she bluntly asks if Drungfield would consider training her to use the derringer. She explains that she was a gun weilder in her old world, but has never held a derringer before. She wants to learn so she can fight back against another shadow ‘mon that might come for her or someone else’s ass again (knowing it might not do anything but just to have the option for a moment of protection to perhaps get away).
In the event Drungfield said no or redirected her, she made a plan to go to the Watchog family and take their training as is.
Drungfield is considerably reluctant to teach anyone to use a firearm for self-defense, but the matter of Shadow 'mon puts her on the fence about it. She agrees to teach Odette on the condition that she swears never to draw the weapon in anger or use it to threaten another 'mon.
she goes to Greasewood and speaks to him about moving into Sun Stone as a resident.
Greasewood is willing to let one of the less flashy Sun Stone rooms at a reasonable rate. It has its own modest bathroom!
Isidora began taking her self-training more seriously. Having previously avoided them, she begins taking bounties from the bulletin board. Out of curiosity and looking for a better way to keep training, she also searches town to see if it happens to have some kind of training hall, or other facility that organizes and mediates practice battles between civilians.
Frontier Town has no training hall as such, and it appears Commonwealth culture disdains recreational or practice battling for the most part. Civilised 'mon duel over honour, and enlisted troops train to fight, but ordinary people just don't do that sort of thing, apparently.
"Trainin'? Like, fer battle? What, like a goddarn feral?"
"If you need a second in a duel, I'm told the acting mayor can handle himself. No? Well, that's no interest of mine."
"Fighting practice? Now, what on earth would you want to do that for? You're not a clanner... are you?"
However, several of the other Soja' cultures such as the Wardens and Escarpa, and the Soja' Rangers, do practice for battle. In addition, Frontier Town's saloons are frequented from time to time by bounty hunters and the like who do need to keep their skills fresh and might care to make a little extra coin on the side for showing you a trick or two.
- She searches for material on the earliest accounts of civilization on Forlas.
Most history books that cover ancient antiquity credit Akkairos in the old world – the continent across the ocean – with being the cradle of civilisation. Reading between the lines, it seems that it was not the first culture to exist, but it is the oldest one of high status that is well-documented by Luctemarene scholars. Tsainan is occasionally admitted to be possibly even older.
Much of the material is quite dry and fixated on the 'Great Persons' of history, or on elements of Akkairosian culture that influenced modern Luctemar, such as their tradition of representative government, their pantheon of gods and saints, and so on.
Isidora may note that in ancient times, it is said that gods more readily walked among mortals, and even governed them.
- Curious about the organization, she looks into the Ranger Union. Specifically, she wants more clarity on their history and the way they fit into the Forlasan way of life (what they do, their reach, their jurisdiction and relation to the government, how others feel about them, etc.)
Let me know if there's anything we didn't cover in our scene.
- The way Dave had described 'Radiance' back at the meeting almost made it sound like magic. And so, she asks the librarian Tlalli about it, hoping to learn what the archive had to offer on the subject.
Radiance as a concept is very poorly documented, but Isidora may find myths and legends describing Saints and angels using brilliant light to defeat demons. In particular, there are some allusions here and there to 'the Sun' being a source of this same power of light. It's definitely a proper noun – an individual, not the sun itself.
Ridley spends time researching anything he can learn about Radiance.
We've covered a lot about Radiance in scenes since you asked this. Is there anything more specific?
He also visits the Sand Veil Archives to try to learn more about Radiance. While he’s there, out of sheer curiosity, he researches this world’s constellations and their lore, as well.
Ditto the above for Radiance.
I'm afraid I don't have any constellation lore off the top of my head but would welcome contributions to that part of worldbuilding~
Steven offers up most of his savings to the Maus to help pay for the repairs.
Through gestures and pointed proffering of documents, the maus make it clear that this is not necessary. They have insurance! They refuse to take his money.
- Elektrike mannerisms and behaviours and their corresponding meanings
Koa is puppy.
If there's rangers nearby around town he'll also ask them about handling ferals.
I expect you'll get a chance to ask them about it on the ranger expedition, should you attend.
He also reaches out to Drungfield as soon as he can to ask her to prepare medical supplies, and that there may be large-scale violence coming soon. "An informant from Escarpa" tipped him off as such. He even attempts to pull an all-nighter if he has to just to get to her in time.
"Oh, the saints
do send me work to keep my paws busy..."
Rodion visits the library to look up information on the following:
1. General information on the Obstine Abbey
2. What to expect when traveling across the Obstinea range, if there's any trails commonly used, and if there’s anything in particular to look out for
3. What settlements are located west of the Obstinea range (he’d keep an eye out in particular for anything that matches up with what Sonora told him)
Obstine Abbey is a historical site home to a monastic order that live an ascetic lifestyle of meditation and good works. They supply settlements on both sides of the Obstinea range with products from their apiaries and gardens, but are otherwise fairly secluded. They welcome travellers and provide shelter and food out of charity. The monastery is several centuries old at least.
There is one particular trail used between the Soja' and the west coast. It is an extremely primitive road trod by few travellers per season, but relatively safe as these things go.
The west coast is well-settled by different tribes, and there are dozens of small towns in the region. The closest thing to a true city is the raft-town of Pearl Confluence, the 'capital' or meetingplace of the Nacre Confederacy, the alliance of coastal tribes.
Rodion also informs Sonora and the rest of Las Picaras about his plans and that he'll be leaving town for a while, and asks in a half joking manner if they wanna come with.
"Hike halfway up to the sky just to meet some holy folks in robes? Nah, that ain't fer me, partner! Y'all have fun, though."
As such, he checked out all nearby libraries to find the answers to a few specific questions:
□ How long does it take to reach the Obstine Abbey? Days? Weeks? I’ll need to bring enough fish jerky and healing berries for a roundtrip journey. (Knowing how forgetful some folks can be, I’d better bring some extra supplies. Just in case.)
□ Do the monks living in Obstine Abbey follow some customs or traditions? Maybe we need to bring some kind of offering or learn some prayers to appease the patron?
□ About the patron. Is there anything we need to keep in mind to not accidentally disrespect the deity? The last thing we need is having some enraged god hunting our arses.
□ What is the correlation between Shadow and Radiance? Did this world face a similar crisis in the past? How did it end?
□ Is Shadow really fueled by negative emotions, or is there more to that? Similarly, is Radiance fueled by good emotions?
Once he gathered all the information he could find, Silver left a note to the Maus:
Any Wayfarer who was planning to check out the abbey was more than welcome to join the expedition.
It takes a few days at a good pace for swift travellers who can make use of hastening dungeon items or some form of transport, if they aren't adequately swift themselves. Civilians on foot might expect to take about a week.
The monks have various customs and traditions, but visitors are not expected to know or abide by them for the most part. (Of course one ought to be cleanly and polite all the same!) Gifts are not expected, but may be welcome depending on what is offered.
The monks don't revere any one deity per se, and don't appear to be religious as westerners from our Earth would expect. They don't have much of a concept of blasphemy, or of offending a god by speaking ill of them. It seems the Obstine monks value humility, however. Their preferred saints are apparently obscure to Sojavenan folks.
Your other questions are best answered in the natural course of time.
