Matters of Religion

Voah clapped with the rest of the clansmen but stood back as some of the them rushed in to lift Tarmen to his feet. She gave a slight bow as she was addressed by him. A deal with the miners? She gave wry smile and raised her eyebrows in a quizzical expression that suggested, 'Oh really?'.

The miner wipes the scratches with a dirty cloth. Before turning to you. Some clansman clapper Tarmen shoulder while others sneer at him. A few size up the Arbiter as if a piece of meat.

The miner and his companions know little of your language but he tries to explain the best you could. By the end of a very difficult to understand conversation you gather a few facts. If you understood him right.

Most Odonine shun the great ruins and abandoned cities of Fang. No clan worth its salt lives underground. They speak of a practice where they exile those that commit crimes and those cursed or sick, you are not quite sure which, into the ruins of the old world. It is forbidden and considered impure. The miners think they have digged into an abandoned city or settlement and will not return to work until the chamber is sealed. And that is all you think you learn.

The headache forming from the brawl made Tarmen wish he had lost. Might have been easier to part with the imp than have to understand the language barrier between him and the clansmen.
With what he had gathered however, he might have something to work with.
“So then if you want the shaft closed, then why aren’t you down there gettin’ it closed?”

Voah listened to the clansman as he spoke to Tarmen. His accent was hard to follow but she thought she understood for the most part.

To her disappointment, their fear was engrained in a cultural superstition, so Voah was almost positive that the cult hadn’t run them out of the mines. It sounded like a myth to the Arbiter, but she knew better now than to doubt every rumor in Arcadia as unfounded belief. The last few rumors ended up being valid more than not.

If the clansmen banished criminals to the depths of ancient cities, it was likely there were survivors. Criminals can be savvy and elusive. But sick or cursed? Maybe cursed meant magik.

She waited for the clansman’s response to Tarmen’s question.

The miners mumbled something that you really didn't get but you got the feeling they couldn't care less about returning to the mine at this stage.

She didn't know their word for magik, but she tried a word of the Plains folk. "Erewhon?"

The men all looked at Voah with sneer on their faces at first but after started laughing. One of them made an obscene gesture towards the Arbiter by grabbing his crotch. They gather their things and left for the 'Hole' leaving Tarmen and Voah alone.

The gesture towards the Arbiter was not lost on Tarmen, only increasing the contempt he had for the arrogant clansmen. They truly reminded him of home.
If he hadn’t witnessed her prowess, he would have knocked the man out. Instead he allowed them to pass, hoping they went to the mine. After their departure, he turned towards Voah with a grin.
“So then to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence to, Arbiter? Surely the Pillars had more in their plans for you than to be around these savages?”