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It takes about twenty seconds for you to reach the outbound queue of the gate, and with the rain keeping people indoors, there are not many ahead of you. More than that, this line will move quickly, as tolls at the Landward Walls are only taken for entrance. You tip the picknick-parasol up slight slightly, and then raise your eyes just enough to check to make sure that you aren't going to knock into anything or anyone. It would be easier to simply lift your head up, but you are deathly afraid of your veil falling back into the envelope of Hide-Eyes and breaking the Glamor.
Small as it may be, the queue is unusually quiet, and you cannot figure out why - until you get up to the Tollman minding the outbound queue, who upon seeing you, noticeably straightens and <span class="mu-i">actually sketches a quick bow as you pass under the gate</span>. While you are embarrassed by the attention, you are also spooked by it. Certainly, you are no whobody to uncomfortable stares - or worse, when you are wearing your Spotted Cloak - but <span class="mu-i">bowing</span>, from <span class="mu-i">Guards</span> no less, that is ... you cannot imagine that you are ever going to get used to that. More than that; you don't think it wise to interact with this Tollman any further, for fear that you will just make yourself more and more indelible in his memory. As it was, you already had the sense that seeking papers for your conveyance before you even have the conveyance is jumping the blade - not to mention, you are not even certain you are going to be using the tunnel. And if you were, or you just wanted to keep the option open, then wouldn't it make more sense to ask whoever you end up buying the conveyance from?
So you keep your silence. As you pass by the inbound queue, you notice that those in line already have their talents out for the Tollman - which is a damned good idea, considering that all of your talents are stowed in your bundle, which contains a bunch of things that you don't want any Tollman or Guard seeing. You are also going to make a point of re-entering the Mount through another gatehouse - just as a precaution. As you step out of the gatehouse and the rain resumes drumming down on your parasol, you take stock of your surroundings. Here it seems that Cleanport has overtaken the Landward Walls. What you can see at the moment is residences, small shops, tenements, a -
Oh! You can see something that could be a stable, or even a barn - whatever it is, is large. And as you draw near it, you can smell horses .. well, horseshit, actually, but the point stands. You draw abreast with the establishment, and turn to get as good of a look at it as you can, constrained by your parasol and veil. It does appear to be a livery, though instead of horses, or coaches, or wheels - the typical fare of livery shingles, this one depicts a crab with a weathervane sprouting out of its ass-end.
