Monster School IC

[Eonas]

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15425029)

FOOM.

The universe implodes and then explodes around the students as they walk one-by-one into the portal in the main room of the monster nursery they had spent first few years of their life in. The universe materializes again and the students find themselves in a 50x50' stone room filled with portals like the one they had just passed through. At the opposite end of the room lies a 10' corridor that stretches on for an indeterminate distance. Inside the room are five budding young monster students - a Pseudodragon, a Blink Dog, a Nymph, a Gloom Monster, and a Satyr -, and one of the Lantern Archons that acted as their caretakers at the monster nursery.

Into the room, too, hurries a Djinni. He looks like a pleasant sort of monster, slightly shorter and fatter than most of his kind, and looking vaguely like a very large, blue, dwarf. Even his beard looks blue-ish purple. The Djinni flies over to the group of students and the Lantern Archon, and gives a very formal bow, immediately afterwards relaxing his expression into a rather genial * grin. "So good to see you again, Archie!" he exclaims. The Lantern Archon's expressionless expression doesn't change, and it remains silent. The Djinni pauses awkwardly, clears his throat, and starts again, this time with a slightly more formal tone of voice. "So, you're late - all the other students arrived here yesterday. What took you so long?" Though a Lantern Archon doesn't have any apparent speaking organs, it intones quite clearly "The portal malfunctioned as we tried to go through. It took us a while to get it functioning again." "Ah. Well, no harm done." says the Djinni, and he turns to the students, apparently pulling a roll of parchment and a quill from thin air. "And what might your names be?"


* Genial? Genie-al? Get it? ... okay, I'll shut up now.

[Emperor Ing]

The concept of portals isn't particularly too jarring to the young Pseudodragon. It's just a door that opens to another location in space. That's made of magic.

Regardless, it would appear the small chicken-sized demidragon is the first to be acknowledged. Adopting her usual hunched-over bipedal stance, the little creature stands there in her usual snug light blue vest and pleated skirt, looking up at the sentient ((There I said it!! :smallfurious:)) ball of light and replies.
I'm...Lilelathia.

[Fangren]

Teleportation wasn't particularly new to Righteous-Heart; even if he wasn't yet able to do so himself, his mother and a few others in the pack had enough skill at it to bring others along from time to time. The canine was far more anxious about the fact that they'd been forced to arrive late. Still, the djinni didn't seem to think it was too big of a deal, so Righteous-Heart pushed the matter from his mind with a simple vow to never be late again.

He'd already learned so much about the world in the few days since his mother had dropped him off at the nursery, and now was going to the actual school! His tail was wagging in excitement as he took in all the sights and smells around him. "Hello! I am Righteous-Heart!" he said exuberantly when the djinni asked the five students for their names.

[LordChaos13]

Portals were new to the Gloom, but not Teleportation.
Many of his family using ancient Wands of Teleport crafted by the more arcane of his human ancestors
"Daveth Hunter."
The young teen observes his fellow classmates, eyes instinctively seeking out their weaknesses and strengths before he shakes his head. Not the time.

[THEChanger]

Leo whistled as he felt the portal shunt him into another place. He was new to the teleportation and portals. He was new to a lot of things around here.

He liked new.

"Name's Leo. Like the place. Cool little portal-thingy you have here."

[Eonas]

The Lantern Archon then introduces the Nymph, saying "And the nymph over here is Liana."

The Djinni bows slightly to each student in turn as they introduce themselves, and scribbles on the parchment with his quill at lightning speed. Then he puts his two implements away and says, bowing again, "I am honored to make your acquaintances. My name is Lucern, and I'll be your student coordinator. And if you ever need anything, just ask. Now, follow me." And with that, Lucern turns around and leads the students and the Archon through the corridor at the end of the room. The corridor stretches on for some fifty feet before an intersection leading right.

Lucern points down the intersection and says "Your dorms will be over there. I'll show them to you a little later, after supper." And he he keeps leading the students straight down the corridor for about another two hundred feet, after which the corridor bends right and goes on for about fifty feet before leading into a very spacious stone room. The room is well lit and has five long wooden tables at each of which about a score of monsters are seated and eating. In typical dining-table style, the tables are laden with a variety of dishes.

A Kyton strides up to the Djinni. He is lean, short, and his flesh and eyes are a rather ugly shade of reddish-black, while the chains that cover him are very clean, almost sparkling. "The children are late." The Kyton hisses at Lucern.

"Yes, they are." answers Lucern curtly. The Kyton's eyes flicker from student to student maliciously, but reluctantly moves aside for Lucern, the Archon, and the students to pass. Lucern leads the students to the leftmost table, where five places adjacent to one another are left empty.

"All right, sit down and dig in." Lucern says, pointing to the places at the table. There are only a few different dishes laid on the table - some of which are different sorts of meat, while others are vegetable matter. Beverages are provided in the shape of several large jugs of water.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth sits and grabs a plate of meat and vegetables, his diet remaining human.
His eyes running over everyone in the room under his cowl, flickering towards every movement before assessing it as non-risk and moving on

"Why the two new monsters? You weren't in my class."
The Gloom talks to the Blink Dog and Saytr

[Emperor Ing]

It may seem counter-intuitive to some due to their similarities but pseudodragons aren't that carnivorous. They subsist on a diet of fruits and insects and as one would expect from something so small, they don't need to eat that much. To even reach though, she has to really stand high up on the bench. For now she eats a small (by a medium creature's standards) salad.

[Fangren]

Righty's fur stands on end when their group encounters the Kyton, he did not seem to be something a good Blink Dog should willingly associate with. Hopefully, he thinks, we won't have to deal with him very often.

At dinner, Righteous-Heart sits awkwardly on his haunches and paws a piece of meat onto his plate.


"Why the two new monsters? You weren't in my class."
The Gloom talks to the Blink Dog and Saytr

"I cannot speak for Mr. Leo, but I myself was taught solely by my pack, until the path of my education took me outside the bounds of what my family can readily teach." He paused there, and sniffed the hunk of meat he'd grabbed - it was lamb, as he'd thought. "I was only recently enrolled here, but I hope to make many friends!"

With that, he began to rather messily eat his meal.

[Emperor Ing]

Hey uh... Lilly attempts to enter the conversation, but is abruptly cut off by his chowing down. She's rather nervous. Supposedly the monsters you knew from Nursery you'd never see again in School. But she didn't believe it. They'd cross paths sooner or later. Even if they were 100% right, those that tormented her would find a way. They always found a way.

It was inevitable

If she can't find a friend this time, someone who could help her find the courage to stand up to those terrible monsters, Lilly knew this would be a very long year. One she even began to sincerely doubt she'd survive. But first you need to make introductions, right? That's where it starts, and being late due to circumstances outside your control is a thing you have in common, right?

Of course maybe this'll end badly. Maybe this blink dog wants nothing to do with the dorky little demidragon, or worse, uses this attempt as a means to begin his debut as an unrelenting antagonist. Or maybe he attempts to gain Lilly's trust and then betrays her. It's not like it's happening before. This is a bad idea, this is just a disaster waiting to happen.

However...there is still the hope that maybe, just once, she can have at least something that resembles a real friendship. Lilly told herself she'd be tough this time, so she needs to take this first step. As such he waits until the Blink Dog pauses from eating before attempting to get his attention.

Hey, uh...Righteous, right? Oh gods this is a horrible idea! Hello, I...don't think we met. Gods' sake girl! He can see your tail shaking! R-remember me? I'm Lilelathia, but...you can call me Lilly. ABORT!! ABORT!! ABORT!! I mean...if you want.

[LordChaos13]

"If you don't try you wont know, besides he seems...Righteous.
And what's the worst that can happen? Nothing you havent already dealt with."
The almost-human whispers encouragement to the scared almost-dragon

[Fangren]

Righty ate happily, completely oblivious to the inner turmoil of the pseudodragon sitting next to him, until she spoke more than a couple of words.


Hey, uh...Righteous, right?

"Hrr?" Righteous-Heart, a piece of lamb dangling from his mouth, turns his head towards the tiny dragon.


Hello, I...don't think we met. R-remember me? I'm Lilelathia, but...you can call me Lilly. I mean...if you want.

Quickly swallowing his food, Righteous-Heart lifts his paw towards the pseudodragon to shake. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lilly!" he says happily, with as much of a smile as his canine features can make. "My name is Righteous-Heart, but you may call me Righty!"

The young blink dog was so happy to be making his first friend outside the pack! And he could tell she was excited as well, judging by how her tail was wagging, just like his.

[THEChanger]

Leo smiled at the obvious awkwardness of the tiny dragon, and then began to tear into the food presented to him. Meat, plants, drink, an occasional bite of plate, everything went into his gullet. Leo ate sumptuously, savoring the flavor of every bit of food. In between bites, Leo managed to get out a few words regrding Daveth's questions. "Tribe...far away...parents didn't...GOOD LORD THIS APPLE...want me to go away...father...HAVE YOU TRIED THIS STEAK...came to his senses...and decided it would be best if I went and learned useful skills, to protect the tribe." Finishing his last gulp of food, Leo daintily wiped his mouth with a napkin. "That being said, I have no intention of going back. Too many exciting things here. Like you, for instance." Leo waved a fork in Daveth's general direction. "You're a Hunter, right? Dad used to tell stories about the Hunters. I don't pay him much mind, but I got the impression you lot didn't like us monsters very much. Strange to see one of you here. Then again, a lot of strange things around here." Leo pulled a jug of wine from under his jacket, and took a swig. "Then again, I confess to being a fan of strangeness. Wine, anybody?"

[Batpope Scott]

Liana almost couldn't contain a squeak at the sudden shifting of the portal. Definitely don't like those.

Liana quietly walks forward after having frozen a the portal. She silently scolds herself for not being more forward before sitting down and grabbing some vegetables to eat. Her stomach successfully distracts her from her scolding as she remembers how hungry she is. The Kyton's appearance doesn't bother her, but the way he looked at the students was a little unnerving.

As she eats quietly, she wonders about how much she's going to be seeing these monsters that came through the portal today. I should probably introduce myself after they're done talking... or later, when there aren't so many of them.

[LordChaos13]

"Yes, we did hunt your kind before." Daveth flicks a piece of food from his cloak
"But Grandmother Fenra decided we had become monsters ourselves, and twould be hypocritical to continue the Hunt without targeting ourselves. It's partly why I am attending, Mother thought it would be a good relations action for me to train among the other younglings rather than the traditional ways. I have yet to see the fruits of such actions but the Tracking is still in progress."

Daveth rejects the wine, filling his goblet with fruit juice
"I am still underaged and will be for 3 more years, besides the dulling of one's senses leaves one open to predator or elusive prey."

[Batpope Scott]

"Y-you're a hunter?" Liana's voice is meek and she almost tips a cup with a shaking hand by accident. I thought that was just a name!

[Emperor Ing]

Before being able to respond to Righty, Lilly had to overcome what was damn near a panic attack after that dark human-like shape was apparently able to see right through her admittedly feeble attempt at acting cool. A rather awkward pause is all that's necessary before her confidence returns, encouraged by the Blink Dog's friendliness. She looks at the paw presented, a bit confused for a moment before remembering that this is probably a gesture of greeting used commonly by many other species. The greeting of her people is a wrapping of the ends of their tails around each other. Thinking of this reminds Lilly that her tail is waving back and forth under her nerves. She takes both of her own hands, and grabs one of the paw's toes and shaking. Well hello, Righty. She says cheerfully with a smile on her own draconic face. Heh, "righteous-heart." That's a funny name. Is there a story behind that? Damnit! One sentence! You can't go one sentence without coming off as a wierdo!

I...think i'll decline, thanks. Truth be told she could digest alcohol well enough as she did grow up including grapes in her diet, some which may or may not have been fermented. However the equivalent of a shot would probably send her to the infirmary with alcohol poisoning.

And once again Lilly freezes at the mention of a hunter. Instinctively looking around the room for the nearest exit. A hunter? Here?! She is too young, it shouldn't end like this. Oh Gods does she want to live.

[LordChaos13]

"Yes of course. didn't the humanoid appearance and teeth point it out."
He grins widely showing the terrible teeth mentioned with horror by monster mthers to scare children into being 'good'
"I suppose my lack of souldagger would be a point against it but it'll come soon. Until then I only have this training dagger."
Drawing it and stabbing it deep into a piece of meat, cutting a large chunk off and eating it. The dagger oozing maliciousness from centuries of Gloom-use

[Emperor Ing]

Sure enough the Gloom confesses to being the object of her people's biggest fear. Pseudodragons aren't strong in the slightest, relying entirely on cleverness to survive. For one to be here, right now, and so close...within breathing distance, or grab-you-in-their-freakishly-large-hands-and-bite-your-head-off distance...it triggers the equivalent of a primordial fear in the Pseudodragon. And the sound of the dagger being unsheathed, the grating of a metal blade sliding against metal...a bone-chilling sound if there ever was one. A combination of instinctual self-defense and jumping back in shock when the Gloom stabs his dagger into the meat causes Lilly to shriek as she trips over her own tail, falling down unceremoniously onto the bench.

s-s-stay away! Lilly fearfully studders, her tail shaking in anxiety even as it's stinger is pointed in a sort-of threatening manner at Daveth.

[LordChaos13]

"Do you see why I got sent here? That's the usual, though I do admit not unjustified, reaction to my origins. Now young dragon is that any way to treat a new friend?
Unless you don't want me to be on your side? I thought you wanted protection from the bullies who gang up on you?"
Daveth grins, laughing internally at the reaction his revelation caused.
"Honestly Lilly if I wanted to Hunt you I'd do it when I'm NOT surrounded by more mature monsters who, Ill admit, are too tough for me right now. Especially in these numbers."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana flinches at the sight of the dagger. She tries to not let the thought of what it's for stop her from recovering the conversation. "R-right. Sorry for my shock. I was just a little surprised. I'm not sure we've met; I'm Liana. The nymph." She tries to stop herself from being even more nervous by trying to straighten out her dress.

[Fangren]

Righty's ears poked up at the mention of the word 'hunter' while he shook claws with Lilly, and his nostrils flared at the smell of wine. "I do not think wine is allowed, Mr. Leo." he shot to the satyr almost absent-mindedly as he tried to remember the significance of the word.

Seeing new-friend Lilly's fear jogged a memory of one of his lessons with the pack. Apparently, 'hunters' were a bunch of humans that went around indiscriminately killing monsters once upon a time. In other words, bad news. Righty started growling instinctively at the perceived threat to his friend, and only let up slightly when Daveth explained that he had no intention of hunting any of them, and in fact seemed to want to distance himself from his kind's reputation.

"Hmm..." he was willing to give Daveth the benefit of the doubt, but he didn't want to completely ease up on his suspicions while new-friend Lilly was still afraid. Daveth's clearly-evil dagger wasn't helping him in Righteous-Heart's eyes.

[LordChaos13]

"We have met, just not talked. All that time in the Nursery without you saying so much as a hello, if I hadn't known better Id say you were avoiding the social outcast."
But anyway, Liana the nymph, if you don't mind me asking why do you look so different from the Nymphs in my Manual. You actually look rather like one of the "civilized" races currently taking over my kind's old responsibilities and...Righteous if you don't mind it's hard to carry on a conversation over growling."

[Emperor Ing]

A bit reassured by Righty's help and Daveth's reassurances, Lilly stands up, still keeping her tail between the Gloom and herself, her fears not so easily shaken off. How...how do you know so much about me?

[Batpope Scott]

Liana smiles at his question. "I have always been rather fond of those races and the wonderful things they can make. Sometimes, the have a certain beauty in the way they do things even if..." She clenches her fists and looks away "Even if they don't want their world to include people like us."

[LordChaos13]

"Um, hi hunter. It's kind of my job to know as much as possible to work out strengths and weaknesses. makes a cool party trick though.
Besides we shared a Nursery for how long? Just because you don't see the world, doesn't mean the world can't see you."
Taking another hunk of meat with his dagger he answers Liana
"Not every piece of art can include every beautiful thing Liana, and not every artist can recognize every beauty. Besides, my ancestors were Humans and yet here I am."

[Emperor Ing]

Well stop! Lilly exclaims, rather indignant, straightening out her skirt. Needless to say she's not very comfortable with someone who's seemingly able to know her thoughts. It's none of your business.

[LordChaos13]

"If it makes you feel better I don't like the bullies either. I just beat them up when they tried to get physical. So you won't find me leading you...Nevermind you don't want me making any more observations and reassurances."

[Emperor Ing]

No wait I... She immediately starts backtracking, regretting what she said before, believing now she came off a bit too strong. Look, i'm...just, just please stop following me, okay?

[LordChaos13]

"Yes maam from now on I will do everything in my power to avoid moving behind you or otherwise doing the same thing you are after you do it."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana couldn't help but giggle at Daveth. She smirks at him and says "You know, you really aren't making this any better."

[LordChaos13]

"I'm supposed to make things better?"
Daveth tries to look mildly shocked but his smirk gives it away

[Eonas]

A group of students at the table are watching the newcomers (especially Daveth) curiously. Particularly, an attractive, dark-haired, pale-skinned, human-looking girl who seems about 18 years old looks very interested in the Gloom and his dagger. Her apparent age is odd, since everybody else at the table look like they are in their early pubescent years (their race's equivalent for our human 13 years-old). She twists her lips into a bizarre half-smile and addresses Daveth. "I've heard of your family. Were they as brutal as the stories tell?" A medium-sized skeleton sitting next to her, who hasn't eaten a whit of food for obvious reasons, looks uncomfortable.

A short, slender, green-eyed, yellow-skinned pixie sitting next to Leo stands up on the bench and looks into the Satyr's wine jug. "I like your guts, mate, having one of these things in here. Can I have a swig?"

[LordChaos13]

The hunter shrugs
"Depends on the stories I guess. We did not seek out every one, for obvious reasons. I should point out however that most of our family did their work quickly and efficiently, only the more...exuberant of us would scatter entrails everywhere or leave younglings alive and crippled to spread the news of their passing."

Spot check (I think?) to work out what race is this older girl, perhaps explaining the apparent age gap
[roll0]

[Batpope Scott]

Curious about the girl, Liana thinks on what she may be. She's certainly pretty. Is she a fey? There seem to be quite a few of us around here.

[roll0] Knowledge(Nature)

[Fangren]

Seeing that Lilly's issue with Daveth had been mostly resolved, Righty settled down - for now. He wanted to get his new friend's mind off the hunter, though. He remembered that Lilly had asked him something about his name...

"Oh! Lilly, what did you ask me before? I am sorry for not answering you then."

None of the other students who'd either joined the conversation or were around him were immediately interesting to Righteous-Heart, so he waited patiently for new-friend Lilly to reply.

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly looks back to Righty, the question catching her a bit off-guard, but she is somehow reminded of her previous question, and she thinks that this is what he's asking about. Oh, it's nothing. She says, hoping to try and take her own mind off of Daveth. Of course it doesn't help that it was a stupid question in the first place, one she in retrospect is not sorry the topic veered from, even if this new topic was rather horrifying.

Just uhh...Righteous-Heart's a funny name. Not that you're funny, it's just that-Oh Gods no! I mean...i'm sure you are funny, but...UGH!! Lilly throws her arms up in exasperation. By now Righty probably thinks Lilly is the biggest loser in this school.

[Fangren]

Oh, it's nothing. Just uhh...Righteous-Heart's a funny name. Not that you're funny, it's just that-Oh Gods no! I mean...i'm sure you are funny, but...UGH!!

Righty cocked his head to the side, not sure what Lilly was going on about. Maybe she was still nervous from her...'talk' with Daveth? Probably.

"Is it?" He asked. "It is a translation of my earned name, <<Righteous-Heart>>, so I guess it would sound strange to someone outside the pack."

As a reminder, anything marked <<as such>> is in the Blink Dog language, which is basically dog noises that only other blink dogs understand.

[Emperor Ing]

It's fine, I mean...just...oh forget it. She sighs in defeat, knowing full well she's not going to win this battle over her own nerves in the war to ask a simple, yet admittedly stupid and embarrassing question. Lilly looks down, clutching her own head in exasperation. Ugh. You probably think i'm the biggest dork right now.

[Eonas]

Batpope and ChaosLord and everybody else who succeeds a DC 10 Knowledge (Nature) check:
Hags physically age unnaturally quickly, especially when they behave violently.

The human-looking girl really perks up when Daveth speaks of entrails, while the skeleton next to her looks vaguely offended. "That sounds positively gruesome." says the girl gleefully. "Did you ever get the chance to see a disembowelment first hand?"

Batpope spot check, DC 10, or anybody else spot check DC 15
A male drow with particularly white hair and brilliant red eyes, who is sitting next to Liana is stealing glances at her.

[Batpope Scott]

A hag, huh? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Liana resumes eating, confident that Daveth can fend off a Hag in a social confrontation.

Spot Check
[roll0]

[Emperor Ing]

Spot Check!
[roll0]


Hey Liana. The Pseudodragon speaks with a voice heard only in the Nymph's head. Yes, i'm telepathic. Don't look now, but that Drow boy's giving you looks.

[LordChaos13]

[roll0]

"The Hunt was called off before my birth so not first-hand. I do have some training manuals that picture them if you want to see.
But enough about me, what is your name Miss Hag? Hmm why do they call your race that anyway? It springs to mind elderly and ugly women of which you are neither."
Daveth smiles revealing his razor-sharp teeth
"Though I will admit you seem much too mature in body for myself and your other friends. have you been doing something naughty? Seen any entrails yourself?"

[Fangren]

It's fine, I mean...just...oh forget it. She sighs in defeat, knowing full well she's not going to win this battle over her own nerves in the war to ask a simple, yet admittedly stupid and embarrassing question. Lilly looks down, clutching her own head in exasperation. Ugh. You probably think i'm the biggest dork right now.

"Dork?" Righty replied, a puzzled expression on his face. "Why would I think that?" He blinked*, before finally realizing how nervous new-friend Lilly was. "You just wanted to learn more about me, right? That is perfectly fine! I would like to learn more about you as well!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two things. Well, three counting the skeleton. The first was an oddly mature humanoid, probably a hag, chatting with Daveth; he filed away her as another person to keep an eye on. The second was the drow boy next to Liana glancing at her from time to time; he was also someone to keep an eye on. Had Righty not been trying to talk to Lilly, he'd have said something to the drow.

* the eye thing, not the spell-like ability.

Also, in case I want to use them:
Knowledge (Nature): [roll0]
Spot: [roll1]

Edit: the dice love me apparently.

[Eonas]

The hag watches Daveth with her twisted half-smile as he mentions her race. She ignores his questions, instead saying "You're too sweet. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind having a look at those training manuals sometime. Do you have them with you?" She flashes him a very full (and surprisingly un-grotesque-looking) grin.

The drow boy sitting next to Liana now looks very absorbed in his own food and is eating it far less messily than most of the monsters at the table.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth shakes his head
"They are in my bags, I didn't expect to need them so soon after all. And most monsters would find the concept of books specifically dealing with how to brutally kill them unnerving.
I have no idea why."

[Emperor Ing]

"Dork?" Righty replied, a puzzled expression on his face. "Why would I think that?" He blinked*, before finally realizing how nervous new-friend Lilly was. "You just wanted to learn more about me, right? That is perfectly fine! I would like to learn more about you as well!"[/SPOILER]

Lilly looks away and smiles, feeling reassured by the Blink Dog's patience and a bit more confident. Well... she endeavors. What would you like to know?

[Batpope Scott]

Liana jolts slightly from the sudden voice in her head, but calms as soon as she hears what Lilly wants to say. I'm kind of used to getting looked at. Comes with being a nymph.

Nevertheless, Liana looks over to the drow boy and tries to catch his eyes with her own. Maybe she'll figure out that he's looking because of something else?

[THEChanger]

Leo just shook his head and chuckled at the banter back and forth between Lily, Daveth, and the nymph. Liana. Leo kept his eyes on her for awhile. Nymph. There'd been a few near his tribe's home, but like his family, they'd been more...reserved. Leo briefly wondered if Liana was the same way, and then the girl and the pixie saddled up to the table. Leo smiled at the smaller fey, and offered the jug. "Have your fill, little man. Plenty to go around. Though I gotta ask, why do I have guts? It's just wine." Leo grinned. First Righty, now this pixie. Seemed folks around here weren't as keen on spirits as saytrs were. "What's you're name, little man?"

[Fangren]

Lilly looks away and smiles, feeling reassured by the Blink Dog's patience and a bit more confident. Well... she endeavors. What would you like to know?

Righty's tail begins to wag again, happy that his new friend seems to have calmed her nerves, and also at the chance to learn more about her. But what to ask? He wanted to know more about school life, but that seemed too impersonal. That reminded him of why he'd come to Angbor in the first place - to pursue his dream of becoming a paladin.

"Well, what is your dream? What do you want to do after you finish school?"

[Emperor Ing]

Well, you know, it's a bunch of things. She says, trying to buy for time while she puts her thoughts to words. Hoping to the Gods' benevolent mercy that she doesn't come off as strange. I...just don't want to be afraid anymore. I know I don't look like much, well, that's because i'm not much. Physically anyway. My species doesn't last that long in a straight fight i'm sure you can guess. That's why I want to learn about some of the more mental aspects about being a monster. Like how to think, plan, and gather information. If I can show everyone that I...we're not some useless bunch of fake dragons with no hope of standing up to the hunters...well...i'd like that. Besides. She shrugs. I was pretty good at scouting in Nursery. Her real ambition is to prove that there is a possibility, some faint possibility that the humanoid races and the monstrous races can't coexist. Sure, there is merit to the ideas of the old stories. Stories of brave and noble dragons standing up to the malicious human castles and taking their princesses. Even though the stories always ended with the castles razed and the princess taken as payment for the humans' hubris and greed, the dragon almost never actually destroyed their castle. Not out of lack of ability, but rather out of an uncanny foresight and wisdom. The moral of the story is that there is a far greater good that comes about their conflict than what would have otherwise happened.

Lilly gets all that, but she still thinks that these wars of genocide are not the most productive form of conflict. There's a better way without the two groups trying to kill each other, Lilly was sure of it.

There's no way she's telling him that. At least not with everyone else who may be in earshot.

So what about you? You must have some ambitions.

[Eonas]

The hag tilts her head. "Do YOU find them unnerving?" She inquires, curiously. The skeleton, on his part, looks very unnerved, which is saying something, since skeletons don't technically have normal facial expressions.

The drow keeps looking very - unnaturally - absorbed in his food some time, but eventually turns towards Liana. He sounds distinctly awkward as he asks "So, you're an elf too, I take it?"

"You're not the first to call me a boy." The pixie says. A hobgoblin, pauses in the act of chewing a mouthful of meat to say, rather incoherently, "Mebbe ish yor hair or shomshing." The pixie absent-mindedly flattens her rather unruly short blond hair with one hand, but otherwise ignores the hobgoblin. "Anyway, I'm Precka, nice to meet you." She extends her hand, not to shake Leo's hand, but to grab the wine jug away from it. Precka takes a good swig out of it and gives it back to the Satyr. "You know we're not allowed these in the school, you know. How'd you get it in?"

[LordChaos13]

"Actually I have some tales of Psuedodragons taking out some of my family Lily. Your kind isn't weak, just not big or tough. If you can flit in and out of battle using the terrain and your aerial abilities only the Hunters focused on Range will get an attack off, and even then whats harder to hit a giant lizard the size of a house or one half the size of the attacker?
If you'd like I can lend you some tactical handbooks about combat and utilizing strengths and weaknesses. I can even get the information Psuedodragon strengths and weaknesses if you give me a week or so. Though it does come from the opposite side, how to take advantage of your weakness and nullify your strengths so you have to do the thinking on your own to counter our counters."
The Hunter says to Lily between chatting to the charismatic Hag


To the Hag:
"Should I be? It's just combat, how is one supposed to fight if you don't know how to tear the tendon of a dragon to cripple it's wing? Or which pressure point on a Hag leads to debilitating pain. Even the points of a Hunter one must guard against attack.
Or perhaps where the magical flow of a skeleton can be disrupted to cause an inverse reaction leading to the demise of the animatory spell...Right skely?"
Daveth turns to the disturbed-looking undead with a predatory smirk
"Left femur, on the shoulder two centimeters to the left of the middle, 5th rib and right here."
Reaching over and touching a point on his skull near where the ear would be with his dagger

[Fangren]

Well, you know, it's a bunch of things. I...just don't want to be afraid anymore. I know I don't look like much, well, that's because i'm not much. Physically anyway. My species doesn't last that long in a straight fight i'm sure you can guess. That's why I want to learn about some of the more mental aspects about being a monster. Like how to think, plan, and gather information. If I can show everyone that I...we're not some useless bunch of fake dragons with no hope of standing up to the hunters...well...i'd like that. Besides. I was pretty good at scouting in Nursery.

So what about you? You must have some ambitions.

"Self-improvement is always a noble goal." Righty says, nodding. "As for myself, my goal is to become a paladin, a true warrior of all that is good and just. I shall travel the world, helping the innocent and doing battle with the wicked." As he speaks, he adopts a stiffer, prouder posture and closes his eyes as he imagines himself in shining armor, fulfilling his dream.

"In fact, it is that dream which earned me my name." he added matter-of-factually, looking back at Lilly and relaxing his body.

[THEChanger]

Leo smiled as the pixie swipped his jug. As she sipped, he inclined his head slightly. "Sorry about that, Preka. Back home, the gender of folks was far more obvious. Satyrs don't normally wear clothing. The name's Leo." Taking his jug back, Leo looked at the small fey increduously for a moment. Then, a huge grin split across his face, and he wagged his finger at her knowingly. "Ah-ha. I see what you're doing. Playing a joke on the new kid. Very clever. You'll offer to take the wine off my hands next, keep me from getting in trouble. Look, you want some, all you gotta do is ask. I got a lot." So saying, Leo took another jug out from under his jacket, and slid it over to Preka.

[Batpope Scott]

Liana has surprise play across her face as he asks the question."An... an elf? Uh... no, I'm actually a nymph. I've been told I look like an elf girl, though." It suddenly came to her that she was speaking to a drow, so it was probably for the better that she wasn't an elf with her kind of complexion.

[Eonas]

The skeleton, predictably, shivers at Daveth's behavior. The hag cackles unpleasantly. She drinks a long draught of water straight out of the jug and puts it down again on the table with a bang. "You know what, I think we're going to going to get along very well together, Darrin." she says, wearing another of her bizarre half-smiles. And with that, she takes a bite of meat off her tray and eats it messily.

The pixie throws her hands in the air and shrugs. "I plead innocent. But now that you mention it, I wouldn't mind some more of that." Precka draws her hand towards the jug, but hastily withdraws it when the hobgoblin next to her whispers "Catenur!". "Put it away, quick!" Precka says urgently. And she points at the Kyton, who is walking toward the table at which they are seated.

"Oh. Of course. Yes. I should have known." The drow looks angry at himself for his mistake, and pauses awkwardly. "I'm Nugt, of the house of Hyght." He smiles slightly and tentatively extends his hand to Liana for her to shake.

[LordChaos13]

"It's Daveth, and you still haven't told me your name Miss Hag, I can't exactly call you by your race forever now can I."
The hunter puts his dagger down on the table in full view of the approaching devil and takes a large drink of his juice
"Why so scared skely? Id expected a more pleasant welcome form the local Undead. I mean both of us are Former-Humans after all."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana hesitates slightly before shaking hands with the drow, a little nervous about touching someone. "L-Liana. Nice to meet you, Nugt."

[Emperor Ing]

I'll decline. Thank you...for the offer though. I mean. The Pseudodragon is still not comfortable around Daveth, let alone accepting something from him.

A paladin? She replies. Lilly's not entirely sure what that was outside from how Righty describes them. From her recollection though, the hunters have all sorts of wierd names for their different roles and varieties. She's pretty sure "paladin" is one of them. Sounds like a human thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but...what inspired you to be a uhh...pal-luh-din?

[THEChanger]

Leo just shook his head and smiled. "I'm the eldest of six brothers and four sisters. All tricksters themselves. You'll have to try a lot harder to pull the wool over my eyes." As the demon approached, Leo took another swig of wine, wipping his mouth with the back of his hand. "But I have to say, I like you Preka. I hope we see more of each other." Leo winked at the tiny fey.

[Eonas]

"Nalicie." says the Hag simply, and dives back into her food without another word. She looks totally oblivious now to anybody else's presence. The Skeleton, however, answers Daveth in a rather thin and sepulchral voice: "I don't like to think about death. Dying once was bad enough." He fidgets in his seat and stares off into nowhere, obviously wrapped up in rather unpleasant thoughts.

Nugt nods. "Nice to meet you. I - I haven't met a lot of fey. Dad said they - " He cuts off sharply, as he sees the Kyton approach. When he turns back toward Liana, he seems to have forgotten his train of thought. "How does it feel, being in the overworld?" He asks.

As the Kyton approaches, the Pixie goes back to her food, and makes a point of totally ignoring and distancing herself from Leo. The Kyton stops and stands directly behind Leo, rattling his chains. "Students are not allowed alcohol in Angbor." The Kyton hisses. "Hand me that bottle."

[Fangren]

A paladin? Sounds like a human thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but...what inspired you to be a uhh...pal-luh-din?

"It was a human, actually. Several years ago, I found one riding a horse through a forest and fighting some big spiders. I helped him beat them back, but I likely did not need to - he was an amazing fighter. He thanked me, and told me about paladins and how they fight evil with their holy powers of goodness, before going on his way."

Although excited, he tilted his head to the side in thought. "Of course, he may not have been a human at all. He never said that he was, and I never saw him again, so he might have only looked human."

[THEChanger]

The rattling of chains caused Leo to turn around, but it was the hiss of the infernal voice that made his skin crawl. Regaining his composure, Leo flashed a charming smile, and bowed his head. "Catenur, I presume? I overheard some of the other students talking about you, and what an upstanding fellow you are. Always looking out for the best interests of your students, a task that I can appreciate must not always be rewarding. And, of course, such a regulation makes sense! Whiskey, gin, rum, why, such things should be kept out of the reach of children. I've seen what it can do to full grown satyrs, so I shudder to think what it might do to, say, the young pseudodragon over there. But, as I'm sure you'll realize, I posses no such beverage. Only wine, a throughly non-alcoholic beverage, and one freely enjoyed by the youths of my tribe. Here, feel free to taste for yourself." Leo handed over the jug of wine, continuing to offer the chain-wearing humanoid a warm, but slightly stupid smile.

[Emperor Ing]

So wait a minute. You. She pauses. pointing at Righty. Ran into a human. And he didn't try to kill you? Lilly says, with a tone that's clearly disbelieving as she raises her tail to her salad bowl. I'm not saying you're lying, but you gotta admit that does sound kinda odd. You? A Blink Dog? Not being attacked by the human? She puts her hands in front in a sort of defensive posture. You don't think...hey! She abruptly turns to the source of the rattling of chains, looking rather cheerful to the Kyton as her tail lowers, carrying skewered pieces of vegetable and fruit which are promptly picked up in the demidragon's hands and eaten.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth returns to his food, devouring it swiftly, but retaining his manners and not making a huge mess

[Fangren]

So wait a minute. You. She pauses. pointing at Righty. Ran into a human. And he didn't try to kill you? Lilly says, with a tone that's clearly disbelieving as she raises her tail to her salad bowl. I'm not saying you're lying, but you gotta admit that does sound kinda odd. You? A Blink Dog? Not being attacked by the human? She puts her hands in front in a sort of defensive posture. You don't think...hey! She abruptly turns to the source of the rattling of chains, looking rather cheerful to the Kyton as her tail lowers, carrying skewered pieces of vegetable and fruit which are promptly picked up in the demidragon's hands and eaten.

"Yes, that is why I am not certain if he was really human..." Righty nodded, before noticing the Kyton confronting Leo. 'Although perhaps not all humans are bad.' he continued in his head.

[Eonas]

Catenur snatches away the jug from the Satyr. "We'll see about that. If I find that what you say is not true..." He leaves the threat open-ended and glares at Leo, then around at everybody else at the table. "Have you not eaten enough already?" he asks the students, in a louder tone of voice. Indeed, the food in the various dishes is mostly gone now. None of the students move or talk, now - many of them have their eyes on the Kyton. Catenur pauses dramatically, glances down at Leo, and says "I'll have my eyes on you, Satyr." Then he spins around and strides off toward another table.

As soon as he's gone some distance, the tense silence around the table relapses, and the students finish eating what's on their trays. The pixie scoots back toward Leo, and says in a confidential half-whisper, "Pick your fights, mate. You don't want any more trouble from Cat."

Nugt goes back to his food and eats it quite a bit quicker now.

[Emperor Ing]

"Yes, that is why I am not certain if he was really human..." Righty nodded, before noticing the Kyton confronting Leo. 'Although perhaps not all humans are bad.' he continued in his head.

I bet it was scary. She muses aloud, interrupted by her own tail returning once again with a serving of skewered vegetables, which are promptly snatched and chewed on. Ah 'urd...agh. She chews a bit more, then swallows. Sorry. From what I recall, they're gigantic...things...that have bone white hide underneath those horrible metal scales, with bits of dead animal skin I was told they wear as trophies. The ones that don't have metal skull plates have this horrible mane that's as black as the deadest night with beards made from the venom they continually dribble from their malformed mouths and beady eyes. Ugh. She shudders, eating a rather small bit of lettuce, even by her standards.
Must've been terrifying.

[LordChaos13]

The former-human looks at the young psuedodragon with disbelief
"What kind of stories have you Heard? Remember the origin of the Hunter, we
used to be Humans but became what we are to Hunt better.
I can say with absolute certainty they had no natural-occurring venom and any beards were made by growing hair on their chins like I do on my scalp."
Daveth shakes his head, sheathing his dagger out of sight
"The metal scales you speak of are refined ore found deep within the ground made stronger then worn like clothing. Basically they make really thin walls of metal and wear them. And while some Humans wear animal hides as trophies the majority is to keep warm or like Leo here and his minotaur-hide.
A Human is not like a dragon, they have no scales. Not every human has magical abilities like a Drow or the ability to fly like a fairy. Humans, without items, are weak. Sure some can tap into sorcerous powers or use complicated rituals to gain arcane power, but most extraplanar entities get them naturally while Humans need to work at it.

Oh and their mouths? Are exactly like mine but with less sharp teeth. Please don't say it is malformed."

[THEChanger]

"Cow, not minotaur, though I understand the two are distantly related!" Leo corrected Daveth, giving the hunter a quick wink. He then turned back to Preka, a rather sheepish grin on his face. "It appears I owe you an appology. We'll have to be more careful about our drinking habits from now on, I suppose. But really. No alcohol? And I thought my tribe was barbaric." He shook his head, obviously joking, but quickly became more serious. "So. I'm knew. What can you tell me about the staff? Especially that Catenur. Seems a bit...rotten."

[Fangren]

Listening while he ate, Righty nodded at Daveth's explanation of human appearance, though he didn't really understand the part about ores. "It was not scary, Lilly, honest. He looked..." the blink dog paused, looking around the room. "somewhere between Daveth and Liana, I think. Only he was wearing a lot of really shiny metal, and so was his horse."

[Emperor Ing]

Oh Gods, i'm sorry! all of Lilly's fears of Daveth come bubbling to the surface as she works frantically to try and amend her previous statements in an attempt to appease this angry ex-human. It's just...these...these-stories. The stories my parents told me. When I was a little wyrmling. They, they made 'em sound so scary! And...and I swear i've never seen a human before! Oh Gods I won't want any trouble. Just please don't be mad!

[LordChaos13]

"And why should I be mad? You lacked knowledge and I corrected you with the right facts. How can I fault you for your parents stories and not fault myself for the centuries the Hunters slaughtered monsterkind?"
Daveth pats Lily on the head
"I'm not some scary monster Lily...Well no thats a lie. I'm not a scary Monster-Hunter. And my skin is also thicker than you think, it would have to be considering the standard reaction to me...I believe you demonstrated it earlier with your, ahem, acrobatics performance and subsequent threatening of me with your tail."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana leans over and whispers to Nugt "I don't know how much changes, since I've never really been underground, but I know the warmth of the sun always makes my mornings a little better." Liana finishes what's on her plate, ignoring the kyton talking to the satyr, but looks up when Catenur asks about the food. As soon as he's out of ear shot, Liana asks a question to nobody in particular "He's kind of grumpy, isn't he?"

[Eonas]

A short human boy with dark hair and a ruddy complexion sitting at the opposite end of the table suddenly takes interest in the discussion on his own kind. "You're right." He says to Daveth. "We aren't anywhere near as nasty as what the little dragon described us as."

Precka looks pleased to be asked for information. "I'm as new here as you are. Well, not quite - I have a day on you. But I don't know much about the staff - especially since classes haven't even started yet -, except Catenur seems as unpleasant as he seems, and then there's Lucern, who's a pleasant sort of chap, and a couple Golems patrolling the place, and a big transparent square thing, and - oh! There's a Nixie here, too." The fey grins and takes a last bite of food. "Nobody seems too bad except for Cat." Precka stands up and wipes her mouth.

Once the kyton's gone, the drow nods into his food tray. "Ah. It'll be hard on you, being cooped up under the earth here, then. If you need any help adjusting or something, I'll be there to help." he says, not looking at Liana.

At least half of the students have already finished eating - the skeleton has already left the room a while ago, and the hobgoblin next to Precka is walking out the door. The hag, Nalicie, also stands up to leave. Before leaving, however, she leans forward toward Daveth. "When can I have a look at your training manuals?"

[Emperor Ing]

The Pseudodragon still looks very much intimidated by the ex-hunter, attempting to withdraw (rather unsuccessfully) from Daveth's much larger hand as she's patted on the head. An action that starts to leave Lilly more embarassed than fearful if anything. When the human. The HUMAN!! Jumps in, it can't help but command Lilly's attention. Given the proportions of the table and bench being ill-suited to accomodate someone of her stature, she has to stand up straight and really stretch her neck to see him just across the table. Needless to say she does a double-check at least three times. Needless to say she's very surprised.

Still in disbelief, Lilly offers a rather stupid statement in some attempt to make sense. You're...human...

[Batpope Scott]

"Might take you up on that." Liana smiles, content that she's made a friend even if he's a little focused on that plate of his.

She looks over at the ongoing conversation over the human in surprise. A human? What on earth is he doing here?

[Fangren]

"Ehhhh?" Righty's jaw drops and his ears perk up. "I did not know there would be humans here!" He looks at the boy in eager amazement, hoping that the human will be as friendly as the paladin.

[LordChaos13]

"Sorceror or some other form of mixed bloodline I assume? Nice to meet another human-descendant outside the family. What brings you all the way out of civilization?
And lily it is rude to stare at the different ones. Really where are your manners."
Daveth, having seen the human earlier but not reacted, finishes his food calmly and sets the cutlery down.
"Wait, let me guess, planning an invasion to stop the entire next generation of monsters. Or maybe it's a student exchange program and there is a very frightened young Wight in a human city."

[THEChanger]

Leo nodded. "Well, seeing as I've already made a right mess of things with Cat, looks like I'll just have to suck up to the others." Leo pulled the first jug of wine out from under his jacket, and took a swig. He then leaned in closer to Preka. "Now, I've been out in the boonies for awhile, so I don't know how things are here. But where I'm from, the fey stick together. I've known a few pixies, nymphs, so on. Nice people. Better manners than your giant-ish types, more fun than your angels and devils. I hope I can count on you to have my back?"

[Eonas]

"Yeah, I'm human." The human boy says, and then nods at Daveth. "Right you are, again. I'm a Lycanthrope." He stares off somewhere in between Daveth and Lilly, and says "My great-uncle or one of my other ancestors was afflicted by it, and it passed down to me. When my family first discovered I had it, I was seven. They threw me out of the house. Kind of funny, really." The boy's facial expression, however, quite unambiguously displays the fact that he does not find this funny at all.

Nugt labors with the remainder of his food for a while longer, and then turns to Liana again. "So, um, what classes will you be taking?"

Nalicie repeats her question. "When can I have a look at those manuals?" She makes a brave attempt at making a sweet smile. The result is every bit as unnatural as you might expect.

"We-ell." The Pixie considers this. "Sure, I'll look out for you, as long as you don't keep behaving stupid like that." She claps Leo on the back. "See ya, mate." she says, and walks off.

[LordChaos13]

"Come by my room later I'll lend them too you." Daveth responds to the Hag, smiling back in a slightly less freaky way.
"Though I would like them back at some point, they are technically family heirlooms."

(OOC: A great-uncle isn't in the line of ancestry so it cant be Inherited Lycanthropy)
"Inherited Lycan, interesting. Hmm, if it was your Great Uncle he would have been bitten during the Wolf-Swarm the Hunters crushed. We thought we got all the victims but clearly some were missed if what you say is true. Well anyway it is still good to see a distant, very distant, cousin."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana thought for a moment. Surely she'd been told some form of schedule, but it slipped her mind. "I'm not sure actually. Hopefully something that will help me learn more about the other races here or something that teaches me better magic. Currently most of my magic has little use."

She smiled at Nugt. Something was oddly comfortable about talking to the drow. Probably the fact that he seemed a little out of place here. Kindred soul and all that.

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly ignores Daveth's lecturing her about staring, instead breaking into a rather giddy train of questioning, smiling exitedly. Hehehe, this is great! You look nothing like I thought you would from the stories but I guess that's what happens when you rely on description three centuries old so what's human society like how does it compare to monster society ooh what do you think about us do you think there's some commonalities we all share what are your plans here... And she goes on and on and on...

[THEChanger]

Leo smiled at the pixie. He didn't actually trust Preka all that much, but he figured she would make a good first friend here. Plus, she was pretty cute. "See you around, mate." As Preka left, Leo turned back to the main conversation. "A were! Well well. I didn't realize there were any of you left. Name's Leo. And yours?"

[Fangren]

"Ly...can...thrope?" Righty muttered quietly, sounding the word out and trying to figure out what it meant. Whatever it was, the human didn't seem to be too happy about it. He could probably ask Lilly about it later, but...

"I am sorry to intrude, but what is a lycanthrope? I am not familiar with the word." Righty asks the human boy once he's finished answering the other questions.

[Eonas]

The boy is completely bewildered by Lilly's barrage of questions. When the pseudodragon pauses for a breath, he answers "Um... yes." He glances around at the other students as an escape. Having found one in the person of Righteous-Heart, he turns toward the Blink Dog. "I'm a Were-rat. One of the only ones alive, if what Daveth says is true. And my name's Cuspin." He concludes, looking at Leo.

Nalicie's grotesque smile morphs into her natural-looking wide grin. "Okay, great!" she says. Then her grin vanishes and she quickly asks "Which room's that?"

"Ah." Nugt says. "Well, I hope you're in my classes." He looks into Liana's eyes for the first time in a while, smiling, and then gets up to leave as well.

The only students left at the table at this point are the five newcomers, Cuspin, Nalicie, Nugt, an Aranea in hybrid form, and a Lillend. The latter two are seated side by side at the opposite end of the table, talking together quietly.

Lucern, the Djinni, flies toward the students. "When you ladies and gentlemen are finished eating, I'll guide you to your rooms." he tells the five newcomers politely.

[LordChaos13]

"One of the few NEW inherited. The hunters shut down the last biting spree but didn't find enough of their actual lairs to commit true genocide. It's like...Dragons, we killed all the new Half-Dragons but couldn't find the actual already-living enclaves of Dragons. To use an example of course, adult dragons are kind of hard to slay even for trained Hunters and Half-Dragons fight as well as Adventurers if they aren't actually adventuring themselves."
Daveth stands up his plate long since empty
"And righteous, he means he can turn into a rat or a hybrid ratman and can pass on said ability to anyone he bites...as long as they aren't already monsters. A few of the hunters were bitten but we eventually developed an immunity to the disease among other things."

OOC: Monstrous humanoid can't be given Lycan template, the hunters were Humanoid and became Monstrous so this is the fluff-reason. To avoid attacks that hurt Humanoid-only.

"Hmm, I dont actually know...I'll tell you next time I see you Nalicie."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana smiles back to Nugt "I hope so, too."

When Lucern shows up, Liana asks him quietly "Do you know when we'll be told about classes? I'm curious as to how we're being assigned and to what."

[Fangren]

Hearing both Cuspin and Daveth explain things, Righty finally understood. "Oh! So that is what you are. Thank you!" Truth be told, he'd heard of something similar before. His father often talked of an old were-bear friend, although Righty'd never actually met him. Nobody in the pack had ever mentioned were-rats before, but they couldn't be too different from were-bears, right?

When the djinni arrived to take them to their rooms, Righty quickly scarfed down the last bits of meat on his plate. "I am ready to go!" he said exuberantly.

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly wasn't exactly satisfied with the fact that pretty much all twenty of her questions were answered with "yes" even though none of them were yes-or-no questions. Regardless maybe now wasn't the best time so she can wait. A quick glance around does reveal a rather startling truth though: Where does the time go?! With that the demidragon skewers some of the last pieces of the salad, finishing it off before turning to Cuspin. I suppose we'll talk next time. And with that she looks to Lucern.

Hello. So as you remember i'm a bit late. How do we know what classes we're gonna take?

[THEChanger]

Leo smiled, making a mental note of Cuspin's nature. Pixie, hob, were-rat, and satyr. Gears were spinning in Leo's mind. These three could be a core for him. If Preka can be trusted, and her hobgoblin friend could be brought in. "Glad to meet you, Cuspin. Hope I see you around." Turning to the djinn-Lucern, he'd have to remember to call him. "Hey Lucern! I hope you have a room with a view for me." Leo's grin should communicate that he was joking-mostly. He'd already pissed off one member of the staff. Hopefully, he could build a sense of comradery with another.

[Eonas]

Lucern smiles benignly at Liana and Lilly. "We can arrange that now, if you like." He offers, looking around at the five. He pulls out a parchment and quill, and takes on a more official tone as he says "You're all required to take Combat 1, and Career and Life Management. Those of you with with natural weapons - that'll be you, Lilelathia, Leo, and Righteous Heart - are recommended to take The Proper Care and Use of Natural Weapons. Those with Spell-Like Abilities should take Mastering Your Special Abilities. Other classes available are also General Knowledge, Physical Education, The Fine Art of Interpersonal Relationships, aaaand Plundering. You have to take a minimum of 5 classes, but you're recommended to take whatever classes you think you'll need. Which classes will you five be taking?"

Cuspin leaves the room without a word halfway through Lucern's speech, soon followed by the Aranea and the Lillend. Nugt and Nalicie, however, remain to watch the Djinni and the five newcomers.

[LordChaos13]

"I shall be taking Combat 1, Career and Life Management, Mastering your Special Abilities, General Knowledge, Phys Ed and Plundering."
Daveth lists the ones he would need to take

[Batpope Scott]

"I suppose I'll take Mastering Your Special Abilities, General Knowledge, and Interpersonal Relationships along with the two we have to take."
Liana turns in the bench, ready to go wherever she's needed. Does only taking five make me seem like an underachiever? I really hope not...

[Fangren]

Choices, choices, so many choices Righty's tail was wagging! He'd gotten down from the bench anticipating a trip to the dorms, but now he sat on his haunches and cocked his head from side to side in thought.

What classes should I take? he thought. It sounds like the first four are ones that I need to take, and at least one other. But which should I take, they all sound interesting except for plundering. Who wants to plunder? He continued on like that for another minute or so before making his decision.

"I shall take Combat I, Career and Life Management, The Proper Care and Use of Natural Weapons, Mastering Your Special Abilities, General Knowledge, Physical Education, and The Fine Art of Interpersonal Relationships." It was a total of seven classes, and Righteous-Heart did worry that he might have too big of a load, but in the end he just couldn't choose between them. Who knew what sorts of skills a Paladin might need?

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly thinks about her apparent elective classes for a moment. It might pay to get Proper Care and Use of Natural Weapons as well as develop an acronym by which to refer to it easily in casual conversation. But her thoughts are getting off-track. Considering her physical abilities are rather limited in a world of giants, Physical Education and Plundering are probably a waste of time. That narrows down her options quite well.

She doesn't want to feel like an underachiever for taking the bare minimum of classes but on the other hand she wants to get a feel for the school before she can be more ambitious. Lilly waits for Lucern to be done writing down Righty's courses before making herself heard. I'll be doing Interpersonal Relationships, General Knowledge, Natural Weapons, Decent enough shorthand and the required courses of course.

[THEChanger]

"Hmmm..." Leo put his fingers together, thinking about the course selection. Combat One and Career and Life sounded very boring, but necessary. General Knowledge and Physical Education he could skip. Which left only four others. A single nod, and Leo smiled once more. "I think I'll be taking the required, as well as Proper Care, Mastering my Special Abilities, Interpersonal, and Plundering."

[Eonas]

Lucern, as before, scribbles on his parchment as the students are giving their course selection. Then he looks around at them and says in his official tone "Right, then. Now would be a good time to explain some of the basic rules of the school. Don't attack other students or staff or use spell-like abilities on them with out their express permission. You're not to vandalize the school, or be in possession of illicit materials such as alcohol, artificial weapons, and the like. Don't be late for classes, and so on." The Djinni's expression and tone softens to their natural states of joviality, and he concludes "There's probably loads more that I'm forgetting right now, but that's what Catenur's for. Anyway, let me show you to your rooms."

With the Hag and the Drow and tow, Lucern leads the five students back through the passageway they entered the room in, and down the passage that Lucern had pointed out earlier. He leads the students through a series of passageways, finally ending up at a wooden door. He knocks at the door, saying "It's your new roommates!". The door is soon opened by a short, mild-looking Bugbear. She nods at Lucern and looks curiously at the students in the group. Lucern points out the Nymph and Psuedodragon, saying "Hello, Trencheon, meet Liana and Lilly, your two new roommates." He turns toward the latter two and says "And vice-versa, of course. And then, you may already have met Nalicie, who will be your other roommate." Lucern points to the Hag in the group.

[Batpope Scott]

"N-nice to meet you." Liana avoids eye contact as she greets her new roommate.

[Emperor Ing]

From what she can gather, the rules of the school to her are basically "Use common sense and respect others." Pretty much the rules she grew up with back home. Except the alcohol. Nobody could help whether or not a grape has fermented.

Lilly looks at Liana a bit surprised, not really expecting one of the five to be her roommate, or even living in a quad for that matter. Or a quad that at least doesn't seem to accomodate non-Bigs. Yet. She hasn't yet seen inside the room after all, hopefully it's at least comfortable. The Demidragon looks back on Trencheon. Curious name, but she's not one to judge. Hello. She says, a bit tentative. I'm Lilly, nice to meet you as well.

[Eonas]

The Bugbear says nothing but nods at the students, smiling mildly. Nalicie, meanwhile, asks Lucern "What room will Daveth be in?" The Djinni, surprised, answers "Uh, Room 2." but doesn't ask why. Content with this information, Nalicie strides into the room.

"If you ladies need any assistance with anything, just call. Right, now I'll be leading you gentlemen to your room." Lucern says, and leads Leo, Daveth, and Righteous-Heart through another series of passageways, finally winding up at another wooden door. As before, Lucern knocks at the door and says "Open up, it's your new roommates!" The door is opened by the Hobgoblin who was sitting next to the Pixie at the dinner table earlier. "Hello, Muto, meet Leo and Daveth, your new roommates. And vice versa." Lucern says, as before. Muto recognizes Leo from earlier and smirks at him; Daveth he ignores.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth hangs back until the introductions are over, simply watching things happen
When given the chance he will move into the actual room to examine it

[Batpope Scott]

Liana slowly walks into her new room expectantly, looking to see what kind of place she'd be living in.

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly isn't far behind, walking slowly into her new room, looking around the place. Twiddling with her hands all the while in nervousness.

[THEChanger]

Leo grinned when he saw who opened the door. "Muto and I have already met. Good to see you again." Leo held out his hand for a shake. Sharing a room with Daveth and Righty would be somewhat difficult he imagined, so it would be good to have someone who didn't mind bending the rules around. Hopefully he was right about Muto.

[Eonas]

The room in which Lilly and Liana find themselves is a mostly bare 30x30' room. At each of its four corners, there is a fairly rudimentary bed, and beside each bed there is a small wooden chest. Nalicie points to the two beds at the back of the room. "You two can sleep there." she says, bluntly. The Bugbear sits down on her bed and watches the newcomers curiously.

Muto shakes Leo's hand in an awkward way that indicates that he wasn't used to handshaking, and then leads Leo and Daveth into the room, which is fitted exactly like the girls'. A burly-looking Troll is lying in the far-left bed, watching the introductions being made with a glazed expression. Muto points him out and says fairly loudly "That's Scrynd." In an undertone, he adds to Leo "Stay out of his way, he's a nasty piece of business."

As before, Lucern says "If there's anything you gentlemen need, just ask." He bows and turns to Righteous-Heart and says "Now we've only got you left." He begins leading the Blink Dog through another series of passages, saying "Since you're a Blink Dog and therefore cannot undertake tasks involving fine manipulation - no offense meant, I assure you -, you will be given your own special room at Angbor. As it happens, there happens to be a Winter Wolf in your year, so you'll be sharing the room with him. Ah, there we are." He stops at another wooden door and calls through it "It's your new roommate!" A canine-sounding voice inside the room says "Open the door." The door is quickly opened by... apparently, nothing. A longish winter wolf appears from behind it, looking at Righteous-Heart with interest. Lucern loses no time in making the introductions, as usual: "Finrir, meet your new roommate, Righteous-Heart, and vice-versa, of course." Finrir stares at Righteous-Heart for a while, then asks, in his heavy canine accent, "You a Blink Dog?"

[LordChaos13]

[roll0] Knowledge Nature to guess roughly Scrynd's level and stats

"Nice to meet you Scrynd, I'm sure we'll be seeing each other quite a lot."
Baring his sharp Hunter-teeth in a smile he offers his hand

[Fangren]

Righty followed Lucern and his classmates patiently, making sure to take note of where their rooms were (at least, where Lilly's room was) as well as other interesting features and smells in the halls. Eventually, they dropped off Daveth and Leo.


As before, Lucern says "If there's anything you gentlemen need, just ask." He bows and turns to Righteous-Heart and says "Now we've only got you left."

Righty's tail started wagging in anticipation.


He begins leading the Blink Dog through another series of passages, saying "Since you're a Blink Dog and therefore cannot undertake tasks involving fine manipulation - no offense meant, I assure you -,

"None taken!" he replied, panting with excitement.


you will be given your own special room at Angbor. As it happens, there happens to be a Winter Wolf in your year, so you'll be sharing the room with him.

Righteous-Heart's enthusiasm faltered slightly. He didn't know much about Winter Wolves, but what he'd heard from his pack hadn't been too good. Still, he'd never met one before, and they were probably like most species anyway - only some of them were bad. 'I'll be sharing a room with him for quite some time, so I should definitely try to make friends.'


Ah, there we are." He stops at another wooden door and calls through it "It's your new roommate!" A canine-sounding voice inside the room says "Open the door." The door is quickly opened by... apparently, nothing. A longish winter wolf appears from behind it, looking at Righteous-Heart with interest. Lucern loses no time in making the introductions, as usual: "Finrir, meet your new roommate, Righteous-Heart, and vice-versa, of course." Finrir stares at Righteous-Heart for a while, then asks, in his heavy canine accent, "You a Blink Dog?"

Momentarily distracted by the mysteriously opening door, Righty happily says "Yes I am! It is nice to meet you, Finrir!"

[Batpope Scott]

"Thank you."

Liana goes to sit down on the right side bed of the two and sets down what things she brought with her. She then proceeds to sigh and stare at the floor to avoid talking with either of her new roommates. They're both a bit intimidating in their own way...

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly still can't get over the idea of how huge everything is. Her old nursery was built by normal-sized people for normal-sized people. This school of Bigs for Bigs was nothing short of intimidating. Not to mention the room that would normally seem a bit small to a Big is nothing short of a great (if rather drab, it's a wonder ) chamber with a bed at each corner, any one of which takes up an area the Pseudodragon could live in comfortably. After the proportionately long trek to her bed, Lilly struggles to climb on, resorting to hopping onto the chest and using that.

However the presence of the strong-silent type Hobgoblin is more than a little unnerving. Someone you really shouldn't try to bother too much. Hopefully she might be a helpful friend though one can only hope. For now, though, the only one she could probably talk to is the only normal-sized creature in the room. So... she attempts to strike conversation with nobody in particular. where are classes supposed to be held?

[Eonas]

The hag ignores this question, instead going over to her chest, pulling a key out of her clothes, and opening the chest with it. She rummages around in it until she finds a well-worn book, locks the chest, and goes over to her bed to read the question.
Trencheon, on the other hand, answers Lilly, albeit rather vaguely. "Over beyond the main room." She looks at her roommates shyly for a moment and then offers "I could show you, if you wanted."

Scrynd stares at Daveth, and then shakes his hand with the crushing force of somebody who doesn't know his own strength. Having completed this task, he lies back down and seems oblivious to Daveth's presence once again. Muto remarks dryly "I'm sure you will, especially since you're roommates and all."

Finrir's gaze remains unbroken, but his attitude is now noticeably colder. "Ah, good, I've always wanted a roommate who could blink at me." He says. Lucern, not giving any indication that he noticed the Winter Wolf's change in attitude, says "I'm sure you'll get along great. Now, there's a few things I need to tell you about, Righteous-Heart. May I come in?" Upon Finrir's assent, he leads Righteous-Heart into the room, which is, oddly enough, 30x30 feet large. One of the differences is that the room has a largish black pyramidal stone in the middle of it.
"I would like to direct your attention to the pyramidal stone that you find before you. It is imbued with the ability to summon mindless and invisible servants to do your bidding. Since you do not naturally possess the ability to do things such as open doors or read books - again, no offense intended, I assure you - you may call upon them to help you perform these tasks." He turns toward both canines with a very serious look. "I should remind you both that this is a privilege. Should you abuse it in any way, this privilege will be removed. Do I make myself very clear?"

[Fangren]

Finrir's gaze remains unbroken, but his attitude is now noticeably colder. "Ah, good, I've always wanted a roommate who could blink at me." He says.

Righty blinks in confusion, understanding neither the wolf's remark nor his attitude change.


Lucern, not giving any indication that he noticed the Winter Wolf's change in attitude, says "I'm sure you'll get along great. Now, there's a few things I need to tell you about, Righteous-Heart. May I come in?" Upon Finrir's assent, he leads Righteous-Heart into the room, which is, oddly enough, 30x30 feet large. One of the differences is that the room has a largish black pyramidal stone in the middle of it.
"I would like to direct your attention to the pyramidal stone that you find before you. It is imbued with the ability to summon mindless and invisible servants to do your bidding. Since you do not naturally possess the ability to do things such as open doors or read books - again, no offense intended, I assure you - you may call upon them to help you perform these tasks." He turns toward both canines with a very serious look. "I should remind you both that this is a privilege. Should you abuse it in any way, this privilege will be removed. Do I make myself very clear?"

Righteous-Heart was in awe. The room was...well, it was certainly different from the wide open outdoors he was used to, but he thought he'd get used to it. The pyramid, however, was absolutely amazing. He knew about magic, certainly, but he'd never thought that something so useful could exist! He didn't actually need it to go through doors that much, as he could blink through if he needed to. More importantly, he could read books! And...

"Perfectly clear! I shall not abuse this wonderful privilege! Incidentally, are they able to write as well?" he asked, turning his head from the pyramid to Lucern.

[LordChaos13]

"I was sent here to make friends you know, ignoring someone due to their racial disadvantages seems counterproductive considering my own kinds reputation is why I was sent on this mission."
Daveth moves to his bed, rearranging his belongings having been disturbed from their order and position in being moved to this place
Setting a manual aside he closes to lid of his chest. The manual emblazoned "Kobold Massacres: How to turn the tides of the little swarm"

[Emperor Ing]

Trencheon, on the other hand, answers Lilly, albeit rather vaguely. "Over beyond the main room." She looks at her roommates shyly for a moment and then offers "I could show you, if you wanted."

Lilly pauses for a moment, weighing the odds. Either be caught wandering around the halls and possibly be stepped on, eventually being late for class with a few broken limbs, or trust this relative stranger to help her avoid all that. Well sometimes you need to take a leap of faith. Actually yeah, that would be nice. Of course then the demidragon remembers that her short legs can't carry her half the speed she'd need to go to keep up without running. And uh...if it's not too much trouble, could I....ride on your shoulders? I mean...if it's not too much trouble, it's just that I wouldn't be able to keep up with you. Of course at this point Lilly's self-doubt is screaming at her that that's a stupid thing to request of someone.

[Batpope Scott]

Liana just decides to settle in rather than ask along. I'll just find my way there myself. Or I could ask Lilly if I get lost.

Feeling tired, she lays down to get some sleep. Today's been a long day.

[Eonas]

Trencheon looks even more shy and nervous than Lilly about this prospect. "Um, o-okay, sure." She delicately picks the Pseudodragon up and places her on her shoulder. "Is that all right?" she asks, as she slowly begins to walk toward the door.
The Hag doesn't even look up from her book, which she is perusing with a rather impressive amount of intensity.

Scrynd, despite Daveth's little monologue, still seems totally unaware of his presence. Muto looks on the two wryly and casually glances at the cover of the book as Daveth puts it aside. "What in Baator is that book doing here?" he asks, surprised, as soon as he discovers what it is.

"Yeah, I won't abuse it." Finrir answers in a tone as blasé as he can get away with. Lucern still gives no indication that he thinks Finrir's behavior is amiss. "Yes, as a matter of fact, they can, if you dictate to them. Will that be all?" He looks around at the room and slaps his forehead. "Oh, of course, silly me. You'll need somewhere to sleep." He points a finger toward one of the corners of the room and instantly there appears a straw mattress similar to the one at the other end of the room, where Finrir presumably lies. "Will that work for you, Righteous-Heart?" he asks.

[Fangren]

"Yeah, I won't abuse it." Finrir answers in a tone as blasé as he can get away with. Lucern still gives no indication that he thinks Finrir's behavior is amiss. "Yes, as a matter of fact, they can, if you dictate to them. Will that be all?" He looks around at the room and slaps his forehead. "Oh, of course, silly me. You'll need somewhere to sleep." He points a finger toward one of the corners of the room and instantly there appears a straw mattress similar to the one at the other end of the room, where Finrir presumably lies. "Will that work for you, Righteous-Heart?" he asks.

"Yes, it will! Thank you very much!" Righty answered happily. He was quite glad to learn the invisible helpers would be able to take dictation; he had been worried about how to do written work as soon as he knew he might have to do some. The bed was neat too, he'd be sure to take care of it.

[Emperor Ing]

Trencheon looks even more shy and nervous than Lilly about this prospect. "Um, o-okay, sure." She delicately picks the Pseudodragon up and places her on her shoulder. "Is that all right?" she asks, as she slowly begins to walk toward the door.

It is rather frightening to see giant hands reaching down to grab her, but Lilly figures she can put at least some trust in the bugbear. She walks onto Trencheon's enormous hand, then she holds on to the ride all the way to her shoulder, that the Pseudodragon walks up and on top of, coiling her tail behind Trencheon's neck, very careful not to cause any prickings as Lilly's tail tip is both sharp and poisonous (even though the poison is very nonlethal.) Yes, it's good. She responds, brushing down her skirt. Thank you again.

[LordChaos13]

"It's a training manual, a Hag wanted to see it due to the, ahem, graphical content. We ARE here to learn aren't we, this is what the Hunters learn. The weak and strong points of each race and their standard tactics. How to fight them should they attack, or more likely should we Hunt them though that hasn't happened since we stopped the Hunt a while back to join this society.
It's my heritage, to be a top-notch fighter and master of Xenobiology...though I guess its just regular Biology now since I'm a Monster too."

[THEChanger]

"Nalice. Nalice was the hag's name, right? Nasty pieces, hags. Not that I knew any personally, but...y'know. You hear stories." Leo casually began pacing the room, testing the walls and floors. "The idea of not judging a person by their species is a nice one Daveth, but honestly, it gives a pretty good clue. I'm telling you, that Nalice is a bit of trouble. Now, I don't mind ladies in here, not at all, but I think you can do better than her Daveth old boy. What about you, Muto? You've known her longer than I have, and Daveth didn't seem to remember her. What's the deal with Nalice?" Leo continued to ramble as he looked for a stone to move, a cubby-hole, somewhere that the staff wouldn't be looking.

Either Search or Sleight of Hand applies here. Search to find a hiding spot, or Sleight of Hand to hide an object. Though, Sleight of Hand is more for hiding objects on one's person, isn't it? Either way, I'll roll both to see if Leo can find a good spot to stash some wine.

Search-[roll0]
Sleight of Hand-[roll1]

[LordChaos13]

"And have you heard stories about the Hunters too? Honestly the stories of the Hags aren't as bad as some I could name, like centaurs or satyrs. Violent dismemberment is probably less of a crime than dragging young women away for, ahem, dubious reasoning."
Daveth smiles "Though if it sets your conscience at ease you aren't being racist by thinking the worst of Nalicie you do have proof she has done some "bad" things. Hags age faster if they are violent after all."

[Eonas]

Trencheon walks toward the main room, slowly so as not to upset her passenger. When she gets there, the main room is mostly empty: the only two occupants are a ghoul and a wight quietly talking together and leaning against the wall. They abruptly stop talking when they see Lilly and Trencheon enter, and stand there looking at the intruders attentively. Trencheon is visibly unnerved by their presence, but points towards one of the doors at the opposite end of the room. "You can get to the classes through that door." she says quietly. The two undead enter a whispered conversation, glancing at Lilly and Trencheon occasionally.

"I don't know much about her, sorry, except that she seems to keep to herself. I've only been here a day longer than you, you know." Muto says, almost impatiently. Then he turns to Daveth and urgently tells him "You'd better keep that thing out of sight, or there'll be trouble. People in here aren't particularly receptive to the concept of Xenocide, for some odd reason."

"All right, then. If there's anything gentlemen you need, just ask." Lucern bows to the two students and glides out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Once the Djinn is out of the room, Finris tilts his head at Righteous-Heart. "I'd like to see you blink." he says still coldly but not entirely unpleasantly.

[LordChaos13]

"How odd, I cant see why, I mean I know you guys seem to fear death even those of others but not liking even texts describing it. Are none of you Healers?"
Daveth seems actually confused, like a question that had perplexed him for some time
"Death is a natural thing, learning how to hasten that process and learning the artform of manipulating death is all a part of growing up and becoming an adult. As one grows closer to the natural death of aging they of course should learn more about it."
He shrugs but doesnt move the manual
"Still it is on the allowed list of items, being of racial knowledge and part of our Rites of Approaching Death, or growing up as more commonly known so the ones in authority have no power to remove it legally."

OOC:
The Hunters deal with death very differently to normal people, being a culture and extended family devoted entirely to committing mass murder frequently as well as evolving from the more stereotypical PC Adventurers to whom Death is a work colleague basically.
Growing older is seen as growing closer to Death and coming with that is the responsibility to use the skills and abilities granted from that closeness, until they reach the point their skills begin to slowly die away, seen as the Slow-Fade. Where their skills (physical prowess) and knowledge (alzeimers and other old-age stuff) fade they are simply partly dying in preparation for the actual event of death.

Death isnt to be feared or even avoided its something to embrace though some who fall in battle lament their years before the Slow-Fade as wasted time in Life but seen like one forced to move countries. Lamentable but not truly bad.
The Hunters dont want to die but have no fear of it, and the personification of it is seen as a friendly figure to be laughed with. They see him as a businessman doing his job most of the time but always willing to joke with his friends.

Or Im just overthinking it and the Hunters are Sociopathic crazy people.

[Emperor Ing]

Ah okay. She replies, speaking softly because her ride's ear is inches away. However she can't help but return glances at the Undead in the room. Something about them seems wrong, though she can't say whether or not her gut is telling her they're talking about the two of them. Anything else i'd need to know?

[Fangren]

"All right, then. If there's anything gentlemen you need, just ask." Lucern bows to the two students and glides out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Thanks again, Mr. Lucern!" Righty says as the Djinn leaves.


Once the Djinn is out of the room, Finris tilts his head at Righteous-Heart. "I'd like to see you blink." he says still coldly but not entirely unpleasantly.

"Eh? Oh, okay then." he wasn't entirely sure he should comply, but on the other hand couldn't think of a good reason not to. So with a little bit of focus, the Blink Dog began living up to the species name, appearing to wink in and out of existence...for all of about 6 seconds.

"Sorry, that is as long as I can keep it going."

[Eonas]

The Bugbear considers this for a moment. "Um... I don't think so..." The Wight and the Ghoul, meanwhile, end their conversation and begin approaching Trencheon and her passenger. The Ghoul speaks up in a soft and slightly hoarse voice. "What are you two doing out here?" The Wight looks on silently. Trencheon is now obviously extremely unnerved by these two and says nothing.

After a while, Nalicie locks her book away in the chest and leaves the room, not taking particular care to not disturb Liana.

Muto stares at Daveth in disbelief. "You're nuts. Absolutely bonkers. I don't know in what sort of parallel universe you live in, in which books like 'Kobold Massacres: how to turn the tides of the little swarm' are deep studies in the artform of manipulating depth, but it's not mine." He turns to Leo. "Come on fey, back me up on this." Scrynd still looks as apathetic as at first.

For a moment Finrir looks impressed despite himself, but he quickly snaps back to his usual arrogant pose. "Oh. I'd heard some blink dogs could go for hours. Apparently not all, though." Then he goes to his mattress and curls up in it. " 'night, blinker."

[Emperor Ing]

The Bugbear considers this for a moment. "Um... I don't think so..." The Wight and the Ghoul, meanwhile, end their conversation and begin approaching Trencheon and her passenger. The Ghoul speaks up in a soft and slightly hoarse voice. "What are you two doing out here?" The Wight looks on silently. Trencheon is now obviously extremely unnerved by these two and says nothing.

Wanting to break the awkward silence, and finding the bugbear's own silence a little too uneasy, Lilly decides to take initiative. Uh, hey. Look. She says, attempting to draw attention to herself. I kind of just got here, so I was just hoping to see which way to my classes, and all.

[Fangren]

For a moment Finrir looks impressed despite himself, but he quickly snaps back to his usual arrogant pose. "Oh. I'd heard some blink dogs could go for hours. Apparently not all, though."

"Er, well, even among adults it is only the most powerful that can go that long." Righty explains. "It will likely be many years before I come close to that level."


Then he goes to his mattress and curls up in it. " 'night, blinker."

"Oh! I did not realize it had gotten so late!" Righteous-Heart exclaims, quickly moving to his bed. He sat on his haunches, and bit at a jawhold on one of the straps of his backpack. It had been specially made for Righty by one of his relatives, since standard backpacks for difficult for Blink Dogs to use; the jawholds were used to hold the pack so he could get his forelegs out of the straps more easily. Righteous-Heart was very grateful to his family for crafting the backpack for him, it had several useful features.

Placing the pack on the floor next to his bed, Righty circled on the straw mattress a couple of times, testing his new bed for especially good places to lie, before finally settling down. "Goodnight, Finrir."

[LordChaos13]

"it's a cultural thing, like Leo's wine. His kind partake freely while mine deride the stuff due to it's negative effects on our senses.
And Kobold aren't deep studies, they are the hardest combat to arrange into any of the styles with any precision. Though the 'Genari Tribute to Poison' used Kobolds but Genari was a certified Master at his art so it is more of an anomaly.
Kobold art used correctly leans heavily towards the Chaotic War themes using the Maximilast art style usually using a large greatsword with either the Electric or Flaming enchantments though the Hedrason substyling would use the more elegant +3 Longsword with maybe the addition of an enchantment for the individual piece but not usually."
Daveth lectures, leafing through his book and lying on his bed
"If using paint on a wall is art, then so is using a blade on a person. The arrangement of the corpses, the wounds themselves, even the expression on the killed party all play a part in it giving it tones, subtext and styles. While a painter uses different brushes to make his masterpiece the Hunters use different weapons.
The different canvases and their sizes can change the finished work just as the different kinds of Monsters to Hunt."

[THEChanger]

When Daveth mentioned the wine, Leo pulled a bottle out of his jacket, and took a swig, swiftly replacing it. He then came over and sat on Daveth's bed. "Daveth, I'm with Muto on this one. I get the whole cultural difference thing, but if you brought a book like that into my tribe's camp, you'd be slaughtered on the spot. Yes, it's part of your cultural heritage, but right now you're in another world, another culture. Means you've got to respect our culture." So saying, Leo swipped up the book and leaped onto his own bed, grinning from ear to ear. "And I find myself in the odd position of defending art from your slanderous ways. Death can be entrancing, beautiful even. I didn't pay much attention to the druids back home, but I learned that much from them. But it's destructive. It takes away. Art is creative, in a literal sense. It adds, it gives. So while your death-dealing might be beautiful, it can't be art." Leo flipped through a few pages of the book, grimacing at what he saw. The poor little lizards. "And, uh, with all due respect, I'm not sure this would even count as beautiful."

[LordChaos13]

"Is a canvas used up by an artist? Can it be used again? No, it is taken away. Art is about taking and giving. Taking the paint and canvas, or the sheet and ink used to write down songs and giving meaning, subtlety and higher thinking.
Death is an artform and a veneration of the Deity of Death Zagyg.
And of course you don't think it's beautiful. I am not of your kind, we have different values and enjoy different things. I was raised in a place where killing is simply the next stage of life and a body is just our current home. Death is beautiful to me because its a part of my heritage, all my ancestors, with the exception possibly of my immediate family, are bathed in blood.
The only reason I have it out anyway is because someone asked for it, it is for private perusal to maintain my cultural knowledge, just as I'm sure many of the other students do the same.

Look at the wounds Leo, see the markings as the blade enters and slices the scales. Each one represents something, every cut and slice has subtleties and tones and themes. The beheading represents birth and regrowth, how one can become two, a few becomes many, while the single wound through the heart and out the back is a context-dependant marking, inherently meaningless but serves to amplify and clarify the other torso wounds. Every stroke designed for something, every cut tendon enhancing the tone of the piece. Emotions, settings, history all represented by another monster passing into the hands of He-Who-Jokes."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana winces at the noise her roommate makes while leaving and considers asking her to be a little quieter next time before deciding that it probably wouldn't do any good. She doesn't seem like she'd listen to me much at all.

[Eonas]

The Ghoul stands before the girls, saying nothing and staring at them maliciously. There's a sort of standoff between the two parties until Trencheon starts to slowly back away towards the door. The Wight, however, anticipates this and interposes himself between her and the door. "Didn't you know you could get lost in this scary place?" he asks in a thin and strident voice. Trencheon turns away from the Ghoul to face him and stammers incoherently in reply. The Ghoul adds "Or you could go missing."

Muto scratches his head and grimaces. "Just my luck to have to live with two roommates that are Baator-bent on getting themselves in as much trouble as possible. One of which is a psycho. I don't care what you think is art or deep or interesting or whatever, keep that book hidden. It's going to attract so much trouble, it's not even funny."
About a minute later, Nalicie barges into the room without even knocking at the door. She makes a failed attempt at giving a charming smile and addresses Daveth immediately, heedless of whether she interrupts anyone or not. "Can I have the book now?"

Finrir makes a big show of being totally asleep and completely ignoring Righteous-Heart.

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly's heart is really starting to sink here, the veiled threat not at all lost on the pseudodragon, especially given her experience of hearing its nearly infinite variants thrown at her throughout Nursery. Nevertheless she tries to remain cook, trying her best to keep to the promise she made to herself that she won't be afraid of...two pretty scary monsters threatening them. Uhh..yeah. That would be bad. She attempts to respond with at least a little bit of humor. Lighten up the situation. But we know where we're going. Thanks for the warning though.

[LordChaos13]

"Your entitled to your own opinion I guess." The Hunter shrugs before the Hav bursts in
"Yeah it's there." Nodding towards Leo still looking horrified by the pictures

[THEChanger]

"Don't worry yourself Muto. I have no intention of getting in trouble from here on in. I truly didn't know wine wasn't allowed on the premises. I will be much more discreet about it in the future." Leo's grin faded immediately as Nalice burst into the room. The saytr gently tossed the manual to the hag, shaking his head. "Well, if you're going to have company Daveth, I might as well do a bit of exploring. Don't wait up. If you want, you can come Muto. You too, Scrynd." Not waiting to see if either would join him, Leo headed out the door, and began walking down the hall, deciding he'd head and see what was on the other side of the main room.

[Eonas]

And just at that moment, one of the doors in the main room is opened by Catenur. The two Undead quickly switch to a far less aggressive pose, and make a rather miserable attempt at appearing totally innocent. Catenur strides toward the students and hisses "And what are you all doing here?" The Wight comes to his senses before his friend and answers the question. "We.. we were just talking with these two." The Ghoul nods vehemently, but Catenur smiles grimly. "Likely story."

Nalicie grabs the book and leaves the room very quickly, without even making an attempt to look grateful. Muto, much unimpressed, shakes his head at Daveth once she slams the door behind her. "You TOLD another student about the book? Do you have any IDEA how much trouble this could cause?" He asks, rhetorically. "Right, see you later then, Leo."

As Leo navigates through the tangled mass of passages leading up to the main room, however, he comes up against a rather unexpected obstruction: a large gelatinous cube whose bulk takes up the whole of the corridor. Luckily, this particular cube is tinted a very opaque shade of orange, allowing Leo to spot it easily.

[Emperor Ing]

Oh uh...you see I didn't know where classes were gonna be so...uhh.. For reasons Lilly can't explain she's now drawing a blank on what she's doing here. Maybe it's the fear getting to her, both fear of the two undeads and the fear of the Kyton? She doesn't know. Either way she can't say much more.

We were just leaving when these guys... The Pseudodragon looks at the undead, only now just realizing that she has a choice. She can either tell the truth, in which case they'll likely do whatever they can to torment her for the rest of the school year and possibly beyond, or lie and give them cover, possibly even get them off her back. Far too cowardly to face any torment, Lilly makes the only rational decision. Well...we were just getting introduced when you showed up.

[Eonas]

Trencheon timidly speaks up. "Actually, they asked us what we were doing out here and said that we could get lost or go missing, sir." The Wight begins to stammer something to defend himself, but Catenur cuts him off by rattling his chains. "If only you undead could feel pain, I would punish you severely for threatening a newcomer. Instead I'll only ground you to your rooms for a week, but if I catch you out of your rooms after supper, I'll beat you within an inch of your life, pain or no pain. And what were you girls doing out here?" He says in his harsh snakelike hiss. This time, Trencheon answers first and slightly more confidently. "I was showing her the way to the classes, sir."

[Fangren]

Righteous-Heart lies on his straw mattress, trying to fall asleep. However, a combination of the day's events, as well as the anxiety and excitement of being a new student at a new school, is making it difficult. Not wanting to disturb his roommate, Righty perks up his ears, and tries to listen to whatever might be going on outside his room.

Listen check: [roll0]

[Emperor Ing]

Yes. I did ask her to show me where the classrooms are. Sir. She quickly adds, following the Undeads' lead. They aren't supposed to have fear. If they are afraid of him there's definitely a good reason for it. Besides the fact that he looks and sounds absolutely terrifying. Technically, it's not true that Lilly asked Trencheon to show her, the Bugbear offered. But it's kinda late to amend that statement. I'm sorry, I swear I didn't want any trouble. We'll be going back to our room now. Sir.

[THEChanger]

Leo was lost in thought as he walked down the hall, and almost walked right into the gelatenous cube. Startled, Leo's eyes go wide, and he carefully looks around, making sure there was no way around this rather large cube. Seeing no other option, Leo cleared his throat, and starting to debate his own sanity, spoke to the cube. "Um, hello there. Sorry, I almost didn't see you there. Do you, er, that is, do you speak Common?"

[Eonas]

The devil smiles grimly. "Yes, why don't you do that." Trencheon doesn't need to be told this a second time; she leaves towards her room at a half-run. When she and her passenger reach it, they find Nalicie on the bed, reading a book with an almost bestial intensity. Trencheon glances at Nalicie and then gently puts down Lilelathia.

If the Gelatinous Cube even hears or understands Leo, it doesn't make any indication of it. Instead, it keeps up its slow pace in the direction towards Leo.

All is silent outside the Blink Dog's bedroom, apart from the distant echoes of footsteps.

[Emperor Ing]

As soon as the bugbear begins to jerk, Lilly has to hold on, and that's exactly what she does, folding her wings to reduce wind resistance and grabbing the Bugbear's neck for dear life. When they get back to their room, the Pseudodragon allows herself to be gently placed down. Afterwards she brushes herself off and looks up at the Bugbear. Hey uhh...thanks. Thanks for showing me where the classes are I mean. I'm sorry they came after us but...still, you didn't have to do that. So thanks again. She manages with a slight smile.

[THEChanger]

Leo furrowed his brow, and thought for a moment. The gelatinous cube filled the entire hallway...but perhaps there was an alcove nearby he had missed that he could wait for it to pass by in? Leo retraced his steps, seeing if he had missed something.

[Eonas]

"No problem." Trencheon smiles. "But why did you lie to Catenur?"

Given the labyrinthine nature of the passages, it isn't hard for Leo to find a side passage to duck into.

[Emperor Ing]

I....I don't know. I guess i'm more afraid of bullies than I am of him. Considering his presence can inflict fear in creatures that cannot experience fear, perhaps it might be best to rethink her priorities. T-that's wrong isn't it?

[LordChaos13]

(I missed Muto talking to Daveth sorry)

"Not much." Daveth shrugs "Not like it's illegal contraband, just against most people's tastes. It's like banning Maximilast art forms because some people prefer Minimalist, or saying the use of poison doesn't make art."

[Eonas]

Trencheon looks conflicted. "We-ell..." But she doesn't finish her sentence, as suddenly a magic mouth goes off in their room, which says "Curfew is in place. Stay in your rooms. Lights go out in a moment." While Nalicie doesn't appear to even notice the warning, Trencheon seems to view it as a 'saved-by-the-bell' sort of circumstance. She immediately goes off to her corner of the room and gets ready for bed.

Muto grimaces and takes a very deep breath. "Look, this is very simple. Very simple. You start to parade your creepy psycho-art around here, we get into a pile of trouble. Unless you think getting in a pile of trouble is another form of art, I suggest you don't let anybody see those books. Yes?" And at that moment, the magic mouth triggers in their room as well. Muto sighs and a peculiar transformation begins to take place: his hobgoblin appearance begins to give way to a greyish-black, silky-smooth, and mostly featureless body about the same size as the hobgoblin's.

The same magic mouth message is played in Righty's room, as well as in the passageways in which Leo is walking.

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly doesn't even notice that her question isn't answered. It has been a bit of a long day so sleep doesn't sound like a bad idea in the slightest. The Pseudodragon slips under the covers and rests for the night.

[THEChanger]

Leo, secured in his hideaway, heard the magic mouth go off. He briefly weighed the likelyhood of being caught outside after curfew against the probability that something interesting lay behind the cube that was still advancing steadily down the hall. Deciding that whatever there was could wait til morning, Leo headed back to the room, entering quietly so as not to disturb his roommates.

[Fangren]

Startled by the sudden voice, Righteous-Heart yelped. Having been nearly asleep a moment before, he now sat on his haunches. He looked around the room in vain, trying to find the source of the noise. "What was that?"

[LordChaos13]

Daveth simply shrugs and prepares for bed

[Eonas]

The unnatural lights in each of the rooms soon turn off, and the various inhabitants of the rooms fall to sleep.

Far too early, the lights turn back on again, waking all the students from their slumber. Trencheon, Nalicie get up and start dressing (the former even taking the time to quickly make her bed), and Muto does the same after a short and unsuccessful attempt to get a few more minutes of sleep. Scrynd and Finrir, on the other hand only get up when the magic mouths go off again and say "Go to the main hall to eat as soon as possible."

[LordChaos13]

Daveth is up immediately, eyes alert and roving instinctively. Almost going for his dagger when he notices other living beings in his room before remembering the reason they are there. Deciding it isn't a sudden training exercise he quickly changes and equips his dagger before exiting the room, heading in the same direction as any other monsters he encounters

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly wakes up, looking around, trying to remember why she's suddenly in a hilariously oversized bed in some massive, unfamiliar room. Then the events of yesterday return to her in a flash of awareness. Although she's still very sleepy, the pseudodragon's eyelids feeling like they're made of lead, refusing to stay open for more than 5 seconds, Lilly begins the morning routine of getting dressed and ready for the day. Good Morning.

[Batpope Scott]

Liana groggily sits up from bed in a state of half-awareness and gets up to smooth out her bed, trying to mimic Trencheon with little success. She sits back down on the bed until the magic mouth goes off. "Wuh?" Suddenly awake, she abashedly notices her state of undress and quickly gets ready.

Standing aside her bed, she returns her roommate's "Good morning" quietly and then asks, to no one in particular, "Shall we get going?"

[Fangren]

Not getting any answer from his roommate, Righty eventually managed to settle down and fall asleep again - this time, aided by the sudden lack of light. Unfortunately, it seemed to be all too soon that his rest was disturbed by the lights turning themselves back on, and Righteous-Heart quickly realized it was a new day.

Tail wagging in excitement, the young Blink Dog quickly strapped his backpack back on, after verifying that everything was still in place within. He tried to get Finrir out of bed to no avail, and eventually resolved to leave without him.

"How did it go..." he muttered, staring at the stone in the middle of the room. "Oh, yes. Open the Door, please!" Remembering how to work the thing, Righteous-Heart spoke his command clearly. In moments, the door was open and with a single look back at the winter wolf, Righty left.

Now he just had to navigate his way back to the main hall. A bathroom wouldn't be a terrible find either.

[THEChanger]

As the lights and announcement go off, Leo groggily wakes. Throwing on his jacket and a fresh pair of pants, and fixing up his head hair a little, he made his way down the hall to the dining room.

[Eonas]

Trencheon smiles at her three roommates in turn, and says "I had a good sleep, did you?" Nalicie replies "Miserable, thanks for asking." and leaves the room for the main hall without another word.

"Bloody Baator, it'll take me a while to get used to that waking-up ritual." Muto says as he quickly transforms into a hobgoblin again. "Yeah, let's go." Scrynd, meanwhile, obviously isn't the type to be cheerful after being woken up in such a fashion, and he silently glares at his roommates until they leave the room, after which he hastily follows them.

Finrir follows Righty out of the door and says, with a scornful look at the Blink Dog, "I hope you realize that you kept me awake half the night with your snoring."

OOC:Regardless of whether Righty actually snored or not.

The main hall, once the students arrive there, is just beginning to fill with students. The first-year students' table, in particular is only about a third full. Muto immediately sits beside Precka as before and begins filling his tray with food; the other students choose their seats more or less haphazardly, except for Trencheon, who abashedly waits for Lilly to sit down before sitting down next to her (or as near as possible to her).

[Batpope Scott]

Watching Nalicie go, Liana feels a bit irritated at her behavior. "She's just a big ball of sunshine, isn't she?"

At the main hall Liana, wanting to see a friendly face, looks around for Nugt. Talking to a nice person would be a wonderful way to start the morning.

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly shrugs at Liana's comment, not quite sure what to make of Nalicie. Maybe she stayed up too late...?

Afterwards she follows the halls, hustling to keep pace with everyone else. The Pseudodragon sits down to the table (or rather climbs up) and gathers what would appear to be a side-dish for someone else to eat. Of course then Lilly notices Truncheon sit down right next to her. Oh! Hello Truncheon. H-how are you doing?

[LordChaos13]

Daveth sits in a random chair, not particularly concerned who he is next too considering he barely knows anyone

[Fangren]

Finrir follows Righty out of the door and says, with a scornful look at the Blink Dog, "I hope you realize that you kept me awake half the night with your snoring."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know that I snored. I will try not to let it happen again." Righty said apologetically. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." he continued, sniffing around for anyone he recognized. He quickly located the friend he'd made the day before, and ran over to greet her. "Hello, Lilly! How was your night!"

[THEChanger]

Leo, tray filled as high as he could balance, sat down near Preka and Muto. He rubbed his eyes gently, and yawned. "Morning Muto, morning Preka." Pleasentries exchanged, Leo began to tuck into his food with gusto. It was the only way he knew to get himself awake.

[Emperor Ing]

Good morning, Righty! Lilly cheerfully greets the Blink Dog. I slept alright, I guess. The rooms are huge, though, that's pretty cool. He turns to Truncheon, who sits at his other side. Oh! Let me introduce you to one of my roomates. Righty, Truncheon. Truncheon, Righty.

[Eonas]

Liana sees Nugt sitting alone at the far end of the table. He seems to have his attention completely focused on his plate.

Trencheon answers Lilly's question with a semi-distinct "Fine, thanks." When she is introduced to Righty, she smiles shyly and tentatively holds out her hand to shake his paw.

Nalicie sits down beside Daveth and shows her grotesque half-smile. "I hope you slept all right?" she asks.

As Leo sits down, neither Precka nor Muto seem to even have noticed his presence. A moment later, Catenur approaches Leo and hisses "You lied. Your drink was alcoholic." He then grabs the Satyr by the arm and forcibly drags him away from the table and towards a thick wooden door, saying "Lying to staff and posessing alcohol is against the rules. Rulebreakers like you must be punished. Do you agree that you deserve to be punished?" Without listening to Leo's reply, he opens the door and drags his captive in with him.

The room in which Leo finds himself is very dimly lit and about 20 feet wide and 10 feet long. At one end of it, there is a desk, chair, and chest, and the other end is empty except for several chains that are suspended from the ceiling. The difference between the two ends is stark: the end with the desk, chair, and chest obviously hasn't been properly looked after or cleaned, but the side with the chains is immaculate (the chains hanging from the ceiling, like those on Catenur's person, even scintillate a little). Catenur closes the door behind him securely, and points at the chains. "Stand over there." he orders curtly.

[LordChaos13]

"I slept perfectly fine, enjoy my book?" Daveth replies

[Fangren]

Good morning, Righty! Lilly cheerfully greets the Blink Dog. I slept alright, I guess. The rooms are huge, though, that's pretty cool.

"Excellent!" he replies, sitting down next to his friend, tail wagging. "My room was not as large, I think, but was very interesting in it." Before he can continue, Lilly turns to the Bugbear sitting next to her.


Oh! Let me introduce you to one of my roomates. Righty, Truncheon. Truncheon, Righty.

"Oh! It is very nice to meet you, Truncheon! My full name is Righteous-Heart, but as Lilly says, you may call me Righty!" He greets her, gladly putting for his paw for a shake. The young canine then pauses, and looks around for his own roommate. "My roommate is Finrir. He is..."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana walks over to Nugt with a small grin on her face. "Is there something I'm missing about staring at plates that makes it so interesting?" She gestures to the bench with a question "May I?", suggesting that she would like to sit next to him.

She absently glances at Catenur taking Leo away, deciding that it's none of her business what's going on over there.

[Emperor Ing]

Although the view is bad Lilly can swear she sees Catenur taking someone away to Gods know where. She pretends to not notice nontheless, telling herself that it's not random or arbitrary. He is...? The Pseudodragon goads.

[THEChanger]

That, that is enough to wake Leo up. "Gently, gently, gently! Watch the jacket!" Pulled into a strange room, Leo rubbed the part of his arm Catenur had grabbed gingerly. "Alright. It's clear that we've gotten off on the wrong foot, Mr. Catenur. I understand if you have to punish me, school rules and all, but may I have a chance to explain myself?" Leo cast his eyes downward, feigning embaressment.

[Eonas]

Nugt looks up at Liana. "O-of course." He picks at the food in his tray, looking singularly awkward.

Finrir, sitting alone at the end of the table, perks his ears up when he hears his name spoken, but doesn't say anything. Truncheon glances at the Winter Wolf and then back at Righty. "Um, nice to meet you." she says simply.

The hag's pretty face is still contorted by her fake-looking smile as she replies "Yes, I did. May I keep it a while longer? I didn't get a chance to finish it."

Catenur doesn't reply, instead shoving Leo towards the chains. "Grab him." he hisses, and the chains suddenly begin wrapping around the Satyr of their own accord. Leo finds, if he chooses to try to evade the chains, that he finds little difficulty in doing so.

Reflex save, should Leo try to evade the chains: [roll0]
Success.

[LordChaos13]

"Sure, but remember it's against school rules to practise whats inside it...Probably the mass murder, Im not quite sure though.
I won't need it for a while, maybe not at all considering we don't seem to have an Art class here."
Daveth efficiently demolishes his food, eyes still flickering around for threats like always, absently noting his roommate get carted off for lying to the Evil-Aligned Outsider

[THEChanger]

Leo danced out of the way of the chains. "Hold your horses there, Mr. Catenur! It would be a shame if your chains went and crushed this." From under his jacket, Leo produced a bottle of wine, and set it on Catenur's desk. "Y'see, back in my home, everyone drinks wine. Coming here, I had no idea that wine contained alcohol, which is why I told you that there wasn't. But after talking with some of the other students, I found out that wasn't the case. I truly am sorry for my ignorace, and again, I understand if you still need to punish me. But I want to try and get rid of any bad blood there might be between us. That's my last bottle. I promise I'll be following the rules from now on." Leo spit out his words as fast as his lips would move. This was his last bid to escape the chains, and he prayed to...well, he prayed it would work. He stepped back under the chains, hands stretched upwards.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that definately calls for a Bluff check. [roll0]
EDIT: Welp. I just hope Catenur rolls horribly like last time.

[Batpope Scott]

Liana sits down and immediately has an idea to start up a conversation. "How was your night, Nugt?"

[Fangren]

Finrir, sitting alone at the end of the table, perks his ears up when he hears his name spoken, but doesn't say anything. Truncheon glances at the Winter Wolf and then back at Righty. "Um, nice to meet you." she says simply.

"...right over there!" Righty finishes, having spotted his roommate. "Finrir, why don't you come join us?" he calls to the Winter Wolf in a friendly fashion.

[Eonas]

Nugt looks almost startled at Liana's question. "M-my night? Oh, it was all right. And yours?"

Nalicie's fake-looking smile once again morphs into her wide grin. "Thanks!" she says. An imp sitting on the other side of Nalicie takes interest when Daveth starts speaking of school rules, and asks the Gloom "What sort of book is this?" Meanwhile, Muto whispers something in Precka's ear.

Finrir looks at Righty and his friends contemptuously and says, with an unmistakeably haughty tone, "Thanks, but no thanks." He then gobbles up the rest of his piece of meat, and leaves the table.

Leo's verbal barrage actually causes Catenur to pause for a moment. "You lie again!" he hisses, finally, and with that he leaps towards the Satyr, swinging two of the chains on his body. The blows hit Leo squarely in the face and he falls unconscious, only to wake up a few moments later, suspended in midair by the chains hanging off the ceiling, and dripping wet. Catenur drops the bucket he was holding and leers at Leo maliciously.

Sense motive: [roll0]
Attack roll: [roll1]
Attack roll 2: [roll2]
Damage roll: [roll3]
Damage roll 2: [roll4]
Leo's Ref save: [roll5]

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly chews a tiny piece of meat as she gauges the reaction of the Winter Wolf. She's worried that he's a particularly unpleasant sort. Possibly even a bully, and she'd probably become a target for simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time? Oh come on that's crazy. Well...he seems like a pleasant sort. the Pseudodragon ironically remarks to Righty and Truncheon.

[Fangren]

Finrir looks at Righty and his friends contemptuously and says, with an unmistakeably haughty tone, "Thanks, but no thanks." He then gobbles up the rest of his piece of meat, and leaves the table.

"Ah..." Righty stares blankly as he tries to hide his disappointment. "Well, okay then." He says, mostly to himself, and begins to dig into his own meat.

[LordChaos13]

"It's a book on Hunter Art. Which, I'm sure, many Monsters here would find repulsive...Especially the Kobolds. Nalicie care to explain why the exact positioning of the blade and weapon to kill and wound certain monsters to fall in certain places is repulsive? I can't figure it out, it's Art."

[THEChanger]

Leo awoke. The pain in his face was excruciating. He grimaced as the cold water ran down his face. Catenur had struck him. Hard. With lethal intent, it almost seemed. Certainly he had taken pleasure in it. Leo spit out a little bit of blood that was coming out of his mouth. "So. You're allowed to inflict physical punishment. Good to know."

[Eonas]

Trencheon smiles politely, Lilly's joke apparently not having particularly amused her.

As Daveth speaks about killing, the Skeleton shudders. Nalicie looks at Daveth in a very peculiar fashion and says "I've never thought of it that way, oddly enough." The Imp curiously asks Daveth "Have you ever tried applying any of the... the art in the book?" The conversation to also have attracted several other students' casual interest; Muto and Precka watch the proceedings warily.

Catenur says nothing but knocks Leo out again with another blow, and then wakes him up with another shower of cold liquid. This routine repeats 5, maybe 6 times; finally, Catenur decides that Leo has taken enough punishment. He says "Release him.", the chains release their hold on Leo, and the Satyr falls to the ground in a heap - aching all over and bleeding slightly, but otherwise none the worse for wear.

[LordChaos13]

"Of course not, the Hunt was called off shortly before my birth. Even a single piece of art would probably cause an uproar and mean no Hunter would be attending this academy."
Daveth calmly eats, but inside is revelling in the suspicion and fear of his kind. he knew he really shouldn't but eh, instincts are instincts
"It means there has been a dearth of new culture lately but that happens during any mass upheaval right?
Some Hunters have begun adopting some of the other culture's artwork, like paintings but it hasn't quite caught on. Apparently it's missing the subtleties of the creation and the expertise needed to fully realize it. Painting is a cheap imitation of True Hunter Art according to most Hunters. I mean we had had painters before we stopped the Hunt of course, but mostly they just made representations of Art for books, like the one I lent Nalicie."

[Batpope Scott]

"Aside from a grumpy hag keeping me up longer than I'd like? Pretty good." Liana smiles at Nugt in a friendly manner.

[Emperor Ing]

So uhh...how do classes work? Lilly changes the subject, quickly eating a small bite of a small piece of meat. I mean, is there a bell or...?

[Eonas]

Trencheon shakes her head and replies "I don't know, we haven't had a class yet." About a minute later, however, Lilly's question is answered by a magic mouth in the main hall saying "Finish your breakfasts quickly and go to your classes soon."

Nugt answers "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." and hastily adds "Sorry to hear you were kept up, of course, not that you slept well." He pauses awkwardly and then goes back to eating his food, not looking at Liana and remaining awkwardly silent.

The Imp nods sympathetically at Daveth. "That must be tough, not being able to practice your art. I imagine you must always be wanting to uphold your traditions. I know that if I were in that position, I'd go and make art in secret - wouldn't you? After all, beauty is beauty, eh?" He laughs freely. Meanwhile, Nalicie listens to the conversation casually, and Muto and Precka remain silently watchful.

[Emperor Ing]

Agh! Sounds like we gotta run! The Pseudodragon then finishes her breakfast as quick as she can before hopping off the bench, and watching for where the other students are going, hoping that following their lead will lead her to her classes. Of course she's legitimately worried about being stepped on and as such is hesitant to get into the group. Lilly moves into a gap where she finds it, and makes an attempt to look around and see where she's going, hoping for some kind of signs or things to tell her where she's going.

[THEChanger]

Leo heard the magic mouth go off as he shuffled out of Catenur's office. Deciding that he didn't really feel like eating any more, Leo began to walk in the general direction of the dining hall, where hopefully he'd meet up with some people who could direct him to where he was going. As he did, he began singing under his breath.

"You think if you set the price they'll turn me in.
You think that when I'm up upon the pike you'll win.
They'll say that I was fighting,
For the spirit of the law.
What will they say about you,
When I'm gone?

You murdered and you stole you mocked the home I gave.
Though I'd prefer a happy end no man can cheat the grave.
I know what they'll remember,
In the words of every song.
What will they say about you,
When I'm gone?

They'll say:
We stared into the wind that tore away our breath.
We left behind a message that can not be claimed by death.
A hero lives forever.
For the ones that carry on.
What will they say about you,
When I'm gone?"

[LordChaos13]

Daveth shrugs "But getting people who wouldn't be missed would be really hard, besides having never tried before and my youth I'd probably mess up. All my Hunter traits haven't come through yet, probably the same for the rest of you but I don't even have my own Soulknife. Im using this ancestral dagger until I get it, just as many Hunters before me but it is for training not Art or even the Hunt.
It's alright though, I heard my Grandmother, yknow the one that called off the Hunt, she was talking to some people about sending us the death-sentenced monsters for our Art supplies."

[Batpope Scott]

"I know what you meant." She eats in silence with him for a bit but is interrupted by the magic mouth. She looks around momentarily before asking Nugt "Is it strange that I have no idea where to go?"

[Fangren]

Righty's ears perked up upon hearing the announcement, and he quickly swallowed the rest of his sausages. He remembered that he had signed up for five classes, and he was excited to start them, but he soon began panicking. He didn't know which class was first, or where any of them were located! "Oh no!" he said, before taking off after Lilly, He hoped that by sticking together, they'd be able to find one of their shared classes.

[Eonas]

Nugt shakes his head. "I think we're supposed to go down that way, but I'm not sure either." He quickly finishes the food on his tray, takes a little draught of water from the water jug, and glances at Liana, not exactly sure what to do either.

"Ah, so you will be able to practice your art after all." The Imp smiles. "Do you look forward to it?"

Catenur hisses after Leo as he leaves "Maybe next time you'll think twice before breaking the rules."

Leo's reemergence from the small room causes no slight amount of stir in the first-years' table. Many students, including Muto and Precka, look horrified; Nalicie seems fascinated; the Skeleton looks almost as if the punishment had been exacted on him; others just look interested and/or curious.

Lucern quickly glides toward the first-year students. "Ladies, gentlemen, just a moment. We'll all go together just as soon as everybody finishes eating." Most of the rest of the students quickly finish the food on their trays, there is a little bit of a scramble for the water jug, but everybody eventually finishes their meal more or less to their satisfaction.

[LordChaos13]

"Do you look forward to...what is it Imps do for fun and requires skill? Hunters focus more on the biological and combative aspects of research, not so much the culture of their prey.
It seems fun and can double as offerings to our God."
Clearing his plate the Gloom stands, joining the other students finished

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly is distracted by the Satyr leaving some room, apparently with Catenur not far behind. The implication being that he was just subject to the Kyton's displeasure. Something that visibly horrified the other students. The demidragon isn't even entirely sure how but that Skeleton managed to do it, but he looks especially mortified. Lilly just doesn't get it. What is it about the Kyton that inspires so much terror? Sure he's mean but beyond that...Lilly doesn't understand it.

She's already standing with the students ready to go.

[Batpope Scott]

Finishing what she had, Liana begins to stand and quietly says "Well, it's good to know we weren't expected to find our own way. I'd sooo have gotten lost."

She stands with the other students and looks at Lucern expectantly

[Fangren]

Skidding to a halt and embarrassed, Righty quickly turns around and goes to join the other first-years with Lucern, standing by Lilly again. He also finally realizes that Leo was currently being escorted by Catenur, whom the young blink dog though was probably evil. Having not noticed the Satr's departure from the table, Righteous-Heart didn't quite understand why many of those around him seemed to be afraid of the pair. From what Righty could tell, Leo was an irresponsible rulebreaker, but he wasn't evil, right?

Deciding to ask Lilly or Finrir about it later, he turned his attention to Lucern.

[THEChanger]

Leo kept a weak grin on his face, and gave Nalice a wink. "Suppose I had that coming, eh pretty lady?" Approaching the table, Leo winced, and almost fell next to Precka and Muto. Steadying himself on the table, he whispered to the two closest things he had to friends. "Hey. I may need a little help to class. Our dear friend Catenur has shown me the error of my ways, but the sudden shock to my sensabilities may have left me a bit...woozy."

[Eonas]

"Ah, we have everybody now. Follow me, if you please." Lucern leads the students through the door that Trencheon had shown Lilly earlier, and through another twisted (albeit relatively short) mess of passages.

As they walk, the imp has to jog to keep up with the larger students such as Daveth. "You have a God, then?" he asks. "What's he like?"

"What HAPPENED in there?" Precka asks. Muto, while as concerned as Precka, looks vaguely smug. Nalicie, having lost interest in Daveth's conversation with the Imp, draws nearer to the three.

[LordChaos13]

"Of course the Hunters have Gods, you make it sound like they don't objectively exist. Our patron god is the God of Death, almost all we do is a veneration of him.
Surma is our patron and the true ruler of the Hunters, though he doesn't interfere much. It is to him we dedicate the Hunt, our Art. Everything we do is done with him in mind, every year older is one closer to Death. As we grow we gain power from the closeness to Death until we enter the Slow Fade when we partially enter Death's embrace and thus some of our power ebbs away into the Afterlife.
The Rites of Approaching Death, what you lot would call birthdays I guess, marks another step towards our joking deity, always doing his job but doing it with a smile and a joke for those he calls Friend."
Daveth explains, following along with the crowd
"Surma is represented with the soulknife, thus every old enough Hunters has their own personal connection to him. Reminding them he is watching over them, favouring us and becoming our personal friend."

[Batpope Scott]

Liana walks along after Lucern while trying to start a conversation back up with Nugt. "So, wanna meet up to talk sometime when we're free? We've spoken, but I don't think I actually know anything about you."

[THEChanger]

Leo hobbled along the group, occasionally using the wall to steady himself. "Apparently, Catenur found out that wine has alcohol in it. On a somewhat related note, I found out what the punishment for having alcohol in school is." Leo's grin disappeared, growing far more serious. He whispered to the two at his side, taking care not to draw attention to himself. "He has chains in his office. Strung me up. I don't remember much after that, but I'm pretty sure he used them to do this. I don't know if Lucern knows what Catenur does in there, but it's safe to say I'm laying low for awhile."

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly moves at a similar pace to the Imp, walking very quickly or jogging to keep pace with the other, larger students who look as though they're moving at a leisurely pace. Still, she follows, listening for any indication regarding where her own classes were going to be.

[Fangren]

Righty followed after Lucern, sticking close to Lilly. His ears were perked up, his nostrils flared, and his eyes wandering as he examined every bit of the halls with his various senses. Needless to say, his tail was wagging with excitement.

[Eonas]

The Drow stammers incoherently for a moment, then pull himself together and says "Uh, yes, of couse! I'm free after class today. And anytime else that works for you. Unless I'm in classes or something. Obviously." He swallows and glances back and forth between Liana and nowhere in particular.

The Imp nods politely as Daveth says all this, but it's relatively obvious that he finds this discussion a little uninteresting. "So your God encourages the killing of other monsters, then?"

Muto and Precka exchange a meaningful look at each other, and Muto asks "And the wetness? Where'd that come from?" Nalicie, who had drawn close enough to hear, looks positively enraptured.

Finally, Lucern arrives at a largish wooden door, which he then opens. Inside is a relatively large room, full of chairs and desks and with an Androsphynx at one end. The Androsphynx is considerably smaller than an actual lion, and he looks, while not specifically old, no longer young. "This is Zofos, your Career and Life Management teacher. Go in now for your class." With an encouraging smile, Lucern quickly glides away on some other business.

Zophos, who had watched the students silently until now, finally opens his mouth to speak. "Take a seat, please." His voice is thick, mellow, and deep. The various students begin finding a seat - except for Finrir, who asks "And where do I sit?" Zophos nods at Finrir and Righty. "Apologies, canines, at the moment I have no special seats for you. You will have to sit either on a chair or on the floor."

[LordChaos13]

"Everything dies, he advocates the death of everything sooner. Hunters don't fear death they just focus on bringing it to others knowing they will die when their time comes."
Daveth sits, trailing off as the Imp looks bored. No sense lecturing people who didn't want to be lectured, or answering questions that didn't need answers

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly really dislikes being surrounded by others. The idea of being surrounded on all signs, of being watched. Scrutinized. Judged from all sides...more than a little unnerved. Even if she wasn't completely aware of it herself. Regardless she ends up taking a seat near the edges of the room. Or rather, she claims a seat, climbing up to it and standing up just to keep the front of the room in plain sight. She expects Truncheon or Righty to take up the seat next to her. Possibly both with the latter taking the floor.

[THEChanger]

Leo shook his head. "Muto, that would be blood. Mine, as far as I can tell." With that, they were at the door to the classroom. Leo took a seat near the back, leaning back and making himself as small as possible. He still hurt, but more importantly, his pride had been hurt. And now Leo was angry.

[Fangren]

Although he was a touch dismayed to learn that he (and Finrir) wouldn't have proper desks, Righty was still glad to start learning alongside his new friends. As the pseudodragon predicted, Righteous-Heart sat on the floor next to Lilly where he thought there would be enough space for him to work without crowding someone else. He swung his pack around so he could get into it more easily, and looked around the room just to see who else was in the class.

[Batpope Scott]

"I'll definitely come talk to you soon." Liana smiles at him before listening to Lucern introduce Zophos. She takes a seat wherever there's space and pays a great amount of attention to the Androsphynx.

[Eonas]

Finrir considers for a moment and then reluctantly sits down on the floor, as far as possible from Righty.

Zophos waits a few moments for all the students to settle down, and then a few more moments for good measure. Finally, he speaks, choosing each of his words slowly and with exquisite care. "Welcome, students, to Career and Life Management. I am Zophos, your teacher." He pauses for his words to take effect, and then continues. "The world for beings like us is unfavorable - you, I am sure, are all aware of the persecution of our kind. For this purpose you were brought to this school: you will become warriors, capable of striking back against the humans' tyrannical regime. In Career and Life Management, you will learn perspective, self-reliance, and you will also learn how you can contribute to our noble cause. Do any of you have any questions?"

A Xill sitting in the back immediately asks in an impertinent tone "What if we don't want to contribute?" A couple students laugh nervously - a Succubus sitting beside him seems to find this hilarious. Zophos waits for the laughter to die down, then calmly answers "Then that, Vindico, will be your choice. But if we do not all stand together, we will all find the humans' nooses drawn tighter upon our necks. Does anybody else have a question?"

[Emperor Ing]

The demidragon almost raises her hand but quickly reconsiders out of pure shyness. Getting called out by the teacher without some sort of immediate answer or serious question was more than a little intimidating.

[Batpope Scott]

Liana briefly raises her hand before saying "You mention the human's tyranny but I was under the impression that it wasn't just humans we had to watch for."

[Eonas]

Zofos nods at Liana in a benign sort of way. "Excellent question, - Liana, is it not? Yes, humans are not our only persecuters. They are, however, our main ones, for elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and the like, are all bound in servitude to humans, who consider themselves the master race. Has anybody else got any more questions?" The Androsphynx then glances around the class for a moment, then if nobody raises their hand, continues. *

"Though it is important to remain united, there are certain fundamental differences that separate our species. For instance, our outlooks on life." Zofos then goes into a long pendantic monologue on the subject of Alignments, occasionally pausing to ask his class if any of them have any other questions. The Xill, who Zophos calls Vindico, makes rude comments from time to time and with increasing frequency - the class eventually begins to warm up a little to his impertinence, while the Succubus continues to find him hysterically funny. Zophos endures this patiently and answers Vindico's questions seriously instead of calling him out.
Zofos, it is worth mentioning, displays a very impartial and detached attitude towards alignments; instead of indoctrinating the students morally (either implicitly or explicitly), he merely contents himself with explaining to the students the consequences and worldviews of the various alignments.
Finally, after an hour in class, Zophos dismisses it, and Lucern appears at the door to lead the students to their next class.

*
If anybody wants to ask another question here, please do so. I just added this so that in the event that nobody wants to add any more questions, so that the game might get on quicker.

[Eonas]

Lucern tells the students "When you're ready, follow me!" He waits for all the students to arrive next to him, then leads through through another few passages, ending up at another thick wooden door. "Welcome to your Combat 101 class," he says, then opens the door. The room which lies on the other side of the door is rather large, and has a door on the opposite wall but is otherwise empty. Empty except, of course, for the teacher: a tall and fairly muscular Marilith. Without a moment's hesitation, she beckons the students in, urging "Come in, come in!" Her voice is gravelly and bears a hint of a snakelike hiss in it, but not unpleasant.

Once the students are all in the room and Lucern has left and closed the door, the Marilith adresses the students. "My name is Bracki ahd I am your Combat 101 teacher. Let's get cracking!" she says, and without any further ado, she arranges the students into a sort of semicircle facing her, and gets them all doing simple exercises like squats, jumps, and so forth. After a few minutes of these preliminary exercises, Bracki then spends the rest of the hour getting the students to bite, punch, kick, claw, and otherwise attack thin air (with nothing but the physical implements that the students were naturally born with - she does not give any student any artificial weapon, and specifically states not to use any spell-like abilities). She goes from student to student, helping them with their technique in a rather tactless but helpful and not unkind way. Her demeanor throughout the class is the passionate attitude characteristic of a teacher that loves what she does, and her excitement carries over to many of her students (in particular, at one point in the class, one of the students, a Fire Elemental, nearly takes the head off of the Aranea standing next to him - Bracki reprimands the Elemental severely and immediately afterward explains to him how to focus his blows). Nobody, including the Xill, challenges Brecki's authority or behaves rudely towards her - the Xill, in fact, seems quite taken with the Marilith, and follows her instructions eagerly. Nalicie, it is perhaps worth mentioning, seems to particularly enjoy the class, while the Skeleton seems to find every second in the room a type of extreme psychological torture.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth finds the katas soothing and somewhat familiar, if strange. Mostly due to the lack of metal in his hands

"Ma'am, These exercises seem rather like those used by the Hunters, if adjusted for a wider variance of body types and lacking in lethal weaponry. Do you know if my kind adapted these katas or if you adapted ours?"
Displaying complete respect for the teacher, as all hunters give respect to those who know more about Death-Dealing than themselves.
The change in the respect and the total respect given between last class and this obvious

[Emperor Ing]

Pseudodragons do have impressive jaw strength, making their bites particularly nasty, especially if the user twists and thrashes. Unfortunately their teeth are relatively tiny, making Lilly's bite only dangerous to things her own size. Nevertheless she does give the attempt, biting the air-ow! Okay, maybe having nothing to bite down on isn't such a good idea, as the shock of her teeth smashing against each other leaves the pseudodragon a bit dazed. Lilly also has a rather nasty barb on her tail that she can use a bit more readily, if it's rather tiring. Bracki comes by, noting that Lilly's use of her tail does leave her open and outwardly wondering why she's not using her bite. Well uh...ma'am, when I bite too hard it kinda hurts.


Hope ya don't mind I took a bit of control over Bracki

[Batpope Scott]

Liana doesn't much like the idea of punching someone but she tries to pay attention in class. Sadly, her pathetic physique and lack of combat training shows and Bracki is frequently having to repeat herself. "S-sorry. I'm not very good at getting physical..."

[THEChanger]

Leo raked the air with his horns a few times, and then whipped an apple out of his jacket pocket. Feeling rather hungry, the saytr took a huge bite out of the fruit-and his next headbutt felt much better. Leo blinked a couple of times. "That's different." He smiled, and continued to headbutt, and when he felt the surge of energy leave him, took another chunk out of his apple. Somehow, the act of mastication gave him an extra punch. He liked it.

A representation of the Hedonism ability, which as near as I can tell is EX. Gives Leo a +1 to attack/damage rolls, saves, and ability checks, and a -1 to Skill check for [roll0] rounds.

[Eonas]

When Daveth asks this question, Brecki shrugs. "I don't know, you'd have to ask Zofos for that. Just keep practicing for now."

Brecki considers Lilly's complaint for a moment. "You'd better get used to things hurting you, because in a real fight it's going to hurt a lot more." She goes off to the other wooden door, enters it, and reemerges moments later, carrying a sort of small rag doll. She tosses it to Lilly, says "Bite this for now."

As soon as the Satyr pulls out the apple, Brecki is at his side. "What exactly do you think you're doing?" she asks.


At the end of the hour, once the class is finished, Lucern knocks at the door, obtains Brecki's permission to enter, and comes in holding another sheet of parchment.
"Hello again, ladies and gentlemen," he says in the official manner he always reserves for official business. "As some of you might already know, Angbor holds a competition for its students each school year, where you will all obtain valuable combat experience in a fun and healthy manner. The gist of it is that you will occasionally be - during competition hours, of course - transferred to the Plane of Non-Existence, and will have to fight to the death with one of your fellow competitors. Since none of what happens in the Plane of Non-Existence actually happens, when you return to the Material Plane - what you would probably call the real world - you will be completely unharmed in every way. This competition is optional, although you are highly recommended to participate in it. Who here would like to sign up for the competition?"

Nalicie instantly raises her hand, followed soon after by Vindico (the Xill), the Succubus, and the Fire Elemental who nearly took the head off one of his fellow students during class. The rest of the class remain a little hesitant. Lucern, scratching furiously away at his parchment paper every time a student raises his or her hand, watches them all keenly.


I'm starting to engage Hyperspeed Atemporal Flight Mode. Basically, feel free to keep roleplaying what happens in the combat class if you like, but simultaneously you can roleplay the scenario with Lucern. Hopefully this'll work out.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth's hand is up the exact same time as Nalicie, a rather large creepy grin on his face showing those terrible teeth, the source of many horror stories

[Fangren]

I'm finally catching up on the posting...shouldn't have let it go for so long...

During first period, Rigteous-Heart sat quietly, listening intently to Zophos' lecture and his fellow student's questions. He could tell that this would require a lot of thinking about, especially since he wasn't sure how his one good experience with a human fit in to the grand scheme of things. He figured that the humans weren't all bad, and that neither were the other non-monstrous races. But how would that translate into his actual actions, both in school and outside? He'd have many hours of thinking to do.

Second period was also an interesting experience, but for completely different reasons. His dislike of the teacher aside, her training methods were unlike anything he was used to. Back with his family, you learned how to fight by playing with your siblings and cousins and such, and you were always encouraged to make full use of your abilities. Being asked to just do the same thing over and over to the air was weird to him, and it showed. Righty did what was asked of him, but it was clear that he had to hold himself back from trying to play-fight with those around him.

[Time-skip in case Bracki makes comments]

By the end of the class, Righty was glad to see Lucern reappear. The chance to sign up for the fighting competition was also welcomed, although the young canine was a bit hesitant about killing when it wasn't necessary. Still, from what he understood the killing wasn't permanent, and it was better he learned how to kill something smart before it was too late. With confidence, Righteous-Heart raised his paw.

[Batpope Scott]

Liana stood listening to Lucern's proposal with a nervous stare. She mumbles to herself "Even with my magic I wouldn't stand a chance against anyone in here..."

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly first has a mind to raise her hand, but then remembers where she is. Surrounded by creatures with claws larger than her torso. She wouldn't last a second against anyone not her size. Really her only chance is to sting somebody and hope her poison can incapacitate them long enough to deal a killing blow. However there was another problem. Lilly can't stomach the idea of killing somebody. Even if it wasn't permanent the demidragon isn't quite comfortable with the idea of taking a life just yet. Or comfortable with having her life taken.

Lilly can't help but notice that Righty is pretty enthusiastic about signing up. What are you doing? She says, part surprised, part concerned.

[Eonas]

More students raise their hands: Scrynd, the Imp, and the Aranea.

Nugt, who looks singularly indecisive with his hand subtly jerking up and down as if he's changing his mind every half second, glances over at Liana to gauge her reaction.

[Batpope Scott]

Liana sees Nugt's indecisiveness and comes to a realization that he probably wouldn't do it without her. I don't really want to fight but.... It'll probably be a good experience for the two of us.

Liana firmly raises her hand, ready to face down even the elemental if she has to. Not that I'd win that fight...

[LordChaos13]

Daveth's eyes sweeping over everyone, paying closer attention to the ones with raised hands, noting their stance, where they were looking, facial expressions.
To know your enemy is to introduce them to Death.

[THEChanger]

As Bracki slithered over to Leo's side, Leo was just chomping down on the apple. "Er, sorry Ma'am. It's just I'm used to constant meals throughout the day, and it's rather difficult to fight properly on an empty stomach." Leo grinned sheepishly. "Am I not allowed to eat during class? I'll put it away then."

When Lucern entered and made his announcement, Leo shook his head in disgust. There was no point in fighting for its own sake. Leo would not be joining the tournament. He wasn't surprised when Daveth, Nalice, and Scrynd all raised their hands, though Liana was a small shock. The nymph didn't seem nearly aggressive enough to desire combat. What was her game?

[Fangren]

"Hrmm..." Righty titlts his head in thought, pondering his friend's question. "Well, I am probably going to have to fight at some point, right? So I think it would be a good idea if I tried getting used to it. I do not really like the idea of killing when I do not need to, even if it will not be permanent, but I still think I should get some idea of what I can do in battle."

[Eonas]

Brecki answers Leo dryly. "Yes, you'd better." She then proceeds to correct a slight error committed in the Satyr's head-butts.

[Time skip]


When Liana raises her hand, Nugt hesitates once more and raises his, too.

And finally, Finris also raises one of his paws.

Once everybody has made up their minds, Lucern rolls up his parchment and puts it away. "All right, and if anybody else would like to sign up later, you may just ask me. There will be a preliminary practice session after dinner tonight, so if you would like to participate, please do not leave the table after you have finished eating. In the meantime, all those of you who are signed up for The Fine Art of Interpersonal Relationships, come with me - everybody else may go back to the main hall or their rooms and do what they wish for the next three-quarters of an hour."

With a good portion of the class in tow, Lucern navigates through another series of passages to another room. This time, the door opens before Lucern has the opportunity to knock, and the students are confronted with a strikingly beautiful and catfolk-looking young woman. She smiles sweetly at her new students and says to them, in a voice soft and pleasant as a pillow, "Ah, hello! Why don't you come in?" The inside of the room starkly contrasts most of the rest of the school: while most of the school is plain and barren, this particular schoolroom is comfortably decorated by various potted plants, small sculptures, and even a painting hung on one of the walls. The room is filled with several chairs but no desks, as well as a small wooden door looking similar to the one in Brecki's classroom.

Once all the students are comfortably installed in the room, the teacher introduces herself in a pleasant and casual sort of manner. "I'm Venusta, your teacher for The Fine Art of Interpersonal Relationships. I don't know your names, but that's easy to fix." She goes up to Precka and says "Let's start with you. What's your name, dear?" Precka tells her, and Venusta smiles at her warmly as she continues "Welcome to the class, Precka. Why don't you tell us one interesting thing about yourself?" Precka answers, after a few moment's thought, that she's a pretty good shot with a bow. "Fantastic, our cause needs more skilled archers like you!" Venusta says, and then moves on to the imp. From him she learns that the Imp is called Raksim but that he prefers to be called Rak because Raksim sounds too 'uppity', and that his parents are both familiars to two different powerful wizards. Venusta comments that it's always good to have influences in powerful places, and then moves on to the next student.

Venusta repeats this routine for every student, learning their name and something interesting about them, and then making a nice comment.

If any of you happen to be interested in any of the dialogues or 'interesting things' about anybody in particular (or even just 'everyone'), just ask.

Also, go ahead and roleplay what your characters answer to the questions... as well as whatever else you'd like to roleplay, obviously.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth roams the halls aimlessly, many generations of dungeon delving letting him form a map inside his head.
Watching any near him quietly, most of the time not giving away he is looking

[Batpope Scott]

Liana looks at Venusta admiringly. What a voice! I bet she'd be an excellent singer.

As the catfolk-looking woman comes to Liana, the Nymph can't help but sheepishly return the smile and say "My name's Liana. I'm trying to become a scholar."

[Emperor Ing]

Lilly can't help but admire the room. Clearly it was designed by somebody who is actually interested in making this ruin a step up from "barely liveable"

When it's her turn Lilly speaks up. Hello, um, my name is Lilly. I mean, it's uhh, Lilelathia, but uhh... The nerves! The nerves are attacking! Everybody run for your lives! Or at least run for your coolness factor. Oh Gods, the teacher is probably getting impatient! call me Lilly. And um... oh gods now what? What can she say about herself that's interesting in the slightest? Think of something think of something think of something thinkofsomethingTHINKOFSOMETHING!! Imafraidthatsomebodysgonnasteponme! ...the hell is wrong with you, girl?!

[THEChanger]

"Leonidas Michelakis. I prefer Leo though." Leo quickly covered up Lily's nervousness, trying to take attention away from the little dragon. "As for an interesting fact, I consider myself a fair hand both singing and playing the strings. Music is one of the few things I care about, actually."

[Fangren]

Righty's nose admires the new room; the plants give it a better smell than the dank and barren stone halls. Still a bit tired from the previous class, he lets his tongue hang in a sort of half-pant as he looks around the room. When it is his turn to speak, he answers happily and clearly. "I am Righteous-Heart. My goal in life is to become a paladin"

He then watches as Lily beside him got nervous and mess up her introduction, only to be quickly covered for by Leo. It seems. he thought, that the rule-breaker has his good side as well.

"Thanks!" he whispered to the satyr before scooting a tad closer to his friend, hoping to comfort the tiny pseudodragon with his presence.

[Eonas]

"Excellent!" Venusta exclaims. "I'm sure you'll do very well in this class, Liana."

When Lilly says what's 'interesting' about her, most of the class breaks into laughter - for some, like Vindico, the Succubus, and Nalicie, uproarious and mocking laughter; for others, like Raksim, Nugt, and the Aranea, a quiet titter. Venusta listens to Leo, and as the Satyr speaks, Lilly hears Venusta's voice inside her head saying "Myself, when I was young I used to be terrified of getting lost and being chased by paladins - a much less rational fear than yours, of course." Once Leo is finished speaking, Venusta addresses Lilly and then Leo, just loudly enough to be clearly heard over the mirth: "A very natural fear, Lilly! And that's fascinating, Leo! You'll have to give us a sample of your music, sometime." The laughter having mostly died down, she then goes on to question Nalicie, who gleefully pronounces that she killed 14 humans. "A real warrior, I see!" says Venusta, and moves on to the next student.

When Righty's turn arrives, Venusta seems surprised at his ambition. "A paladin? Well, good for you for being ambitious, I suppose." In a slightly more hurried manner than normally, she shifts her attention away from Righteous-Heart and on to question the next student, Vindico. She learns that Vindico's father is an influential Liquid Pain dealer, and comments that Liquid Pain is a very lucrative business.

The last student Venusta addresses is the Succubus. "A Succubus!" she exclaims. "I've never had a Succubus who didn't do excellently in this class." As she says this, a curious change takes over the teacher. Her furry body morphs into a scaly red one, and by the time she finishes her sentence, the lady standing in front of the class is not a Catfolk, but a Succubus herself. Calmly, as if nothing had happened, Venusta continues "I am one myself, as you can see. Now can you tell us your name and something interesting about yourself?" The student, apparently only slightly disconcerted by Venusta's new form, confidently says "I'm Sudukra and I'm not afraid of anything." "You must have nerves of steel, then!" replies Venusta, and then addresses the class.

"As I have just demonstrated, appearances and first impressions can be decieving. Nevertheless, in interpersonal relationships, it is crucial to give a good first impression." she says, and then begins a lecture on the various ways to give a good first impression. The lecture is more hands-on than Zofos', but also more pedantic than Brecki's mode of teaching: while Venusta is at pains to clearly explain the elements of a first-impression, the lecture is still predominantly practical in nature, and she frequently breaks up the students into pairs to practice with each other.

Most of the corridors through which Daveth walks are completely bare, with only the occasional wooden door to break the monotony. As he goes through corridor after corridor, however, he soon arrives at increasingly desolate areas: cobwebs and dust, where near-total silence reigns, the dust lies thick on the ground, and doors are frequently rotting or ajar. As he turns one corner, he finds himself at the top of a straight and shallow flight of stairs leading down to what would be a dead end, except for a very large steel door at the bottom of the stairs. This is unique in that nowhere else has Daveth encountered a flight of stairs in the school, and that nowhere else has Daveth encountered a steel door either. Coming from somewhere behind the door, he also hears the very faint sound of bone-chilling, anguished screams.
If he tries the door, he finds it locked.


Secret DM-y Rolls (Abandon all hope, ye who enter in)
Daveth Spot check DC 15: [roll0]
Daveth LIsten check DC 15: [roll1]

[LordChaos13]

Curious he presses his ear against the door.
It's not a Hunter, the music recordings he has is several tones off. That and why would a Hunter be torturing people in a Monster School, as far as he knows he is the first Hunter to ever get into this school for any reason


Roll to check what is causing it? And what purpose?
Is that a listen check or something else

[Eonas]

OOC:
That sounds like a Knowledge: Nature check to me. At any rate, that was the closest skill I could find for your purposes.

[roll0]

Daveth ascertains that the screaming is caused by pain of some kind, but his knowledge in these matters does not extend far enough to indicate specifics.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth grumbles about the obscuring door.
Searching around for a way to explore deeper


Search check [roll0]

[Eonas]

Daveth finds nothing out of the ordinary in his search - just a regular heavy steel door and a regular set of walls and stairs.

[Batpope Scott]

Liana's eyes widen at the appearance change and she thinks to herself I suppose you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. She's probably still a nice lady.

Knowledge(Religion) on Succubi [roll0]

[Emperor Ing]

It's not hard for Lilly to make the connection. Venusta seemed spooked by Righty's ambitions because she never quite got over her fears. Simple enough, and it has the bonus of making her revelation of being a succubus that less surprising. Not by a lot, the Pseudodragon still jumps a bit.

She's pretty sure Venusta is a dirty liar nontheless. Anybody who's actually afraid of anything doesn't need to prove that to anyone. In the more hands-on activities Lilly does her best to try and make her introductions as smooth and fluid as possible. Unfortunately she has yet to master the art of awkward pauses triggered on by her inability to think of what to say right away.

[LordChaos13]

Daveth grumbles but makes note of where the thing is, walking back up the stairs intent on coming back at a later date, hopefully when the door is unlocked

[THEChanger]

Leo registered Venusta's true nature. It was a bit of a surprise, and Leo took the message and filed it away. Succubi were dangerous, as he well knew, but he felt that he could mostly trust this one. Odd that such a school would employ demons and devils though. One or the other he could see. But he wondered how the two ate dinner together.

The rest of the class was a breeze. If there was one thing Leo knew, it was people. He laughed, he cried, he exaggerated. The class would be easy for him, he could tell.

[Fangren]

Venusta's admittance of her own fear makes Righty feel quite embarrassed and anxious. If he'd known that her, or any of his classmates, had a fear of paladins, he might have said something else about himself. Although if she's a good person, and the paladins are following their code, then she should have nothing to fear... he told himself, nearly missing the teacher's revelation of her true form. Her being a succubus made her fear of the forces of good more understandable, as it was rare to find such a creature who acted against their inherent alignment. Although Righteous-Heart couldn't help but trust Venusta just a little bit less, he did have much to think about.

[Eonas]

When partnered with Lilly, some of the students make very little effort to supress their laughter. Vindico, in particular, seizes any opportunity he can to make a snarky joke at the Pseudodragon's expense (for instance, pretending to have to squint at her in order to see her, and making exaggerated apologies when she is awkwardly silent: "Oh, I'm sorry, did I step on you?"). Finally, Venusta intervenes and tells Vindico to have some respect for Lilly, saying that respect is a fundamental tenet of interpersonal relationships.

The rest of the class, however, passes more or less without incident, and at the end of it Lucern once more appears at the door. "Finished?" he says, "All right then, everybody, back to the main room. You'll all get a five-minute break and then those of you who are signed up for the Natural Weapons class will go do that."

Daveth arrives back at the main room about a few minutes before Lucern and the students do. When he arrives there, he finds a new student sitting at the first-year table beside the Skeleton and the Fire Elemental. The new student is a Phoenix, with lustrous wings spectacularly covered in flame, piercing crystal-blue eyes... in a word, the Phoenix is a sight to behold. It is talking in an animated fashion with the Fire Elemental, while the Skeleton observes the conversation silently.

[LordChaos13]

Looking on in awe, seeing the One-Who-Sees-Death-Always.
Respectfully approaching, waiting for a lull in the conversation before moving down to one knee, head bowed "Greetings Death-Friend. It is an honour to meet a Phoenix sire, my name is Daveth the Hunter. If I may have the temerity to ask, what brings you to this school? I thought all Phoenixes where already past childhood and no new Death-Friends were born."

[Emperor Ing]

By the end of the class Lilly is rather downcast. Being paired with several of the more crueler members of the class didn't help, though one can't imagine her refusing to meet their gaze out of pure shyness did her any favors. One thing was for certain, it got harder and harder to make introductions. Venusta's remarks to Vindico only helped to make Lilly feel truly alone, since they came off as more of a mechanical critique of Vindico's demeanor than any of the actual sort of reprimand for unnecessarily cruel behavior that was so desperately needed. If it wasn't for Righty's presence, the pseudodragon may have had to run out of the class in tears.

Lucern's arrival could not have been more flawlessly timed, since the onslaught of more students following Venusta's lead (though being nowhere near as bad) were seriously on the verge of driving the small demidragon to tears. All fears of being potentially stepped on are completely overwhelmed by the desire to get out of that classroom immediately, leading Lilly to be one of, if not the first student to leave. The travel through the hallways as well as the wait in the main room are all the scenes where one big battle on the part of Lilly to calm herself down takes place. The greatest poker face Lilly has ever used is being deployed to mask the fact that she's on the verge of an emotional breakdown.