Ruins of Pathfinder: The Mysterium Compact (Mythic) (Inactive)

Game Master Robert Brookes

Alanar looks out the window with Ilesea, marveling at the view. The amazing plateau with it's waterfalls and the massive palace situated on top of it. This was where they'd be living from now on, and he couldn't help but be amazed.

There was just one question seeing it that puzzled him. "...How do we get up there?"

Earlier, outside, when the pendants are passed out

Taeo happily holds Alyona's hair as she puts on the pendant. In response to her question, he replies "I guess I was in my third plane, cool, and to think barely a day ago I'd only ever been to the First World! I've always wanted to go to the Shadow Plane...I think I'm glad we're back in the Material Plane...but it's a shame I didn't even know I was there 'til we were out. Maybe we'll get to go back at some point. At least I got a souvenir!" he adds, taking Hokuto's hankerchief off of and back onto his heatless torch.

"Shadows can be such squirrely things, don't you think? I know mine can be. Do you see how this makes the world out here darker...but it made things brighter down there? It's almost like it wants to take things toward a shadowy half-light everywhere." Swinging it around again, as though they were still fighting the skull, he adds, "I wonder if it can do anything else?"

In the carriage

Unsure whether to say anything, Taeo finds he keeps looking at Ilesea. My joke was what spooked her, maybe I should apologize...but she was the one who was foolish enough to run, SHE should apologize to us...but still it's kind of my fault...but it's not my fault that people in this plane don't know how to take a joke...but... Taeo's thoughts run in circles for a while.

Taeo starts to work up the nerve (and through his rationalizations) to apologize to her, but before he gets there Akrabadahran comes into view, and suddenly his thoughts are to their future.

"Oooh! Oooh!" He bounces up and down with excitement. Speaking to noone in particular, he says "That's spooky and awesome and super impressive. Heck, that'd even be impressive in the First World! What do you think it's going to be like inside? What are we going to learn?"

Erik seems more relaxed now than he has been at any point throughout the trip; he still holes up in one of the corners of the wagon, but he's more loosely sprawled than he had been before. On the whole, he seems fairly satisfied with himself; no doubt Hokuto's "scolding"--or the pride in her students contained within--played some part in that, as well as Ilesea being among their number again. So what if they technically hadn't had anything to do with it--they'd gone into the spooky crypt of doom, they'd found Ilesea, and they'd all made it out in a small enough number of pieces that the driver had been able to put them back together again.

He listens intently to Hokuto's words, though. 'The plane of shadow is not fit for human life' echoes through his head, accompanied by a vision of the ghost girl they encountered, icy tears falling from her eyes... he has to work to suppress a shudder.

Then they catch their first glimpse of Akrabahadran, and Erik's attention is diverted. He leans forward, his jaw dropping as he takes in the view outside the window. The place is impressive, awe-inspiring, even.

Home, huh. Erik mulls it over in his head, examining it. He feels a bit like a fish out of water, heading to a place like this. No turning back now, though... besides, where would I go? Back to a drafty cell for gods know how long? No thanks. He turns his attention back to the view, which is still magnificent, and grins. Akrabahadran, here we come.

His grin widens a bit at Taeo's excitement. "Lotsa space, I bet. As to what we'll learn... who knows? Maybe we'll learn to wizard or somethin'." Erik considers, still grinning. "'Erik the Great and Terrible' has kinduva nice ring to it, don't ya think?"

Alyona remembers how close Erik came to death in the catacombs, and how it easily the damage was inflicted. Great and terrible my c#$#.

She smiles and laughs aloud, "How funny!"

Take 10 on bluff for a 15 to pretend she thinks the joke is funny.

In the carriage.

Aldon steps onboard gratefully, but his expression switches to concerned as he sees the look on Ilesea's face. He pauses to place a hand on her shoulder and grin at her. "Don't you worry yourself. We all got out fine, didn't we? Just be thankful for that, and don't bother with guilt." He leans in to whisper, before straightening up and heading towards his own seat.

He settles himself near Erik, his posture only slightly better. The cavalry saber sits point down, held parallel to his right leg. It's a comforting weight in his hand.

When Hokuto suggests that they look outside for themselves, Aldon does so with an eagerness that belies the weary slump of his shoulders and downturned eyes. Alight with happiness, Aldon can't hold back a huge grin that he flashes around to the rest of the group before peering back out. It was beautiful. Sort of creepy and ominous, but beautiful. When Hokuto mentions home, Aldon's smile falters a bit. The word brought flashes of lakeshores and hills, the open doors of churches letting hymns ring out into the streets, and knights astride tall horses to mind. Darker things, too, that came after. He hadn't felt homesickness in a long while, but it comes back with a vengeance at the sight of what was to be his new home.

It's something he's not keen on experiencing, and he swallows it and the small lump in his throat with a grimace. In the moment he takes to gather himself, Erik comes out with a welcome comment.

"Erik the Bigheaded, maybe. Personally, I like Aldon the Glorious and Handsome. Now that's got a nice and truthful ring about it."

Aldon looks sideways at Erik, grinning and winking to show that he means no real offense.

Erik grins at Alyona and Aldon's reactions. "Ha, and you call me big-headed," he retorts to Aldon, still grinning. "At least you've got a sense of humor."

The view at the window soon draws his eyes back again, though; Akrahabadran still looms, looking like something out of a dream.

Sense Motive: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1 Failure~

As the prospective students joke among one another -- some better spirited in their jests than others -- the wagon continues its passage towards the rocky spire that Akrabahadran is perched atop. To Aldon, Hokuto offers a side-long look and a wry smile. "I was debating using a joke to describe the ascent, but I feel like Taeo may have exhausted all our tolerances of humor for one day." Instead, the fortune-teller leans back in her seat and folds her hands in her lap. "There is a trail that circles up the mesa that the school is perched on, just wide enough for this carriage to make the climb."

Out the window, the students watch as the carriage rolls along the rocky landscape beneath starlit night's skies, rumbling along the rough terrain under the pale blue glow of the lanterns. Eventually, the wagon begins its corkscrew ascent up the mesa, crawling ever higher and giving a more picturesque view of the surrounding landscape. The ruined village they had passed through earlier seems so small now, tucked away in a hidden valley between two windswept plateaus.

Halfway up the mesa, the carriage passes behind a roaring waterfall tumbling down the mesa's steep cliffs. The recession the carriage travels through is bristling with moss and fungus and hanging vines, a stark contrast to the largely vegetation-free landscape of Rahadoum that they had seen since their arrival to Garund. On the other side of the waterfall, ancient marble pillars overgrown with ivy serve as temporary perches for trilling birds of vibrant red that flit from column to column, sweeping and darting in front of the carriage's windows.

"You may recognize these birds, Taeo," Hokuto notes, motioning to the window. "They are mockingfey from the First World. They were conjured here by one of our students many, many years ago, as part of her graduation presentation." As one of the birds flits by, it peers in the window and its face shifts into a tiny likeness of Alanar before flying off and out of sight. "The mockingfey took nest in the mesa and have lived here for quite some time..."

Around the last turn of the path, the mesa wall finally gives way to the view of the crowning jewel of this stretch of forsaken desert. Here at the top of the mesa stands Akrabahadran, a towering stone citadel with soaring towers crowned with shingled spires, large stained glass windows, glass-walled greenhouses and an enormous perimeter wall surrounding lush, grassy hills and twisting trees. As the carriage approaches the perimeter wall, a blaring horn sounds and the twenty foot high iron-bound wooden doors swing slowly open, revealing a stone-paved courtyard surrounded by wood and stone houses, barns and at least one blacksmith.
 
 
 
 
 
       << Akrabahadran Courtyard | Night | Dark, Cool, Breezy | Wealday, Desnus 6th, 4715 AR >>
 
 
 
 
 

As the carriage comes to a stop, the most dominating feature between the children and the looming walls of the school is a great statue. Rising up thirty feet in height, it depicts a man in layered robes bearing a sword in one hand and a shield on his arm, a shield bearing the same symbol seen in the crypts--a winged eye--the symbol of Aroden. The very figure of whom the statue represents.

When the carriage comes to a stop in the courtyard, Crowley climbs down from the driver's seat and ambles over to the door, opening it up and flipping down the steps. "One at a time, please don't leave the courtyard yet..."

Alyona waits for the others to file out of the carriage first. While they do so, she contents herself to stare out the window at the statue and the foliage of the school's gardens. It's so much more beautiful than Irrisen. More beautiful than most of the places we've gone. Out there it seems like the world is falling apart. Is this place really a harbor in the storm? Could it actually be a haven of peace and plenty? To any observing her, she might appear to be a statue, frozen perfectly still. Her eyes are unfocused as she allows the ambiance of Akrabahadran draw her deep into her own thoughts.

The ifrit helps Ilesea out of the carriage, Alanar amazed by the wondrous craftsmanship of the place. The eyes of the merchant's son peer around the courtyard as he helps the halfling down. The blacksmith is certainly an alluring place with its furnace - he would need specific tools, but one could do a little gold smithing there with the proper materials. Almost regrettably he thought of the weapons they missed in the catacombs.

Well, there would possibly be opportunity to get raw materials later. Better than recycling the gilding from a staff at least. Right now he stared up at the statue in amazement, towering above them - he recognized the same symbol from the crypt, but of Aroden himself he was woefully uninformed.

Recalling that there were others waiting to get out of the wagon, Alanar attempts to be helpful in getting them out, offering a hand to Anlessa, Alyona, and the rest of the boys. He grins widely from ear to ear, the scent of incense still lingering around him.

"This is a nice place - better than Irrisen. Or Cheliax. Or Lastwall. Or Korvosa...Or Katapesh any more."

Taeo smiles when he sees the mockingfey fly by. They can be exasperating at times...but right now they're a familiar glimpse of home. He laughs, "Well, if they decided Akrabahadran is worth settling in, I'm sure I'll find something to keep me entertained here as well. And that waterfall could have practically been at home in Thousandbreaths."

Stepping out of the carriage into the courtyard, his gaze is drawn to the houses, barns, smith, and other sights and sounds of the first real human settlement he's seen in his life. His chest tightens a bit. Somehow in just a couple short days he's gotten somewhat used to being in a carriage full of humans -- and they've been less dull than he'd imagined. A whole town full of them though...toiling, mirthless...dressing like each other...living in little wood-and-stone boxes...surrounding me on all sides. What will it be like? How many are there?

Taeo glances nervously over at the other kids. Suddenly -- surrounded by all of these strangers -- he feels new camaraderie with his carriage-mates who are at least a known quantity in a very unfamiliar setting (and admittedly not as wearying as he'd always been told humans would be).

As she hops out of the carriage, it's easy to tell just how excited Anlessa really is. Having been too enthralled with the first sights of the school to join much in the joking of others, as soon as her feet hit the ground, she's back to looking around, an expression of pure wonderment seated across her face.

"Hopin' to be gettin' a tour of a sort?" the runaway asks, looking over to Hokuto as she moves to the edge of the group - a bit away, so she can look around better, but not far enough to earn the ire of their recruiter. She'd seen a few rather fantastic things in her travels with Lianrix, but this was far and beyond anything she had ever set foot on. She watchse back to where the mockingfey that were pointed out earlier are, a wide smile on her face.

Turning back to the statue, her head gradually cranes upwards as she looks it over, hands moving to her hips as lips quirk side to side. "One mighty sorta guardian, I'm guessin t' guess," she remarks, head canting to the side a bit. "So... so neat!" A childish giggle follows before she moves closer to the statue, continuing to inspect it with intense curiosity.

Erik is eager to get out of the carriage. It's not that the view on the trip up wasn't incredible, and the mockingfey were also neat, if a bit unsettling... but right now he wants to actually get out and get a look at the place they've travelled so long to arrive at.

Unfortunately, he's not exactly close to the door, and nearly everyone else seems eager to get out, as well--except Alyona, oddly, who's just standing at the window. Erik waits a moment to see if she's going to move; when she doesn't, he shrugs and slips past, leaving her to her thoughts.

Because of its sheer size, the statue is the first thing that Erik's attention falls on... seeing it, Erik stops and stares, going almost as still as Alyona had in the carriage. This statue is different from the one he knows--massive as it is, it's barely a third the height of the Arodennama--but it is enough to evoke a surge of tangled emotions in Erik. Deja vu mingled with surprise and unease, at the sight of something almost familiar in a place he's never been before... threaded with a wistfulness that might almost be homesickness.

After a moment, he shakes his head slowly and gives a rueful grin. Heh... of course. The college was founded around 'arcane secrets' from that ruined village, and going by that crypt, Aroden had more than a few followers around these parts, he thinks, eying the statue. He shakes his head again and sighs, still grinning that rueful grin; if there's going to be something here to remind him of Westcrown, a mini-Arodennama is far from the worst possibility.

"A tour is in the works, yes," Hokuto notes as Crowley climbs up atop the wagon to begin removing the chests tied atop it. "This area here is known as Common Town by the students and falculty," in a way, Hokuto was starting the tour early, and on the exterior grounds. "It was originally a keep that defended the palace connected to it in... older times." At that, the Tian woman's eyes avert to the cobbled courtyard for a moment, then flick up to the statue.

"Now, it is the hub for all non-student body activities. Akrabahadran could not support itself with its teachers and students alone." Motioning to the one and two story stone houses, she allows the students to examine them for a short while. The buildings look like the kind of architecture found in Absalom; tall gabled roofs shingled with stone, whitewashed masoned walls and tall, narrow windows. "Blacksmiths, tailors, cooks, cobblers... all work to maintain the school and service its students."

Furrowing her brows, Shenhua looks up to Hokuto. "Who do they sell to, if this place is sealed away from the outside world as it is?" The question elicits a raise of one of Hokuto's brows, followed by a mild smile.

"The students," is a simple enough answer. "Nothing in Akrabahadran is free. Which, goes to say that nothing in the world is free. As students you are afforded an allowance of wealth which you are able to spend here for goods you may need, whether they be materials for classes or personal research. You'll be given your starting allowance once you're settled in the first-year hall."

Stepping away from the wagon a few paces, Hokuto folds her arms within the voluminous sleeves of her kimono. "The craftsmen here come from all around the world and are descended from the first generation laborers who settled Akrabahadran a century ago. They are able to travel beyond the borders of the academy, but only in small numbers in limited frequency throughout the year to gather necessary supplies."

On that note, Hokuto returns to the students side. "Point being, now that you're here... there's no leaving. No student of Akrabahadran is permitted to leave the premises for any reason. Failure to adhere to this rule will be met with strict punishment." Turning her mismatched eyes over to Taeo, Hokuto's brows furrow in a wordless that means you too expression.

That business done, Hokuto turns to face the towering facade of the school and its four towers rising high overhead. "If you'll come along me, I'll escort you inside to your rooms. It's late, now, and there's no sense in bringing you all around the school right now. We'll get you situated in your rooms, then come morning you'll have more ample opportunity to tour the building."

Working on getting a map of the school itself up. Probably finish it tomorrow, but for now the maps themselves are up here, but without most of the keys detailed.

Alanar's interest was piqued by the opportunity of an allowance to spend on research. Of course he already had things in mind, promises to keep. He'd need a decent sized chunk of pale jade, gold and silver ingots, zinc and copper, and of course the proper tools. He hoped what was allowed to him would cover all of those expenses. Perhaps he could attempt haggling - but it was his sister who'd been the negotiator, not him.

"These rooms, how are they separated?" Alanar asks, glancing down at Ilesea. "One place for boys, the other for girls? Will it be shared space, rooming with the others? Are we the only students here right now? Will there be other teachers?" He asked, proceeding on a tangent while following Hokuto.

Alyona descends from the carriage last. She listens with interest to mistress Hokuto as she follows the other children. The little princess is quite tired after their long journey, and their ordeal in the catacombs. She yawns dramatically, then rubs at her eyes. Alyona is content to allow any questions to wait for morning. She dreams already of a bed, after so long on the road. Despite her weariness she pays attention to Alanar's questions, not wanting to miss anything.

Erik listens as well, eyes sweeping over their surroundings and taking in what he can. The thing that most surprises him out of all this is the talk of an allowance; he already knows that nothing in this world is free. 'Cept hard luck, maybe. If that ain't free, it's cheap enough it might as well be, pops into Erik's mind unbidden, drawing first a sour smile, then a frown; old habits die hard.

Not much else about what Hokuto's saying surprises him. Maybe it's that he's been taking things one moment at a time ever since leaving Westcrown, or maybe it's just that he had no idea what to expect.

The thought of getting some sleep, though, is enormously appealing; he caught a (very brief) catnap before they pulled him out of the crypt, but a few hours sleep sounds even better. He stifles a yawn of his own and follows along with the others.

Smirking at Alanar's persistently inquisitive nature, Hokuto begins to walk the students towards the front of the school across the courtyard while Crowley attends to their few possessions. "The rooms are separated by gender and by year. There are thirty-nine students presently at Akrabahadran, seven full-time faculty, and now the eight of you."

As Hokuto leads the students ahead, Deriku pauses for a moment to look up at the sky, brows furrowed, then quietly follows along behind the trailing youths. "First year students," Hokuto continues, "reside on the second floor in shared dorms, so all of the boys will reside in one bunk room and all of the girls in another." The Tian woman ascends the steps leading into the enormous archway at the front of the school, flanked by a pair of bas-reliefs of robed figures holding open books with faded words etched on their pages.

"Each tier of student and faculty is traditionally called by their Azlanti-equivalent in title. Our school's headmaster, the Exarch, is formally the Dáskalos. The other faculty members are known as Nişanci. You students are referred to as Atelis or the incomplete.." Under the arch and past a row of brick pillars, Hokuto looks back at the students as she approaches the pointed arch framing the iron-bound double doors. She pauses, turns on her wooden sandals and looks back to them all with a warm smile.

"By the end of your time here, you will be complete."
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                         T h e   M y s t e r i u m   C o m p a c t
                        BOOK I: The Ghost of Winter's Past
                                   Part II: Orientation Day
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It was hard to tell when night ended and morning began. The interior of Akrabahadran was a series of shadowy hallways, torchlight, and unfamiliar architecture the previous day. By the time the young students — so harried by their excursion to the plane of shadow — arrived in their dorm rooms, little effort was made to do anything other than collapse in goose-down beds with thick, warm blankets of spun wool and cotton bedding. The luxurious softness of the beds and the comfort provided by thick stone walls and locked doors coupled with simple exhaustion made sleeping in an unfamiliar environment easy enough.

Come dawn, the students were woken from their dorms by the sound of bells chiming through the stone walls, likely from a bell tower somewhere high in one of the looming towers that rise up at the top of the cathedralesque building. It is in the morning that the new students of Akrabahadran realize that they are the only new students. All eight of them represent all that there is for the first year.

The students are greeted by Hokuto shortly after the bell call and shown to the first year students' bath house, a spacious and tiled room with steaming hot water supplied by dragon-mouthed fonts bolted to the wall that, with a command word, supply magically generated hot or cold running water in endless supply. The students filthy clothing that was dragged through the tomb on the plane of shadow is collected by maids and attendants while they clean up, and fresh uniforms of Akrabahadran are supplied in neatly folded piles on otherwise bare marble benches.

The student attire of Akrabahadran is archaic, fashions dating back to Azlant in colors of the sky; soft cerelean blue and snow white mixed with hints of a slate hue as accent. The male uniforms are floor-length cassocks with wide sashes, tied off pouches and bags, and upturned collars. The women's uniform are shorter cassocks that are open in the front with loose-fitting white pants and bell-cuff sleeves. The female uniforms also have bright red neckties.

Once the students are properly dressed, Hokuto escorts them through largely unoccipied halls on the second floor, while sounds of other voices echo up from the floor below. Here, the students are led to a spacious chamber in the middle of the second floor where a floor-to-ceiling stained glass window sheds multicolored light across a marble floor. Tall pillars extend up from floor to ceiling, and it is assumed that this resides above the front hall they entered in from the night before.

Assessing each of the students in their uniforms, Hokuto offers a warm smile to them all. Crowley, whom had been waiting for them on their arrival, comes to hand out their personal belongings; Shenhua's ancestral weapon, a small brown satchel belonging to Deriku, and on down the line for those few who had anything left of their former lives. Then, Crowley hands them each a wide belt with an attached satchel laden with coins.

"Welcome to Orientation day," Hokuto states with a firm voice, echoing through the high-ceilinged chamber. "You have been granted your first allowance of fifteen platinum." Deriku looks momentarily baffled by the sheer value of the goods presented, brows furrowed and mouth slightly open in soundless gasp.

"With this funding, you are free to purchase whatever goods you feel you may need to better continue your studies. As you grow and advance in Akrabahadran, you will be awarded additional stipends based on your performance as a student. We will discuss that more in the future. Minor purchases will be awarded to you by the school as consideration of your academic lifestyle, so you will not want for the basics such as paper and ink." Hokuto folds her arms within the sleeves of her kimono, brows furrowing as she looks over her first-year students.

"You know me as Hokuto Ichihara," the Tian woman asserts, "but within these halls I am your instructor and guide. I am the representative of all first-year students, as well as a teacher of sciences. You will learn about alchemy, nature, and the heavens above in my teachings. Today, I will introduce you to the other instructors, take you shopping in the village, and then there will be an inauguration banquet where you will meet the fellow students of Akrabahadran."

Raising one hand and tracing a finger in the air, as if to gesture to some unseen point, Hokuto makes an important declaration. "While you will not have many classes with the other students, you will be sharing these halls with them. Your upper classmates can be helpful sources of advice, knowledge, and friendship. But, as I have seen time and again, they can also become adversaries that make your life here more difficult. Treat your relationships with the other students wisely."

That said, Hokuto folds her arms again and arches one brow. "Any questions thus far?"
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
____________
 
You have gained the following items:
 
Akrabahadran Uniform: Counts as a scholar's outfit and has a general appearance like this.
 
Currency: 15 platinum pieces (150 gp)
 
Furthermore, you are considered to constantly have a "good" lyfestyle. Therefore, any PC is able to secure any nonmagical item worth 1 gp or less from Akrabahadran in 1d10 minutes, and need not track purchases of common meals that cost 1 gp or less.
 
We will also be utilizing the relationships rules subsystem in regards to the teacher and student NPCs in Akrabahadran. More on that later.

Alyona raises her hand. "How often are ve required to vear the uniform?" she asks. She looks down at herself. It's not as if it looks horrible, in fact it's pretty cute and partially matches my eyes. I've never had to wear the same thing every day before though, how dreadfully boring and unfashionable.

Alanar had been more than a little stunned at some of the luxuries afforded to him here - the soft beds and blankets, the running water baths. Especially the running water baths. It seemed wasteful to him that the water was used purely for washing when it could be drunk, but he had to remind himself that this was not the desert any more. Water and much more plentiful here.

The uniforms were strange as well, the fashion something that he wasn't entirely accustomed to wearing. And blue was not a color he could ever remember having worn before in his life. Not to mention the fabric - it felt like cotton, not linen. He could say it was the richest outfit he'd ever worn. That, and it clashed terribly with his brass like skin.

He followed the rest, keeping an eye on Ilesea as they went. It's only after they were given a belt and purse that his focus leaves her and marvels instead on the actually platinum coins in there. One could buy half a ton of wheat and feed a small village for a year with what he had in his hands. When considering that each of them had a similar amount, the combined total of 120 platinum pieces that was doled out as an allowance and that this was only the first...

"How does this school fund itself?" Alanar blurted out, his merchant honed mind trying to figure out how deep the coffers went here.

As for relationships, I suppose at this point Alanar's going to want Hokuto and Ilesea there.

Erik fidgets all the way to the hall, tugging now at his collar, now at his sleeves; he seems full of nervous energy this morning. Ye gods, either this outfit had better get more comfortable or they'd better not expect me to wear it all the time.

Perhaps you would prefer what you were wearing a few months ago, Erik? a familiar voice whispers in the back of his mind. Erik scowls and tugs at his sleeve again. Like hell.

It isn't that the clothes are poorly fitting (though the colors are... not his favorites); it's mostly just a matter of them not being anything like what he's used to. But they are a lot more comfortable than rags and chains, and they're warm and not drafty at all. That counts for quite a bit.

Erik listens intently to Hokuto's speech, but his eyes glaze over a bit, when he hears--and sees--how much 'allowance' they've been given. For the past few years the sum total of Erik's accumulated wealth was usually gauged in coppers, or maybe a silver or two after a whole string of good days; 15 platinum, therefore, seems like a ridiculous sum of money. Whatever, I'm not about to complain. Absently, he draws one of the platinum coins out, tossing it lightly in the air a couple of times to gauge its weight and feel; the coin is fairly small, but his hands are sure and practiced. Absently, he begins to 'walk' it across the back of his hand, then makes it vanish, only to reappear in his other hand, where he starts the routine over again.

He snaps back to reality when Alyona asks her question, though, grinning briefly at her. Alanar's question, while not one Erik would have considered, also seems like a good one. 15 platinum apiece, heh... yeah, you bet I'd like to know how to have enough money to toss that much out for 'allowance'. As he ponders it, he absentmindedly resumes making the platinum coin 'dance' again, his hands moving through a selection of tricks without him even needing to think about it.

Taking 10 on Sleight of Hand for 16 to do a bit of legerdemain.

Hokuto offers a look to Alyona, one brow raised. "Whenever you are attending classes, which... is most of the time. In the evenings after dinner you are free to wear what you will, though you would be wise to supply your uniforms to the servants downstairs for washing at your discretion. If they're provided with them at night they'll have them delivered up to your dorms come morning." Then, shifting her weight to one foot slightly, Hokuto considers her answer. "There are breaks, as well... a few months a year where you are free to pursue your own endeavors. At that time you are not expected to be in uniform."

Alanar's question elicits a smile of appreciation from the fortune-teller. It is a more pragmatic one, and a question she'd not have expected from someone so young. "At great difficulty," is her off-the-cuff response. "Faculty, and some students, craft enchanted goods that are taken every three months to remote markets in Absalom to be sold. The school takes a percentage of all profits and returns a remainder to the student. Faculty produce goods solely to help upkeep the school. There are also financial investments in Abadaran banks in Absalom that provide funding for the school."

Looking around to the gathered youths, Hokuto asks one last time. "Anything else?"

____
I'll be moving us along tomorrow. There'll be some posts in the discussion thread then regarding how relationships will function, downtime, and surviving academia.

"Where might I purchase after dinner wear?" Alyona replies. She appears to be nonplussed about the uniform rules, but doesn't offer any verbal complaints. I will need to eventually purchase a set of sleeves of many garments of course. I'm already missing borrowing cousin Nina's. Though with such a paltry sum as allowance I don't know how I'll ever make due. I certainly hope there will be more incoming soon.

The Next Day:

Aldon rises groggy and disoriented. He hadn't been initially been comfortable finding out that they would all be bunking together permanently – it left a little too much room for potential mischief, unintentional or otherwise, but he was too tired to argue and couldn't imagine that he would win regardless.

The morning has come both welcome and unwelcome – dawn was not the time he would have chosen to rise, but a day spent being introduced to his new home that they had spent so much time and effort just getting to is, admittedly, an exciting prospect.

The first experience of the day confirms to him that he had made the right choice – the baths. Magic baths with steaming hot water.

Gods, this is a mercy after the road.

Aldon soaks for as long as he can manage without feeling like a layabout, head back and sighs of comfort coming regularly. When he does have to leave the bath, it's with reluctance and several forlorn glances backwards. He dresses quickly, not paying much attention to the style of the clothes until they're already situated on his person. When he does notice the style, however, Aldon can't help but be slightly wary. He had never worn anything like it, always keeping to simpler, rougher woolen clothing, and when wearing clothing of a finer cloth it had never been of such a cut. But again, there didn't seem to be a way out of it, so Aldon goes out in his attire with decent grace.

He smiles back at Hokuto when he sees her looking his way, but kicks uncomfortably as he does. But his mood lightens considerably when he receives his families' journals back, and with no slight amount of shock does he take the belt with the stuffed satchel. It's hard to keep his attention on Hokuto's words as he peruses the contents, eyeing the coins with disbelief. But once her attentions turn away from the money, he manages to pull his gaze away (though not without the occasional glance back down). He grins at her, trying and failing to put up some bravado to shield his nervousness.

"I'm glad that you're our representative. I can't say I'd be glad to going into this without you, ma'am. It's an intimidating prospect, all this. Now that I'm here... well, I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Always seemed like we'd be on the road forever, you know?" Aldon grins, then gulps. "And now we get a banquet. It's wild."

Last night, talking outside the wagon

"Point being, now that you're here... there's no leaving. No student of Akrabahadran is permitted to leave the premises for any reason. Failure to adhere to this rule will be met with strict punishment." Turning her mismatched eyes over to Taeo, Hokuto's brows furrow in a wordless that means you too expression.

Taeo makes a show of nodding solemnly...and then winks at Hokuto and smiles a smile that says, Of course you have to say that...and of course I understand that any expeditions off campus should be discrete.

...

Even with an abbreviated evening tour, Taeo’s feet drag and he finds himself thinking only of sleep. When he’s led to the first year boys’ room he falls onto the first bed that hasn’t yet been claimed. He climbs under the soft, heavy blanket, purring with pleasure. Even so, two minutes after he lays his head down he’s wide awake again: my torch!

He reaches down to where he’d dropped it and pulls it under the blankets, making a bit of a tent. Then with some excitement he pulls Hokuto’s handkerchief off of it to see what it looks like in here...but it just looks like a normal extinguished torch. Curious, he tries several ways of rekindling it: snapping his fingers, wiggling his eyebrows at it, tapping it -- all to no avail. Taeo briefly considers going out to find flint and steel...but his exhaustion wins out. I can tell it still has power in it -- more than I’ve seen so far, I suspect -- but maybe it’s as tired as I am. I can always play with it more tomorrow… And with that he drifts off, his hands still wrapped around it under the blanket.

The next morning

Taeo pulls the blanket tighter over his head as the bells start to ring, but reluctantly rises when he hears Eric, Alden, Alanar, and Stands On The Spiral getting dressed. When he gets to the bath, he’s glad he did. Much of his childhood was spent with nixies and nymphs, and once he’s submerged he happily entertains himself diving under, blowing bubbles, and squeezing streams of water into the air through his cupped hands.

When the attendant starts to tap his foot impatiently, Taeo finally climbs out of the bath. He’s happy to try on the new outfit, and admires the high color and wide sash. When he gets upstairs and realizes that everyone is wearing the same outfit...and is expected to wear it everyday, he’s confused. Turning to Alyona he whispers, ”Urff. As if it wasn’t tricky to tell one human from another already, why do something that makes it even harder? How does that make any sense?”

…

As Crowley starts to hand out packages, Taeo looks on with curiosity. Does he have anything for me? Perhaps Grottleburr left some clue for me with Hokuto, some tip as to why they left me here? But to his disappointment, Taeo receives nothing but a purse of coins.

He tries briefly to remember what human coins were worth, but the subject had always seemed dull and irrelevant. Hmmm, what did Cheklitre used to say in our lessons? There's platinum, copper, gold, and...electrum? Or was that a different plane? And just what are these worth anyway? More than a pixie’s sigh, I suspect...and surely less than a changeling’s shadow. But by how much? Are they worth as much as the memory of a summer’s day? I had lots of those back in Thousandbreaths...but I get the feeling they don't work the same way here... Looking around at the other kids, most look pleased at the allowance. Oh bother, I’m sure one of them can explain it, later.

Turning back to their mentor, he abruptly declares, "OK Hokuto, I'm ready. Let's go meet some instructors and have a banquet!"

There's something of a mirthful smile that Hokuto offers to Alyona when she asks for proper dining attire. "You're wearing it," likely isn't what the Irriseni noble wants to hear, and Hokuto seems content to leave the explanation at that as she shifts her attention to Aldon.

"I'm glad to be able to see you through your first year as well. This is a time of great learning for all of you, when you'll be making the biggest changes in your lives and discovering more about yourselves and the world around you than you ever realized possible." Hokuto's grand statement elicits a wide-eyed look of wonder from Ilesea, who—in her tiny uniform—seems almst cherub-like. In spite of her excitement, Ilesea has kept to herself, though standing staunchly beside Alanar all the while.

Stepping toward the students, Hokuto seems ready to stride straight into Aldon before she simply disappears and re-appears behind the line of students in a flourish of inky shadows and glittering starlight. She turns, one brow raised and a finger curling in a come-hither beckoning. "It is time to meet the other Nisanci."

<< Akrabahadran: Basic Spellcraft | Morning | Oathday, Desnus 7th, 4715 AR >>

From the great stained-glass decorated meeting hall, Hokuto leads the soon-to-be Ateli through the quiet second-floor hallways and towards an enormous spiral staircase they had ascended during the night on their arrival. The curving stone wall surrounding the wide staircase is decorated with paintings of exotic landscapes, cathedrals and even dramatic battles depicting the dead god Aroden. As the students descend to the ground floor, the noise level echoing through the halls greatly increases.

In the west wing, through shut doors, they can hear the din of voices in conversation, mysterious crackling and popping sounds, and even the strange cries of beasts. "The second and third year students are attending their conjuration and advanced spellcraft classes," Hokuto explains on the way to their destination. "The fourth-year students are... elsewhere, recieving an introduction to their final year from the Exarch."

Hokuto leads the children back into the main hall on the ground floor, past suits of decoratively embellished armor, marble statues depicting fantastical beasts, and across the main hall to the school's west wing. Here, she stops outside of a door marked basic spellcraft by an etched brass plaque set in the wood of the door. With a wave of her hand she issues the door open, revealing a large stone-walled classroom lined with angle-topped desks and small wooden stools. One wall looks to be hung with large, interlocked pieces of buffed slate scrawled upon with chalk. The back of the windowless classroom has four tall, standing candlabras that shed a warm glow to the room in addition to the everburning torches at the back.

Standing by the chalkboard, clearly having been waiting for the students, is a tall and thin human of fair complexion and hair. His long, blonde hair is parted in the middle and swept to the sides and back over the shoulders of his jade and copper colored robe. Elaborate bracers of woven copper and brass cover his forearms and toggles, buttons and clasps of similar metal decorate his robe. He looks near Hokuto's age, somewhere between his mid twenties and early thirties.

"Greetings, Ateli!" The pale man bows and waves a hand in front of himself in elaborate flourish, creating a swirling trail of blue clouds that whirl and ribbon from his fingertips. Hokuto rolls her eyes with a good-natured smile and bats a hand dismissively in his direction.

"I have the distinct pleasure of introducing our resident thespian and Nisanci of basic spellcraft, Danos Thir." Hokuto moves to the side from the entrance, allowing the children to more fully enter the room. Danos rises from his bow, dismissing the arc of cloudy energy with a wave of one hand.

"Madame Ichihara forgets," Danos notes with a gesture towards her, "that I am also your instructor of Arcane Artifice once you become second year students. My responsibilities are divided." With that noted, Danos walks over to the students and begins looking them each up and down.

It only took a moment of conversation for Danos to recognize Alyona—and vice-versa—as an Irriseni native. While Danos' accent has all but faded, she hears hints of it in his inflection of consonants.

"An ice-diamond from Irrisen," Danos notes with one pale brow raised as he stops at Alyona, regarding the girl with curiosity. "Surprising."

_______________
You have now been introduced to three NPCs that can have relationships established with them:

Hokuto Ichihara
Harrow Card: The Twins
Harrow Suit: Crown
Harrow Alignment: Neutral

Ilesea
Harrow Card: The Waxworks
Harrow Suit: Shield
Harrow Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Danos Thir
Harrow Card: The Mountain Man
Harrow Suit: Shield
Harrow Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

For more information on how relationships work, check the discussion thread.

Erik is still rolling the coin around on the back of his fingers when Aldon makes his comment; for a moment Erik goes completely still with surprise. Heh... sayin' something like 'yeah, what he said' would be kinda lame, but... gotta give him credit, he hit the nail right on the head.

Hokuto's reply he takes at face value--after everything that's transpired up to this point (including but not limited to the excursion into the Plane of Shadow, the magic baths, and the enormous amount of money that's been dropped into their laps), very little seems too incredible to be true... though that doesn't stop him from going wide-eyed in surprise for a moment when Hokuto seemingly walks through Aldon. He almost drops the coin, but recovers before it slips off of his hand... at which point he realizes that his hands were juggling a bloody platinum piece while his mind was wandering. He reddens slightly, stuffing the coin back into the belt, and follows along with the others, eyes flicking all around as he studies the scenes decorating the walls. By the time they make it to basic spellcraft, Erik is tugging at his sleeves again.

Erik listens as Hokuto introduces the other instructor. Wonder what a thespian is? Maybe some other kinda wizard? he ponders for a moment, then mentally shrugs and sets that one aside for now. Danos seems to be making much over Alyona--Erik's never seen an 'ice diamond', but he'd bet one of his new platinum pieces that they're expensive; Erik takes a moment to watch him. So he's going to be teaching us 'basic spellcraft', huh, Erik muses. He's teaching more advanced classes, too... does that mean he's a good teacher? Gods, I hope so. Wonder if I'll be able to learn to do the glowyhands thing? That was pretty cool. A trick like that could be... handy, heh heh, he thinks to himself.

Alyona bows to the professor of Arcane Artifice and Spellcraft. "I hope I vill be a satisfactory student Professor Thir," she says in her tinkling silver voice. "Vas that a spell you just cast? I didn't hear you chant an incantation..."

Alanar's father may have failed to teach the ifrit many things, but one of the few things he had was to see the potential of profit. If he were to become one of the students who crafted items to be sold, there would be opportunity for future returns - that which he could put back into his craftsmanship. He stored that information as useful, walking along with Ilesea as they followed the group - keeping his gait to her own pace even as they might lag behind the others.

"You are excited to be learning now, yes?" He asks her quietly. "I am as well. Sihr has always been in my blood," He tells her while wiggling his fingers. "But it is only now that I may fully understand how to use it. It should not be more difficult than determining the different qualities of silk or silver, I think. One only has to have the desire to learn about it."

He's quite impressed with the classroom, noting the teacher. It suddenly occurs to Alanar that they might be separated from Hokuto for these classes - surely she has other duties here as well.

Though when the teacher compares the Irriseni girl to an ice-diamond he can't help himself but speak up. "That's not right," He adamantly said. "She's 14-carat yellow gold with sapphires. Blue hue, vivid saturation, light tone. I said as much on the way here," He argued.

"Thesbian?" Anlessa repeats outloud, finally a bit more focused, head out of the clouds but still looking rather confused as she moves up with the others. She doesn't say the word properly, in that way she doesn't say a lot of words properly. It would seem a lot of the last few minutes might have come off as gibberish to her, prompting the puzzled look that sits across her face. "On about what, then? Not gettin' it," she remarks, hands falling to her side as she considers the room and the man a bit more critically than she had anything before.

Still, she can't help but wave, the momentary analytical thought passing back into her usual excited demeanour as a smile spreads across her lips. Looking over to Alyona, then Alanar, her smirk widens, and she shakes her head. "All wrong, you've got it," she says over to the Ifrit. "Wasin' the teacher got it right, cold an' all!"

She giggles at her own joke, before offering an apologetic look over towards Alyona - it's just a joke! Try not to get so upset this time, please? Feeling all to amused with herself, Anlessa finally relaxes a bit more, eyes beginning to wander around the room again.

Danos cracks a smile at Alanar, shifting his pale stare over to the Ifrit. "You misunderstand," the Irriseni man notes with a flourish of one hand, leaving Anlessa's question unanswered. "It is a play on words, noting that she is simply a beauty of rare quality from a cold, cold land. Not much more." There's a moment where Danos offers a look back to Alyona, a look that seems interrogative and probing, before he flicks hsi icy stare back to Alanar. "You have the mind of a craftsman, though?"

"Alanar is an apprentice smith, I think you and he will have much to learn from one-another," Hokuto notes with a side-long glance to Danos, her arms folded within the sleeves of her kimono. Danos regards the half-blind woman, then closes his eyes and offers a nod of affirmation before stepping back a bit from the row of children.

"And," he murmurs, tracing a finger in the air and leaving a wake of light swirling in its wake. "Prestidigitation is no spell, it is an intuitive art for me. A trick I picked up along the way."

"Danos was something of a scoundrel before he came to Akrabahadran," Hokuto notes with a crooked smile, eliciting a twitch of Danos brow and a flick of his wrist in the Tian woman's direction. Her smile turns more wry as she cocks a brow at the Irriseni man, then looks to the students.

At that exchange, Shenhua furrows her brows and watches Danos a bit more intently, curious of what the man's past prior to Akrabahadran had to do with his ability to do magic such as that. She looks at her peers, then chooses to remain silent with her arms crossed—much as Hokuto is.

"Do you have any more questions for Danos? Otherwise I'll move us along." Hokuto asks of her charges, one brow still raised in inquisitive expression.

A scoundrel, huh... izzat so, Erik muses to himself, speculatively studying the man again. "I like him already," he says quietly, cracking a faint grin. After a moment, though, he frowns, speaking up. "I've got one," he says to Hokuto, before looking to Danos. "Does that mean you won't be teaching us--" here he pauses, his frown deepening in concentration as he tries to make sure he gets the word correct, "--prest-idi-gitation in class?" he asks, looking mildly disappointed at the thought.

Taeo only half-listens to Danos' words, instead attempting to feel his way through the spaces between the words of his teachers. He was waiting for us, wasn’t he? And Hokuto traveled for months to collect the lot of us. What do we mean to them, then? Why do they want us here, really? And if I ask them that, what will they say...and what will they actually mean?

While trying to wrap his head around the mystery, one spoken phrase catches his interest: "Arcane Artifice" sounds very exciting, much more so than "Basic" anything! Taeo finds himself wondering if he can start in on that earlier. Surely I have a headstart on artifice, compared to humans who can’t even laugh at a pratfall in a spooky graveyard!, he muses.

Approaching Danos, Taeo decides to see what the teacher does (and doesn’t) say if he probes a bit into the Niscani's motives. ”I'm Taeo Oneshape," he says, with a flourish of his hand to match the teacher's. "I look forward to learning from your arcane artifice, Niscani. We know a little bit now about what you teach, but I'm curious: Can you tell us why you teach here?”

Taeo's question elicits a moment of quiet consideration from Danos, one that is only interrupted by his choosing to answer Erik instead. "You'll learn plenty of interesting cantrips, depending on your area of focus. Everyone is different, we'll see what your soul winds up calling out."

With that somewhat vague answer given, Danos' response to Taeo is more direct. "I was an Ateli, once." Folding his hands behind his back, Danos paces a few steps away from the students, then circles back. "Years ago, I was just like you. I left my life behind because of a calling, because Akrabahadran wanted to show me my true potential. I forged a bond that..." Danos' eyes drift down to the floor for a moment, then flick back up to Taeo. "I teach because there is a purpose to this school, beyond just educating and expanding the horizons of talented youths. But that purpose is a part of your journey," he waves his hand back and forth in slow gesture, as if trying to part an unseen mist. "Perhaps at the end of your time here, you too will become Nisanci, and find that purpose."

He admits there's some secret purpose! A mystery to solve! I wonder, if I solve it...will the feyfolk bring me back home?

Taeo smiles to Danos and nods. "I'll look forward to learning then. Especially when we get to arcane artiface! And to the journey."

He lets his gaze start to wander around the room, looking for new clues as to this purpose and journey, ready to follow Hokuto to the next Nisanci and then next piece in the puzzle.

Erik tilts his head at the Nisanci's response. 'What my soul winds up calling out?' That's a kinda funny way to put it, isn't it? His response to Taeo's question is even more interesting, though... and perhaps a little unsettling, as well. A bond? What kind of bond? And... a purpose...? What purpose? Erik frowns uncertainly as his thoughts chase each other in circles.

Erik has had experience with ulterior motives and surprises in the past; typically it hasn't ended well for him. But as he glances around the room, his gaze falls on Hokuto, and with that his resolve returns; he's able to push his doubts away. Feh. At the end of this 'journey' he's talking about, I'll find the answer anyway. Erik decides, nodding to himself.

"So you will teach me how to make more profitable pieces and new ways to bless the world with the light of my flames?" Alanar asks, thinking it over in his head. Good skills to know. He looks at Anlessa, mildly confused by her joke - and more so by Taeo's odd phrasings in Taldane. He wondered if he was misunderstanding some things. Either that or if the trade language was a second tongue to him like to the ifrit.

"Of which lessons are you more interested?" He asks the halfling girl, but poses the question open t the rest of the students. "The sorcery or the crafting?"

Glancing up to Alanar, Ilesea cracks a faint smile and furrows her brows. "I've always wanted to learn magic," she admits in a small, reserved tone of voice. The diminutive halfling folds her hands behind her back and rocks onto her heels, then forward onto her toes. "I've wanted to make my dreams come true, where I can fly, and walk through walls..."

Ilesea uplifts her eyes to Alanar, one brow lifted. "Have you ever dreamt of a spirit that watches over you? I've dreamt of a big, white horse with a horn made of silver, curved like a scimitar, and he's got big," her arms throw out to the side, "big feathery wings!" Getting excited about the prospect, Ilesea cracks a wide smile and clasps her hands together.

Listening to Ilesea, Hokuto offers a look to Danos, one brow raised. The two exchange a look, subtly knowing, only to have Hokuto break up the revelry. "Alright then. I think we've taken enough of Nisanci Thir's time for now." Unfolding her arms, Hokuto motions towards the door. On seeing the students preparing to leave, Danos walks by each one of them and offers a smile and a shake of their hands. Though for Alyona instead he merely inclines his head and keeps one hand at his chest; the subtlest suggestion of a bow in its place.

A promise gone unstated.
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
      << Akrabahadran: Alchemy Lab | Morning | Oathday, Desnus 7th, 4715 AR >>
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
On leaving Danos' classroom, Hokuto leads the students back into the main hall. By the time they arrive, the echoing din of voices fills the air, of a crowd of students somewhere nearby but always seeming to be just out of sight. The click and clack of shoes on the stone floors echo through the halls of the school, and the noise of a class ending sends other students upstairs, the sound of their voices getting more and more distant. Perhaps it is part of Hokuto's plan, to keep the new students from meeting the older ones until the banquet in the evening. Perhaps it is just coincidence.

Through the main hall, Hokuto leads her young wards to the east wing of the castle, past the main stairs and into a warm, humid stone room divided into two sections by a sliding wooden door. The first room, unoccupied, is filled with long, black-topped tables made of enameled granite with deep basins of iron in them. Bottles, jars, flasks and narrow vials are hung on shelves lining the walls, and the entire room smells of strange spices, herbs, and chemicals.

Through the open doorway at the middle of the room, Hokuto brings the students into a spacious, well-lit classroom with no real desks to speak of. There are square, wood tables surrounded by stools, each laden with wooden bowls, mortar, and pestle. The far wall is made entirely of glass, fogged by condensation, beyond which a veritable jungle appears to grow within a glass encasing.

Walking around the room, cleaning up the tables, is an exotic looking woman of inhuman nature. Her legs are that of a stag; cloven hooves and bend backwards. She wears a pair of gold-inlaid ceramic bangles around her ankles that fit her narrow legs snugly. Her upper torso is humanoid, wrapped in fine cotton of azure hue trimmed with gold leaf and silver fringe; Kelish fashions. But her head is the most inhuman part of her. For this woman's face is animalistic, with a wide and broad snout and slightly elongated face. Her eyes are night black and almond shaped, and a pair of gently curving ram horns twist back from her head. Her skin is pale and completely hairless, showing defined muscle tone. On her brow, a dark, red sigil is tattooed.

Taeo has seen something like her before—on the first world—but her kind are typically cruel and murderous.

"صباح الخير," the horned woman cheerfully states in greeting to Hokuto and the arriving students. Alanar picks up on the Kelish language immediately. Carrying a stack of wooden bowls over to an open counter space, she looks at the children as they emerge inside ans Hokuto goes about her introductions.

"Students, this is the Nisanci of natural sciences and advanced spellcraft, Vesix." At the introduction, Vesix sets the bowls down and dips her head forward in a nod, her small deer-like ears flicking reflexively as she does. "Vesir instructs alchemy, botany, medicine, and higher incancation and magic. You'll be learning alchemy and other natural sciences from her this year, then advanced spellcraft later on."

Ilesea looks taken aback by Vesix's appearance, cupping one hand over her mouth and staring at the horned woman with wide eyes.

____________________

Vesix
Harrow Card: The Lost
Harrow Suit: Star
Harrow Alignment: Chaotic Evil
 

Alanar's smile dims slightly at the mention of dreams. "I have had one dream recently, more often than most. A dream of dancing amidst fire and ash..." He perks up a bit, looking at the halfling girl. "But your dream sounds quite wonderful - do you ride the scimitar horse?" He asks her, as they head to the next classroom.

It's here that Alanar is quite taken in - not by the Nisanci's strange appearance, but by the very intricate bangles she wears. Hearing his native language spurs the ifrit to start speaking in it, as he steps closer to get a good look at her jewelry.

"السيراميك، مع تطعيم الذهب. براعة نوعية جيدة." He says, before recalling himself and switching back to Taldane. "Ah, a thousand pardons - I was taken in by your jewelry..." He says, looking at her for a moment before something clicks in his head.

"...your feet are hooves," He suddenly realizes out loud. "That is very unusual."

Alyona hides any surprise she might have over the newly introduced instructor's appearance, and executes a bow towards her. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, m'am," she says. I have absolutely no interest in the subjects taught here. But it wouldn't due to be seen as rude, I will still need to excel here, despite my boredom. I wonder what Nisanci Thir intended with that bow? Certainly he can't still see me as one of his lieges?

Erik is grinning faintly as they leave the basic spellcraft room; Ilesea's little speech is probably the most he's heard her speak in the two months he's known her.

"I'm with her on the magic," Erik chimes in. "Artificin's a good livin', no doubt... better than anything I coulda hoped for before I came here, to be sure," he says, his expression growing darker and more sober for a minute at that, like a cloud passing over the sun. His grin returns quickly, though. "But between artificin' and wizardin'? No contest," he says, giving Ilesea a nod and a friendly grin.

The first thing Erik notices upon arriving at the next room is the warmth, but his second impression soon eclipses the first. What is that smell? he thinks to himself, shaking his head and rubbing at his nose as he tries to figure out just what it is he's smelling. Smells kinda like... spices, I think? A little bit, anyway...

The arrival of their next instructor takes him by surprise a bit, though; for a moment, he just stares blankly. Anywhere else, I'd probably drop everything and head for the nearest rooftop if I saw something like that lookin' at me funny, but here... well... it's not like she's that much stranger than anything else that's happened in the past two days. Or the past two months, for that matter. And she sounds cheerful enough, whatever it is she's saying... He takes a deep breath, then raises a hand tentatively and gives a little wave. "Um. Hallo."

As Hokuto leads them out into the hall and on toward the next teacher, Alanar and Eric are talking about making things. Suddenly startled, Taeo calls out to their guide, ”Hold on, Hokuto! Danos teaches arcane artifice. Does he mean magical deception? Or magical crafting?” It's clear from his tone of voice which one he's excited about and which sounds disappointing.

____________

A complex mix of emotions assault Taeo when he sees Vesix. I've seen one of those before, in the Witchmarket! What are they called again? Despite her cheery tone he knows that these whatchamacallits tend to be violent and untrustworthy. In the First World, he shied away from the more vicious fey as best he was able, though there were so many of them in Thousandbreaths that they couldn’t be avoided completely. Here...well so far from home it was almost like encountering a cousin. She’s likely cruel, but she surely won’t be dreary!

Approaching her with a playful bow he says, Taeo Oneshape, of Thousandbreaths,” he introduces himself. ”Where do you hail from, Nisanci? I see you speak Alanar’s tongue.”

"Meep." Anlessa intones quietly, stopping a bit as Vesix steps into her view. Her appearance is striking to the young girl, both for it's alien nature, and despite her sharing a few physical qualities with her former mentor she is still taken aback. Swallowing down any reservations, though, she steps forward and offers a half bow, trying to be at least a bit formal - an act immediately undone by how she reaches up and attempts to bop Alanar on the back of his head. "Rude an' unkind, wasin' you are." She laughs a bit, before turning to face the instructor once more as she tries to ignore her own comments that sit on the tip of her tongue.

"Anlessa Kowan," she introduces with a cheerful tone. It's a bit forced, definitely, but she continues on anyway. "Nicein' meetin' you here." A quick glance is offered towards the others, taking in their reactions. She can't quite think of anything to say, brow furrowed as she studies the strange woman in front of her, curiosity possibly bordering on rudeness of her own as she stares.

Anlessa would be finding a bit of sweet smelling soot on her hand now from smacking Alanar on the back of the head. He looks back at her confused. "I paid her a compliment - it was not rude nor unkind. Was it?" He asks, looking at the others, Hokuto and Ilesea.

Earlier

Danos cracks smile to Taeo, then shakes his head. "I am sorry to disappoint, my fey-blooded student, but I am a crafter, not a..." he pauses, brows furrowed for a moment, then mirthfully waves a hand in the boy's direction. "Deception is not taught here." The answer itself practically drips with deception of another kind.

______________

Currently

Amused by the children's antics, Vesix shakes her head and clip-clops across the lab to where a small shrub grows in an old terracotta pot. Picking up a short knife, she begins pruning the branches. She lets the comment of her hooves pass aside, though Hokuto does cover her mouth in a bemused smirk, and Ilesea offers a look at Alanar of likewise amusement. While the fire-hearted boy may not realize his awkward faux-pas, those two do.

"I was born in the Darkmoon Forest, many, many miles from here." Vesix clips a branch off of the shrub, glancing over at the students. "Orphaned, and eventually taken in by an old woman named Ulizmila who lived in the forest and taught me witchcraft. I have loved, I have lost, I have learned... just as you all shall do." Continuing to prune the shrub, Vesix looks intermittently back to the students as she speaks.

"But, I speak many tongues. To know someone is to be able to speak to them as if you were their kind. Sometimes, to teach, I have had to speak as my students do. I taught a man who is now a Nisanci, before he could speak any other language than Kelish." Turning her dark eyes back to the students, she eyes Alyona briefly.

"Witchblooded," is noted firmly, but without prejudice. "You all seem to have a taste for exotic, no surprise with the head-hunter that found you." Done trimming the tree, Vesix collects the trimmings into a pouch at her waist and moves to more properly get a look at the students.

"Fey-kin, efreeti-blooded, and then you plain folk..." Vesix motions to the other students. "You keep your secrets and uniqueness sheathed like a knife. I can appreciate that." Scratching at her chin, Vesix takes a step back and asks a question of the students.

"If you could learn how to do one thing with magic — any one thing — what would it be?"

If he could learn a single thing to do with magic, what would he do? Alanar only thought on it briefly before speaking back to the fey woman the simplest goal he could think of to learn. "Protect my friends and family. What else is more important than that?" He asks, smiling brightly.

Kill. Alyona giggles as she says, "A lady never reveals her secrets."

Taeo’s head swims with all the magical sights he’s seen in the First World, ”Oh gosh, I’ve always wanted to fly, and to turn invisible, and to charm people and make illusions. Everyone always teases me for not being able to shapeshift into anything; maybe that would be the one thing?”

He pauses then, his expression shifting in a heartbeat as he looks at all these humans, all of them bound to die. ”Oh except if I could use magic to become a real fey -- not just fey-kin -- so I could live forever in the First World! Can I?”

One thing... no prisons, no chains, no more having to worry about starving tomorrow or something gnawing your face off while you sleep... it's all the same, but... how do you say that as just one thing...? Erik thinks with some frustration. His thoughts chase each other in circles for a few moments as he tries to figure out how to articulate his wish.

"Heh... kinda hard to pin it down to just one thing. A lot of the stuff Taeo mentioned sounds neat: flyin', turnin' invisible, charmin' people, makin' illusions. Livin' forever doesn't sound bad either; there's a lot I could do if I had that much time." Erik grins, then hesitates for a moment longer. "If I had to pin it down to one thing, though... I guess I'd say, live free. Livin' forever sounds nice, but it wouldn't do you any good if you had to do it stuck in a cave or a prison or somethin', with nothin' to do with all that time but stare at walls and go nuts," he says, grinning a little.

Anlessa quirks an eyebrow at Alyona, rolling her eyes after a moment passes. "Alanar's gettin' it," she remarks, thumbing over in here direction. "Thinkin' I'd like t' pick something like that too." Admittedly, it's not her first choice, but it probably sounds better than make everyone care or something like that.