Magic and 'Magic'

Adventurer's Council, evening.

At this hour, little remains of the daytime traffic that frequents the Great Hall of the Adventurers' Guild. A few mill about the adjoining offices and briefing rooms, including a scattering of guards on their evening shifts. Luminous mana lamps hang from the vaulted ceiling, suffusing the space with their warm glow. The statues and stained glass images that decorate the hall stand in sharper contrast to their surroundings than in daytime. Their majestic presence can be felt even more so in the mostly empty hall. A faint but distinct scent of seafood wafts through the air.

Lucius paces leisurely alongside one of the walls within. He comes to a stop before a series of murals depicting events from the life of the disgraced Augustus, and contemplates in silence with his head tilted backwards and his hands folded behind his back. The young adventurer inhales deeply as he surveys the scenes on the wall before him. One mural particularly fascinates him: the exile of Augustus, achieved by a band of adventurers as retribution for attempting a forbidden ritual involving blood sacrifice. He gazes unblinkingly at the depiction with his lips curved into a sad, bemused smile.

As is her custom, this little Shadow Elf has been out wandering too late and the night's frigid winds started up before she realized the time and need to get somewhere sheltered, warm, and cozy. Granted, as she wandered, she realized there was a place in the city she hadn't been yet, and a place she actually wanted and needed to go. Consulting passersby led her to the Warehouse District.

Fizzy hopes that this nearest building is the one she's looking for. It appears welcoming enough, more so than the boring old warehouses that have all closed up shop, anyway. She moves quicker as those sharp, crystalline snowflakes begin to blow in, the kind that tell you that this one's going to be a doozy. She's allowed in, and moves away from the doors as quickly as possible. And then looks around in wide-eyed curiosity.

The little elf is bundled to the gills, in several layers, with sort of a lump against her right leg. She's not un-layering until the wind that blew in with her dies down and she's certain it's warm enough. When it is, She begins the arduous task, at least until that bulge reveals itself to be the funniest looking housepet Alexandria has ever seen!

Lucius turns his gaze toward the sound of rapid entering footsteps, his face still a mask of somber reflection. He peers inquisitively at the visitor, and after a few seconds, he decides to approach and greet her, throwing one last glance over his shoulder at the mural of Augustus as he does so. The albino capybara's reveal gives him barely a moment's pause, as he stops before the elf and favors her with a welcoming smile. "I think you'll find it much warmer inside these halls, a good place as any to escape tonight's inclement conditions," he observes. "And you have a lovely companion, if I may say so." He grins at the capybara, before offering his hand.

"My name is Lucius, though you may also call me Luke. I happen to have the fortune of being an adventurer in the Guild's employ, though I have not served for long. I've only arrived in this city a month ago, at most. Fortunately, it seems the weather isn't always this bad," he remarks lightly.

Fizzy allows her fascination for the hall itself to be redirected to the human greeting her. Anyone who met her or saw her from a distance when she first arrived will notice some differences. However at this time, no such person is present. She glances again at something shiny that catches her attention for a second, then gives this man a cursory appraisal so as not to be rude. She hopes.

Her eyes are full of merriment as she asks, "Are you talking to me or my capybara?" She grins after those words and takes the proffered hand. "I'm Fisy-le’athavara, but that's truly a mouthful for most people, so please call me Fizzy. I'm charmed to meet you, Luke." And after an appropriate interval of handshake-slash-squeeze, she releases and curtsies awkwardly. "This is Xote. He's--" she pauses, peering into Luke's face, trying to figure out if he's going to judge her for her life's choices, but gives up and continues, "--He's my familiar."

Luke nods as Fizzy introduces herself and her familiar. "Likewise, Fizzy. Don't worry, I will not slight your beautiful name with a woefully inadequate pronunciation," he jokes. After a moment, he glances at Xote again. "Oh, and does he talk? Xote, I mean." His voice falters slightly at the last few words.

The Shadow Elf smiles warmly at the question, "Oh, gods no, not yet. I hope someday to be able to do that. My studies have told me that's going to happen when I'm experienced enough. I'm not so sure, though, because it seems so far away. And it's not like I can learn my magic from books, so there's that." She pauses here, some sort of color touching her cheeks and seeming to inspire a need to bend down to give Xote a warm scriffle. She bids the capy, "You may meet people, just use your best judgment, and don't be intrusive."

Xote's blue eyes brighten and he takes a moment to specifically greet Lucius with a curious sniff and snuffle, nosing at a knee. He's probably not technically intrusive, but he does seem to be waiting for something.

"You've been approved, Ness. Sorry about all that wait." A representative of the Explorer's Guild says when one of the briefing room doors opens. A Tsuran girl follows, a colored skirt, dark hair, and dark eyes. A bit flashy for these parts, and not much dressed for the weather. "We just need to stop by the front desk." she assures the woman.

Inesse skips a step, following her advisor, nodding in a bobbing fashion as she follows. "That was it? That's all I had to do?" she calls after Guild-Woman walking with her, the pause at the front desk soon leaving the woman at the front desk alone, and a bit wide-eyed. "What do I do now?" a look cast out about the hall.

"Oh, right. That would make sense, wouldn't it." Luke blinks twice, and then tilts his head to better observe Xote's greeting. He reaches down and cautiously pets Xote on his back. "I hope you get there one day, and please do let me know if I can ever be of assistance to you in your journey. Oh, and does he, uh, does he want a snack?" he asks Fizzy.

The Tsuran draws his attention briefly. He waves to her and smiles reassuringly. "Welcome, friend," he calls out. "Don't be fooled by the warmth in these halls, it's rather cold outside tonight. I reckon it'd be best to add on a few layers while you still can."

The little, dusky-skinned elf is partially bundled, holding some outerwear over one arm. She may be strong enough to bear it, but she's also small enough that should she load that arm up with the rest of her warm things, it's possible she'd tip over. Not yet, however!

Fizzy hasn't removed some furs and cloaks; Xote's a little shivery, though, and rubs up against Lucius's warm leg. She grins, "Yes, probably. I worry that he'll eat too much, though. He gets so many snacks from my cousin and his wife. And everyone at the Fernwood. And wherever we go, really," she finishes. With those last words, she turns her gaze over at some interesting dialog nearby and nearly takes a step in that direction.

In an attempt to be unintrusive, Fizzy softly asks, "Is.. Is that how to become a member?"

"Nah, I know it's a bit cold, but I can make it back to my room." Inesse says, drawn out of her thoughts as she looks upon the two who address her. She holds some paperwork in hand, keeping it close as she flashes a grin and bright look. As she steps that way her footwork and pace is a bit meandering, but deliberate. As if she's walking some invisible rope.

"Is, what? Oh! Yeah!" Inesse's excitement rising a bit. "I was applying to be a cadet, but some things happened." she says, offering a slight shrug as she pauses before the two. A glance roaming from Luke to Fizzy as she speaks. "I had to do a practical exam, and a proctored written test." her hand rising to tick away on her fingers. "A really boring interview was last. Took hours." looking then about the hall. "I've been here since this morning, but they gave me approval? So yeah, you can apply here." taking a while to answer the question.

"I'm Inesse. If you wanted to know." flashing her paperwork, the top line having her name in bold trade-speak 'Inesse Amsel'.

"You're also an adventurer, Fizzy? Of course, I should have guessed." With one hand, Lucius withdraws a sugar cube from within his cloak. "I need to get more of these," he mutters, as he lowers his hand and offers the cube to the waiting capybara.

Meanwhile, he peers at the newly minted cadet. "My name is Lucius, or Luke for short. Lovely to meet you, Inesse, and congratulations! I myself applied not a month ago. It would be fantastic to work a job with you, and I hope we get assigned one together soon." To Fizzy, he adds, "My application was also simple, if a bit tedious. You've got magic right? It should be easy, especially for someone like yourself. I look forward to working with you soon as well." He smiles enthusiastically.

As Inesse overhears and comes on over, Fizzy blushes a bit more, and bends down to pet Xote, her fallback for when she's feeling awkward and needs to reset herself. Xote obviously senses his mistress's distress and returns to her, all two feet away, and presses against her fur-clad leg. What could Fizzy have done before she met Xote?

Thus comforted, Fizzy straightens and smiles at Inesse, taking in her appearance. "Hullo! I'm Fisy-le’athavara, but you don't need to call me anything but Fizzy. Not only is Fisy-le’athavara a mouthful and probably difficult to understand the way I rattle it off, it's not really necessary. I only know it from my moms calling me it when I was doing something egregiously wrong." She has no specifically discernible accent, but bits of accents from here and there scattered through her speech.

Fizzy returns her attention up to Luke, then to Inesse, then back to Luke. "There's an hours-long test to become a member?" she asks faintly. "Oh gods."

GAME: Inesse rolls sleight of hand: (18)+10: 28

Inesse gives a slow nod, the sugar cube and capybara watched. "Magic?!" the word from Luke catching her attention. "Oh, Is that a familiar?" she asks, pointing quickly to the albino. Her guild papers are folded, and folded some more. A small square stuffed into a palm after her gesture. "I'd felt it rude to ask why you were holding a giant donkey-rat, but It makes sense now."

"And It's a pleasure, Luke. Fizzy. If we're going by the nicknames, I guess my family called me Ness." offering them each a hand. At once. Left to Fizzy, right to Luke. Her paperwork suddenly gone, nowhere to be seen. Her palms free for them to shake.

GAME: Lucius rolls Perception: (5)+6: 11

GAME: Fizzy rolls perception: (8)+5: 13

"You've nothing to worry about," Luke reassures Fizzy. "I'm sure the Guild will be pleased to welcome another magic user. I didn't know what to expect at all, but in hindsight, I'd say best to get it over with quickly so that we can start having fun adventuring."

His eyes widen slightly as Inesse vanishes her paperwork, but he recovers to accept her handshake. "That has got to be a useful trick to know," he remarks with evident admiration. "Where did you learn to do things like that?"

Fizzy shakes Ness's left hand, naturally it's awkward for the short elf in every sense of the word. She nods, though, brightening. "Well, yeah. Xote is my familiar and he's very pleased to meet you. He's cold, still, as we just came in and it's nasty out. I don't know if it's allowed, but I'm tempted to find the library here and just read through the night until the sun shines the weather away. She doesn't and won't notice or figure out where those papers went.

Xote's eyes are bright, and despite still being chilled, he noses over to Luke again, happily accepts the sugar, and noses the hand that gifted it. He's a curious little dude, so he side-steps a little to nose at Inesse's knee.

She looks up at Luke again and nods slightly. "How do I apply, then? There's a lot I want to learn, and a lot I need help learning, and I feel like this would be a great place to learn most of it and make friends!" And ending there, she unconsciously adds a hopeful smile.

Inesse makes a 'box' with her hands. Index fingers and thumbs framing her face as she offer's a big smile. "Moon's Circus!" she says as the two look at her, and mention her trick. It seems she's proud of it, a beaming smile flashed between the two. "My Pa and Ma run it."

"Sorry, I heard you mention magic, and... it's about all I know." Inesse says, tugging the folded paperwork from where it was pinned in a bracelet. "They call me a skulk, or dungeoneer, but really I'm just an acrobat. Don't let the fancy job titles fool you."

"And it's simple Fizzy. See that lady over there, that lovely little blonde girl that looks like she's from Stormguard?" pointing out the representative she'd been with. "That's Nancy. She'll get you an application, and even explain the process. She did it for me." Inesse says.

"Xote." Irnesse says slowly after, leaning to take a bit more of a peek at the familiar. "I like it."

"Adventuring is a great way to make friends," Luke agrees with Fizzy. "And we all have much to learn, I'm sure of it. It's wonderful, though, isn't it? I'd imagine that's why we're all here." He grins. "It's only a matter of time before we all increase our abilities and become the adventurers we've always wanted to be."

As Ness explains her background, Lucius listens intently. "The Moon's Circus," he murmurs. "It's my first time hearing that name, but they sound amazing. Do they perform in Alexandria? I'd love to see a show sometime."

Fizzy's smile brightens. "I know of that circus! I have never seen it, though. Someday. I expect it's almost better than the big ones." She looks over at Lucius and nods, "I hope they come here. I'd love that. I, um, used to want to be in the circus. I never had any marketable skills beyond survival. I haven't even been able to do magic all that long. My moms were despairing that I'd never amount to anything. It's all working out, though. Xote's my familiar and when I met him, everything just sort of fell into place and my life had meaning."

She returns to watching the animated Inesse. "What sort of magic do you do? Disappearing is a very cool trick. I haven't learned that yet, but if I may be so bold, it doesn't really seem like that was magic, but a physical trick. Please correct me if I'm wrong? I don't know very much yet."

As always, Xote picks up on Fizzy's emotions and returns to her to nose at her hand. The elf frowns a little. "Do you think, I mean, is there somewhere I can put my warm outdoor clothes? Because I'm getting too warm. Wait... do they close up for the night here?" Her questions seem to be directed to both.

Inesse ehs, as she looks away from Fizzy. "It might be a year or two. They kind of passed this place by. All the crazy kept them out near the Vast with my cousins this season."

"Uh? I'm a contortionist? Not magic, not 'real' magic." Inesse admits with a shrug. "I'm good with makeup? Again. No real magic." she muses with a laugh.

"Uh, if you need a place to stay. The Fernwood isn't that far, and they have rooms and places to put your coat. Further is the TarRaCe." she lists, shrugging. "Not made it there, but the gossip is good." flashing a glance to Luke. "I had thought to check the job boards before I left, but I could show either of you the way."

"I've not visited this place more than a few times, and I don't know either," Luke admits as he scans the surroundings. "They might not be able to offer a place to stay the night, though." Then Inesse mentions some local destinations, and Luke quickly nods. "I've got a room at the Fernwood," he replies, glancing at Fizzy. "Actually, it's about time I should be on my way as well. Best to beat the storm before it gets any worse."

Intent on the conversation, on absorbing every little tidbit of information, Fizzy nods frequently at each dizzying change of topic. "A contortionist...job boards?" that's what she focuses on now. "Where are the job boards, are they here? I mean, for when I'm accepted. Or if," And that last is whispered under her breath.

Xote is circling Fizzy's legs, his intent unreadable, even for his mistress, who looks down at him in consternation. "What... Xote, are you all right?" Then she realizes, "Oh. He wants to go to sleep, he's trying to herd me." She turns a grin to her companions, "I'm currently at the Fernwood, too. We can walk there, just let me wrap myself and Xote back up again!"

On that note, everyone heads out into the cold to find their beds and snug up in blankets and near fires.