The room that the pale man led me into was very dark. It looked to be around five meters by five meters, illuminated by a sole candle sitting in the center of a table that was, coincidentally, in the center of the room. The man walked behind it and sat in a chair, though I was made to stand because there was no chair for me. The doorway behind the man had black fabric drawn across it with a yellowish symbol woven into it, but the low-light conditions made it hard to make out. I could probably see it better without the candle affecting my night vision, I thought.

“Well now, you have made a bit of trouble you know,” the man began. Something about his tone irked me. It implied both an unjustified amount of confidence that I wouldn't do anything to him and a hint of superiority. I threw the necklace onto the table, letting it slide over in front of the man so he could see it, then stuffed my thoughts down for the sake of completing the sale.

“How much?” I asked. The man picked up the necklace and let it flow between his hands.

“Forty ngeyt,” he said.

“No deal,” I replied immediately. I didn't know the value of gold in the region but forty ngeyt was clearly not what the item was worth. Almost nobody wears jewellery in this city, I thought, if forty ngeyt could buy a necklace like that they would be far more common. The man shrugged and slid the necklace back towards me.

“Tell me, what did you expect as an offer for this?” he asked. As he did, he leaned forwards so that the light of the candle better illuminated his face. His skin was slick with some kind of liquid, a fact that I didn't notice when he was outside.

“Not forty ngeyt,” I replied. I left the necklace on the table as I now realized we had entered price negotiations.

“Thirty-nine then,” he countered. Half of his mouth crept up into a smile, showing jagged and misshapen teeth.

“Ten ngoywngeyt,” I countered. The man made a flippant gesture and looked away from me.

“I don't know where you're from, foreigner, but gold isn't worth that much here,” he mocked. “Uwriy has some of the densest metal deposits in the entire world. You would get four ngoywngeyt for that necklace at most.”

“Four then,” I said, “I agree to that price.”

“Who did you steal it from?” the man asked. I snorted derisively which only encouraged him. “You wouldn't be trying to fence the item if it wasn't stolen.”

“It was taken as restitution for damages,” I said sternly, “the victim of theft was myself.”

“Of course,” the man nodded. Nothing about his body language said he believed me. “I will give you three ngoywngeyt for it since you caused trouble for our market.” Seventy-two ngeyt isn't that much, I sighed.

“Three and a half,” I countered.

“Find another fence,” the man said. A gust of wind blew into the shop from outside, snaking around the edges of the door and blowing out the candle. Neither I nor the man reacted, which I knew because it took me less than half a second to regain my night vision after the light went out.

“Three, and you will get me a hood to wear,” I said. The man grunted, then reached out for the candle with his hand. He whispered something as his finger neared the wick, then a flame sputtered into existence.

“What makes you think I deal in clothing?” the man asked.

“A hood costs nearly nothing,” I said, “an albino like you must have at least a few extras around. Simply give me one and I will agree to your price,” The man smiled at me, his gaunt cheeks pushing on the bottoms of his eyes and causing him to squint.

“I have never heard that word for my kind before,” he said pleasantly, “but if you know of us you must be brave to cross me like this.” With a puff of breath the candle went out again and the man slipped out of his chair soundlessly. His dark clothing let him blend quite well into the darkness on the walls, which would have provided good camouflage if not for my own night vision, which I had preserved by looking into the dark corners of the room. “You should leave the necklace before I get upset,” the man warned, projecting his voice so that it sounded like it was coming from my left.

“Is this supposed to be intimidating?” I scoffed. The man tried to creep towards me, but was stopped when I made a small gesture with my hand and a hovering ball of light appeared above my forehead, illuminating the room with a soft purple glow not unlike that of a colored fluorescent light. For almost two full seconds the man stood frozen mid-stride, staring into the light, then he slowly recovered and took a step away, straightening his back and taking a more normal, and submissive, stance.

“I see,” the man quavered, clearing his throat, “three and a hood it is. If you will wait here, I will retrieve the items for you now.” He practically ran out of the room, his stride quickening once he ducked through the fabric obstruction into the back of his store. Is this even a store? I wondered, Does it qualify as a store? Under the now-bright light, I could see that the pattern on the fabric was some manner of insect. An ant? I thought, walking up to get a better look. It wasn't any variety of ant that I recognized but the local people's penchant for stylizing their art meant that I could simply have been misinterpreting it. Pattering feet approached the fabric and pulled it aside, and the man entered with some money and a ball of woven clothing.

“Thank you,” I said as I took both from him. The hood was a simple black design with a shawl that covered the shoulders and surrounded the neck so that it could be pulled back without falling off. The money was two ngoywngeyt coins and a collection of others which added to twenty-five ngeyt. It was one ngeyt more than I had asked for, but I decided to say nothing about it.

“If there is anything else you require, please let me know,” the man said with a short head bow. The change in his demeanor was shocking, it was as if I was now his superior.

“I may be back later,” I told him, “if I do return, please skip the performance and offer a fair price from the start.” The implication of what would happen if he didn't was clear in my voice.

“Of course,” the man said with another short bow. As I was about to leave I heard him inhale and hold a breath. “If I could impose upon you for a moment before you depart, would you mind indulging me?” he asked hesitantly, his head still low from the bow. I met the man's gaze, trying to parse the expression I was seeing, and failing to do so. What's going on right now? I wondered.

“What do you want?” I asked, curiosity winning out over caution.

“I have never seen a magic like that before,” the man explained, “by what method have you come to know of it?”

“You've never seen someone make light with magic?” I asked. That can't be right, I thought, I'm pretty sure I could make an orb of light without even understanding fluorescence, these people make fire by muttering prayers and hoping it works. The notion that making light with magic was unknown to them was ridiculous.

“It is known that such magic is possible, but I have never heard of its brilliance being so powerful. It resembles the light of Vowzeysay from the Book of Rehv. Truly, you are gifted,” the man said, his tone conveying a strange amount of respect. So this man is a follower of that religion too, I noted, If there’s a reference to this kind of magic in their holy text, do I need to hide this ability? I was planning to do so anyway, but this could be troublesome. How are they producing light if their version is so much dimmer? The man saw my frown and looked away from me. “I am sorry if I have offended you,” he muttered.

“I created this technique myself,” I replied after a pause, “It's nothing special, really.” The man's jaw dropped, and his stare began to make me uncomfortable. “I'll be leaving now,” I said, then I turned around and made my way for the door. I let the orb go out just as I opened it so nobody in the street could see. I might need to kill that man later, I thought, how inconvenient that so many people saw me enter, or I would do it right now.

The sun had fully set while I was inside, and lanterns were hanging from haphazardly-distributed hooks around the alley. I got a few wary glances as I put my hood up, but nothing more. The bouncer that I had beaten up was still unconscious, but heaving deep breaths on the ground in his resting spot. I moved to make my exit before anyone took issue with me, but stopped when I saw a familiar merchant who made me recall a question I had.

“You,” I called out to the woman. She looked up from the wooden counter of her stall.

“You know me?” she asked hesitantly.

“We spoke before,” I told her, “you sell herbs and plants, right?” The woman didn't make any move to reply. “I need information from you,” I added. I approached the stall and leaned against it.

“Yeah I think I remember you,” she said, “you going to buy something?”

“Do you have blue leaf?” I asked. The woman laughed.

“Didn't I tell you it was out of season last time?” she said. “I mean if you want to go get mauled by a bear you can go pick it yourself, but I wouldn't recommend it.” I smiled politely.

“And if I did want to go get mauled by a bear to get some myself, where would I go about doing that?” I asked her. The woman snorted, then looked at me and clicked her tongue.

“This serious or hypothetical?” she asked. “Just to be clear, if you're serious and you get yourself killed, nobody had better come after me for it. I’ve got enough trouble as is without stepping in more of it helping you.”

“I'm serious, and my well-being is nobody’s responsibility but my own,” I confirmed. The woman made three more clicks with her tongue and chuckled.

“Looks like you got a few marks on your face since I last saw you,” she commented. “You should know that fighting a bear isn't the same as fighting a person. A bear is six, sometimes seven times your weight and it doesn't feel any pain. Only way you're going to kill one is to chop its head off or stab it in the heart, and good luck doing it with all your limbs attached.” Her speech sounded rehearsed, making me wonder just how many other people asked her about the topic for her to need to have a speech prepared.

“I've encountered one before on my way to this city,” I told her, “I am aware of the risks, but I need blue leaf or some other poison that is similar. What does the plant look like?”

“Blue leaves,” the woman scoffed, “that much should be obvious, right? It's a parasitic vine that hollows out and consumes various kinds of trees. Not much else on this island with leaves that color either, the only other thing would be taanmeylb kaojh, which grows on the edges of beaches and is closer to purple than blue. If you're really going to go out and look you won't have any trouble spotting it so long as you stay in the woods.”

“Are there any areas where it is more commonly found? Is it dangerous to touch?” I asked.

“West of the city is probably best,” the woman grunted, “just don't eat it or get the sap in your cuts and you'll be fine. It's pretty hard to die from it in its raw form, but it can cripple you for days if it gets in your stomach, and it’ll knock you out cold if you get it in your blood.” Yeah, I remember the second one, I thought grimly, that's why I want it.

“What about burning it?” I asked. “If I were to breathe the smoke-”

“Are you insane?” the woman snapped, “You'd burn something that valuable? What kind of shit are you playing at? If you're going out there to get a plant worth twelve times its weight in gold just to burn it, you must be crazy, and I don't deal with crazy.”

“If I did breathe the smoke though-” I said.

“Try it and find out,” the woman spat, “I hope your stupid ass gets torn apart for the trouble. Burning blue leaf, stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life...” She trailed off into a mutter, shaking her head derisively and looking away from me. I suppose I can always do that too, I thought, it's not likely to be instantly lethal. The woman turned to an open book on the counter and scribbled some characters into it, and I began to walk away. “Honestly,” she grumbled quietly when she thought I was out of earshot, “man must have no brain...”