Persona Sic Grata.

[Eitan Angevin]

Port Vasta District, Luxium
49th of Searing, Year 125 of Steel

“Alea iacta est.”

The celebrations over the crowning of a new Luxian monarch hadn't ceased, but the streets were no longer overrun with revelers. Angevin could feel magic prickling over his personal wards that were like a second skin, even though his new uniforms made those wards unnecessary.

The uniforms were also cut from cloth of comfort and so the intense heat hardly touched him. All the same, given the break in their schedule, he didn't mind that the others were preferring chilled drinks in the cool of their lodgings and, almost certainly, the lovely sight of the slaves.

Their leader, however, had found a certain shop with the help of a Solunarian Sentinel, who posted up outside as Eitan thanked her and stepped through the doorway into a pungent miasma of herbs and flowers and such. He paused to let his dark eyes grow accustomed to the darker interior; it wasn't dark so much as it wasn't the blast furnace under the sun that he had been walking through. Perhaps if he modified the wards that lay invisible over his eyes, he could block out the worst of the light...

But after a few moments of blinking, everything came into focus.

"Vale," he said in careful, economical Vastian. "I seek Matsi Chenzira Hilana. Have I found her place of business?"

[Hilana Chenzira]

While Hilana lived in the Aurecine district, Sweet Remedies was in the bustling Port Vasta area. But the Sentinels would be familiar and would get Eitan there. The outside of the shop had large windows, and through them one could see various plants in pots, and beyond that shelves and walls of packets and jars. A tinkling bell overhead announced his arrival when the door opened. Stepping through the doorway brought in a whole host of scents, some pungent and spicy, some floral and fruity. The building did provide further relief from the heat of the day, though with his attire, that was hardly an issue. There were a couple of tables towards the back of the place, and the walls were lined with shelves containing all manners of dried flora. Overhead was a large metal rack with plenty more drying on it underneath an illumite shard that was set in light fixture.

Walking towards the tables and counter at the back brought him through the rows of shelves with the different packets, each having something different written on them and the shop's logo stamped upon them. Remedies, teas, likely, that one could help themselves to. On one of the tables was a driftwood stand, and a black, grey, and white python was sunning himself on the light through the window, and a tall Vastian man was at the counter, writing in a book, though he stopped when Eitan arrived. His hair was close-cropped and so was his beard, and he smiled at him. Foreigner or not, it made no difference. He noted his guest's accent and outfit, and if he had to guess, considering the question he posed, the man may have been Zaichaeri or from that area.

"Salve, welcome to Sweet Remedies," he offered in Common that was still more accented than Hilana's, but easily understood nevertheless. "She does work here, yes, she just went up to the roof to gather some ingredients. She should be back down in any minute now - would you like to sit?" he indicated one of the chairs at the large wooden tables. "Is there something I can help you with in the meantime? I am Vasilei." That gave him a face to connect to the name that the colourful young woman had spoken about - her employer and mentor who had traveled the world, cataloguing plants to bring back home that knowledge and multiple samples. He had a feeling that this was likely one of the Sentinels there that she had spoken of, though what he was doing here... well. Hilana had spoken quite positively about the experience, and it didn't sound like she'd gotten herself into some level of trouble that was going to require legal extradition, but then again, with her tendency to get into things...

Vasilei's estimate that she wouldn't be much longer was proven correct as there was a flurry of light footsteps from the stairs beyond, and Etzalal swooped ahead of her through the doorway, even as Hilana was laughing at the spirit, and came in carrying a bushel basket of vivid orange flowers and some other greenery - some he would likely recognize as various herbs. "Vasilei, I've got the calendula and brought down those other--Sentinel Angevin, you found us. How are you? What brings you here?" The Vastiana was all beaming smiles, and her attire was definitely more revealing than what she had worn in Zaichaer, with the short laced 'blouse', if one could even call it that, that partially contained her chest and exposed the her abdomen, and long tiered skirts that had been dyed blue and a sort of rust colour, alternating down the tiers, and hemmed with a bright yellow fabric. Her long hair was piled up in a thick bun, and there were many trinkets there that hadn't been present before when she had visited - likely due to the fact that they contained something that Zaichaer would not have approved of, and some of them just looked feral (there was definitely a fang or three in there), and she had been trying to make herself look tidy and collected.

Etzalal, for his part, flew around Eitan, and a feathered snake with blood red eyes peered out of the basket at him. That definitely had to be another one of her spirits...

[Eitan Angevin]

Angevin couldn't fault the man for switching to Common; no doubt his Vastian was abominable. But rather than let his pride bristle, he smiled gratefully.

"Ah, good. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Vasilei. I have heard so many good things about you. I have come to check on her Zaichaeri transplants, and perhaps find flowers to bring home to my wife. I think I shall browse in the meantime, if you don't mind."

He did briefly, noting with quiet approval the illumite in the lamp. Though Solunarium had sheltered under the aegis of their solar deity's scepter, it seemed having a backup plan was wise. His hands were clasped carefully behind him as he perambulated, not wanting to disturb any delicate balances.

Hilana, being a force of nature, was felt before she was seen or heard. Everything in the shop shifted as if in anticipation, or perhaps it was his imagination.

At her words, he scowled and bowed stiffly. "Madam, I am here on behalf of Zaichaer's Office of Customs and Excise to inform you that your documentation was in error upon your departure from the High City. Furthermore..."

But he was not an actor, and he hadn't thought this through. He laughed.

"Hello, Miss Chenzira." And to the spirit buzzing around his head, "Salve, Etzalal." He held up a gloved hand, whether to greet the creature or to allow it a perch if it so desired. This was more familiar than he had let himself be in the remote valley where they had sourced her vines and flowers. And the spirit, no doubt drawn to the Dratori parts of him that he tried to ignore, seemed keen enough.

Angevin was careful not to let his eyes dip below her eyes. Lucrece wasn't the jealous type, but then he was a diplomatic envoy here and he was still learning the nuances of their culture.

[Hilana Chenzira]

His Vastian was not terrible for someone with nearly no experience to it - the proprietor of the apothecary that he had come into had simply wanted to make him feel more at ease by switching to a language he doubtless had more experience with. "They are doing quite well, but I'm sure Hilana will take you around the greenhouses to see them. Your wards ensured that they travelled quite well," the dark-skinned man smiled at him.

There was plenty to look at - there were multiple pots of flowers on tables and shelves and stands of different types and colours, along with a variety of cacti and succulents, in pots that ranged from plain to colourful and gemstone-loaded. Eitan could probably guess that that was Hilana's doing; though while her knowledge of plants was astounding, so too was the man for whom she worked here. But everywhere he looked, there was something new - colours, scents, shapes. Another set of shelves held jars of honey, some of them from a pale golden colour to a much deeper, richer amber. Labels indicated what flavour it was, from orange to wildflower. There was a cupboard to the side that was covered in mesh with products within it, but that may have just been ingredients that were rare and valuable, or perhaps they were of a dangerous persuasion.

Herbalism and poisoncrafting were both possibilities with botanists. Same skill set, just different preferences for how to use them.

She took far more liberties with her clothing here; Vasilei did not care as long as the work got done and she didn't offend some of the elders that visited the shop. Those long skirts of hers often seemed burdensome, but they did attract attention and she never tripped over them. And when part of the job was selling, attracting attention was a great starting point. It probably helped that the shadows always seemed to make sure the hem was not underfoot, moved just this way and that. At his stiff gesture and stern tone, her brown eyes widened dramatically, making her look more like a teenager than a young woman, though she was happy to play along. But once he laughed, she did, too. Etzalal wrapped their self around the northerner's arm, the feathers on his wings fluffing up as his forked tongue flickered. The strange, feathered snake with the blood-red eyes was on the move, drawing itself up like a periscope on the edge of the woven basket in order to look Eitan over. He could certainly sense his Dratori blood, and Hilana spoke in the spirit tongue to confirm it with her first summon.

"Welcome to Solunarium," Hilana was all smiles. If he kept his eyes up, he could ignore her cleavage and her exposed abdomen, as those skirts hung off of her hips... "You look well. Have you gone on a wyvern yet?" she wanted to know.

"He would like to see the vines," Vasilei redirected her. "And he would like to find some flowers that will travel well to go home with him for his wife. Why don't you take him to the greenhouses and show him the lilies that you've been tending to? You can finish up with these when you come back," the man was clearly well-used to her nonstop exuberance, and had learned to work with it.

"Sure, shall we? Come on, Tiaz, you can come too," she lifted the python off of his stand, and the black, grey, and white beast was draped over her shoulders. The feathered one was content to wrap around her wrist and arm, while Etzalal unwrapped from Eitan's arm to fly in circles overhead.

[Eitan Angevin]

"Thank you," he said politely for the welcome. And, "Aye, we toured the aerie and flew out over the sands for a time just yesterday."

Sentinel Kenofer was quite efficient when requests were made of him.

Vasilei insured he needn't repeat himself, and so it wasn't long before he let the winged serpent take wing once more.

"Thank you, dominus." After inclining his head to the man, he followed Hilana, pausing while she draped yet another creature upon her person.

It occurred to him that he might be an even more effective interrogator if he had a serpent draped over his shoulders, or perhaps a smaller black asp that coiled around his wrist just so. That would likely require another Cardinal Rune, however, and he was not keen to write more upon his soul than was already there. He was still considering Semblance, the better to understand something intuitively to help him ward against it, but in the meantime he relied upon subordinates like the loyal Watcher Lessnau for such things.

In any case, he continued to follow Hilana whither she would go, glancing up from time to time to find Eztalal or take in more of the surroundings.

[Hilana Chenzira]

With Eitan's Sentinel escort trailing at enough of a distance, Hilana easily leading the way. She kept up a running commentary of places and stalls that they passed as they made their way through the Port Vasta district - she seemed to know what everyone was selling and had an opinion on it, and she certainly did tell him that if he wanted to shop later, come and get her or have a Sentinel nearby. Merchants were going to try to extract every copper that they could, and because he was clearly a foreigner, they would start high indeed, and if they could get away with gouging, they would.

They were further out of the busier areas and she unlocked a building that seemed to be primarily made of glass - certainly a greenhouse, though the insides were concealed from those who were outside through a bit of Masquerade. When they stepped inside, it was far more humid than the high aridity of the desert, even if they did have some moisture in the air from the Vasta River. It also felt cooler, oddly enough, despite being glass. Likely more magic was in play here to make this place more suitable for the wide variety of northern plants that they had growing in here. And there were quite a bit - fruit trees and canes, berry bushes. There was a number of plants that he might well recognize from home, too, including some of the medicinal herbs and flowers from the valley. "We have four larger greenhouses, and a few smaller ones in different places, mostly on rooftops near the shop and on Vasilei's home," Hilana explained. "Vasilei, Kor, and I look after them." She didn't have room in her apartment for so many of these plants, and if Eitan ever visited, he would well find more plants crammed into a space than he ever expected.

"Blueberry?" she offered, picking a few with deft fingers from the bushes, offering them to him as a snack, popping another in her mouth. "What we can grow outside we do, but some just do better in here because they tend to fry. Even if we use Elementalism to help the plants and tweak them a bit to make them more receptive to the climate outside, it's still a very harsh environment. So those that need more protection, we grow here. We manage the pollination through a variety of methods where needed." Bee spirits, animists, elementalism... and sometimes just plain management with brushes or bringing the parts together that were needed.

Etzalal had vanished amongst the foliage, but popped back out for a blueberry. Snakes may not have traditionally ate fruit, but the winged serpent needed seconds and thirds. The white snake on her shoulders also claimed a berry before Hilana let him go down onto the table to move between the pots and start smelling for any prey he could find. And that way, he could also listen in on their conversation, perhaps with a less... conspicuous position.

[Eitan Angevin]

Angevin kept pace with the woman, his longer legs matching her energy and purpose. Dark eyes took in everything, but he purchased nothing. The Umbrian government was seeing to all his needs while he was in Solunarium, but it was still a sight to behold and a story to bring back to the curious of Zaichaer.

He was much the same in the greenhouse: observant and quiet. Of course, he was actively listening, and Ms. Chenzira was a font of local information.

"Oh, thank you."

And he smiled after Etzalal, who had better things to do when the blueberries ran out. The larger serpent slithered out of sight, as well. Now he knew that at least some summoned spirits ate material things rather than aether.

Feeling the humidity cling to his face, he was glad to note that the new uniforms were keeping him comfortable no matter how the environment changed. Otherwise, he might have been miserable in all long sleeves and black.

"It is a wonder they could spare you for Zaichaer," he noted mildly, a token of respect from someone who had been forced to learn how to shuffle work, delegate, and triage when there seemed to be more work than able hands and the state of emergency became a more permanent state. It was a shame she hadn't been a Zaichaeri citizen several years ago when they had been mapping new parts of the Warrens and discovering new and terrifying creatures.

Looking around, he nodded. "We had similar structures, although many were haphazardly built from ruins or repurposed buildings, in order to feed the people during the troubles."

Magic, properly regulated, could be a benefit to humankind, certainly.

[Hilana Chenzira]

"Well, thanks to Traversion it really wasn't a long trip, not that I mind those and I would have made it with a Wyvern, but I do keep busy," Hilana smiled at that. She wasn't about to bring up her second job below, lest she lose future opportunities to go back. "I wanted to go and see Zaichaer, whereas he has already been there. Besides, he has little ones, I do not, and he's also the boss. So privilege dictates the assistant goes, providing the assistant is capable of the task." And that she was.

She nodded as he talked of greenhouses. "You know, any Elementalist worth their salt should be capable of producing glass, even if fire is not their Arche. Assuming you would prefer to use a blacksmith for metal, or harvest wood from the forests for the frame to reduce the amount of arcane-produced material. It is easier and less time-consuming to make the properly customized pieces to fit a framework." She may have had her attunements in that regard, but she didn't know about what Zaichaeri mages that were allowed to operate did. But glass was a finicky material at best, so produced by an Elementalist... well, it made it easier. Still, she wasn't about to proselytize about it; what Zaichaer did was what Zaichaer did. She did not live there, it was not up to her nor did her opinion in its affairs count for anything. "The increased yield and productivity, along with making sure everything within has a stabilized and protective environment to grow might be worth it."

They made their way deeper into the greenhouse - medicinal plants, edible plants, and quite a few of them. But they were getting to the back of it, where a tall Vastian man was being dive-bombed by Etzalal - in a friendly way, not defensive. "Ah, Hilana. Come to see everything, have you?" his voice was deep, and he gave Eitan a friendly smile and a nod. He had heard them speaking in Common, and so he took that as a sign.

"Hello Kor. Sentinel Angevin, this is Kor," the man waved a big hand at him, stepping back from the trellis that had been woven and shaped for the vines to grow on. The trellis, notably, was formed of bamboo that seemed to be growing out of a long trough of soil, and that bamboo had been interwoven into a pattern that it would never have grown normally - there was definitely magic afoot there, but if Hilana could adjust plants with Elementalism, it stood to reason that this man might as well. He wore a deep green vest with black trousers and sandals, with gold stitching in the fabric that looked like leaves. It may well have been scales, but considering Solunarium, it was likely a stylized choice. "He's interested in seeing how we've adapted the vines here."

"Salve, Sentinel. I trust you are well. Hilana spoke highly of you on her return from Zaichaer. The vines have been growing nicely," he stepped away, looking them over with a smile. Like Hilana, the man clearly loved the plants. The ones that she had brought back with her, wrapped carefully with Eitan's Negation wards to protect them, had more than tripled in size in the short time it had been since they had departed from their home in the valley. "What say you? You've seen them in their natural environment."

[Eitan Angevin]

"Indeed," he agreed.

Magic had been used, both by the Order and the witches who had worked with them, but he didn't see the need to clarify. In any case, he was being introduced to someone new.

"Master Kor," he greed with an equally friendly nod. "Well met." As for Hilana's glowing report, "Ah, well, that is kind of her."

Fishing a monocle out of his vest pocket, he used its aura glass to get a sense for how magic was being used to support the vines in addition to their more mundane efforts. It wasn't the most powerful artefact, but it had been issued to him when he had been made a Watcher of Purity and it had fostered a brief fashion trend when he started wearing it to blue-blood parties even if they hadn't known its capabilities.

Some things held sentimental value, especially after so much had shattered and been swept away.

Sembling was not a power inscribed on his soul, but he had years of experience studying enchantments via aura glass. He didn't make them wait long before nodding and slipping the glass back into his pocket.

"They seem to be thriving far from the variable weather of their valley of provenance. Solunarian hospitality is welcoming to both plants and people." He smiled. "I half expected a request to come across my desk for permission to come and capture a mating pair of the valley's tigers..."