[h2]Corinne[/h2]

The mage blinked in confusion as someone addressed her in Estivalian. That was... if she was speaking Ithillane – and she [i]normally[/i] did by this point, the language just came much easier when she was drunk – then why had they not responded in kind?

It took a few moments before the dots connected in the Hundi's head. Oooooh, it was probably a matter of understanding vs speaking it. That would make sense, they were very different and unrelated languages, someone could easily have a good enough understanding to follow but want to speak something more familiar. But it would be rude if she didn't swap over herself, and her accent could be really strong sometimes, it was [i]embarrassing...[/i]

Though the newcomer was obviously an elf and that solved everything! Maman might be the Duchess of Tiffauges but [i]Ammë[/i] still wasn't entirely comfortable, even after twenty years of marriage. Corinne had gotten all the practice she could ever need with Elvish, so swapping to that would take no effort at all. Actually, maybe it was her [i]first[/i] one... she would need to ask and see if they remembered, she thought that the switch to mostly talking in Ithillane had come when she started proper lessons.

[i]"Aww... well, I guess..."[/i] she turned to try and tell. Liliane... and could only pout at empty space. When had she gotten away? Her wife was so [i]sneaky[/i].

[i]"New hires?"[/i] Turning back to the elf, she tilted her head to try and make sense of it. The guild didn't really have hires, and it wasn't like there had been a super notable joiner for months. Nobody that skipped all the low ranks. [i]"No, this celebration is mine!"[/i]

She puffed her chest out proudly, [i]"Lili said we can start doing proper missions now!"[/i]

It was, true to the mate's assessment, perfectly fluent Elvish. What was stranger – from Calben's perspective – was that it wasn't the neutral scholarly speech most learned, or some affected social standing from across the veil. It was the common dialect used by the wood elves, without the slightest trace of any discrepancy... 

Except that there was no way the busty Hundi was an elf, obviously. 

[hr] 

[h2]Liliane[/h2] 

"Are any of you planning to take jobs? If not, please let the rest of us at the board," a faintly Ithillin-accented voice requested, coming from... well, not much higher than Rylia, in honesty, and in line with the Ingvarr woman.

Liliane already looked slightly annoyed, one hand resting on her hip, almost within reach of one of her daggers. She could have reached the board fine – even Hylia wasn't much of an obstacle – but clambering over people just to grab some of the postings was [i]absurd.[/i]