he nears he glances at the bottle, coughs, then quickly hands it off to Maza so as not to address the Grandmother bearing liquor. He bows when he gets close enough. "Grandmother, host of this 'ere lost soul an' shadow-seeking winged one, I do believe I gots a proposition for ye and her tha' yah might wanna listen to," he says.

"Grandmother Atalanea, allow me to introduce … ah … Arkold Volkenheld I believe?" Envoy says, watching the wolf's reaction. "One of the last people I would have expected to run into here."

Grandmother Atalanea smiles primly and says, "Oh, a friend of yours?" She looks to the wolf and nods. "It is good to meet you."

Arkold coughs suddenly, then shakes his head and raises a hand. "Uh, no my flying seeker, I be Anatold Xanthous of the ship 'Ikara's Wings', and ye be quite mistaken." He runs his hand back through his hair again and straightens. "Uh, yah, anyway … a pleasure, ma'am. S'nice tha' you be listenin' to ol' Xanthous 'ere, cause tha's who I be."

Maza lightly elbows "Anatold". "Ahem." She swishes her tail and smiles pleasantly. *RATTLE*

Envoy blinks, but swallows the claim. It is possible that she was mistaken, after all.

"Oh! Heh, and this 'ere be me most beauteous vixen 'o the sea, an' me First Officer Maza, who rings in the depths like a siren's song, she does," 'Anatold' introduces the woman beside him.

*RATTLE-DING*

The Aeolun narrows her eyes at the vixen, remembering one with better-kept fur that handed her the script for her audition as Chi Maria many years ago.

That vixen, however, was bright golden, and this one is more of a kind of dingy tan. And the bells go rattle instead of ding. Other than that, however, she looks like an exact duplicate.

"An' I and me crew offer most humbly our chariot, tha' we might ferry our seekin' "walker" fellow 'ere to the heart 'o darkness. I myself be a fine cap'n with a fast ship and a strong sword-arm, and me Maza 'ere be as smart as a whip and as sharp 'o wit as the blades of me knife." The wolf captain smiles all the more at his offer, and a moment later adds, " … fer a price, 'o course."

"Well," Grandmother Atalanea says, "I think that perhaps this is a matter between you and Envoy of Lothrhyn. I personally have no need for transportation."

"I already have a ship," Envoy says. "The urgan Coy Mermaid of Prince-Captain Rashad." She doesn't make it sound like a refusal, though. Two ships are better than one.

"Ah, but do ye really? Were we successful, why, would we be not they who struck a most fearsome blow to them with souls? T'is surely a legend in the makin', it be, and not worth a boon?" continues Captain Xanthous. "An', jus 'ower yah going to gets to this heart 'o darkness? Of course, maybe 'ol Xanthous be wrong and it be quite easy to find … But if ain't, well … you be needin' me, me friends."

Maza blinks. "Prince-Captain Rashad? The Prince-Captain Rashad? Son of the Emir? The Emir?" *RATTLE*

Anatold Xanthous glances at Maza meaningfully, then looks back to the Grandmother.

"He wouldn't happen to need any crew, would he?" Maza puts in, a little more quietly.

At that, Anatold elbows Maza. Hard.

"Meep!" says Maza.

Envoy nods to the vixen. "Yes, he agreed to take me when I convinced him that my information on the downed ships location was viable."

"Viable? But … it wasn't precise, now was it?" Maza asks, and then in a lower voice, she adds, "I actually have some experience with first aid, xenology, and navigation… "

Captain Xanthous eyes Maza, then continues further. "Me offers are, 'o course, fer you and our winged miss 'ere alone. If ye don' be needin' me findin' skills well … ol' Xanthous will be goin' as soon as ye blink."

Maza mouths an "oops", and then goes to stand a little closer to the Jupani … though strategically behind him just far enough that he'd have to move to successfully elbow her … and then nods amiably.

"I have the search area charted, and a means that is likely to pinpoint the vessel," Envoy says. "I'm sure the Prince is around here someplace. There's always a bar close to a trade center. Two ships would probably provide better safety, if yours is as fast as the Mermaid. It is still up to Rashad, though, to review your offer."

"Ahem, as I say, me offer are for but ye and the Grandmother. As I see ye not be needin' me ship, well … I be goin'. S'been a pleasure, yer graces." With a bow, the wolf steps back, pushing Maza as he goes, then turns to walk off rather quickly.

Envoy blinks after the retreating pair, and then turns to shrug to the priestess. "Are visiting walkers usually that … flighty, Grandmother?"

Maza turns, giving Envoy a little more of a reluctant glance, but follows soon after the Jupani.

As he goes to leave Anatold reaches back and grabs Maza by the arm and hauls her off with him. "Do he need crew!" he remarks bitterly, quietly. "Rashad be a land-huggin' fool, Maz. nearly got 'is crew killed. And he be as yellow as me name."

Grandmother Atalanea sighs and shakes her head. "This is a place for merchants, and they all have their peculiar methods of bargaining. I know not what to tell you of their ways."

Envoy frowns in thought, realizing she gave the name of her ship to the pair. Could they be pirates? She decides to follow them back to their ship, to see just how much of a threat it may represent.

"Thank you once again, Grandmother," Envoy says to Atalanea. "I think I'd better follow those two and make sure they aren't planning mischief."