And soon enough, they are in the room Nadya arrived in.

Priestess Kalin goes right up to the pool she splashed in without prompting.

:This is definitely the site of a Rift! I'm going to meditate on the energies here and note down everything I can, it may help later.:

:Cool, okay. I'll, uh, be here when you're done, I guess.:

She will hang out with her Fluffy in the meantime.

She moves with focus and intent when she has a goal.

It will be about ten minutes.

And then she lets out a deep breath and writes down about half a page of notes on a little notebook brought out of a robe pocket.

:Alright, I'm done. Sorry about that.:

:No worries. You're pretty much doing me a favor, right?:

:I suppose so! Though that does raise the question of what you want your time on Tirra to be like. As an otherworlder, many will want to learn from you.:

:Learn from me? What do you mean?:

:In the past, visiting otherworlders have historically usually taught us at least one really valuable thing- Steel making, new kinds of mathematics, ocean navigation, medical knowledge, new cooking traditions, even civil engineering and some details of city planning in one case.:

:Oh. Gosh. I don't feel like I've got anything that valuable...:

:Time will tell. There's no pressure... Or there wouldn't be in an ideal world. The Lonesome Otherworlder didn't have anything to teach.:

They can go back down the tunnels now. 

Back to the surface, the realm of sunlight. Nadya is in favor.

:That's a sad name.:

:He didn't like being famous for being an otherworlder. He vanished one day. Some say he went into the forest to survive or not alone. Some say he disguised himself and took up a normal life. Some say he went home.:

:I hope he made it home.:

:As do I. This was about a century ago. We may never know- Or perhaps someone does and is keeping quiet.:

:Sounds like he'd want it that way.: Anyway let's talk about something less depressing maybe. :So if otherworlders are kind of random, there's not like any official process? People are just gonna show up and ask me stuff?:

:Perhaps. The last known Otherworlder, who entered it fifty-one years ago and perished six years ago, announced herself to the Grand Assembly of the Northern Federation and entertained bids for patronage. She lived in luxury for many years after using noble backing, novelty, and her world's knowledge to open a series of luxurious shows, inns, and casinos. She, Akemi Matsuburo, became known as the Casino Otherworlder. Before that there was the Second Mathematics Otherworlder, who wandered Noten for some years, talking with many people who would fund his travels in exchange for speaking to them about his world, and then became a wizard and discovered some things about wizard mathematics that I do not really understand.:

:Maybe I'll be the Pokemon Otherworlder! I bet everyone'd love to meet my team.:

:That sounds quite true; A great many people probably would. I personally like a very predictable life and have been called boring, and I still enjoyed it:

:I'll show you the others when we get out!:

:Back towards the temple, or towards the town proper?:

:The town, if it's not too much trouble? Figure I'll have to start getting introduced at some point.:

They take the tunnel that lets out in the town proper- The channel opens up to a bucolic wide shopping street split by the canal and with periodic artful stone bridges over it, only slightly besieged by snow. A dozen small stores and craft shops are here, along with a couple of enterprising food stalls. There are a few fish-people swimming in the canal! A few of the bigger official-looking buildings have a water entrance! There's a water-bistro that seems more designed to serve swimmers than land-dwellers. There's a lot of wood-carving art and detailing on the building facades, scale patterns, swirly patterns, cross-hatched patterns... One person is roasting chestnuts over a small fire that turns out to actually be some sort of scaled critter - not quite the same as the ones in the tunnels, a lot smaller for one thing, and no wings. A little Torkoal-ish, maybe. Another person is selling coral baubles and woven seaweed objects dyed in bright colors. And the stores themselves have a variety - food, tools, clothes, all the small-town necessities.

Pretty! It's a good thing there's no other pokemon here, she bets the gym here'd be water-type and she always has trouble with those. She wants to meet a fish-person, and admire the bridges from closer up, and try the food stalls, and explore the shops... Ah. She should check-

:Do you use money here?:

:We do. I don't think I have a lot to spare- Well, I can let you borrow some from the temple offerings people give to show their appreciation and help keep it maintained, as long as you pay it back at some point. I'm sure you won't have much trouble earning money.:

:I usually make pocket change by battling, so I guess here that'd just be showing off. Do you know a good place to do that? Or, um, do I need to get a permit for street performances or anything like that?: Oh oh and also how does your money, uh, count? Like how much is a meal or a place to stay for a night or a new pair of shoes, that sort of thing.

:A cheap meal is one or two copper pieces. There are also copper bits, they vary from place to place - here we use eighths. Twelve copper pieces makes one silver ecu. That's enough for two nights at a cheap inn or one night at a fancier one, with meals. Or, say, a simple shirt or skirt. Twenty silver ecu makes one gold sol. That's enough money to buy a cart or a month at a nice apartment in a bigger town than this, or magic scrolls, or things like that... And eight gold sols makes a D'Or- But you rarely handle those day to day unless you're a merchant. I think a pair of sandals would be maybe six copper pieces, but good hiking boots would go for four or six ecu... Books tends to cost some number of ecu, too. It depends on where you live too, lots of things are more expensive in big cities but you can also earn more money there. A cheap meal... Oatmeal and fish at Namar's place is a copper piece and three bits. A hearty meal, a spiced stew with juice or ale and bread and a side dish, will generally be four or five copper pieces.: