The first thing I discovered about buying clothes in Balant was that this nation, who was ruled by a clan known as the "weavers", took their textiles business damn seriously. I had not really been comparing the clothes of the townspeople to those in the army, or especially those from Olesport... but once I did, it was night and day. Poor people like me wore clothes that were relatively thick threads of coarse fabric woven coarsely. The standard "good" clothes that most townsfolk wore were smaller threads woven more tightly, and were basically the kind of cloth I would expect from Earth, though of course without synthetic fibers of any kind.

The best clothes available here were fine silks--fine starsilk, which was a deep absorbent black except where it was colored. Even then, there were clearly three grades of starsilk. One, probably the cheapest, was clearly starsilk but most areas were not true black; the whole fabric was covered with large areas of foggy white that tended to blend into the darkness. Mid-grade starsilk was purified somehow so that there were intense points of light on true darkness, like looking at the sky on a moonless night. The fabric that was clearly the best-made starsilk, though, had images, in full color, standing out from that intensely deep black background. There was an absolutely gorgeous robe hanging on display--guarded, of course--the back of which displayed a waterfall. Not my waterfall; something smaller, with several steps to it, but it was astonishing, and I had no doubt it would cost hundreds if not thousands of golds to buy.

So yes, I could see how they could run an economy on the stuff.

In the end, it took me a gold and a half to buy a single full outfit of decent cloth. The salesman called it "Anstran Cotton" and swore that it was lightweight, warm enough without being too warm... and it was, although my existing clothes were threadbare enough that basically anything would be heavier and warmer, probably even silk. A good pair of boots cost me another half-silver, and I wasn't happy with their quality, but I didn't make a fuss. I had no idea where I was going or what to do, and spending more money on boots might not make sense if I got an office job... or the equivalent, here.

The last thing I did was get a haircut and a shave, and I bought decent bronze comb from the man for probably too much money, since I wasn't sure where else I could get one. The haircut was nearly free, but the comb was a good three and a half silvers.

And then I was loose, not really sure where my feet were going to take me next. It was well past time for lunch, and so I got something tasty and went down towards the baths again, wondering if I would run into the warrior woman with one arm... but she wasn't there. I kind of knew she wouldn't be, but I had no idea where to expect the woman to be. I had no idea what to expect for anyone, really.

As I thought about it... the chances of the other wounded humans also being cheated by the bank started to grow heavily in my mind. So I went around to the inns asking around for them, none really by name. I didn't end up finding anyone who had been taken advantage of, but mostly I didn't end up finding anyone at all. I had to hope that they had done alright and I got singled out because I had not been part of the group.

As evening approached, I ended up just looking around at the city. Their whole deal with a higher level built on bridges kept freaking me out, but there were people walking around up there, and it wasn't like they had no support--there were two massive columns supporting the bridge, and the supports were arched, clearly made by someone who knew something about architecture.

Which... I had to admit, should have surprised me. Arches like that were something that came about after people connected math to architecture, so it displayed a certain amount of education and sophistication from the builders. There were probably a bunch of other problems involved that I didn't know anything about, like materials science or trouble with the assembly phase. Jexon, the cook, had said that this nation didn't have much in the way of crafters... not counting the Weavers, of course. But this? This was pretty good.

I didn't want to go wandering around the city at night, but I put it in mind to find a way up to the top level sometimes tomorrow. In the meantime... maybe I could find a slightly less expensive place to stay, tonight?

A few inquiries led me to a side street and an inn with a subdued signboard declaring it the "Half Pint Inn & Tavern." That made me grin, and I wasn't disappointed by what I found inside--the innkeeper was a perhaps four feet tall, but who had muscles like she regularly did heavy weight-lifting... or fought professionally, but she had no visible scars. She also had that kind of half-spunk, half-grump look on her face that said she regularly got shit about her height and wasn't having any of it.

"You want a room?" She glanced at the sword I still carried before glancing at my face. I... wasn't sure if that was because of the height difference, or just part of her job. "You a mercenary?"

"I was with the army... but not really a fighter." I paused. "And yes, a room. How much?"

"For a soldier? A silver, or eight pence as long as you've bathed in the past week." She didn't even have to sniff me, probably because I was obviously dressed in new clothes. "That's for a single room. If you need space for a friend... that'll be extra."

I gave a quick shake of my head and fished out the coins. "Just me, miss. Just need a safe place to sleep."

She snorted. "Don't 'miss' me. Name's Judi, and my hubbo works the kitchen, name's Raan. Nothing expensive, but I didn't marry him for his cooking skills." She couldn't help chuckling to herself, and even seemed to squirm just a bit, so I didn't have to imagine why exactly she married him.

I just grinned and laughed, and she showed me to my room.

That night, since I wasn't exhausted, I did try contacting Murn. She usually wasn't all that pleased to be contacted, but tonight...

"Are you drunk?" I asked the goddess quietly, leaning against the wall as I sat on my bed.

Murn's shadow twitched her finger at me. "Don't you give me that," she said. "It's a celebration. Hardly anyone here's sober, and the ones that have to be, well, I'll make it up to them." She grinned, although I could not see it in her shadow. "We got the last of the goblins. Big score, too. A big nasty like the one you took out... hard to imagine they'd have two of them this far inland. Always trouble, those creatures. Hard to come by."

I paused, thinking back on the encounter with the blood-flame wielding creature, and squirmed uncomfortably. "Sounds like you had some trouble, then. How deep did you have to go?"

"Oh, well into the underworld. Awful place. Can't hardly go places like this without divine protection. Too hot to live otherwise, but there..." she paused, and I realized she had to measure her words against someone else who was listening. "...magic is stronger here. For us more than others."

Soulflame was abundant in the underworld? I raised my eyes, but let that thought go. I didn't expect I'd get a lot of answers from Murn if she was drunk. "I trust my... gifts have been helpful."

"Yes, although I hate to share the glory. I know how these things go, and what you got in return wasn't as much as you deserve." Murn's shadow took another drink, and whatever she drank was strong enough to make her shake a bit in response. "I'll pay you back," she said, "...promise. Probably saved my life a time or two, though I know you weren't watching."

I felt like that was somehow a dig at me, but of course it was true. Were there opportunities to help that I missed because I was busy? I sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, you know I'm ...not where I should be with these things." If people were listening in, I really ought not admit I was new to being a god, right? This was too complicated.

"You'll learn. And every lesson will help... the next Vicar of Blades." She paused, and turned to look at me, as though contemplating something. "You're in the capital. You should visit the temple tomorrow. Ask for Pal'lud."

"Pal'lud?" I tried to examine her, but suddenly, she shut the connection down on her side, leaving me wondering. Her request... I was a bit tired, but was she expecting me to help the next Goddess of Blades learn...

Actually, I supposed that made sense. I was already familiar with learning godhood from scratch. If she was going to pass on her legacy as a goddess, having my help would almost certainly make things go a lot more smoothly.

I thought about calling Alanna to talk about that... but I suspected that Ciel'ostra would want it kept quiet, and I wasn't all that sure what Alanna would have to say about it anyway. It was probably better to figure it all out for myself. Still... it was an odd position to be in.

Tomorrow, I decided. I'd figure things out then.