Heartening news. It would have been an awful tragedy had Kirigina been sent all this way only to find that the academic artificers of Arkus Academy preferred the study of theory over practice. Not an unreasonable commitment but one she was wholly unsuited for, wrench in hand and textbooks traded for calloused, blistering experience at the front of repair queues. A warm smile spread across the wrench witch's face as Kress went on, and she found herself nodding confidently at the concepts broached. Maybe she was proud to be keeping up with the theory after all, since while the steel constructions of her homeland were titanic representations of the Republic's progress in rebuilding... They were not usually so ornate. [color=d68a59]"Building sized heat exchangers composed entirely through runes. I cannot imagine how sharp the tolerances must be, or what kind of work went into creating, no, affixing that system to these old structures. Even if the yield were unsteady, the air is very clean here to think a forge might be nearby."[/color] Before either could continue the instructor she'd just been thinking about flagging down approached them. Sleepy eyed fascination shifted from Kress to Sira, glancing back in time with their instructor giving the boy the same lingering glance she had. Artificers were not people people, so much was true across borders at least. Or he just had one of those familiar faces. [color=d68a59]"Ja,"[/color] She responded automatically to being called an artificer, bowing her head but only listening to the teacher. The tour proceeded, prompting a long period of polite silence as instructors talked and pointed them around at the buildings. A workshop, a garden, all handy things to be so close to with reasonably unlimited access. Who could have envisioned a center of learning, the focal point where the future was weaved with an unsuspecting and uncaring generation of new hands, could afford to be so comfortable. But, just as soon as she warmed up to the idea of the academy they were done, turned from a tour into a group of meandering students deciding where first to go. That was a new feeling. Giddiness tipped the corners of her lips, [color=d68a59]"I cannot believe it,"[/color] She admitted, nudging Kress... but as a growing trend, before she finished the thought they were face to face with more of their kind. First a snow haired boy who introduced himself as Cormac Hollow and in the same breath declared himself to be possessed of some sort of pact with an Angel. Kirigina raised an eyebrow at that and immediately recognized the nose bleed from earlier in the day. Her hand flinched, the start of a protective reach for her new friend's shoulder in what was surely a trying time that stopped as a second person introduced themselves, and so easily, the first bloc split. Xanara. [i]I hope that is spelled phonetically.[/i] The lively looking girl who spoke with the artificer-instructor about some high concept things a few moments before. Kirigina had overheard the words causality and paradox and promptly checked herself out of overhearing a conversation so far out of her league. It made for an interesting assessment of the sunkissed woman though, spoke to an intelligence one might not have immediately associated with 'one of those dancing girls from the west.' No, even the witches of old had their dancing rituals around the fire. They dressed more modestly because they would have died wearing that skirt in the tundra, but nobody mistook them for prudes. Maybe she was a proud practitioner of ancient, traditional magics and here she was rubbing shoulders with a dusty mechanic from a line of spellcasters who bent to the call of progress. [color=d68a59]"I am Tanya. Pleased to meet you."[/color] She said, correcting her failure to introduce herself while the tour had been going on. In one motion she shuffled her wrench into the crook of one arm, brushing an already clean hand across the fabric of her coat out of habit before extending it in greeting. [color=d68a59]"N-next week?"[/color] The conversation blew past the little hangup she stammered under her breath. [color=d68a59]"I am a Technician, which is to say both of those things when they are needed. Slight differences. Aha."[/color] She chuckled nervously. This Xanara was disarming in a natural sort of way. If only that did not frequently forecast danger in Kirigina's homeland, and on the witch's face a strange blend of social anxiety and ease among comrades played tug of war while she watched the closest thing she had to a friend spirited away over the dancer's shoulder. At least it wasn't the scythe mob. [color=d68a59]"I fix these sorts of things."[/color] Kirigina followed the young woman's gesture, beaming at the Cresian vessel. [color=d68a59]"Well, Verholtan ones. Machines are deceptively simple once you know their language. Maybe like dancing, once you understand the swing of things it gets easier?"[/color]