[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=F2541F]Atkin Bowman[/color][/i][/b][/h1]
[/center][hr][center][color=F2541F][b]Location:[/b][/color] Wizard Tower[/center][hr]
He'd been around the tower for a bit, but he still wasn't used to people just suddenly showing up out of nowhere. When Rowland and Jarvis [b]Appeared[/b] he recoiled back and almost messed up his hold on the furry little bugger in his arm. He recognized Jarvis nearly immediately, but Rowland was a complete mystery to him. He figured the old man was a wizard of some sort, perhaps an old friend of the Ordinary Wizard beside him. A street rat like him wouldn't have taken much note of the elderly man even if he had met him during his tenure as ExtraOrdinary Wizard.

[color=F2541F]"Dunno,"[/color] he replied to Jarvis' inquiry. [color=F2541F]"I got roped into dealing with the mess it was making back at Larry's Dead Languages. Ain't had a clue what to do with it once I wrangled it like this so I figured I might as well take it back to the Stranger Chamber. Also pretty sure it was stealing some of the dress robes 'round town. Shot a great stream of them at me back at the store."[/color] As Atkin recounted his little run-in with the creature, he noticed the spark of recognition in the old man's eye.

The old man first complimenting the little furball was the first surprise. The second being that he actually turned out to be the former ExtraOrdinary wizard, which would make him his grandteacher. If such a thing existed. This bit of information, along with the warning indicated to Atkin that the greeting probably had some greater purpose, but he wasn't going to let the thing go any time soon. Not while he had no insurance that it wouldn't start causing another ruckus that he'd have to handle.

It was around this time that Arya showed up and he felt his heart rate increase by at least 5 bpm. At the same time, a small part of him quipped that at this rate, the entire body of wizards would be gathered in front of the tower and the extra security would be wholly unnecessary. He wanted to say about three different things then, but [i]another[/i] visitor decided to show up to this impromptu meeting: this one a messenger rat.

[color=F2541F]"Sorry, hold on for a second,"[/color] he interjected, turning to face the rodent messenger. [color=F2541F]"Speake, rattus rattus."[/color] He'd listen to the entire message, but be thoroughly unimpressed with it all. Did whoever sent this message think he was a toddler who couldn't think? Even his sense of curiosity could be quelled when something was an obvious trap. He'd learned enough about suspicion and skepticism on the streets to know any such proposed meeting from an anonymous source generally ended up with getting jumped and mugged. Not to mention it was Coronation Day and the Winter Solstice. No thank you, sir. He [i]was[/i] a bit intrigued if there really was any such book or whether it was some half-baked ploy to kidnap him, but he was too busy with other things to pursue it any further.

[color=F2541F]"I'm not going to reply. You can be on your way,"[/color] he told the rat before coming back to the conversation at hand. Now what was he going to try asking about first. What the blazing hell was a Grula-Grula? A Queste? What should he do with this thing anyways? Could you please let him through so he could get his clothes for the impending ceremony? But a lesson from his mother flashed to the front of his mind.

[i]"Don't ya know it's rude not to introduce yourself to others?" [b]WHAP.[/b][/i]

[color=F2541F]"Oh Mr. Rowland, nice to meet you. I'm Atkin Bowman, the new ExtraOrdinary apprentice."[/color] As he spoke, Atkin offered his free hand to shake the elderly ex-ExtraOrdinary wizard's. He was far more polite than most anyone got from him, but maybe it was recalled fear that produced the greeting. [color=F2541F]"And uh, by the by, what's a [b]Queste[/b]?"[/color] Of all the questions he had, he felt like that one was the one most likely to have the opportunity to be answered directly would pass the soonest. The way Arya spoke carried with it the kind of urgency that people who weren't going to explain concepts they were discussing used before twittering among themselves. The furball could wait until the other stuff was taken care of.