"I think so," she replied.  "You're tan, but not<em>too</em>tan.  Most Sijan girls are<em>slightly</em>paler than you, since they spend their time indoors all day - then again, in Sijan, who doesn't?  But you could have been traveling for a couple of years."  Merame nodded.  "Sure.  I can explain about Sijan and the Order..."  Merame explained that the Mortician's Order was a group responsible for the burying and appeasing of the dead, and people from all over Creation went to Sijan if they wanted a death done right.<br/><br/>"Normally, by your age you would have been apprenticed to someone to learn their trade and so on...but Sijan needs children, too, so it's not completely unheard of for a daughter to be raised to bring life to the city of death..."<br/><br/>...Merame was looking<em>way</em>too happy about getting to do this.