[center][h1]Shune Wanted to Say Something... Sorry[/h1][h3]A.K.A. The Fourth Wall: Broken![/h3][/center]
Hello, friends, it is I: Shune-Zept, along with my partner, Ahn-Shune… Ahem… well, maybe not. Her nose is buried in another book, because learning is important, (and she’s very antisocial) so I guess it’s just me today. Now, my grouchy friend, Dami, who you guys have honestly done an amazing job praying to - he’s super flattered and not a little full of himself these days - would probably disagree with me here. He’d probably say something about the ‘need to make informed decisions, yada yada yada’.

I think that’s pretty important too, buuuuut, well… you can’t learn very well if you’re bored to death, now can you? Yup, that was a rhetorical question. Don’t answer it. You agree with me or um… I’m a God. Do you really wanna disagree with a God? Anyhow, the point I’ve been working my way towards is that I’m going to hit life’s fast forward button for you guys. Uh… right, you don’t know what a fast forward button is, do you? We’re still in the early modern period. Darn it… 

Such an exciting time, though: The first real scientific understandings, all the exploration, and the run-up to that big ol’ industrial revolution! Oh, right, yes. That’s if you guys manage to save the timestream and we uh… don’t have to hit the reset button [i][b]again[/b][/i]. Please just come through?

Anyhow, I digress. You guys are headed for hours of boring speeches and a mass in a cathedral that you’ll all just spend gossiping in the back pews, complaining about religion, and getting up to shenanigans. The ingratitude! Anyways, yeah. I’ve already seen it and I’m going to skip all of that for you. See? Religion is cool… Yeah, and I’m obviously your favourite deity, right? (Again, rhetorical. Don’t answer… unless you’re agreeing with me). Honestly, if you’re looking to uh… ‘worship’ me, then the best thing that you can do is go out there and learn: become better people. Improve yourselves, have new encounters and experiences, seek out new places and methods, [i]experiment![/i] Don’t sit there in some stuffy old lecture hall or cathedral, even if it [i]is [/i]really pretty. Maybe just listen to the pipe organ. It’s a pretty awesome instrument. Whew! The [i]power[/i]!

I could go on all day about the science behind it, but anyways, I’m hitting that button now. It’s evening. You’re sitting down for dinner with your Zenos and your fellow apprentices. Some of you have made your minds up about courses, others are still looking to make a decision. You might wanna ask your Zenos in that case and, if you’re really stuck, I guess you could send a little prayer - you could almost call it a ‘direct message’ - to me and old grumpypants Dami. He’s good with advice and Ahn and I here know [i]all [/i]of the things. Once you’ve gotten through that, feel free to conk out for the night. You’ll wake up bright and early in the morning for your first day of classes at Ersand’Enise!
[hr][hr]
[center][h1]Chapter 3B: Decisions, Decisions (Part Two)[/h1][/center][hr][hr]
[hider=Zeno Hamir Zemana's Group][center][h2]Zeno Hamir Zemana's Group[/h2][/center][hr][hr]
Four young people sat around Hamir Zemana's table, in various states of exhaustion, fulfillment, boredom, and excitement. Dinner would normally have been a smaller affair on such a busy day, but this was only their second day together and he'd always believed that first impressions were important. He looked at these young people, so full of promise and potential, but he'd also noticed that a couple carried skeletons with them, already at their young ages. These, they hid well, but his practiced eye had noticed nonetheless.

Dinner had been a later affair than usual. He hadn't skimped in the slightest except on portion size, for the buffet lunch had already done much to fill them and the intervening hours of sedentary listening, little to empty them. The teens were all sitting around the table with full stomachs, or so it seemed, at least, and the final rays of sun were presently painting the windows orange, fuchsia, and gold. Hamir dabbed at the corners of his mouth and leaned back. Thinking better of it after a moment, he sat up straight. "So," he inquired, "What shall we do with our evening?" Does anybody have questions they'd like to ask? Concerns they'd like to mention? Stories they'd like to tell?" He glanced around at the young faces. "I'm not certain about you but, for myself, it is far too early to join Vashdal in sleep."[/hider]
[hider=Zeno Zander Mozaru's Group][center][h2]Zeno Zander Mozaru's Group[/h2][/center][hr][hr]
Something was off about Zeno Mozaru. Granted, Marlijn did not know him particularly well yet, but he was on edge. His smile, which had seemed to hold real warmth - if a rather stern variety - this morning, did not reach his eyes. As Megga bustled about the dining room, clearing plates and accepting thanks - Marlijn remembered to give hers - he had established a rule. It was getting dark and he had used a simple arcane spell to light the house's lanterns. The flames licked and spat, oily behind their glass shields as the final rays of light disappeared from the sky outdoors. He had handed each of his apprentices a candle to hold. When they wished to address him in an official capacity, they would have to light theirs using magic. Each night, the candles would be placed in a rack near the top of the stairs, for what purpose, they did not yet know, though he had assured them that it was part of their education and that they would understand in time. 

Presently, he was asking the four youths about their days. Marlijn was the first to speak. Reaching out with the Gift, she pulled some heat from the hearth, gathered it inside of her, tightened it up and touched the wick of her candle. A tiny flame glowed and grew and she removed her finger before she could burn it. "I had a pleasant enough time, I suppose," she began, "though that single tour was not nearly enough to acquaint me with campus. I think I shall get lost at least a handful of times over the next week." She paused, placing a fingertip against her bottom lip pensively. "I suppose I saw Owain - my brother." She glanced about at her housemates. Selio seemed pleasant enough, but she was uncertain about the others, especially Yimu, who'd been nothing if not brusque with her. "I fairly stuffed my face with Greenlander food, and I chose my courses." She set the candle carefully on the table in front of her and began ticking points off on her fingers. "Arcane and Kinetic for my magics, music from the arts stream, and I was going to take needlework, but such things always turn into very gossipy affairs and I've no interest in that, so I've decided on drama instead." She smirked. "Yes, I am fully aware of the irony. Anyhow, I've rounded things out with camp and the agriculture and animals course with the very long name. I confess to being more than a bit nervous about tomorrow." She smiled shyly. "Though I remain excited as well." With that, she blew out her candle, as she'd been instructed.[/hider]
[hider=Zeno Fades-in-Moonlight's Group][center][h2]Zeno Fades-in-Moonlight's Group[/h2][/center][hr][hr]It was nearly 5:00 Rezain when the lock on the door had rattled and Fades-in-Moonlight had popped her head inside. Without yesterday's ceremonial makeup, she looked an entirely different person and Jomurr had nearly hit her with a kinetic shove before realizing his mistake and quietly dissipating the energy that he'd gathered. He was, in fact, rather grateful for his deep complexion in moments like those.

Now, she was home, exhausted and bedraggled. Jomurr had expected to see her dragging that ungrateful little brat - Anna - by the ear behind her, yet the girl was nowhere to be seen. "Good evening, Zeno," he greeted her. "I was... most concerned by your absence."

She raised an eyebrow, brushing past him, the tassels and beads on her clothes swaying. "Oh, and how about Anna's?"

"It would be... dishonest of me to characterize my feeling as 'concern'." He scowled. "But I do hope she hasn't come to any harm." It was a half-truth. Much as she was vile in his eyes, she was also little more than a harmless insect - a pest and more worthy of his pity and mercy than his hatred. 

"Heh, honest of you, at least." She half-twisted to face Leon and Carmillia. "How 'bout you, chuckles? Holding up alright?" She shook her head. "What a day. By the Aspects, what a day." She smiled tiredly. "But you guys have to famished." The Nashibansek pulled herself up a bit and looked them each in the eyes. "I've been a really shitty Zeno so far, so I'm hoping we can turn the page. How about you follow me outside?"

Jomurr did not follow. He led but, as he swung open the double doors, Zeno Moonlight was only a step or two behind and there was a phenomenal buildup of energy. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Then, two things happened that didn't make any sense. First, he reached out for energies, looking to sense what she had drawn so much from, but could find nothing of any significance disturbed. Then, she... [i]flickered,[/i] was the only way that he could describe it. For a second or two, the Zeno became... semi-corporeal, [i]ghostlike [/i]even. Then, she winked out of existence. He cast about for the telltale energies of illusory magic, but there were none. He had opened his mouth and was about to address the others, who he could sense shared his wonder, but then she returned as if she'd never left.

The entire backyard lit up like a bubble of perfect daylight. The coal barbecue pit smoldered. Fresh rabbit, corn, and a cauldron of butternut squash soup whisked through the air. The rabbit skewered itself, as did the corn. The spit began turning.    

For once, Jomurr Ikon the Third lost his composure. "W-where!?" He stammered. "How?" He didn't bother to hide his surprise. "Where did all of that energy come from? How are you [i]maintaining[/i] it?"

Luna grinned and there might even have been some happiness to it. "There's a lot you guys don't know about me, and this school, and a lot of things in general." She sighed and flicked some hair out of her face. "I'm your master; you're my apprentices, so I'm gonna teach you." She materialized three stools seemingly from thin air for them to sit on. "Food's cooking, we're sitting, I'm an open book - damn the rules - one hundred percent." She regarded them earnestly. "But to answer your question, Jomurr, what you just saw was Dark Magic."[/hider]
[hider=Zeno Sienna Afraval's Group][center][h2]Zeno Sienna Afraval's Group[/h2][/center][hr][hr]"You've all made [i]quite [/i]the impression, Sienna Afraval chirped, bustling through the door. They had eaten in a tavern for dinner, as Serrio was busy for the night preparing for his daughter's wedding and she had not begrudged him something of that import. Instead, she'd sent a substantial gift and would be in attendance on the morrow. "Linah, Penny, and Anesin, I heard you three were chattering away all lunch - the life of the party." She hung her cloak on a peg and, with a somewhat grand gesture, brought all of the townhome's lanterns to light. "And Onarr," she continued, "a little birdie told me that you dined with President Yibozo himself. How does it feel to hobnob with the movers and shakers?" she teased. 

It was long since dark. The food had been good, if a bit common, a rather well-known jester had been in attendance, and then a lively musical troupe all of the way from Kerremand had been playing. They'd known everything from Eskandish folk songs to Revidian chamber. The alcohol had flowed - in limited amounts for her charges - and the hours of Eshiran had slipped into those of Dami as people sang and danced and drank. She'd had to cut Penny off and cast a simple Chemical spell to... reverse some of her inebriation, and she'd sensed a homesickness in Anesin, so had paid the troupe to perform a rather too bawdy rendition of [i]The Jarl's Lucky Son.[/i] But now they were home. She led them into the sitting room and placed herself on a sofa, body language [i]just [/i]on the right side of ladylike. "So, I hope you had a lovely day. I wanted you to enjoy yourselves for, tomorrow, the real work begins, and when I see you next week, I expect I shall see you at your best and work you hard." She cleared her throat for a moment. She'd belted out the lyrics to a couple of old Torragonese trail cantos a bit too enthusiastically. "But that brings me to your course selections. Before we retire for the night, I'd like to inquire after those. How have they gone? Have you any questions in mind, now would be the time to pose them."[/hider]