Menagerie of Adventures

Freana

Freana didn't tear her gaze away from Verona for a second. Not because she was a threat. She could probably bat her away with her paw if it came to it. But she wouldn't let a challenge go unanswered.

"Nothin' against that. But most people wait until whoever's in the way gets out of the way before shovin' 'em aside. Least in most civilized places, ya know? So that don't cut it."

Edited by kkhohoho on Sep 13th 2020 at 6:07:22 AM

The helmeted one had figured that everyone was heading to the assembly hall, so they managed to retain enough awareness of their surroundings to follow them into the large room, being sure to strategically sit at the back where it was unlikely they would be noticed. Then the faculty started talking. ...They briefly considered that they might want to listen, maybe they'd have some interesting history, but... nah, they'd find out later. So they went back to their book for a bit.

They were reading about the challenges posed by capturing gases for usage in experiments and industry. Most of them didn't cool into a liquid state even at sub-zero temperatures. There were a lot of theories about the use of magic to induce cooling, but magic in general has a nasty habit of interfering with natural processes. The figure did perk up a bit when hearing the instructors say something about magic training. They sighed at their frankly ridiculous appearance - why did casters insist on dressing like that? That's just asking for trouble if your magic goes off at an inconvenient moment. But whatever, maybe they could help out with some of these roadblocks. If they could carry around gases with them in a liquid form to be utilized at any time, the possibilities are practically endless.

Unfortunately their concentration was broken by some overexcited idiot jumping up and yelling to the ceiling. Well, crap. ...This wasn't the best place to be reading, was it?

As everyone got up to go look at the board, they figured they should probably do the same. They'd need work, and lots of it, to test some things in a real-world environment. And also money, they'd need that. Never can have too much money.

Thus, they got themselves up, and headed straight to the board. Scooting to the side to try and sneak in a glance, they had a bit of trouble due to the abundance of people trying to do the exact same thing. This wasn't at all helped by how they were all much taller than them, and now a pair of them right next to them sounded like they were about to engage in some sort of chest-thumping ritual combat. If they started throwing punches right here in the freaking assembly hall, that would not bode well for this place.

Sieglinde von Brandt

“Freana. It's okay. Really,” Sieglinde said in a patient tone, smiling gratefully up towards the Fenrir for a moment. “Thanks though. She didn't mean bad. I get in the way all the time anyways~!”

She made to shake Verona's hand with a small grin, seemingly more pleased by her actually entertaining a conversation rather than annoyed she'd been knocked into.

“Hi, Verona! I'm Sieglinde, but you can call me Sigi if you want~! I am from Vandia; I guess I'm short 'cause I'm half-Alvar? My dad was pretty small...” she shrugged, chuckling in apparent reminiscence. “Mom could carry him with one arm~! And... carry me now, thinking about it. Still can, actually...”

Edited by Enirboreh on Sep 13th 2020 at 12:29:43 PM

Freana

Freana was still ready to go toe-to-toe with Verona, but Sig just had to beg her to stop. After a while, she gave in, sighing and shrugging her shoulders as she averted her gaze.

Besides. With a smile that cute, how could she refuse?

"Hey, whatever you say. But don't go selling yourself short. Bit of confidence could do you a world of good."

She turned to Verona. "Sorry about that. Sometimes I get a bit worked up. Just try to be a bit more careful, 'kay?"

Edited by kkhohoho on Sep 13th 2020 at 6:57:47 AM

...It was certainly a speech. Certainly as long winded as one of his father's rants but it definitely got the point across as Elliot quietly nodded in agreement while taking down notes here and there, just in case.

An adventurer is more than just...well, going on adventures and exploring, I guess.

The young noble was a little lost at the mention of dorms...or why some of the crowd rushed past him to get to the board to find their name on it, managing to avoid getting bowled over and giving the occasional 'Pardon me' as he tried to get through the crowd to get a look himself and giving a polite smile at Zoss as he finally got to the board and tried to find his name.

"I suppose the easy part is reading the names and who we'll be with! Figuring out who's who, though...that may prove trickier without some sort sign saying who's who."

...It took a few moments for the lightning to strike before the young man grabbed a spare roll of parchment from his backpack and a pencil to quickly scrawl up a sign with the words 'I am Elliot Etirina' in fancy cursive writing before holding it above his head.

"Oh! And it's nice to meet you by the way, sir or madam!" Elliot cheerfully commented.

Verona

Verona inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Showing weakness to those who she had offended had not ended well for her in the past, and she was glad she didn't have to start now.

Verona took Sieglinde’s hand in both of hers, shaking it enthusiastically with a self-effacing smile directed toward the both of them.

“Really, I get a little bit single-minded at times myself, so I’m sure that had something to do with it as well. My mother used to call me her ‘little landslide,’ actually.”

There. Not quite an apology, but something close.

“You know, I’ve never had a chance to speak to a Vandian my age that wasn’t from my hometown. When you have a chance, I’d love to compare notes sometime!”

She paused, then added,

"Did either of you happen to catch my name on the room assignments? I haven't actually been able to take any of it in in all this excitement!"

Edited by furnacedoor on Sep 13th 2020 at 5:23:00 AM

Freana

"Hold on a sec." Freana quickly checked the board. "Let's see. V... Ve... Vero... Oh! There you are. Guess you're with us!"

Part of Freana wasn't too thrilled they'd be bunking with Verona. Sure, maybe she wasn't so bad.

But she still bumped into her and Sig like a wild dog.

Then again, it wasn't like her own record was spotless.

And hey. She was still damn pretty.

A few more hotties and maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all!

Shard

Well...it didn't seem his yell had attracted nearly as much attention as he thought it had. The only person that had approached him was a short glowy person. A Mesmer, maybe? He'd heard of them before, but had never seen one in person.

"Well...I'm excited! And when I'm excited, I get the teensiest...tiniest bit loud." Shard shrugged. "I mean, I'm not normally this shouty, buuuuut actually it's kinda impossible to put into words."

He stood up from his chair and walked over to the board, continuing to chat with the Mesmer. "Anyway, hi! I'm Shard Alegyris. Adventurer, mage, and all-around delight to be around! But enough about me. Tell me about you!" His voice was bouncy and cheerful.

After a great deal of shuffling, scanning, and getting up on tippy-toes to even reach the damn thing, the helmeted figure finally managed to catch their name on one of the bits of paper - Zoss Panopola. Making a mental note of the location on campus, they took a moment to look down as they rummaged around in one of their pockets to bring out a notebook and fountain pen - one of the newest Terraforman innovations. Much less messy than those old feather quills.

It was only after looking back up that they noticed another person talking to them. A human. Average size, blonde hair. Holding a bit of paper saying 'I am Elliot Etirina' on it. ...Was he mocking them? ...Nah, their face wasn't the right expression. Unless...

"Uh... yes. Yes. Nice indeed," they said, pointing to this 'Elliot's name label. "What exactly is that for?"

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Sep 13th 2020 at 1:14:57 PM

Assembly Hall

Pick got up to follow Shard as they spoke. At the man's explanation, he nodded.

"You are incapable of proper impulse control. Understood." He said, without a hint of amusement or sarcasm. He continued: "I have given myself the designation 'Pick'. I became self-aware several days ago, outside a human settlement. I lack all memory of my original life and purpose. I thus gave myself a new purpose, and came to this Academy to learn the practice of sword-fighting, and become an adventurer."

He looked towards the board, before realizing that due to his height, all the others crowding around the board were blocking his view. Pick decided to rectify this by going to one of the taller people there, a Fenrir, and tapping her on the leg to get her attention.

"Excuse me." He said, looking up at Freana. If he was concerned by the fact that she was twice his height, he didn't show it. "May I stand on your shoulders? I am unable to get a proper view of the bulletin board from my current angle."

Elliot didn't even skip a beat, smile still on his face and reply to Zoss quite cheerful.

"This is a big crowd other potential adventurers like us, right? While I'd like to introduce myself to everyone at some point, if I have a sign with my name on it, people can see it and figure out if I'm in their class or not instead of asking one person at a time. Kind of stands out and saves time!"

It took a few more seconds to realize what Elliot had just said and realize he was sort of doing the exact opposite of what his parents told him to do.

...Well, it wasn't like they would've heard of him out here. Probably.

Freana

Freana barely noticed someone tapping on her big furry leg, only turning her head when they started to speak.

"Sorry butOHSHITGODS—!"

Freana had seen a lot of crazy stuff from her years on the street. Winos passed out on their bare ass after getting plastered. Half-crazed bastards skipping down the ally and claiming they were the son or daughter of Bolghev the Bulbous. A near-dead piscean from out of town trying to get a tan.

But she'd never seen someone like this before. Certainly not in the slums.

Or ever.

She tried her best to calm herself down and regain her composure. Like, there were all sorts of different races in Menagerie, right?

But damn if it wasn't hard.

"Uh, sorry about that. Startled me, I guess."

Now that was a laugh.

More like scaring her out of her skin.

Calm down, Freana. Calm down. Nothing to be scared about.

"Um, I can hold you up if ya want. But you sure you don't want a stool or somethin'?"

To be fair, it would probably be easier and quicker if she just held him up and got it over with.

But no way if she was gonna let this creepy little bastard get his hands on her if she could help it.

Edited by kkhohoho on Sep 13th 2020 at 10:56:19 AM

Sieglinde von Brandt

”...Wait, we're all roomies?” Sieglinde realises, glancing between Freana and Verona in a pleased fashion as she grins widely at them. “Ooh, we're gonna be an awesome team~! And I'd love to compare notes sometime, Verona~”

She was glad she'd asked of her something that was right up her alley, though thinking about it Verona more than likely had in mind a more organized affair than was actually the case. In fact, Sigi was pretty sure her elaborate doodles with occasional things written down in said doodles only barely counted as actual notes. More of a mess than anything else.

But perhaps Verona would be able to tolerate that...

She jumped at Freana's sudden exclamation, looking around for the culprit before sighing slightly upon seeing the small Mesmer. In a vacant fashion, she scratched behind her ears, mumbling something that seemed a little more distant and daydreamy than before.

”...You're kinda loud, Freana. Made me jump...~”

Edited by Enirboreh on Sep 13th 2020 at 1:48:10 PM

If Elliot looked close, they might be able to see the hint of a bewildered expression in Zoss' one eye as they slowly lowered their pointing pen.

"I see... yanno, you might want to avoid doing that. I told someone my name once. Found me later that night and launched a firework right up my back door."

They stopped for a good six seconds to let that sink in, slowly tapping their pen against their notebook to emphasize the apparent seriousness of that statement.

"Hehehehe..." they chuckled, hoping that this would expose it as a joke. "But seriously though, you might wanna avoid drawing attention to yourself like that. Could have a bounty on your head, for all I know. Or maybe you're some kinda noble. ...Eh, whatever."

With that statement, they jotted down the dorm location details on their notebook... and noticed Elliot's name on there alongside their own.

"Well, ain't that something."

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Sep 14th 2020 at 10:04:36 AM

Verona

Verona craned her head to look at the source of the commotion, and her eyes widened.

“Gods, two Mesmers in one day! This is seriously the wildest day of my life. Hi little guy, you’re adorable! What’s your name?”

With that Verona dropped into a crouch in the middle of the crowd, bringing herself to eye level with the Mesmer and giving a little wave. She had gone her whole life only meeting Alvar and the occasional traveling human or Terran merchant, so to meet a Fenrir, two Mesmer, and a Dragonfolk in one day - well, it felt like she'd been dropped into one of her impossible imaginary worlds.

Edited by furnacedoor on Sep 13th 2020 at 6:06:31 AM

Meridia Roguesblood

Meridia stayed seated for a bit after the headmaster's speech ended, figuring she had a better chance of actually seeing the bulletin board once most of the crowd had cleared out. Admittedly, she also wasn't entirely keen on dealing with her peers. This was her first time having peers, and new things meant an increase in unknown variables.

She had to work with them, of course, but ideally she could first meet each of them one on one and gauge their personalities. It'd be hard to get a good read in a cluster like this, and without good reads on each of her classmates, she wouldn't be able to control their first impressions of her and steer them into being her allies.

...Except the crowd wasn't dispersing. Instead they were chatting it up in front of the bulletin board. Well, with her height it wouldn't be too hard to get a peek, she supposed. Walking up to the bulletin board behind the others, Meridia didn't quite announce her presence, but all the same, she had a presence that was hard to miss. As was her sigh of annoyance when she realized the dorm roster was almost entirely useless when she had yet to pick up anybody's name.

Assembly Hall

"A stool or other object to stand on would suffice." Pick replied, "Though I did not see any nearby. I am uncertain if we are permitted to move the chairs in the assembly hall."

Before the Fenrir could reply, an Alvar crouched down to meet his gaze. Pick looked at her, his blank eyes meeting her own. To anyone else, she probably would have come across as slightly condescending.

But when she called him adorable, Pick couldn't help but feel a little warmth in his chest. Though his voice remained calm, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards in a tiny smile. "I have chosen the name 'Pick' for myself. I do not remember my original designation."

He paused for a half-second, thinking. "I understand it is customary for people to share their names upon meeting each other. So... what is your name, if I may ask?"

Elliot's smile waned...just slightly and wondered if that was the reason that Zoss was wearing the mask but decided not to pry.

"That...must've caused quite a bit of damage to wherever you were staying at, considering what gunpowder's lik- O-Oh." The young man found themselves going going a very slight shade of red from embarrassment as it took a few seconds for him to realize the chuckling.

"I guess you have a point?" It didn't take long for the moment to pass, though, the smile soon forming back on his face. "Sooner or later people will find out who others are and if they'll be fine here or not. And a group of adventurers aren't much of a team they can't trust each other, right?" Elliot nodded, glancing at where Zoss was looking as his eyes shone a little...but kept quiet and looked around again.

It didn't take long for him to catch a glimpse of Meridia out of the corner of his eye and looking a bit puzzled and trying his best to stop himself from staring at the scales and fins.

"Erm, is something the matter? My apologies if the sign I'm holding is in the way, Miss, I suppose it would be probably making it hard to see the board..."

Shard

"Pick! That's a cool name. So, Pick, do you know—"

And then Pick ignored him to talk to someone else.

Well.

That was rude.

With a light shrug, Shard went up to the board and looked it over. Apparently, he was staying with...some people. He didn't recognize any of the names, which was...actually a good thing, now that he thought about it. It meant nobody would recognize him, and he wouldn't be sent back to Saorant and onto the chopping block.

Shard was about to resume socializing when one of the names caught his eye.

'Elliot Etirina'.

Etirina. He frowned, putting a finger to his lip in confusion. Did he know that name? He'd overheard his dad mentioning someone that sounded like Etirina one or two times—called them lousy good-for-nothings who wouldn't know smart if it bit them on the neck—so that might be it.

But then...if they were the same, then...

Then Elliot was a noble.

A Saorant noble.

A Saorant noble who had probably heard of Eugene Forebow and his "assassination attempt".

All the color drained out of Shard's face. He looked around, and found Elliot Etirina pretty quickly—he had a sign with his name on it. Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, Shard slowly backed away from Elliot, hoping to disappear into the crowd before the noble could notice him.

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Sep 13th 2020 at 7:38:45 AM

"Yes, I suppose..." Zoss said with clenched teeth in response to Elliot's comment about trust. Yes, trust... wouldn't that be nice. Trust is a privilege, not a right.

Zoss already knew names would come naturally later once they'd actually settled down in these dorms. They'd been informed on the way in that these were private - the bigwigs in charge of course had to know about their 'condition' - so that was no issue. At this stage, they figured they may as well head over there right now and get settled before they start getting dragged around.

They were about to do that very thing - not interested in idle chit-chat right now - when they noticed someone in the back of their little gathering, an eyepatched human looking like they'd seen a ghost. Figuratively speaking, of course, since those who have actually seen ghosts are typically on record as appearing either identical to their usual selves or dead, depending on the kind of ghost. Whatever, Zoss knew the expression, having had it themselves a few times. The look of someone in deep garbage.

Wait a second... that's that overexcited idiot from earlier! Well, if his goal was to stand out, he succeeded.

Zoss briefly turned back to Elliot, along with the giant Piscean lady that he was now talking to. "...What's got that fellow so spooked? Just minutes ago he looked ready to... explode with... joy, or whatever. You get the idea."

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Sep 14th 2020 at 10:29:34 AM

Again, that smile of his faltered for a moment before doing his best to keep it up deciding to just continue being quiet...even if the comment bringing Shard to his attention was enough to make him talk, if only a bit.

"To be completely honest... I haven't the slightest clue. Didn't really notice what or know who you were talking about until you pointed them out..." Elliot remarked, doing his best to sound polite instead of cheerful, head tilted in thought.

"Maybe they forgot...or remembered something important? Who knows...hopefully they'll be alright."

Verona

Oh yeah, definitely the cutest. The dull eyes only added to the strange charm.

"Verona Auer, it's so great to meet you!"

Verona glanced in the direction of the bulletin board from her crouched stance. With the bodies gathered around the board it was no wonder Pick needed some assistance.

Her gaze alighted on Freana, standing close by and looking uncomfortable, for some reason.

"Freana, do you see the name Pick on the board? My friend here can't see!"

Xera, Assembly Hall

A truly massive young lady entered the Hall shortly after everyone had already arrived. She stood just a couple inches shy of eight feet tall, and wore a white dress that looked like it was trying to be fashionable yet intimidating, judging by the somewhat sinister looking spikes prominently displayed on her right shoulder. Though normal attire for the followers of the god of blades, she quickly got the feeling that it made her seem even more unusual amongst the other students, and she couldn’t help but feel just a little self-conscious.

She tried not to let this show as she listened to the headmaster give their speech about these years of learning would be for them. Truthfully though, much of this lecture was lost on her. She wasn’t particularly into this whole ‘being a hero’ business. All she really wanted to do was hone her skills as a swordswoman, learn a bit of magic to make herself a little more versatile, and take a break from her sometimes smothering life at home. Though she did love her parents and Iaia, she was reaching a point in her life where she wanted more freedom and independence, which she hoped were things she would find here.

After silently listening to the speech, she eventually approached the other students. She tried her best not to look threatening, as the last thing she wanted to do was scare people away before she even got a chance to make a good first impression.

“Hello everyone,” she greeted the rest of the class, her face remaining relatively stoic. “My name is Xera Diamondbreaker. I look forward to getting to know all of you.”

She gave a bow, which was probably overdoing it in terms of formality. But that was how she introduced herself to other blade wielders, and the habit just kind of crept into how she greeted most new people as well.

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Sep 14th 2020 at 10:44:24 AM

Sieglinde von Brandt

”...Whoa... you're tall...” Sieglinde breathed as Xera approached, staring up at the colossal woman with sheer admiration as she felt her jaw drop nearly to the floor. Granted Freana was of a similar height, but it was much stranger for Sieglinde to see someone this tall who wasn't a Fenrir. “Um... h-hi! I'm... Sieglinde... von Brandt...”

She giggled nervously, instinctively moving to hide behind Freana somewhat. Battle of the beegs. Hopefully not. She wondered what it'd be like if she was taller. Probably more clumsy, thinking about it...

She was frowning at the thought of it, regardless. She suddenly felt self-conscious, and her gaze lowered to the floor pensively. Was she too short for an Alvar...?

Did it even really matter?

Freana

Freana breathed a sigh of relief. That... thing still made her uncomfortable, but at least she didn't have to touch it or anything. She didn't even mind that Verona wanted her to look up his name. As long as he stayed far away from... her... as... possible.

...'Pick.'

That was him.

Right under Verona.

...

If they didn't have their own dorms, someone was gonna pay, that was for sure.

Preferably in cash.

You could never have too much cash.

"Okay, found him. Guess he's with uuuuhhhhhhhh..."

Her thought process was interrupted by the sight of the bigass woman stomping through the auditorium and introducing themselves with the utmost grace and poise. More than she expected from someone even bigger than her. She quickly doubled back and checked the board.

"X... Xe... Xer... COME ON!"

Oh thank God. There she was.

Xera Diamondbreaker.

Right underneath Pick.

This day was getting better and better.

She hopped back over, bowing before introducing herself as formally as possible. "Same! Glad to meet ya, Miss Xera! Name's Freana Gasdvur, of the Gasdvur clan." She still wasn't sure what to make of that, but hey. Anything for a good first impression.

"Pretty sure we're all in the same dorm. I'd offer to show you around, but this is all new to me too. Not that I mind. Doesn't hurt to mix things up a bit, ya know?"

She felt her fur ruffle as Sig ducked behind her. Understandable. Compared to her, both of them were damned giants.

...why did she have to keep being so darn cute?

"Hey, c'mon, Sig! She's not gonna bite! I think."

...would she bite?

...

Bad thoughts.

She wondered where in the world her mind was going sometimes.

Edited by kkhohoho on Sep 14th 2020 at 12:20:05 PM