I felt the warmth of Arya's light as she wished it upon me and it was comforting but it reminded me of the piercing light of the archpriest and that sent shivers down my metaphorical spine. I hope this girl can't read my mind too but honestly, things are getting a little overwhelming and I don't think I can just not think any longer. This is my chance to get some answers and even though I wanted to trust this girl I would have to find a way to verify anything she told me. I decided to start with something that was fairly simple but would be useful to know.

"Thank you for helping me Nym, would it be ok if I asked you some questions?" I tried to keep my tone respectful as I asked it, we were walking down the street at a regular human pace this time but I wasn't going to assume she wasn't strong, especially considering the monster that the archpriest had been.

"Of course, you may ask anything. I will try to be honest and forthright but there are some things I may not speak of, not just with you but all those outside of the priesthood so I apologise if we come upon those." That was fair enough I supposed, people were entitled to some secrets. Not that that had seemed to matter with regards to me. I felt the feeling of warmth from Nym fade slightly as I followed this train of thought and hurried to ask my question.

"Are unbound golems common here and is there a way to recognise one?" She wrinkled her brow as if to think as she answered.

"They are not common but it is not unheard of to cross paths with one. A guilty master may release a sapient golem he has summoned rather than release their soul, dwarves who feel they have much left to accomplish will sometimes choose to have their souls captured by a golem core or in exceptionally rare circumstances, a dungeon core. The methods to do such things are only known by the Supreme Pontiff of the dwarven church and only the most distinguished dwarves are given this as an option. Most unbound are created by the former method"

That was more of an answer than I had thought I would get honestly but she continued.

"Since unbound golems have the potential for great strength and destructive capability it is required that any unbound bear a symbol that is visible on their bodies. You will find that many will treat you more like a person if you have this symbol as they will realise you are as independent as they but as with all things, there will be some that would wish you harm if they recognise you as unbound. I can only apologise for that."

That seemed easy enough I guess, I had expected some people to react badly to an unbound golem but something in the way she said it made me think that maybe it would be more than just the occasional bigot. Either way, I would have time to ponder on the answers to my questions when I was alone, I was going to find out as much as I could now as I was given the chance. Something sprang to mind that had been niggling at the back of my had for a while.

"What is a title and what do they do?"

"Oh!"

She let out a small gasp and suddenly the feeling of warmth and security that I had felt when speaking to her vanished, it was as if a fog that I had not noticed had suddenly lifted from my mind and I found myself able to think thoughts I otherwise could not.

"My sincerest apologies, it is uncouth to have mind-altering titles active without explicit permission. I had been running confession before I was asked to come here and I must have forgotten to deactivate it. Malicious use of titles such as those is treat with the highest degree of sincerity by the guard, sadly it is often the case that people get away with such things. If you feel like you must then you can report me to an official within the guild, I hope you don't however, it sincerely was and I am sure I can find some way to make it up to you. "

The pitch of her voice was raised ever so slightly and my sense allowed me to pick up on the subtle twitches of her fingers and the moisture that was beginning to gather on her palms. I believed that she really had not intended anything malicious but the fact that she had been messing with my mind, even accidentally, maybe especially accidentally was frightening. I also had a feeling I knew what "Golem friend" did now and was debating whether or not to ask her advice on the topic. After a slight cough and a subtle attempt at wiping her palms dry on her clothes, she began speaking again, her voice having returned to its previous pitch.

"Titles are granted by the system for certain actions, my for example is called the light of Arya and I received it for becoming a priest of the mother. It makes people feel safe and secure. There are other titles that can have a variety of effects, more than I will ever be able to remember but some examples would be the public speaker title, which merely makes you more confident when speaking in public or the scientist title which makes it easier to avoid bias whilst you work. I only know about the last one because my husband had it." Her expression grew ever so tighter as she spoke, a subtle twitch of her eye, a slight downturn of her mouth. I was noticing an aspect of my new senses I hadn't considered before. With my mind free from interference and my attention focused it was much easier picking up on the minute expressions a person makes.

"Most mind-affecting titles can be resisted without much effort if you are aware of them and you wish to do so. There are exceptions to that with some of the most powerful titles such as the ones born by the royal family but ones such as mine can be resisted. I can help you learn how to do that after we are finished here but we have arrived. This is the guild house of the court, this is where we will get you registered."

I hadn't really been paying much attention to where we were going but as I did so now we were in front of a huge building. It was made entirely out of smooth marble and seemingly all one solid piece. It looked more like a cathedral than any administrative building I had ever seen with spires and huge windows on every wall. It was maybe 6 stories high and the double doors in front of us stretched up to be about 15 feet tall. What was strange about it was that it looked like the wall above it could be opened too if more space was needed but what kind of person would need a door that was more than 15 feet tall to walk through?

The doors were open and inside I could see a large reception area with hundreds of people inside. They were mostly resting in chairs throughout the room but there was also a long line that snaked around until ending at a row of kiosks manned by tellers. Good to know that even in a fantasy world queuing was a vital part of bureaucracy.