It was a local monastery that ended up taking her in for a night, and it turned out they were used to people who had odd viewpoints. Deacon Jop, the leader of this particular gathering, actually had a vague recollection of similar views from another who made the perilous journey around Blackwood.

"Good morning, Miss Inoue." The other monks had woken up for their work long before she had, and it was simply Jop, with his dark hair and aged grey eyes, who was in here, doing some basic and light cleaning with a broom. "I trust no snoring kept you awake, and that you are alert. Some of the newer ones wanted to wake you up, but our personal views are that a god knows when they wish to wake up, and when they do not."

Turns out they had some odd views of their own. Namely, that all guests were to be invited in and treated with respect and courtesy, because they might be a god of some sort in disguise...a real possibility, although admittedly unlikely. Inoue apparently had started with a good impression the prior night - they didn't "invite" her to the four o'clock worship and silent fast they always did, and chose to let her sleep in.

Inoue had a heart big enough for all; even so, she generally avoided the Magnas faith. It's not them, it's her. Her beliefs were older and more humble than their rigidly institutionalized Doctrine and must seem, to 'enlightened' eyes, hopelessly quaint. She could not blame them; many people had to keep both eyes firmly on the day-to-day difficulties of living and had little thought to spare for the primal spirits that ruled over existence. When she first left her shrine she had been quite open with her beliefs and had hoped to share and be shared with in kind the spirituality of the wider world.

She didn't do that so much anymore. There were only so many beatings, accusations of heathenism, and attempted burnings she was willing to take on the chin.

While Inoue was fairly certain she was no god herself, she had in the past spoken words under trance that might have been those of the pantheon. Or she could have been high on incense fumes and babbling incoherently. Who knew? These monks didn't, and that's why Inoue liked them. A little more credulity and kindness was just what this world needed. She didn't get to see much of those back home in Demosia... although "home" and "Demosia" were as much a world apart as between Demosia and here.

She seemed fated to be a woman out of place everywhere she went. But for today, at least, she felt at home.

When Deacon Jop came to her that morning, she had been in the middle of trimming her bangs back to perfect straightness. A plain, utilitarian bronze mirror lay in her lap, bronze razor in her hand and a long lock of hair between her fingers. She quickly sets aside the implements and beckons Elsa, her snowy vulpix, into her lap for a cuddle and headstrokes. Inoue had a crystal bracer hidden under one of her kimono sleeves, of course, but rarely used it. Elsa was a good girl, obedient to a fault, and Inoue trusted her to sleep at her feet every night.

"Good morning, mister Jop," Inoue replies in her Demosian peasant's accent. She giggles softly at his words, a hand alighting on her lips; a childish undignified act she never quite grew out of. "No no, I slept soundly, thank you very much for all your kindness!" She holds up her mirror, which she had been using as a plate to collect her dishwater-blonde hair clippings, and gestures towards the deacon's broom for nonverbal permission to dispose of them.

The snow white Vulpix gets up from her resting place and stretches for a moment. Before stroling over to Inoie and happily hopping into Inoue's lap. She would enjoy the petting and stroking her fur that would come from her Master.

"Vuuulllll..."

She sighs with contentment.

Jop nodded in approval, and swept them away dutifully when they were dropped into a pile. "So, do you intend to remain in the village for long? We have had some discussion about whether we are the destination, or simply a resting point for a tired god, and what both of them could mean."

He waved to the Vulpix. "And your servant is such a rare omen, also worthy of discussion. Touched creatures are a rarity in the kingdoms, and indicate quite a long and harrowing tale best suited for the sunlight."

He waved his arm once more to the doorway, to a Pidgey. "Eyot! To the fireplace!"

At this point the bird, casting leery glances at Elsa, proceeded to come into the room, and blew the accumulated dust into the embers of the fireplace on the far side, covering it in dust. Jop masterfully used his broom to keep the dust from going out of control, and in what was apparently a practiced routine, insured the fire would at least have hot embers later tonight, buried by dust and ash.

Inoue chuckles as Elsa gets herself comfortable. She produces a comb from her bag (carved from mamoswine horn) and starts groom the snowpix's fur, picking out any tiny bug pokemon with its fine teeth. She was no professional groomer but Inoue thought she did an adequate job looking after their appearances.

Eyot's efforts provoked a round of quiet applause from Inoue. She wasn't sure how necessary it was to use a Whirlwind for that, but it seemed effective enough. She was a little worried about the swirling dust/air mixture in proximity to an open flame but fortunately the feared fireball never occurred. She didn't say anything; this would not seem to be the first time Deacon Jop had done this, and he still had his eyebrows.

"It is difficult to say," Inoue begins. "My journey began far, far to the north, in the regions even Demosians hardly tread. There are many strange creatures up there that I have never seen elsewhere in my travels, of which my friend Elsa here is but a mild example." She flips her comb around to its more widely-spaced teeth and began smoothing out tangles in her vulpix's white fur. "Have you ever seen a cryogonal? Monstrous things! I never thought I would need to leave, but one day... I don't know, I just felt like I was needed elsewhere. Maybe I was needed here... but I am uncertain, I feel my journey is not yet over."

Once satisfied with Elsa's hygienic state she returns her comb, mirror, and razor to her stantler-skin backpack. "Would you say... um... this town is in need of anything? I'm sorry, I never caught its name..."

"Ah. It is true that beyond the alchemy that marks the end of Demosian territory the creatures and even some of the people get strange. Many of those beyond are Connected, and the number of youth that are Connected seems to grow with each winter. We are being prepared for dire times, and they will be the ones to shoulder it." Jop waved the Pidgey back, and it cooperated. "As for Borderheim, we will manage as we always do. Sometimes we get gods, and sometimes we get refugees that the Demosians scorn. And sometimes we risk the day when we will get both at the same time, and woe be that day, for Mew shall turn her gaze from us and weep for our future."

He smiled at Inoue, and shrugged. "But that is not today. Today, we are working the fields and earning our food for the night. Why not ask around town, and get a closer tour of mortal living? I would start with Kraka. She claims she was struck by a bolt of lightning during an encounter with the Tree-Devil itself, and has started becoming rather vocal about the idea of hearing Arcues talking to her on a first-name basis. Perhaps you can find out how true that is, or at least put her addled mind at ease."

OOC: Even Inoue's heard of Lurchsplinter the Trevenant. Tree-Devil, Corpse-Defiler, the Gallows That Walk...his name is spoken with more terror than Giratina, Heatran or Zygarde - the others are distant powers that may or may not care, while his existence and attention are unquestioned.

Inoue nodded along politely with the older man's slight rambling. The elder at her own temple was much the same. Inoue knew she herself was Connected but, for whatever reason, she had not manifested any of the powers that many historical Frost Bringers bore. Perhaps her pious devotion to protection and travel overrode the harsh, destructive tendencies of ice as an element. Who knew for sure?

She cocks her head at Kraka's tale. "How very odd," she states wonderingly. "That does seem very improbable. I will speak with this Kraka, and if she suffers from a malady of some descriptor I will ease her through it. If she did encounter the great and terrible tree, she is fortunate to have come through it with as few scars as she did."

Inoue stands with a stretch, making a dozen tiny little adjustments to her clothes as she does before tightening the obi about her waist so firmly that she involuntarily lets out a small gasp. She blushes in slight embarrassment and bows to Jop. "Thank you again for all your kindness. I will see you again, I am sure!"

Donning her stantler-skin backpack and piloswine-hide boots Inoue leaves the monastery to take her tour of the town. After a few passing greetings she takes out her divining rod and begins a morning sweep of her surroundings for any crystallized elemental energies that may be laying around. While useless to most, Inoue had a special talent with the rainbow-hued shards. One day she hoped to become as skilled an alchemist as whomever made the beautiful billowing cloak around her shoulders.

04:36, Today: Inoue rolled 17 using 6d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2,3,4,3,4.  Dowsing Check.
Inoue finds two random shards!

During her survey of the town she does her best to make a good impression on the locals, asking how their days are going, trying to get a feel for the town's mood, and keeping alert for signs of spiritual shenanigans. Those who seem particularly receptive she asks about Kraka; what she was like before, how about now, where's she live, that sort of thing.

04:38, Today: Inoue rolled 13 using 3d6.  Charm.
04:39, Today: Inoue rolled 12 using 3d6.  Intuition.
04:39, Today: Inoue rolled 12 using 4d6.  Occult.
04:41, Today: Inoue rolled 9 using 2d6.  Perception.