It seemed like the smart thing to do would have been to head back to the castle to try and catch up to Reno and Ess on their questline. But they would be three hours ahead of him now. Even if he cared to engage with the obnoxious systems he’d seen thus far, it would be a pain in the ass to make up for all the lost time now. He just wanted to give it a miss and try to find something else to do that was more in line with his interests.

Ultimately, it didn’t bother him too much. If Garyung was to be believed, the questline was going to have a big payoff, so there was no way they were getting there in three days - especially since he had other things to do on the trip here. They were behind him in level anyway, and giving them some time to catch up while he wasn’t doing the same quests at the same time was likely going to benefit him in the long run.

The Equal Oak Inn was a much different place upon Kaldalis’s return. It had been empty before, but now there were over a dozen folks scattered around the main tavern room, and the muscular Talsar from the kitchen was hard at work preparing meals and delivering food and drink to the tables.

One rowdy group of five was obviously engaged in some sort of drinking contest, the middle of the round table covered in empty mugs. A green-scaled Talsar woman and a Finnian man had already tapped out, one of them flopped over the table in a daze while the other was visibly trying not to hurl. Of the remaining three, it was obvious the contest was coming down between the Bhogad and the Suyon, but the human on the left side was still hanging in there, even if he looked to be about ready to bonelessly slide out of his chair and under the table.

Another table looked to be a job interview in progress, a couple of Talsar men nursing bottled drinks while questioning a human with a glass of water. The human looked to be putting on a strong show of being calm and confident, but even across the room, Kaldalis could see the sweat. For some reason, they needed this job badly. He suspected it was money trouble from the dramatic difference in the quality of clothing between the human and the talsar men. If Kaldalis were a more savvy individual, he might have stepped up pretending to know the human and spoken well of their character to try and help them out, but he was afraid he’d fuck it up if he tried.

None of the other tables were quite so obvious with their environmental storytelling. There were a few tables with one or two people seated at them. A pair of exhausted-looking guards sharing a quiet meal after a long shift. An ominous man in a hooded cloak seated in the corner smoking a pipe. A trio of young women chatting loudly about a book they’d all read.

The last figure he set eyes on was the one that caught his interest the most, and he made his way towards her.

Bangen was seated at a table near the corner of the establishment, and Kaldalis could see why. The red-purple Vathon woman had wanted to be out of the way because her work had spilled over the entire table around her. Each of the round tables was large enough to seat six - maybe ten if they all really liked each other - but more than half of the table was covered in papers and opened books now. She was busily scribbling notes out of one book while her other hand was holding another book open, not even looking at it.

“Sorry, sorry,” she said, not looking up as Kaldalis sat down next to her. “Just give me one second and I’ll clear some space. I just need to…” She trailed off, focusing on her notes.

Kaldalis shook his head with a smile. He crossed his arms and waited for her to finish her notes and realize that it was just him. A minute passed without her looking up. Five minutes passed without her even finishing the note she was on. A few minutes after that, she finished writing, flipped the page on the book she was holding open, and moved her focus to it to begin a new note without acknowledging him.

After ten minutes, he cleared his throat and she nearly jumped out of her skin, abruptly losing her place.

“Kaldalis,” she said with a sheepish grimace. “How long have you been here?”

“Remember when someone sat down and you said you’d clear some space?” Kaldalis said with a smirk. “That was me.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her red-purple skin flushing a little more reddish on her cheeks. “I was just… I want to have all this organized before I head to the library to access the references there. I don’t want to burn through all my allotted shelf time doing things I could be doing here.”

“They limit shelf time? Isn’t it in everyone’s best interest that researchers get all the time they need to do their work?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Bangen said. “Normally they don’t limit time with the books for researchers. As long as you have the clearance to get the book, you can keep it as long as you need. But, uh, I…” She trailed off again, her face going red again.

“Oh,” Kaldalis said, putting the situation together. “Right. Some people are more passionate than others. So much so that some organizations might need to make special rules.”

“Forgetful, more like,” Bangen grumbled.

“Maybe a little,” Kaldalis said. “Will you be headed to the library soon, then, or are you going to spend all your time here getting prepared for the trip and then never get around to it?”

“I wouldn’t-”

“I had to remind you to get meals,” Kaldalis said quickly. “More than once. Don’t tell me you can’t lose three days sitting here poring over stuff you’ve already got in hand.”

Bangen grimaced, but nodded. “You’re right,” she said at last. “I shouldn’t stall too much. I just know once I get there I’ll lose the whole rest of the day.”

“Maybe I could come with you to try and keep you aware of the passage of time. I was hoping to do a little research of my own.”

“Really?” Bangen asked, obviously surprised. “About what?”

“Well, first and foremost, I was hoping there might be something somewhere about the stuff we’ve seen on the islands,” Kaldalis said. He held up a hand and counted off one finger. “If there’s anything about the Lataxinans in the historical record, I’d love to compare it to what we’ve seen. Especially if we can find any old maps of their civilization. Any population center is likely the site of a dungeon now, and one of their tablets.” He paused to count off a second finger. “The tablets are another matter. From everyone’s reaction, I’m guessing they only exist on the islands. But is there a historical record of them? Historical record of those kinds of abilities manifesting elsewhere?”

“In the form of evil magic, maybe,” Bangen said, “but I wouldn’t try to do research on that. You’ll bring the church down on your head if they think you might be engaging in such business.”

“Evil magic?” Kaldalis asked. “I thought Onirioago called it black magic when she freaked out on me the first time.”

“It’s a regional colloquialism and not the recognized term used by scholars,” Bangen said with a dismissive gesture. “Types of magic are defined by the church as either good magic done by god, or evil magic done by mortals. Sometimes people call it gold magic or black magic instead, but it’s just a dialect thing. Magic doesn’t have a color.”

“I’ve heard that it’s supposed to be a fluorescent greenish yellow-purple color,” Kaldalis said with a smirk. “But I guess I’ll have to leave that research to the trusted experts.” He counted off the third finger on his hand. “The most important thing I need information on is the Jormongumo. They have abilities that exist outside the norm, and I want to know more. For everyone’s safety.”

Bangen gave him a sidelong glance, and he knew what she was thinking. He was surprised she caught on so fast. The Jormongumo had access to the tablet that had let Onirioago respawn after death despite being an NPC. If he could find enough information on this ability and how it worked, he could find out how to outsmart it, and permanently kill her.

What Bangen didn’t know was that the Jormongumo leader, Ara, had this ability as well, and wasn’t shy about using it to pursue Kaldalis for some unknown reason. Onirioago was out of his reach even if he had the secret to her permadeath in his hands right now, but once they returned to Cotanaku, it was only a matter of time before Ara made herself known. He needed to end the threat she represented once and for all.

Of course, trying to explain this to her was a longer conversation than he wanted to have, much less in a public tavern. It was painful enough explaining it to Heluna. Kaldalis liked Bangen well enough, but he was afraid her social skills had been entirely supplanted by academic thought, and she might turn a traumatic story into an uncomfortable interrogation. One that she might take copious notes on.

“I’m not sure if the library will have what you’re looking for,” Bangen ventured after a long pause. “And if it does, you might not have the clearance to see it.”

“I won’t know unless I try, though,” Kaldalis said. “And you need some help keeping track of time anyway, right?” He shrugged. “If I can just find a single book talking about one of those three topics, and telling me something I don’t already know, I’ll call it an afternoon well-spent.”