Hoo boy, I just reached one of my favorite chapters.
The community inside Karag Nar has come a long way since it was first conquered, and a great deal of this is due to the fact that most of its founders had fifty crowns worth of silver in their pocket, a generous and reliable pay-packet for their continued work securing Death Pass, and no rent to pay.
The Undumgi not having to pay rent makes sense, but I wonder what their tax situation is like? I remember there was a little bit of a concern from Mathilde in the beginning when Edda didn't integrate the Undumgi to the economic structure of the Karak, resulting in the EIC taking control and monopolising Karak Nar's business. The EIC only pay a portion of their profits as tax to Belegar instead of the Undumgi's money flowing into Belegar's pockets, but I think that was before Fransesco became Viceroy, which might have changed the relationships of the Undumgi into a vassal state that has to pay taxes in general as well.
Many of those who frequented Halfling establishments were attracted to the serving sizes, but to those more gourmet than gourmand, the destination of choice was Josias' Arms, possibly because one had to walk halfway to the Citadel to reach it. The operators had expected to cater entirely to their fellow Halflings, and to capitalize on this unexpected popularity and prevent their customers from banging their heads on the low ceiling or getting lost in the fields on the way home, they've just opened The Rest of Josias much closer to Karag Nar. It seems the perfect setting to get to know Panoramia better, as she has an affinity for the Halflings and you have an affinity for obscure puns and eating meals someone else has prepared.
My personal enjoyment of this pun is further enhanced by the fact that I now know that Josias is the Halfling God of Farming and Agriculture. It's like naming your establishment "Sigmar's Hammer". Halflings have a sense of humor and irreverence that's pretty fun to behold.
Making the invitation is easier said than done. With Johann you just sort of invited yourself along to something he was already going to, but this isn't so simple and Panoramia is, well, trickier than Johann. Johann and Max have grown accustomed to a certain level of inscrutability on your part, but Panoramia has developed something of an ability to see through at least some of your usual facades through the years. You consider and reject a number of different approaches over a few weeks, and just as you were closing in on a perfect plan, Wolf gets fed up and goes and asks her on your behalf.
She accepted, and called Wolf a good boy. He was insufferably smug for days.
---
You'd fretted about what to wear for a few minutes because it seems the customary thing to do, but you knew all along you were going to wear the same thing you always wear, and as Panoramia would be coming straight from the fields she's unlikely to have dressed up for it anyway. As your training demands, you arrive early to get a feel for the place and secure an advantageous position, which turns out to be a table in one corner where you could put your back to the wall, and with a window close enough to dive through in case of attack or awkward silences.
I never get sick of Mathilde's antics. As much as she's grown, she remains the cute and awkward women that she was at the start of the quest in some respects.
Being built and furnished with non-Halflings in mind, The Rest of Josias is quite navigable, but everything's still slightly lower down than human construction and it gives it a rather cozy atmosphere that you find yourself rather liking. You cloak yourself in Take No Heed and catch up on your reading while waiting for Panoramia to arrive.
"The Most Noble Art of the Sky," comes an unexpected voice some time later, jarring you out of the book. "Thinking of changing Orders?"
"To the Celestials?" you reply with a grimace, letting the part of your concentration that was keeping your spell sustained dissipate. "Too lofty for my liking. I'm hoping it will help me get inside Hubert's head."
So I was at first somewhat confused at why Mathilde considered Panoramia's voice unexpected when she was waiting for her, so I went to check the description of Take No Heed:
K / Take No Heed: Makes you very easy to ignore - it would take an act of willpower to even notice you unless you draw attention to yourself, and those few that do notice you will have difficulty remembering anything about you. Lasts a few minutes.
The description says that it takes an act of willpower to notice unless you draw attention to yourself, since Mathilde was reading I suppose she expected that Panoramia would miss her and Mathilde could act spooky and pop up out of nowhere, but she was caught off guard and the initiative was ceded to Pan here.
"I suppose you could see it that way," you say, not entirely convinced. "What about you? The farms would be your Elemental side, right?"
"Everyone makes that mistake at first. Most of the plant stuff is Mystical. Though come to think of it..." She frowns, tapping her fingers against her mug. "I guess I have been focused pretty hard on the crops and the soil. Though that could qualify as both, as supplying food would fit under Elemental. Or maybe I'll exercise my Elemental side more after we turn the Caldera into pastures and bring in more livestock."
I don't quite get it. I was under the impression that the "plant stuff" was Elemental, but Panoramia here says that's a mistake. Why is providing food Elemental and plant manipulation Mystical? I feel like I'm missing something here that's not being said.
She looks at you oddly. "Jade Order, remember? I've been pulling Ghyran out of them ever since they woke up last year."
When I first read this I was like "that can't be right, the waystones woke up faster than just last year" and then I check the Battle of the Caldera and it happened 1 and a half years before this date. So much happened in such a short time, it was a real rollercoaster ride.
I also find it funny how the Gold Perpetual that taught Mathilde about Waystones warned very heavily about accessing Waystones for extra power due to the inherent dangers and here Panoramia is as a "Journeywoman" casually channeling magic from the waystones for extended periods of time to affect the crops of an entire valley. The Jade Order has some serious power when it comes to Waystones.
The next meeting of Wizards is taking place in your penthouse once more, as you've got something very special to show off: your very own copy of A Modest Treatise into the Nature of Magic, written by the former Magister Patriarch of the Gold Order.
As someone who's read Realms of Sorcery, I don't envy Mathilde. The few excerpts in the book from this treatise are dense and philosphical enough that it gave me a headache. Puchta sure knows how to use 10 words to describe something that could be done with 3 words instead.
