Tav Andor
Balshad does not take Li Hua's arm, coughing lightly at her gesture of courtesy.
It is then Li Hua remembers she is disguised as a male. Perhaps, it is inappropriate in this culture for a man to perform that gesture with another man. Generally, in Krissh culture, skinship played a large part in both courtesy and daily life. In this new world, people may be more reserved, and perhaps there were different gender norms.
Balshad quickly moves past his discomfort and lightly grabs her shoulder, turning her rather rudely in the direction of the inn, he winces just a bit at the indelicate contact, and says, "Apologies for the crude touch, my lady. You are currently dressed as a man, and while I don't know about the esteemed Krissh, in Kalatoria, a supposed man would get strange looks if he offers his arm to another man. This is even more true the further west you go, the Caerish are most accepting of cultural differences"
How does one move like a man, though? It will take time to imitate, that's for sure. Learning feminine etiquette was annoying enough, now she has to do it all again!?
Now answering her question as he tiredly moves, Balshad replies, "It is exceedingly unlikely for you to arbitrarily encounter someone who speaks either language. I suppose you would find it difficult to move about, but there is some value to immersing yourself in a totally unfamiliar culture. One learns quickest when they are put on the spot, after all. Observing things closely is something I believe your father would want you to attempt, while you are away... Besides, even if you were to get in any kind of trouble... well, never mind. That won't happen."
With that, they head on towards the inn. The caravan they came in on is already out of sight, but Balshad seems to know where it was heading.
Li Hua briefly forgets about the Legonites, and then they are gone!
---
Arriving at a cozy-looking, medium-sized loft, near the opposite edge of town, Li Hua has already noticed a couple things within the city:
- Tav Andor is exceedingly wealthy. While not as much wealth is spent on architectural ornamentation as in Kri Tan, every other person she sees is wearing some kind of jewelry!
- The city has two sets of walls. The first set they already crossed through, but the second set they have avoided. The distinction between the 'outer district' and 'inner district' is even greater than Li Hua thought possible.
- While the 'outer district' already had considerable wealth, just the small visual glimpses she gets of the inner district is mind blowing. A few of the buildings are over fifteen feet tall! Astounding, how do they not collapse? Few buildings in all of Kri Tan have such height, mostly the personal residences of the highest members in the Lin Court.
- Trade is constant. Probably one third of the people moving about at any one time are visiting traders. This can be estimated by those that seem to be in a hurry, and are peddling strange goods. Clearly, the actual residential population of this city is not as high as it may seem.
- Li Hua actually sees quite a few foreigners in the city. It was only a bit difficult for her to tell the Caerish and the Jakadi apart at first, but now she can easily tell the difference in ethnic groups. Sadly, she still cannot tell if someone is Sedoric and Ghanbaran, and most likely it would come down to context she is missing, rather than actual visual cues.
- She gets a few looks here and there, probably because of her Krissh status. However, it is not as much as she may have worried, and the looks are restrained enough. Nobody here has never seen a Krissh before, at least. Even the children who stare at her before being yanked along by their parents do not seem to be totally surprised.
- In fact, after they are nearly finished their walk, Li Hua's eagle eyes spot out another Krissh man walking in a crowd. He has a small group of armed men moving with him, and several porters carrying things. He is shopping, and has an annoyed look on his face.
- While her people are not common in the city, it's clear she is not that much of an anomaly, after all.
Throughout this journey, Li Hua did manage to push her focus to extreme limits, and when she did she could catch glimpses of a Legonite moving through the crowd. They move... strangely gracefully, but despite that they cause small ripples of disturbances as people notice huge armored men have brushed right past them without them noticing, and they become understandably surprised!
Yet, trying to spot the Legonites after they have surprised a poor fellow or two is actually not very fruitful, as by the time Li Hua traces the center of the disturbance, she just catches the imposing figure responsible for it slipping out of sight!
Eventually, Li Hua manages to keep her eye on a single Legonite, but she barely manages to track him! Despite putting so much concentration on it that she nearly forgets to walk, the Legonite manages to slip in and out of her sight, and by the time they arrive at the inn she is mentally drained, and not sure if the one she is looking at is actually the same guy as before!
Whatever.... mystical means .... they are using to evade the senses of others, are scarily potent... but, it's clearly not perfect, either. Even regular people occasionally catch sight of them.
If they can use this ability while fighting... no, thinking of that is far too horrifying a prospect...
Worst of all, is not even the fact that it's hard to keep track of them, Li Hua has a vague, uncanny sense, that they are easily forgotten... more so than most things... unless she reminds herself, her attention moves to other things anyway!
As she looks through her memories, Li Hua is stumped, but when she looks up at the sky she realizes the whole walk was long but not that long.... it felt like almost half the day has passed, though, it hasn't even been nearly that long!
"Milady, we are here. I desperately need some rest. Y-" Balshad interrupts himself as he turns to you and then becomes surprised at something he sees on your face, before his expression turns understanding, and lastly soft. "Honorable Li Hua, I say this as your tentative friend, so please take it in good faith, but I don't recommend overthinking the Legonites. You look exhausted, and unless you struggle to walk across the city, which I doubt given your training, you clearly have exhausted your mind - and even this new environment should not be shocking enough to tire you so."
Balshad takes a deep breath, and sighs, "I know... i know you are uneasy around the Legonites. It is a shame, but there is nothing to be done. I cannot dismiss them, as it would break my contract with your father, and the contract I made with their temple. I will not attempt to justify the Legonites creed to you, and neither will they. I will only say they are here to protect you in the case harm would befall you. Otherwise, one should treat them as though they do not exist. The... strange skill they possess to remain unnoticed.... it is ... All I know is that it will only exhaust you to peer into it, and I have my suspicions that it exhausts them as well to defend against your notice... "
Grabbing the door to the loft, Balshad speaks softly, clearly too tired to say much more, "I am going to rest now. You are free to do as you wish, but I recommend getting at least a short rest. You look tired."
With that Balshad waves and heads off to get some well-deserved shut-eye.
What will Li Hua do?