[i]Althalus[/i]

He merely raised an eyebrow at Henri as the boy went on a spiel of what, Althalus supposed, Henri thought were scathing insults and sharp witticisms. They were more like a child's blustering attempt at returning perceived insults with flailing taunts. All it did was solidify the idea that Henri had no true idea of the situation he was now in, and that he would cause problems because of his pride or machismo, or whatever it was the drove him to act the way he did. Truth be told, when he turned the same heavy handed and childish taunts and replies onto Alaira, Althalus was surprised she didn't punch the boy's teeth back through his throat. [color=00aeef][i]Guess we've all done some learning since we first met.[/i][/color] He mused, waiting for the carriage to stop. Lyn and Helena's defense of Henri wasn't unexpected. Helena wanted to sleep with the boy and Lyn was experiencing her first crush. A prospect that was, if Althalus was honest with himself, a major source of his dislike of Henri. Still, it didn't mean any of the points he had made were wrong.

As he got out of the carriage, Alaira stopped him. He looked up in mild surprise at the half-elf, having never known her for whispering much, then shook his head [color=00aeef]"No. He'll be more likely to do whatever we don't want him to do out of spite if he thinks he's being followed by us. Hypocrites are like that. I'll tell Helena to keep him out of trouble and do whatever necessary to do that. I'll stop to chat with him again, since they're so close."[/color]

He made his way over to Henri, sighing as he did so. Why did Lyn have to have a crush on an arrogant fool? When he reached said arrogant fool, he began talking once more.

[color=00aeef]"Since you seem completely oblivious to the College's political situation and your roll in it, allow me to explain. The College doesn't have any allies. Oh, Eania and Djarkel and all the rest make great big shows of support for it, and say they are allies all the time, but they all really want the College to side with them more than just 'magical aid and benevolent neutrality'. They want the College to send its mages to war with them, against their enemies. As I'm sure you know, Mages change the course of war. And no place has more mages, much less master mages, than the College. So they are constantly maneuvering to get the College into a more war time alliance, and the College is constantly maneuvering to stay in the current agreement.

"Where you fit in, my oh-so confident boy, is that once you leave College grounds to go do a mission, which is what we're in right now, you are a representative and diplomat of the College. You wield the immense responsibility and consequences of being able to influence entire nations policy and leverage on the College. That means if you do something violent, stupid, kind, smart, so on so forth, it will reflect upon the college and affect the grounds on which they can negotiate with whatever nation it happens to affect. For here, it means that if you are unfortunate enough to encounter a noble and you aren't smart enough to swallow your own pride and be polite no matter what, because make no mistake they will try to get you to make a fool out of yourself and play into their hands, and you get yourself thrown in jail for attacking a noble, the College will either disown you entirely and leave you to rot or it will have to acquiesce to Eanian demands that might just get it and every student it has embroiled in a war. So when you have an insult on the tip of your tongue, or a dagger on the tip of your fingers, try to remember that there is far more at stake than your pride."[/color]

Althalus looked over Henri. He assumed the boy was going to take what he said as an insult, again, and make more childish fronting, but it was worth a shot.  [color=00aeef]"I'm assuming you want respect, given your little speech about arrogant people and how they think they can talk down to you. What Alaira said was right. None of us care who you were before you got here. None of us are impressed by your stares, puffed up reactions, and flippant remarks. You want our respect? Start by proving you know when more's at stake than arrogant people stinging your pride, and that you can actually let things go without saying something. The rest, courage, skill, calm under pressure, all that good stuff, you can prove on other missions."[/color] He shrugged. 

[color=00aeef]"Or don't. I don't particularly care what you do so long as it doesn't get my family or the College embroiled in your mess. Also, your insults need work. You sounded like a blustering child rather than someone with a sharp and biting wit. You could actually learn something from Helena in that department."[/color] He looked over at the other woman, smirking at the look in her eye. [color=00aeef]"Keep an eye on him. I don't trust him to see past pride and hold his tongue if a noble pisses him off. We'll all be considered accomplices if he does something stupid, and you don't want to go into jail during the festival, hmm? If you get him through the entire festival without him doing something to a noble, I'll give you an extra point. If you actively stop him from doing something to a noble, I'll give you an extra three points. Do whatever you deem necessary. Have fun, kids."[/color] He left, ignoring whatever remarks the two of them made at his back, heading over towards Mar.

He walked over smiling at her, before leaning against the wall, noticing Lyn snapping Mar out of her trance, he grinned and winked. [color=00aeef]"Still entranced by my beauty, I see. Don't worry, a few more years and you'll be used to the effects." [/color] He sighed dramatically. [color=00aeef]"What a painful loss that will be, when I no longer daze you with my beauty."[/color] He glanced at Lyn, making a subtle gesture to the city around them and then back at Mar. [color=00aeef]'Makes her nervous'[/color] he mouthed back. [color=00aeef]"Do me a favour, my Maniacal Gardener." [/color] He smiled at Lyn. [color=00aeef]"Keep an eye on Henri and knock him out if his pride gets to big for his britches again. I've already explained the situation he and the College is in, but I'm afraid his pride will interpret it as 'someone is talking down to me again, so I should flail verbally like a child.'"[/color]


[b]Aramir[/b]

The snow elf practically bounced out of the carriage, ignoring the tension among some of the others. They'd figure it out, or they'd just ignore each other. Right now, she had a whole city to explore and she wasn't about to waste it. She looked right to left excitedly, trying to figure out where to go next, when her eyes settled on Danica. She skipped over to the masked woman, grabbing her hand and bouncing up and down energetically. "You said you had been her before, right Dani? Can you take me on a tour? I have no idea where to go and I'm really interested in seeing all of the best parts and the music! Can you, please?" She did her best pleading eyes up at Danica, hoping they'd work.