Grabbing their partially emptied pack with them, and remembering to tuck away their more precious coin purse on their person, Lasutro made their way to the main floor of the Gallina House with haste, hoping to avoid missing the promised tour of the Academy’s grounds. When she arrived outside of what would be their new home for at least the next year, she quickly spotted a group that she rapidly deduced was not only comprised of the students she arrived in Udriaph with, but also the other new students she had heard about from Daarkiz the day before. As the group began its shuffle behind a tall half-elf woman towards one of the many paths that lead further into the Academy's grounds, Lasutro rushed over to join the group, eagerly listening to the slow barrage of facts from their guide.
While most of the students in their group focused on simply observing the architecture of the buildings of the Academy as well as their interior layouts, Lasutro split their attention between what most students decided to focus on and the variety of facts their guide spewed about the Academy, from the historical to the architectural. As the group made its way through the grounds occasionally entering some of the larger buildings the half-elf woman, who Lasutro had come to know as Resnya, casually explained them to be the homes to the classrooms for most of the courses that would be available to them as new students. When Lasutro began to get a feel for the grounds, at least in terms of navigating them, Resnya led them and the rest of the group into another building spewing their usual facts as she did. After a moment of walking through the empty halls, she began explaining that the route they were now traveling was sort of shortcut to their final destination, which she explained to be a section of the Academy they had already traveled through.
As the group reached the final stretch of Resnya’s short cut, Lasutro experienced a vague sense of deja vu, while they walked through one of the third floor halls. A feeling that she quickly brushed off, however she couldn't help but feel the thoughts of the feeling linger in the back of their mind as she continued along with the rest of the group. Not long after they exited the oddly familiar hall the group of students were led into one of the grander buildings they had passed earlier in their tour of the grounds, which Resnya had jokingly called the Academy’s magnificent waste of space.
The interior of which was captivating in the way its asymmetric hallways seemed to hold court over each other. As the group made its way through the halls behind Resnya, it quickly became apparent that her joke was meant to throw them off what the actual name of the building, which they begin to pester her for, to which she redirected their attention momentarily to the interior of the building’s great hall. After a moment of letting the group of students take in the hall, Resnya began their typical ramble of facts to the group about the building while leading them to one of the many unoccupied tables within the great hall.
When they were finally seated, the group watched as several individuals rushed to their tables and filled them with fine cutlery, dishware and a variety of traditional dishes. As the food was laid out before the new students, some of whom only just realized their hunger, Resnya explained that the great hall served two main purposes: a place for serving meals to the members of the Academy and as a meeting place for large groups from the Academy. She continued her explanation by speaking to the origin behind the importance of the building, which was rooted in its foundations as the library of the research institute that eventually became the substructure of the Academy. To honor the ultimate dissolution of the institute, the building that was constructed above and around the former library was named The Skire Lapidez Citadel.
While Resnya continued her now passionate speech on the history of the Citadel, most of the students dug into the meals set out before them, some of which kept a small degree of attention on Resnya’s speech, although most didn’t. When she finally finished their short speech, at least in comparison to the several other ones she had given during the tour of the grounds, she drew the attention and silence of the entire group with a clap and a single word from an unknown tongue that felt filled with an intangible power. In the group’s almost stunned silence, Resnya said a farewell, telling Lasutro and their fellow students that the tour of the grounds was over and that after they finished their food they were free to wander or even return to Gallina House. With that she gave a small preformative bow to the various tables, before exiting the hall through one of the many doors.
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When Lasutro finished their meal, by which point several smaller newly developed cliques of their fellow students had left as well as the occasional individual, Lasutro decided to wander the Citadel before she returned to their room to finally study the scroll she had received in Traclins from Mayr. While she wandered the Citadel, Lasutro took care to move quietly, finding the reverberating sound of each step they took deafening in the open hallways. Eventually, after several minutes of largely aimless wandering within the Citadel, Lasutro found themselves in its library.
And while she knew that any perusing she did there, would lead to what she considered to be a significant delay to their plans for the day, she traveled deeper within the shelves of information. After nearly an hour of wandering the shelves, and skimming through the variety of tomes, Lasutro took several of the few books she felt confident in their ability to understand, to one of the unoccupied tables in one of the spaces for study. There, while the thoughts of their now mostly forlorn plans in the back of that pushed them to leave, she found themselves unable to stop even as the day pressed on and several different individuals perused their own stacks of tomes on the tables around Lasutro. By the time Lasutro finished reading the tomes, most of the other individuals she had seen using the tables around them had left, leaving Lasutro alone besides the occasional glimpses of figures who walked among the shelves with purpose. After a brief moment considering leaving their thoroughly studied books on the table, Lasutro cast aside the thought and instead wandered the library while she attempted to recall the places where she found each of their books.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
When she finished returning the tomes she had borrowed, in what she hoped to be a satisfactory manner, Lasutro made their out of the Citadel and into the cool air of evening. Then, after taking a moment to remember the way to Gallina House, she set off towards it at a brisk pace in hopes that they might have some time to ensure their plans for the day weren’t entirely discarded. Upon their arrival she found several of their fellow new students chatting as they lounged in the furniture in the foyer, a pattern that seemed to repeat itself further within the building to varying degrees.
Immediately after Lasutro’s return to their room, she removed their empty journal and set it down upon the desk closest to the bed she had slept in, along with their ink, and quill, before retrieving the small box she had gotten the spell scroll in. Under the low light of the moons and a small candle, Lasutro studied every centimeter of the scroll, all the while making notes in their journal. She remained immersed in their studies for several more hours then she intended to and was only shaken from their concentration by the creaking of their door behind them.
When Lasutro turned to face the figure who had opened the door, she found their face twisting into an expression of surprise, as Henry Poycirtt stepped into the room with a tired expression that somehow matched Lasutro’s only recently realized exhaustion. Before she could ask if he was the one who woke them, Henry began a practiced introduction, complete with a small bow, that further signified his noble education . After which he set down a bag alongside other bags that Lasutro had failed to notice upon their return, then excusing themselves for bed. By the time Lasutro had formulated some questions for their presumed roommate, he had stepped behind the folding screen and had begun changing into what she presumed to be nightwear. As a result she decided to leave their questions for the morning along with any further study of their scroll, and so Lasutro put away their work before preparing themselves for the next day.
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With the slightly muffled sounds of morning birds vibrating in their ears through the barely opened window of their room, Lasutro dragged themselves out of bed before sluggishly getting ready for the day ahead. When she finished preparing for what she decided would be a day of shopping, completed with organizing their payment to the Academy for tuition and continued study of their scroll, Lasutro heard Henry rouse from his sleep on the other side of the room. Pushing back their plans for the day for a few minutes, Lasutro picked up one of their many unread books and read as she waited for Henry.
When Lasutro finished the first chapter of their book, she turned to Henry and asked the first question she had for him, “Why didn't you take one of the free rooms?” she paused for a moment before adding to the thought “And why with me? ” As soon the questions reached Henry’s ears, he turned back to face them with the noble-like grace Lasutro had begun to recognize among him and their fellow students. While he adjusted his new yet familiar garb he had chosen to don for the day, Henry’s serious expression morphed for a moment into one of serious contemplation before returning to its natural state.
“Well Izora I had no desire to leave the choice of my roommate to fate, because I have found that when I do it often ends poorly.” He paused for a moment as he finished adjusting his outfit, then continued as he began carefully rummaging through his things, “As for my choice to room with you, I thought that given your actions on the Jesters Torrent, that you have far more talent for the arcane art then myself, and that having such a roommate will inevitably be helpful when I have issues in my own studies. Additionally, based on your interactions or should I say lack thereof with our fellow students during our journey here, I believed that you would be far less interested in manipulating my politics as the heir to my family’s title and performing similar ill-intentioned acts upon me.”
Before Lasutro could voice a question about his family title, Henry asked their own question, “And while I have learned your first name by chance, I would prefer a proper introduction whenever you deem it suitable, although I’d prefer sooner than later, though the matter is superfluous.” As the words passed his lips, he made his way over the door, opening it as he addressed Lasutro once more, “For any inconvenience I may have caused you allow me to treat you to a meal in the city, and perhaps there we may get better acquainted.”
MARK
Although Lasutro’s mind filled itself with a myriad of protestations, which largely argued against it due to the possible delays in their plans for the day, Lasutro walked alongside Henry as they headed off the Academy’s ground and into the city proper. A short enough trek at the end of which they arrived at a gate similar to that they entered through a couple days before. There they, having been easily identified as new students yet to receive the piece of student identification allowing them free entrance and exit into the Academy, the pair, along with a few other new students, were given a small sealed scroll for their reentry.
When the two arrived in the city, Henry led the way to a restaurant, one he had enjoyed once with his family, in what Lasutro later learned was the noble district. While they walked along the various streets, Henry gently pushed Lasutro into conversation, slowly enticing longer and longer responses. And after several minutes of conversation on the magical knowledge they shared, and their own ignorance, the two arrived at the promised restaurant, where they continued similar conversations, though at a pace that allowed them to eat comfortably.
While Lasutro’s original plans for the day had been condensed due to their acceptance of Henry’s invitation, a fact she expected to maintain some level of their irritation with the young noble for at least a few hours after they ate, however she instead found their expectations defied. When the pair finished their meal and returned to the city streets, instead of splitting there as they had previously planned, having by some luck become fast friends, the two decided to travel the city together, as they went about collecting the items they had been required by the Academy to purchase. Together over the course of the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon, Lasutro and Henry wandered through the city, collecting the various goods and equipment expected of them on the way until their eventual return to the Academy.