Msaka spent the rest of the day in the inn, admiring the statuette. He emerged from his room only once to have dinner, and kept to himself while he ate. Fortunately, no one tried to start a conversation with him, so he was able to finish quickly and resume his admiration of the statuette.

It occurred to him as he gazed at it that it might, given its beauty and quality, be suitable for enchantment. Unfortunately, he had little experience in that area, and couldn't think of any means to accomplish the task himself. Perhaps one of the wizards of this land might be able to help him in that, but then again, they would probably require a substantial payment for that kind of service.

As it was getting late, he called his staff into being and transported the statuette to his hut. He would have preferred to keep it with him, but the chance of it being damaged somehow wasn't a risk he was willing to take. Even just carrying it in his pack could easily chip pieces off.

He slept quietly until shortly after sunrise, feeling well rested when he awoke. His mana had been depleted during the trip by his constant scanning for magical dangers, and the uneventful day had allowed him to refresh his powers. Not having to sleep on the ground hadn't hurt either.

He ate breakfast in the dining area, once again keeping to himself while he listened to nearby conversations. None of the chatter was particularly interesting to him, varying from personal discussions to business engagements. He quickly finished his food and left the inn, stepping back out into the plaza, which was already filled with vendors and shoppers, all going about their daily business.

Msaka passed through the plaza quickly, expecting that most of the stalls would be the same as the previous day. He quickly reached the street leading out of the plaza into the rest of the city and started along it. Raseir's streets were as much of a maze as Shapier's had been, though he had been forewarned of that thanks to the talk he'd overheard during the journey to it. He recalled that Rasier was a mirror of Shapier in layout, and so chose his path carefully, making his rounds of the other plazas and taking note of what was to be found in each.

For the most part, his explorations were uneventful, but he had the misfortune to be approaching a turn in the street near the palace plaza when an argument between two men standing ahead of him degenerated into a fist fight. Both men had a few friends along with them, and it quickly turned into a roaring brawl. Unfortunately, they were blocking Msaka's path in the process. He stood there with his arms crossed for several moments, scowling darkly as he waited for it to end.

He heard a shout from behind him, and turned to see a squad of guardsmen racing towards the scene, obviously intent on breaking things up. He glanced back at the brawlers, and noted that one of them had pulled a dagger. He cursed inwardly. If this changed from a brawl to a murder, he'd be stuck answering question for the guards all day. Without hesitation, he raised his right forearm and made a slow, sweeping outward pass with his hand, sending a wave of pacifying energy throughout the area. He hadn't actually tested the Calm spell since buying it in Shapier, but it seemed to have the desired effect - all of the combatants suddenly stopped what they were doing and stood quietly as the guards closed in.

Msaka stepped aside and allowed the guards to clear the men away, which they quickly did. Once the two groups had been escorted off, presumably to the nearest guard station, he moved on. He was glad to have avoided what could have been a lot of trouble, even if he'd had to use one of the gnome's spells to do it.

The fountain plaza held the most interest to him, of course, as the fountain contained the water elemental bound there the previous year. He deliberately left it until last, however, not wanting to get distracted from his scouting of the city as a whole. Many of the features were similar to Shapier, including the names of the plazas and some of the buildings fronting onto them. The Adventurers' Guild hall was even in the same location, relative to Shapier, though when he finally emerged into the fountain plaza, he noted that there was a book shop in the place of occupied by Shapier's magic shop. He was bothered by the lack of a place to acquire new spells, but at the same time found himself somewhat relieved that Raseir didn't seem to have a counterpart to Keapon Laffin.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind and approached the fountain. To outward appearances, it was identical to the one in Shapier, but Msaka could sense the difference between the two. This one had a different power about it, though it would have been impossible to tell how without magically sensing for it, had he not known already what the fountain contained. Not wanting to seem overly obvious about his examination of the fountain, he refilled his waterskins while he continued to look it over. Once that was done, he took a long drink before turning away. He'd have to return come nightfall to examine it more closely.

Glancing up at the sky, he noted that it would be a few hours before the sun set. With that in mind, he returned to the inn, his thoughts focused on what he would need to do both that night and in the next few days. He entered the inn and took a seat in the corner, his thoughts still elsewhere. The female katta quickly brought his lunch to the table, and he nodded distractedly to her in acknowledgement, forcing a small smile onto his face. She seemed to sense his desire to be left alone and departed quietly, smiling in return.

Msaka ate quickly and retired to his room, where he spent the next hour practicing the spells he'd need in the coming days, then rested for a few more to recharge his power. Once the sky had grown completely dark and the city was lit only by lamp and candle light, he left the inn, quietly stalking towards the fountain plaza. The night air was chillier than usual, though perhaps it was part of some seasonal change in this area. It occcurred to him that he really wasn't certain about the seasons in this land, or if they even had any. He soon shrugged off the thought as he entered the fountain plaza, walking quietly towards the fountain. He didn't go out of his way to avoid been seen, as that might attract undue attention if he was despite the effort, and that was the last thing he'd need.

He paced his approach so that he reached the fountain as the night guardsman who was patrolling through the area neared the southern exit of the plaza. Making certain that there was no one else present to see him, he quickly cast Hide and faded from physical view. It was probably unnecessary to hide his actions, but he preferred to play it safe.

Now secure from view, he cast his spell of detection, his eyes fixed squarely on the waters of the fountain. To his magic-enhanced vision, the elemental in the fountain became clearly visible, a formless being that undulated gently amidst the water it produced. He studied it for as long as he could before the spell gave out, noting that there did not seem to be any secondary magics about the fountain. It seemed odd to him that the elemental had not been secured by any protective enchantments, but perhaps the people here simply didn't realize that it could be freed from its current state by the right spells. Regardless, the absence of other magic about the fountain was going to make his main task much easier.

Another guardsman had entered the plaza while he was performing his examination, and he waited until the way was clear before making his way back towards the inn. His Hide spell became inactive as soon as he began to move, but it had served its purpose already. A short time later, he re-entered the inn and headed to his room, his thoughts too occupied by his upcoming task for him to think about stopping to eat.