The sky is clear and piercing blue when they land in Revenant’s Toll, and Tallyn can’t help but smile as he shakes off his fatigue from the trip. It’s draining, doing that much aetherial travel–and all the more so carrying another person–but he could do with burning a chunk of mana, and he’s just glad the gloom weather isn’t there to greet them. It would sour the mood were he to get aethersick not two minutes after promising to cheer Hien up.
“You should attune to the aetheryte before you forget,” he says, patting Hien on the shoulder. “I swear the buildings will still be here to gawk at, and I think Yugiri will be less inclined to have our heads on spikes if you’re able to get yourself home.” His tone is light, but he’s serious; they’re in trouble, and Tallyn doesn’t plan on being the one to take Hien home after this impromptu vacation.
“Anyway,” he says, motioning for Hien to follow him, “welcome to Revenant’s Toll. Home to the Adventurer’s Guild, the Scions, and Rowena–and you should stay away from the latter unless you plan on letting her take over Doma’s entire economy.” Tallyn walks him through the merchant stalls outside the House of Splendors, pokes into the House itself for a quick glance, and then circles back to the aetheryte and the two gates on either side.
“To the east,” he says, “you’ll find Garlean wreckage, the Keeper of the Lake, and the Crystal Tower. To the west you’ll find a swamp full of morbols and a castrum. Don’t worry about the castrum, the imperials inside aren’t a threat anymore. Poor buggers have been leaderless since van Baelsar died, and they don’t like to come out for fear of the Alliance.”
He stops outside the Seventh Heaven, “And here, through the bar’s back door, you’ll find the Scions. I suggest we go in and let everyone know you’re here, but…it’s your vacation, Hien, so you make the rules.”
Tallyn talking to him eventually shakes him out of his slightly dazed reverie -- kami, this place is nothing like anything he’s ever seen! -- and he blinks, nodding. “Yes, that’s-- that’s probably a good idea,” he admits with a laugh. “I think it’s in both our best interests to make sure Yugiri is as...well, she’s going to kill us either way, but...” But it’s definitely a good idea to do what he can to lessen that anger.
The aetheryte looks different from the one back home, and it’s fascinating -- he actually stares up at it for a few seconds before attuning, and then turns back to follow at Tallyn’s heels like an incredibly excited puppy. Tallyn’s comment about that Rowena woman makes him wary, but he’s not foolish enough to make business deals with strangers, and he’s seen enough merchants in Reunion to know which ones to avoid. They all have the same look in their eye.
He’s honestly not sure where he wants to start as the other man points everything out. He’s probably going to avoid the castrum anyway on principle, even if the remnants there are more pitiable than anything, but he’s absolutely tempted to go see what that wreckage is about. That’s a damned dragon corpse coiled around that dreadnought! And not to mention literally everywhere else in Eorzea...
The wealth of choices in front of him are a tiny bit overwhelming, so he grins a bit weakly at Tallyn, gesturing at the bar. “I’d like to say hello to the others first,” he says. “Especially the friends of yours I’ve yet to meet! After that I’ll have to decide what to do, I suppose...Eorzea’s a rather big place, isn’t it?” It’s somewhat intimidating, but the sort of intimidating he likes. It feels like a challenge, just for him. And he loves a good challenge.
He pauses as he follows Tallyn inside, glancing over his shoulder at the semi-bustling settlement. “Is it...is it normal to see people, um...” A vague gesture out the door behind him, mostly because he genuinely has no words for what some of those people are wearing. “...that? Is it an adventurer thing?”