A large number of people are mingling and talking, their conversations causing a constant background din that threatens to overwhelm the somewhat quiet music. Representatives from all over Sinai move amongst the several dozen mages, who are easy to notice due to their sometimes ostentatious outfits. A few senior mages and faculty are present as well, generally dressed in more conservative formal outfits and sporting chains of office.

Two Lapis enter into the light of the pavilion. "I have some business with the senior mages, so try to hand out some of these to any mages you think will be good customers," Aaron says to Anisa, handing her a stack of oversized business cards for Lightfoot's Apothecary which double as coupons, advertising special rates for new journeymen.

Anisa begins to say something, but is cut short as the cards are put into her hands. "Just … hand them out?" She looks around, gauging the size of the crowd. "Isn't that a bit tacky?"

"Well, hand them out to people you think are worth knowing," Aaron says. "You'll need to talk to them a bit, find out if they're going to Rephidim, and so on," the Lapi explains, and gestures to the huge crowd. "Just the ones you'd wouldn't mind having drop by to say 'hello' if they're in town, basically."

The white Lapi gives a shrugging nod, and looks down to her outfit. "Too bad this thing doesn't have pockets. Anyway, I'll see you in a bit." Pulling her cloak up a bit, the rabbit wanders her way towards the crowd, a bit at a loss. She scans the graduates for possible marks.

Shuffling the cards from paw to paw, the Lapi decides to try and tuck them into her sash when she feels an oddity. "What's this?" Looking down, the doe notices a pocket in her sash, and with a smile, tucks the cards safely away. "That makes that easier! Now, back to business… "

"Yoo-hoo, Anisa!" comes a familiar voice from nearby. Even with all the background noise, it's easy for Lapi ears to locate the source: a gray-furred doe waving to her from next to something that is either a decorative hedge or a strange buffet table.

A relieved smile spreading across her face, Anisa gives a wave of return to Spring Meadow. Slipping through the crowd with practiced ease, the Lapi is soon standing next to her. "I forgot you'd be here, its good to have a familiar face!" With an exaggerated wink, she passes a card to the other doe. "You get to be tonight's first victim."

Taking the card, Spring Meadow giggles happily. She's dressed as a walking advertisement for her skill: a long cloak embroidered with golden stalks of wheat on brown zolk hangs from her shoulders, while her tunic and trousers appear to made of various sewn-together leaves of spinach and other leafy crops. Over this is a lace body-stocking embroidered with fruiting vines sporting grapes, kyootcumbers and other produce. "Oh wow, I love your outfit! You look so different, I barely recognized you!"

Anisa blushes, and gives the other rabbit a look over. "Thanks, I didn't even recognize myself. I like yours, too! It's sure to catch a client's eyes, as well as the guys'." She grins.

Spring Meadow spins around to show off her outfit! "I've gotten a few nibbles already! This outfit cost me a bundle, but was worth it." She grins, and waves to the buffet, a sort of woody hedge that is sprouting bowls and platters instead of leaves, each bearing a selection of fruit, veggies, cheeses, breads and dips, along with a punch bowl growing its own cups made of thick, curled leaves. "You'd better get a cup of something to drink, otherwise people will try handing you something, and I know the Illusionists will have spiked some of the drinks."

The white furred Lapi walks to where Spring Meadow gestures. "Probably a good idea, and I am a bit hungry any road." She plucks one of the napkins from the table with an amused smirk, and fills it with just enough fruit to nibble on. "What's to drink? It's not some kind of magic punch, is it?"

Shaking her head, the Earth Mage "plucks" one of the cups and fills it with a leaf-ladle from the central punch bowl. "Just mixed-fruit juice, a little watered down frankly," Spring Meadow says, handing over the cup.

Anisa receives the cup and takes a sip. "Not too bad, beats drinking water." The rabbit looks out to those gathered. "So, got any good places for me to start? Aaron told me to hand those out, but I don't want to just impede."

Nearby, a group of Nagai and Jingai journeymen surround a pair of kimono-clad draconians, who are apparently giving a very enthralling speech … in Imperial. "Well, some people will be listening to pitches, like that one," Spring Meadow says, tilting her head towards the reptilian group. "But there'll be groups of mages just hanging out too, probably near the dance floor, where the tables are. That's probably where people are having fun!"

"Well then, that's where we're going!" Grabbing the other rabbit by the hand, Anisa tugs her over to the dance floor boundaries, near the tables. "See any empty seats? If I can upsale grog, I sure as Dagh can upsale a bunch of cards."

The tables surrounding the dance floor are small cafe-style ones, and despite the number seem mostly full. Aaron's given Anisa enough background now that she can pick out which Sphere a mage belongs to, and it seems that those belonging to the elemental Spheres congregate together, while those of Mind, Spirit and Shadow tend to keep to themselves. There aren't any Dream mages to be seen, and several Chaos practitioners seem to dominate the dance floor.

"There's Hotfoot," Spring Meadow says, pointing out another familiar Lapi to Anisa. Xander spots them and waves, pulling out a chair from his table and snatching another one from a neighbor when it's owner heads for the dance floor.

Anisa watches the chaos mages with quiet envy as they dance up a storm, but quickly heads to Xander's table when she sees him wave. "Let's go claim a seat while we can; I need to get my bearings."

"Wow, you look hot, Anisa!" Xander says, smiling to the white doe as he politely holds out a seat for her. "And coming from a Fire Mage, that's a real compliment!"

Another Fire Mage, a somewhat shaggy and short Rhian, holds out the other available seat for Spring Meadow, whickering, "Hey Meadow, you look tasty!"

The white rabbit blushes again, unused to having those sorts of comments not resulting in a fist fight with a drunk. "Thank you," is all she can say in reply as she takes a seat. Regaining her composure, the Lapi looks to Hotfoot and the Rhian. "So, what have I missed?"

"Well, Raife here got a slipped a Brain Slug Special," Xander says, gesturing to his table-mate while sitting back down. "He was practically foaming at the mouth!" the Lapi laughs, while the Rhian pony just huffs and looks indignant. The two Mages are dressed in red cloaks over black tunics and pants, with black flame designs on the cloaks. "That, and just talking about Saskanar."

"You boys have no manners," Spring Meadow says, and introduces the Rhian formally. "Anisa Snowshoe, meet Raife Stonecrafter, another Fire Mage. Should have been an Earth Mage with a name like that though, so feel free to tease him about it!"

Anisa holds out her hand to the Rhian. "My name's Anisa, any friend of Hotfoot's is a friend of mine. A brain slug?" She eyes Xander. "Do I want to know?"

"Heh, I've had one once myself," Xander says, and describes the drink as having an enchantment on it that makes you think everyone around you has a worm in their heads that is controlling them, and they're ultimately trying to get you infected with one as well. "It's more harmless than it sounds, and there are lots of variations on it that can be pretty silly."

The music is oddly subdued, despite the table being right next to the dance floor – no doubt another of those sound-dampening magicks Anisa has run into already. Even so, the band seems to be producing a lot more music than a quartet should normally be able to make, but then all of the musicians are also wearing the robes of Illusionists.

The white rabbit furrows her brow, drawing back a bit in distaste. "Sounds like something to avoid; I'll stick to the punch." The Lapi takes a sip to accent the point, then slips a paw into her sash to pull out two of the cards. "Here, for you two. A graduation gift from me and Aaron."

The two Mages accept the cards, while Raife actually takes a moment to read it. "Not bad, thanks! I'll probably be stopping in Rephidim anyway, although I really think I will check out Saskanar."

"I still say it's too risky," Xander says to the gray equine. "At least until things settle down in Babel. I prefer to put out fires without being shot at."

"It's not that bad!" the pony counters. "Saskanar is pretty distant from all that, and the weather is nice."

"Well when you're there," says Anisa, "look me up. I'll get you some free food at my dad's restaurant. Why Saskanar?" The Lapi echoes Hotfoot's expression. "Seems like a risky place to be, a bit of a hot spot."

"They've got some reps here touting the region is all," Xander says. "Fire Mages could probably find work there mostly for caravan defense though, I think. I just worry about raiders and such, if they actually need Mages for defense."

"They don't have any big cities, do they?" Spring Meadow asks. "I was thinking of checking them out too, since they grow so many types of fruit there."

Anisa shifts uncomfortably in her seat, suddenly feeling like the odd doe out in the talk of magic. "It would be interesting though, and pretty exciting."

The brown-furred Lapi nods, but says, "I got the impression they're more interested in flyers though. Eeees and such."

"Exciting?" the Rhian asks, wiping his mouth after drinking from his own extra-large mug. "Not like living in Rephidim or some other big city. But … the weather's nice!"

The white rabbit shrugs. "Rephidim's not all that exciting. Same thing day in, day out, at least where I live." The doe nibbles on a piece of fruit. "Lots of jobs there though, or so I'm told." Anisa drifts slightly, her eyes darting now and then out to the dance floor and the Chaos mages.

Two of the Chaos mages appear to be juggling some pala fruits between them, while another one, a blindfolded Zerda, dances about within the paths of the fruit without being struck.

Anisa raises her ears in interest, her eyes plainly set on the dance floor now.

"Chaos Mages like excitement," Spring Meadow comments, noticing Anisa's interest in the dancers. "Or else boredom. Making things more or less interesting is what they do best, after all."

"That sure looks interesting!" Anisa comments. "I've seen a lot of dances in Rephidim, but not like that."

On the dance floor, one of the juggling mages notices Anisa's interest and makes a "come on up!" gesture with his muzzle.

The white rabbit's eyes widen, and she looks around to make sure the mage isn't motioning to someone else. She then points to herself, looking surprised.

Grinning, the Jupani Chaos Mage nods his head in a very exaggerated way, waggling his eyebrows and wagging his tail as well.

"I think I'm being invited up," Anisa whispers to Spring Meadow, a grin appearing on her face. "What do you think?"

Dancing out from behind one of the larger mages (which would constitute most of them), a Cervani-like, one-horned child in dark robes of a Shadow Mage does a few steps by himself.

"Go for it!" the gray-furred doe says, grinning. "Maybe you'll inspire the rest of us to burn some fat," she giggles.

"Who are you calling fat?" asks Hotfoot, while Raife just chuckles.

Standing up, the Lapi barmaid smoothes out her slacks. "Well, I'm a bit out of practice, but hopefully I can keep up with them. Wish me luck!" Looking cool and calm as best she can, the doe casually walks out onto the dance floor with a small smirk on her face, approaching the Jupani.

The music surrounds Anisa as soon as she steps through the invisible curtain separating the dance floor from the rest of the pavilion. The beat is a bit heavy, closer to a Himarian or Titanian style than the Lapi might be used to in Rephidim clubs. It is also apparent now that the Chaos mages aren't even trying to follow the music, or each other for that matter.

Taken slightly by surprise, the rabbit still attempts to look relaxed, and walks over to the Jupani. She starts to move to the beat as best she can, getting a feel for it, and looks to the wolf. "So, you rang?" She grins a little.

"Hey yeah!" the Jupani says, turning only slightly. "Zelda's getting tired," he says, nodding towards the blindfolded fennec that's weaving between the thrown pieces of fruit. "Want to spot her? No blindfold, though!"

A Kujaku in an iridescent dress/robe with flared sleeves that seem to suggest a second pair of wings struts by, arms held down along her sides, but hands oddly flat out, her upper body hardly moving, though her head goes forward-back, forward-back with the beat … then she spins around and goes the other way, her train sweeping behind her.

The little Cervani shadow mage lets out a squeak of alarm as the Kujaku tail sweeps toward him. He leans way back, almost to the point of falling over, as the tail sweeps over his head, then stands up, wiping his brow. "Whew!" He dances a bit further away from the Kujaku.

Anisa, still moving to the beat, wilts an ear slightly. "Is she using magic, or is she just that good?" The rabbit smirks. "Getting a fruit to the face isn't my idea of a good night."

The Jupani laughs. "No magic! She's not dodging the fruit; we're trying to throw it around her while she dances!" he explains.

The doe shrugs. "In that case, I'll give it a shot!" Stifling a laugh, the rabbit dances her way over to the fennec, and raises her voice slightly to get above the music. "Hey Zelda, wanna take a break?"

The fennec lifts up her blindfold and grins to the rabbit. "Sure honey! Don't let them switch to knives on you, though!" Dropping the blindfold back down, the Chaos Mage does a cartwheel off across the dance floor.

Anisa can't help but smile in amazement at the fennec's moves, and begins to wonder if her own will be as good. "Okay guys, watch the ears!" Doing a spinning twirl, the bunny quickly takes her place in between the mages, and continues to dance.

The Cervani buck and Jupani Mages juggle to themselves until they get the rhythm of Anisa's dance, and then start tossing fruit back and forth around her. Melons zips through spaces where Anisa's elbow, shoulder or knee just were, while the two Chaos Mages start to dance on their own … apparently just to make it more difficult for the other juggler.

A little uncomfortable at first, and trying hard not to wince, Anisa soon gets the hang of having swirling fruits of doom zooming by her by mere millimeters. Laughing in enjoyment, the rabbit watches as the mages try to outdo each other, and decides to throw her own hat into the fray. "Okay, guys, see if you can keep up with me!" Exaggerating her movements, and making them more wild, the Lapi speeds up her dance while keeping with the beat, and moves much more freely.

"That's it!" calls the Cervani juggler, who starts jumping around while tossing the fruits. A pala-fruit tossed by the Jupani is just grazed by Anisa's hand, throwing off it's trajectory enough that the Cervani can't compensate … and gets a pala-fruit stuck to one of his antlers! "Woo! Five points!" crows the Jupani.

Anisa slows down her dance just enough to keep from collapsing in laughter, but gets herself collected enough to keep going at her pace, giggling nonstop. She turns to Spring Meadow and the others, and gives a playful wave.

Hotfoot blows a kiss from the table, and Spring Meadow waves back, apparently trying to keep from laughing as well.

The white doe blows a kiss in return, and turns herself back to the jugglers. "What would you do if I tried to catch one?" she calls out to the Jupani, wearing a huge grin.

"Throw another one, of course!" the Jupani replies with a grin. "You've only got two hands, unless you can catch them with your ears!" he jokes, and tosses another fruit.

"Well, that may be," replies Anisa, "but I never said I was going to keep it!" Reaching out quickly, the Lapi attempts to snatch one of the fruits from mid-air.

Anisa's timing is just a bit off, and the fruit bounces straight up out of her hand! It doesn't quite reach the top of the tent before plummeting down … and impaling itself on the horn of the little black-and-white skinned Shadow mage dancing a little ways off.

"That's got to be at least thirty points!" the Cervani Chaos mage guffaws!

The Shadow mage blinks upward at his new adornment. He keeps dancing, though.

"Dagh-nabbit!" The Lapi twirls, still grinning, to see where her target has gotten off to. "Oh no!" she exclaims with a small laugh, covering her mouth with her paw. "Poor little boy! Are you okay?" She calls out to him, still dancing and grinning nevertheless. The image of the young mage doesn't help any.

"Shadow mages are really hard to hit!" agrees the Jupani mage, as he flings another fruit past Anisa's tail while she's turned.

The mage seems to be okay enough. The cluster of little fruits is spilling apart off of his horn, and he catches the pieces as he can, stuffing them into his mouth. "Mmph-hmph!" he answers, nodding, which causes a couple more of the tiny fruits to shake free. squish Some of them get flattened under-hoof.

"Hey! Watch it there!" The Lapi quickly scoots forward in reflex, and smoothes down her cotton tail. She motions for the little Shadow mage to come closer, still smiling.

"Three points!" the Cervani calls out, and both he and his partner just juggle to themselves for a bit, since Anisa is occupied.

The Shadow mage dances over toward Anisa, and plucks the remainder of the pala-fruit cluster off his horn. "Wmph-smph?" he muffles, holding out the remainder to the Lapi.

The music dies down as the piece ends, and there's a pause for a few moments as the "band" gets ready for a new selection – apparently Illusionists aren't as quick about this as normal musicians would be.

"No points shall be earned off the rabbit!" Anisa replies jokingly. She turns to the small mage, and leans over just slightly to him while still dancing, taking the fruit. "Thanks! Are you alright, kiddo?" She stuffs the fruit into her mouth, and munches on it.

Anisa slows her dance, and stops for a bit to catch her breath. "Whew."

The one-horned Cervani nods, wiping his mouth. "Yes, thank you, ma'am, I'm just fine. That stuff is good! You know, it's hard to get that. It's pretty expensive in Babel."

"Well, looks like it's all you can eat here though, so get your fill!" The rabbit giggles a little, then looks at the mage curiously. "I've never seen a one-horned Cervani before – that's neat. What's someone your age doing here? Is one of your parents here too?" Anisa scans the crowd for any larger one-horned Cervanis.

"A one-horned Cervani?" The mage looks around. "Where?"

There seem to be plenty of normal Cervani does and bucks in the crowd, with the hint of a really impressive rack near the edge of the Pavilion.

Anisa quickly stretches herself out, arms above head, then looks back down when she's done. "You, silly. You mean you're not a Cervani? Are you a horned Rhian?" She gives a little giggle.

"Ohhhh!" the mage says, ducking his head. "I'm sorry. I'm an Aeonian. There aren't many of me, I guess. Just me and Silhouette, that I know of." The little Aeonian licks his pala-fruit-juice-stained fingers. "Mmm!" He then wipes them off on the sides of his robes.

The band has sorted itself out, and begins playing again. This time it's a bit slower, more waltz-like piece, and this attracts more couples onto the dance floor.

The little unicorn looks around, then back to Anisa. He sketches a flourishing bow, then asks, "Would you care to dance, Madame?"

The rabbit's eyes go wide, and she looks at the little mage harder. "An … an Aeonian?" Her smile widens, and her ears stand straight up in interest. "Wow, I had always heard about them, but never actually thought I'd see one!" She shakes her head in amazement. "Now I'm really glad I came on this trip!" One of her ears strays, listening to the band, and she smiles. "Why, I'd love to sir, it'd be an honor!" She gives a small curtsey, stifling a giggle, and holds her hands out to the unicorn.

A Lapi couple – Xander and Spring Meadow as it happens – dance past and wave their ears at Anisa.

The unicorn has to reach up to take Anisa's hands, but he apparently actually has some skill at dancing – not a dazzling amount of skill, but nonetheless unusual perhaps for his age. "Dum-dum-da-dee-dum," he sing-songs in time with the beat.

Zelda the Chaos Mage returns to the dance floor, alone, and seems to come up with a new step based on following the little sticky hoof prints left by the Aeonian.

Luckily, the white doe isn't very tall at all, and it isn't too difficult for her to dance in motion with the small unicorn. "Wow, I'm impressed," she grins. "you're pretty good. Most guys I know that are twice your age just end up stepping on my feet." She waves an ear back to the other Lapis. "So, good sir, what's your name?"

"I'm Rorschach Stormshadow," the little unicorn says. "And I have to learn not to step on peoples' feet, because I have hooves, and that would hurt, and I see you're barefoot, so that would be really bad. But you can call me 'Rory'."

The little unicorn seems inclined to keep chattering so long as he's able. "I'm a mage of Shadow. I'm almost a Journeyman! I took some tests, but they're not in yet. I think I passed, but I'm not sure. So I'm kind of sort of not officially a Journeyman, just yet, but almost. Kind of."

Xander and Spring Meadow twirl a little closer, and the doe asks, "Hey, aren't you the Shadow mage that cast Nightfall a few days ago?"

Anisa giggles, nodding her head as the little one keeps talking. "Well, I have sandals on, but those wouldn't help much. I don't think you need to worry though, you're doing very good." The rabbit continues to move slowly with the little unicorn. "A Journeyman? Is that normal for someone your age? Oh wait, I'm rude! My name is Anisa Snowshoe." She looks at the other rabbits, cocking an ear in confusion.

The unicorn bows. "Uhm … yeah, that's me. That was part of my test. And, I guess it's kind of not-normal. But I'll try to make a good show for the College, honest!"

The white rabbit does a small half twirl, then twirls back to Rory. "What's Nightfall? I assume it has to do with night, of course." She grins.

The unicorn prances in place, then says, "It makes it dark outside, like it's night time. Well, it makes it dark inside, too. Not totally, though. It's about a mile radius. So it covers a lot of ground."

Spring Meadow laughs. "I'll say. I was taking a nap and woke up to find it suddenly dark! I nearly panicked!"

"A mile?" Anisa looks at the Aeonian quizzically, but obviously impressed. "How did someone your age get so good so quick?"

"I started young," the unicorn says. "And my master is Master Koshiro. He's a Shadow Dragon. So he knows a lot about Shadow Magic. He lives in Lamu." The unicorn tappity-taps and turns this way and that. He certainly can't dip Anisa over or anything like that, so his dancing is fairly subdued.

"Aeonians live forever, Anisa," Xander says. "At least … I think so. He could be older than all of us," he adds with a wink, and dips Spring Meadow.

The little unicorn's ears flick at this, and he has a faintly alarmed look at this supposition. "Uhm … I don't know, really… "

"A dragon? Wow, I must be missing out on a lot, living up in Rephidim." Anisa smirks playfully. "Aeonians, Dragons… what next, talking Savanites?" Sensing the small unicorn's restlessness, she playfully dips herself back in exaggeration, coming face to face with Xander (albeit upside down). "Forever? You mean, like, infinite forever?"

"Well, I've heard of some being around for thousands of years," Xander says, pulling Spring Meadow back up. "And wasn't a dragon kicked out of Rephidim recently?"

The unicorn's hooves lose their rhythm. "Uhm … I'm sorry … I … I have to stop now. Sorry." He stops dancing, letting go of Anisa's hands, and starts trotting to the edge of the dance floor.

"Whoops," Spring Meadow says. "I hope we didn't embarrass the little guy!"

Anisa almost falls over as her small partner leaves, and catches herself at the last minute. "Whoa! Hey, why'd he run away?" The doe's smile starts to fade, and turns into a sad frown. "Poor little guy, I didn't mean to make him uncomfortable. I'll try and go talk to him." She calmly follows after the small mage, trying to watch where he goes.

Zelda and the Cervani Chaos mage have joined up, and twirl between Anisa and the Lapi couple. The melon is still stuck to the buck's antler.

A couple of dancers pass, and it seems at first as if the unicorn has disappeared … but once Anisa passes out of the curtain of silence, she is able to catch a tell-tale clip-clop of hooves amongst a bunch of people who either have bare paws or shoes … and the unicorn is thus obviously amongst them, probably near the tables at the edge opposite where Anisa started.

The rabbit tunes her oversized ears in on the noise of the hooves, and quickly weaves her way through the crowd to make her way to him. Years of practice in a crowded tavern have given her quite a lot of experience, and she closes in. "Hey, Rorschach, wait up!"

The little unicorn, spotted, turns about, a look of surprise in the cant of his ears and in his eyes. He blushes faintly, glancing at the Lapi's trademark ears. "Oh. Uhm … I'm sorry, really. I just didn't feel like dancing anymore. I didn't mean anything bad by it. You're a great dancer, really!"

Anisa glides up next to the little unicorn, and smiles warmly. "So are you, I was really having a lot of fun. I understand if you want to stop though, a break is good. Care to sit with me for a bit?" The doe looks around for an empty table.

Nearby, a richly dressed Cervani extols the virtues of some little kingdom that Anisa has never heard of to a small mixed audience of mages. This makes for plenty of empty tables to either side of the group, however.

"Uhm, sure," the unicorn says. Anisa finds a table before he does – empty, and with extra chairs to spare.

Taking a seat, Anisa pulls out one for Rory. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I didn't mean anything by it, honest." She smiles. "It's just always neat to meet someone special, and it's even better when that someone is a good dancer." She winks playfully.

"Oh! I wasn't embarrassed, really," Rory says. "It's just … talking about death and … all that. It just makes me sad, and then I can't dance so good, and I didn't want to get distracted and step on your feet or anything like that, because that would be really bad, and a whole lot better that I just go sit down."

The snow colored doe grimaces, her face saddening in sympathy for the little mage. "I know what you mean. I don't like death either. I can't even stand to see people eat meat; I don't know how they can do it." She shakes her head. "Still, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you depressed. Wanna talk about other things?" Her face brightens a bit. "I'm sure you're full of stories about the college."

A Skeek server makes a circuit of the tables, approaching with a tray full of drinks.

"Oh! Yeah … uhm," the mage looks uncertain, his lip quivering. "Most of them are about the Guild Hall of Babel. Uhm … well … Let's talk about Lamu! Have you ever been to Lamu? Lamu is really far off. I spent a while there studying under Master Koshiro. Did I mention he was a Shadow Dragon?"

The Lapi smiles as the mouse comes near, and takes one of the drinks off the tray randomly. "I think you did. I've never been to Lamu. Is it exciting there?" She takes a sip of the drink, reaching to get Rory one as well.

Rory nods. "Oh yes! There are giant Carpenter Beetles of Doom, which steal nails and other things, and when I was there with the field trip from the College, one of them broke Reece's magical talisman – He's a Niton – which allowed him to live beyond the normal lifespan of a Niton, so he wasn't feeling well after that, so we had to go on a special rescue mission off to find his 'Mother', only his Mother was really Master Koshiro, and I'm not really sure why he called him Mother, because everyone knows a Mother is a 'she'… "

"… and so there are these people down there that are like Jupani, except that during the night, they go down on all fours, and walk around like animals, and they can scare you sometimes, and if you run away from them, they act like animals and chase you down, even though normally they're very nice," Rory rattles on.

The Skeek smiles and moves on after Anisa has lightened his load slightly.

"… and they have really interesting things to give you as gifts, like these seed pods that if you pour water on them, they explode, and go *POW!* like so! I have some, but I keep them in a water-tight bag, so nothing blows up, and I definitely don't carry them around, or I'd just be asking for it. And then they have these little bugs that leave these shells that glide real well and they use them as toys, and then there are these other creatures with eyes that are hard when they die, and if you put them in a fire, they heat up and they glow for a long time, and you can use them like lanterns! … " The unicorn keeps going and going…

Anisa giggles, nodding and trying to keep up with the energy of the small mage. Every now and then she'll try and interject an "interesting" or an "is that so", feeling as though she was talking to one of her brothers when they were little and happy to get Rory's mind on other matters. She sips down more of the drink, idly looking back towards Xander and Spring Meadow from time to time.

". … and, any road, Mage Latania gave me permission to go and help my friend Reece, so we went on this trip out to his homeland, and there were a bunch of Nitons just like Reece, only it was really weird, how time was all sped up there. You'd watch them eat berries, and their tummies would get full, then you'd watch and the berries would grow back and their tummies would get small again, and … uhm … " He slows down a little here. "Let's not talk about them. Uhm … oh yes, and there was this old house in the middle of the valley, and there was this cave where Master Koshiro lived. And we was able to fix Reece's amulet, but not only that, he knows lots of magic, and we worked out a deal with the College that I could stay and apprentice under him, so I did, and then Mage Canticle came out here and told me that all the mages have moved to Caroban, so he took me and Daughter of Flame – She's a human who was also in Lamu – up here to Caroban… "

The music seems to have changed to a different style now, and the remaining dancers are engaged in some sort of folk dance that involves switching partners and changing directions often.

"And so that's how you came to be here?" The rabbit grins. "That's quite a story! I'm glad it led up to me meeting you." The sudden change in beat causes Anisa to look back quickly to the dance floor, and she then turns to the small mage. "So, feel like doing a little bit more dancing? It looks fun!"

"… so Daughter of Flame, she claims that she's a goddess, and she thinks all other mages are gods, and she said I was a god, too, though she wasn't all that impressed with me, because I'm a kid, even though she's a kid, too, and it took Mage Canticle a lot of talking to convince her to come, but I gave her some crackleberries, and she kind of liked that, and eventually we convinced her to come along so she could meet all the other 'gods', and so she did, but she insisted on taking her flame-serpent along, and we were afraid he'd roast everything on the way, and she had this really heavy saddle she took along for riding him, but we eventually made it, and then came back to Caroban, and then … " Rory slows down, finally registering Anisa's speech. "Oh! Uhm … sure!" The little unicorn hops up out of his seat.

Anisa hops out of her seat as well, curtseying again and holding her hand out to Rory. "Lead the way, my good gentleman!"

The unicorn takes Anisa's hand, and skips along to the dance floor. "So how did you get to Caroban? Are you a mage?"

On the dance floor, males and females face each other in two lines, with one person from each line dancing forward to meet the other while everyone else claps in time.

"Nope, not a mage! Just a humble barmaid." The Lapi winks again. "As for why I'm here… " She reaches into her sash pocket, and pulls out a card, handing it to the little unicorn. "I'm also a saleslady of sorts. If you're ever in Rephidim, that's a good place to go!" She giggles, and ruffles Rory's mane. "Looks like we'd better take our places; see you in a bit!" The doe lets go of Rory's hand, and takes her place in the female line.

The unicorn wows. "A mermaid?" His hearing is not as good as the Lapi's, especially not as they pass through the "no-noise" zone. He looks intently at the card he was given.

On one side it seems an oversized business card, with Lightfoot's Apothecary and Thaumaturgical Supplies written across it, along with a small map. The reverse side claims, "25% Discount for 1st Year Journeymen."

"Oooo!" Rory exclaims, and tucks the precious card into one of his pouches, as he looks about for where to go next.

Anisa laughingly points to the other line, motioning for Rory to take his place.

The unicorn mouths an "oh!" and scrabbles into position, then bounces on his hooves in time, clapping as he does so.

As it happens, Xander is the current male dancer, and a colorfully dressed Khatta is his partner from the other side. They high-step out until they're facing each other, then bob their heads back and forth and flap their elbows like wings, while the rest of the dancers clap and chant, "Do the Funky Korv!"

The unicorn giggles and puts his arms to his sides, flapping, and he bobs his head this way and that.

Clapping in time, Anisa can't help but laugh out loud at the duo's antics. "Hotfoot with hot wings!" she calls out.

This causes Spring Meadow to laugh out briefly from further along the line. The current dancers fade back into their respective lines, and someone (apparently the dance leader) calls out, "Divine Wiggler!" This causes the next pair to step forward with arms, tails, and legs waggling like serpents – at least, within anatomical reason.

"Wow," Anisa says to the person besides her. "These look tricky. Hope I'll know which one they call out for me!"

Rory blushes once he catches on that the special dance is just for those stepping forward. He goes back to clapping in time and waiting his turn.

After a few more bizarre steps – including one in which Spring Meadow arched one leg back until she could touch her head with her heel! – it becomes Anisa and Rory's turn, as the leader calls out, "Zany Zelaks!" This is a new one, but one could assume it means to dance like a Zelak might.

Rory for a moment has an expression of a squab caught in a lantern-light, but he puts his fingers to his head and wiggles them around like antennae, as he does his best attempt at a bow-legged wobbling Zelak gait (a bit tough with digitigrade legs).

The rabbit searches her head for the dance, but just shrugs when it's not to be found. Laughing, she steps forward. "You guys'll hafta be gentle with us! Here goes!" The white doe staggers out in a insect-like fashion, acting as though her hands were pinchers and her body was segmented. She notices Rory, laughs, and puts her fingers to her head, wiggling them like antennae.

A ripple of chuckles meet Anisa's impression – especially since her ears are already big enough to be antennae – as the group claps and chants, "Zany Zelaks, Zany Zelaks!"

Rory prance-skitters a bit more, wiggles his antennae, then prance-skitters backward to his place in the line again.

Anisa blushes a bit at the chuckles, but nevertheless keeps it up, just having fun with the moment.

A few final claps, and everyone shouts, "Chaos Polka!!" as the music finishes.

The white doe laughs along with everyone, giving a shrug at her cluelessness of the dance and clapping along. "Hey, we tried! Gotta give us that."

Spring Meadow comes over and pats both Anisa and Rory on their shoulders. "Not bad! The goal is to make up the dances on the fly, after all."

"Really? In that case, maybe we started something new!" Anisa laughs, and starts to walk to the group's table. "Whew, I need a break. I think I'm getting out of shape." The rabbit flexes one of her muscles. If she's out of shape, she's pretty good at pretending otherwise.

Rory's still giggling after all the weird made-up dances. He puts his fingers up to his head again, wiggling them like antennae.

Anisa grins, wiggling her ears along with her fingers. "That was an impressive move, Spring. It looked like your back was made of taffy!"

Rory looks a bit lost for a moment. "Uhm … should I walk over to your table, then?" he asks. "Or is it Lapis only?"

"Well, it helps that I dislocated my hip once," Spring Meadow admits with a wink. "But it always pays to keep limber! Sure, you can come along! Poor Raife is probably feeling neglected over there."

The white doe laughs loudly. "Only when we talk about rabbity things, but I think it's safe for you to sit with us. I think Raife would be surprised if he learned he was really a Lapi."

The unicorn looks at Spring Meadow's attire. "Is that real food?"

Spring Meadow leads them to the table, where Raife the shaggy pony Fire Mage is waiting patiently. It seems the band is on a break. "Oh no, just sewn on! I was working on a crown that would grow real fruit, but messed it up so instead of growing little fruit it grew full sized ones."

Rory exclaims, "Wow! That would be neat! You can eat your mistakes!"

Anisa takes a seat, smoothing out the business skirt. "Yeah, those kind of mistakes are the kind I can deal with," she laughs. "Where'd Xander go? I hope he didn't get the hots for that Khatta." She grins playfully at Spring Meadow.

The Earth Mage laughs! "Actually, I feed the mistakes to Xander; it's much safer that way," she says, and then looks around. "He must be off getting drinks or listening to another spiel."

"Nice dancing," Raife says, with the air of someone with two (or more) left feet.

"Hi!" Rory says, extending a hand to Raife. "I'm Rorschach Stormshadow of the Sphere of Shadow!"

"Seems to be a lot of those tonight, which reminds me… " Anisa sifts her paw around in her sash, and pulls out a handful of cards. "I haven't given out many of these tonight; I'd probably better start a few spiels of my own." She grins at the pony, scooting close to nudge him with a hip. "You should have come on out with us. Rory could have shown you how to do it! He's really good."

"Awwww!" Rory says, shuffling a hoof and looking embarrassed as he examines the floor.

The pony's ears blush. "Ah … no … I'd just fall on my tail!"

"You wouldn't trip so much if you cut some of that shag away from your eyes, Raife," Spring Meadow chides good-naturedly.

"You could say it was the … uhm … Falling Fuff'nar!" Rory helpfully suggests.

"Oh well, there's always next time. We'll get you out there yet." The doe grins to the pony, and idly shuffles the business cards like playing cards. "Well, fun is fun, but I'd better get to doing what I came here for soon. Where should I start?"

"You could track down some of the dancers," Spring Meadow suggests, gesturing to nearby tables where people are resting from the dance.

"Yeah! Get 'em while they're too tired to run away!" the unicorn exclaims.

Anisa laughs, and nods. "Good idea." She stands up, smoothing the sash and skirt out as she does so. "Well, here goes nothing. Wish me luck!" The Lapi walks over to one of the tables full with the chaos dancers.

Finally, the Cervani has removed the melon from his antler, and is now just nibbling on it. The Jupani and "Zelda" appear to making some sort of structure out of cards, taking turns placing each one.

"Hey, that was some really good dancing out there!" Anisa says as she approaches. "My name's Anisa, and I've got a gift for you guys, since you're so good." She grins.

"Gifts?" the Cervani says, perking up. "I'm Serge, and these are Ralph and Zelda." The other two pause their game to smile to Anisa.

"Mind if I take a seat?" The Lapi doesn't wait for the affirmative, and sits down next to the mages. "Nice to meet you guys. I hate to feel like I'm butting in, but I have a few cards to add to your deck there." She takes out some of the cards, and passes them to the mages. "These are a little graduation gift from Aaron's Apothecary on Rephidim, good for 25% off of any components you might need. It's a really good place to shop if you ever find yourself up there!" Making sure no one is looking, she leans forward and whispers conspiratorially, "But I had to say that, it's why I'm here. Now that it's out of the way we can talk normally." She grins, and leans back. "That was really impressive out there! You guys are good."

Meanwhile, it looks like the band is taking a break. (Considering how much work it takes to put into all this, they likely deserve it, too!)

"Thanks! That dance was really just based on some old practices we had," Ralph says. "You did pretty good yourself! You don't look like an apothecary, I must say."

"Nah, I'm not. I'm a barmaid," says Anisa, "but Aaron's a good friend of mine and I said I'd help him out. Besides, it was a free trip! I'm always up for that." She grins.

"Free?!" Zelda asks, shocked. "What do I need to do to get a free trip to Rephidim? Wanna trade places with me?" she grins.

The doe laughs. "Well, only if you like working long hours, with little thanks, loud customers, small tips, and people groping at you. A mage's life has to be a lot more exciting."

"Exciting?" Serge says. "I know an Air mage that does nothing but provide cool breezes for parties. Nah, most mages have pretty dull lives, except for those that maybe go into research or exploration or dark rituals meant to raise ancient gods."

Anisa hmmms. "Well, Rephidim isn't all it's cracked up to be. At least if you've lived there your entire life, it isn't." She stretches. "But you guys are Chaos mages, right? What are you going to do?"

"Big magic is exciting, but it's expensive," Zelda says, nodding. "It's mostly little stuff that makes things … smoother."

Some red-robed mages haul a cart out to the center of the now-empty wooden dance floor. It has upon it a brazier lined with runes cut through the chitinous bowl, so that the dim glow of the coals inside shines through, illuminating them. Then … they just leave the cart there, splitting up and dispersing in different directions toward the edges of the pavilion, while the brazier crackles and smokes faintly, letting off a faint hint of incense.

Anisa looks to the dance floor, and blinks, ears perked. "What's this, another kind of dance?"

There's another crackle from the brazier, and a few sparks are given off, with a puff of smoke that rises upward. So far, no one moves to the dance floor to start dancing. If the red-robed mages were going to perform, it seems that right now there's no sign of them.

The doe stares curiously at the brazier, waiting for something to happen. "You guys know what this is?"

"Fire mages setting up something," Ralph observes. "Maybe a show?"

There's another crackle, and another puff, and then the glowing embers alight, as a flame starts to rise from the center of the bowl, causing the hollow runes to glow all the more brightly through the rim.

Anisa frowns, the strange brazier giving her a bad feeling. "Did anyone say they were going to give a show?"

"It might have been in the program," Zelda says. "I didn't read it, though." The other two mages shake their heads as well. Reading the itinerary probably isn't of much attraction to Chaos mages.

The flames rise from the center of the brazier, forming a column that is very unnatural in its shape. In fact, the column starts to wave back and forth, in nearly serpentine fashion – or perhaps feline would be more like it, as the flame takes on a more distinct form, looking very reminiscent of a Himaatian Khatta dancer, only that both cat and veils are composed of flame and smoke.

Music starts to play from various quarters – and the Lapi's ears allow her to track the positions of the red-robed mages now. They're seated in magic circles at the edges of the pavilion, chanting, shaking tambourines and playing other percussive instruments.

Both Serge and Ralph's attention sharpens. "Hey, this could be good!" the Jupani says.

The doe starts in surprise, not expecting this. "Wow… that's amazing… " She watches the show, mesmerized by the fire cat's moves. "Do they do this kind of thing all the time?"

The fire-Khatta puts her hands up above her head, palms clasped together, hips swaying this way and that, as her shoulders go the other way, forming an "S" that reverses with each cycle, though her feet remain anchored to the wide brazier.

Her fiery tail has a sparking "tuft" at the end that seems to suggest a more leonine aspect, though given the substance of the elemental, it's impossible to guess at what exact sub-species is meant to be represented.

"Oh, it's not that common, because it takes so long to prepare rituals," Zelda says. "But one Sphere or other is usually putting on a demonstration every sphere … err … every holiday or so."

The rabbit laughs, and points to the cat. "And you tell me that's less exciting than living in Rephidim? I wanna see what passes for excitement then!"

The fiery dancer breaks away from her simple swaying, splitting her hands apart and holding them out as she steps about on the burning coals, her tail lashing behind her as she turns and pirouettes, flaming hair tracing her moves, and smoky "veils" forming a sort of shadow image behind her as she passes. The pop and crackle of the fire, though not as audible as the musical instruments, is in time with the steps of the dancer, a part of the performance as well.

"Well, you know that display is the result of about ten hours of magical work," Serge points out. "All this excitement is paid for with lots of drudgery."

Anisa nods. "But at least it leads to something neat. My ten hour drudgeries only lead to a tired Anisa." She grins. "I see what you mean though. I don't think I'd have the patience."

The dancer continues to make circuits around the brazier, turning with ever faster motions, as the speed of the percussion and hand claps increases. Just about the time several in the audience are losing interest in the novelty and returning to their conversations and drinks … the dancer spins out of a tight spiral … only now there are two flame-dancers, making symmetrical circuits about the brazier, trailing veils of smoke, with sparking points of light at their tail-tips and where their eyes should be.

"I wish I could split into two like that," Ralph says, wagging his tail. Some cubhood habits are hard to break, it seems.

Anisa laughs. "It'd make chores a lot easier, that's for sure. Although I don't know if I could stand two of me."

The music continues at its frantic pace. Eventually, the two dancers twirl in matching spins … and then split into a total of four dancers, though they are now all noticeably shorter than the original one. They twirl some of their veils around, and then clasp each others' hands in the middle, going around in circles, each one in turn occasionally passing under the bridge of hands and coming out the other side, rearranging the formation again and again in a complex interweaving of flaming forms.

"Wow, I'm getting dizzy." The doe shakes her head, looking away from the scene for a little bit. "Kind of hard to follow, but it is pretty. Do you guys ever get to do anything like that?"

Zelda says, "Well, I almost studied dance before getting into the College, back in Abu Dhabi." The other two give their friend odd looks, as if trying to visualize the short Zerda in gauze and veils. "But for shows like this … Chaos isn't really suited for that. We might be there to help it along though."

"No wonder you were doing so good out there," Anisa grins at the Zerda. "I love to dance; I go out almost every weekend back home, but I'm not nearly as good as that. What'd you pick Chaos magic?"

The interweaving becomes more and more difficult to follow, until the forms blur into a single wildly twirling and gesturing dancer once more. And then – the figure freezes, hands clasped together above her head again. The music halts as well … then resumes again at its original, slow pace. The flame dancer sways back and forth, slowly sinking into the brazier, fading back into mundanely glowing coals, as one by one the instruments halt, leaving only a single tambourine … and then with a final rattle, as the elemental vanishes entirely, the tambourine ceases as well.

Anisa turns to watch the show end, one ear set on Zelda, and she begins to clap for the show.

Amidst the applause of other mages and guests about the room, the red-robed mages move in unison to the center of the dance floor, converging at the brazier, turn about at the same time to bow low … then they turn around again, and wheel the cart off of the dance floor, and out a door. Meanwhile, the regular illusionist band starts milling back from their break, taking up their original positions.

"Oh, I liked the company better," Zelda grins. "It takes a certain temperament, I guess." She flips a card at the unfinished structure on the table … and it lands in place without upsetting anything.

Anisa changes her applause towards the fox, giggling. "That's impressive. So, what do you guys plan on doing when you get out there?"

"I might try for a position as a Temple Warder on Rephidim," Ralph says. "It's pretty low-stress I hear, since there's not a lot of magic going on in the Temple."

"Yeah, warding is the most stable work, I think," Serge says. "Or enchantment maintenance."

"Well if that's where you end up, give me a visit!" Anisa smiles. "I work at my father's tavern in the Bazaar, Snowshoe's. I could give you guys a tour or something."

"I'd like to partner with a Life mage, myself," Zelda says. "On Rephidim, they could probably use a boost, given the time it takes to prepare things."

"Hey, thanks, Anisa!" Ralph says. "I haven't been to the Big Island in years."

"I think I ate there once; good food," Serge comments.

Anisa looks to Serge. "Really? How long ago? I've worked there ever since I was twelve."

"Wow, maybe … eight years ago? I was just a kid still, coming to the College for testing," the Cervani recalls.

"Well, if you saw an uppity waitress being stressed out, that was me." She grins. "so this may be the second time our paths have crossed. Hopefully it won't be the last!"

"I'll be sure to drop by!" Serge promises.

"Anyway, it was nice meeting you guys, but I'd better keep on doing my job. Gotta pay Aaron back. See you!" Standing up from her table, the white doe scans the crowd, and spots another table. "Fresh pickings," she whispers to herself with a smirk. Making her way over, the Lapi quickly starts into a spiel. "Hi! You don't know me, but I have a gift just for you, courtesy of Aaron Lightfoot… "