It's a fine day at the Collegia Esoterica. Even though it would be the deep of winter in the lands of the northern hemisphere, here the seasonal changes – such as they are – are exceptionally mild. To some, they might as well be nonexistent. Thus, the students of the Collegia Esoterica are dressed the same as they always are, making mage robes a yearlong fashion.

Sitting out on one of the benches is one of the Collegia's newer apprentices, Francisco. He certainly doesn't consider his black robe to be much of a fashion item – more like a fashion disaster. For the moment, while he's out here reading one of the many books that the institute's library has to offer, he has the robe folded and on the bench next to him, preferring to sport one of his colorful shirts.

A mousey-looking bat wanders onto the college grounds, stopping a few cubs in black robes and asking them some questions. They can't be heard from this far, but the bat seems to have said something that amuses the cubs, and they point in Francisco's direction. The bat talks to them some more, and they nod solemnly.

The kitsune does not appeared to have noticed this exchange, as he carries on with reading the book. Occasionally, though, he will fiddle about with his tails and try and get comfortable on the bench again. Obviously, no-one ever thought of a five-tailed fox using the bench in its lifetime.

The mousey-looking bat makes his way over toward the kitsune, the cubs scattering and tittering to themselves as they quickly disappear from sight. The bat looks very weary, with bags under his eyes, as if he has not had enough sleep in several days. He gets within a few steps of the bench, then stops, clearing his throat.

Francisco's left ear twitches a little at the sound, and he looks up from his reading. "Uh, yes?" he asks the Eeee.

"You are High Mage Guy Fox Francisco Kitsune of the Sphere of Illusion?" the mousey bat asks, his eyes scanning the kitsune's … loud … apparel.

Francisco fights the urge to sigh at still being called Guy Fox. Especially since Guy Fox day was only a few weeks ago. "Could be," he responds, beating that urge back. "Who wants to know?"

The bat bows. "Degarde," he answers, "assistant to Ambassador Kara, representative of the High Prince of Babel to Rephidim City. We have a situation that demands the assistance of an accomplished mage." He looks almost apologetic as he says, "We haven't the funds to have a mage of our own staff, so we'd like to hire you for your time. We will, of course, pay your regular rate." That last sentence seemed to have a question mark attached to it.

The gray fox thinks for a moment. "The fee would depend upon what services you are asking for… " he asks, as if prodding for more information.

The bat catches on well enough and says, "It concerns a trinket that my mistress wishes to have inspected for any possible … ah … I don't know the precise term. Magic on it. In it. Curses. That sort of thing. Or whether there's no magic on it at all."

Seems pretty simple enough to do, Francisco muses to himself. "Okay, I could help you out with that," he says. "However, I must ask, why me?"

Degarde says, "You have good references. You're well known in the Bazaar. The mistress would have hired someone she knew, but it seems air mages are in high demand this time of year. So … well, you understand, we're from out of town. We wouldn't want to pick some charlatan claiming to be something he wasn't. It's best to get a good reference, and you have plenty of them."

Francisco simply nods in reply to that. "Alright then. Are you familiar with the charges for that kind of service?"

"Ah… " Degarde narrows his eyes a bit. "Of course. We're willing to pay your usual rate."

Nodding, the kitsune replies, "Sure. We can work out the billing on a per-hour basis once the task is completed."

The bat nods. "Very well, then … do you have an opening in your schedule sometime today? This is a fairly urgent matter that the ambassador would like to see resolved quickly."

Glancing over at one of the buildings (which has a sundial on it), the fox nods. "I can spare you maybe two hours now, if you wish. No more after that today, however," he says.

The bat nods. "That would be most gracious of you, your … ah … Please forgive me, but what SHOULD your proper address be, sir?"

"Just 'Francisco' will suffice," replies the Kitsune with a slight grin. "I've never been that attached to titles."