Since Aaron had to go and deliver the dragon egg order after breakfast this morning, Spring Meadow invited Anisa to do a little shopping with her today, after she finished some other errands. And so now the white Lapi waits for the Earth Mage here at the gardens.

Anisa sits on the edge of a potted plant, idly twitching her ears as she waits for the other rabbit. This is actually the day she's somewhat dreaded, since it means getting a party dress, but we all make sacrifices. Looking around, the bunny takes in the beauty of the garden, feeling some strange sense of familiarity with it. "Wish we had something like this on Rephidim," she muses to herself.

Before too much longer, a gray-furred Lapi wearing brown and green robes comes along the path, smiling. "Good morning, Anisa! I hope I didn't leave you waiting too long?" Spring Meadow says in a cheery voice.

The white rabbit smiles as the other Lagomorph approaches. "No, not too long, I was able to manage." She gets to her feet, and stretches her legs a bit. "Besides, there are worse places to be kept waiting than this. So, what's first on our little splurge?"

"While, I've gotten us some fitting times at Enchanted Appearances later," the Earth Mage says. "But I figured you might want to pick up a souvenir or something for your family, and there are plenty of trinket shops!"

Anisa grimaces at the mention of the fitting times, but keeps her reaction to herself. "Yeah, I guess my little brother Ben would like a thing or two. I would have taken him with me, but he probably would have been a handful." She walks over to the other Lapi, dusting off her trousers. "Well, lead the way!"

Spring Meadow obliges, leading Anisa out of the gardens, between a few service buildings and along alleyways until the pair emerges into the circular street that rings the core of the island. There are various booths and shops set up in this particular part, but it's nothing like the chaos of the Rephidim Bazaar. Most of the people out at this time appear to be non-Mages, probably here for the same event that brought Anisa.

"Anything in particular you want to look for?" Spring Meadow asks. "Some of these shops even have furniture. Mostly stuff to make a Mage's office look impressive, but there's also some small stuff like painted plates and paperweights."

The white Lapi follows close behind Spring Meadow, more out of Bazaar instinct than an attempt not to get lost. "What's a good gift that says 'Caroban'?" she asks. "Something out of the ordinary. I like to get things that can't be gotten elsewhere, and I need to beat Gibson in the neat stuff department."

Spring Meadow pauses to think for a moment, then brightens up and says, "Ah, there's this one shop that has these … these … I don't know what they're called, really, but you might like them." She heads off towards one of the shops where a few other non-mages are peering in at the window display.

Anisa quickly follows the gray rabbit, her ears perked with curiosity. She notices the crowd, and her interest becomes obvious. "It's nothing that'll blow up the bar or anything, is it? Ranit brought one of those Guy Fox dolls back in the kitchen once… "

"Oh no!" the Lapi magess says with a giggle. "This is stuff that's made with magic, but doesn't use it, you know? I mean, what good is a souvenir you have to hire a mage to come in and recharge all the time?" Spring Meadow brushes past the tourists outside and leads the way into the small shop, which seems to consist of a single narrow room with shelf-covered walls and a small desk.

The shelves are covered with large glass balls, each one holding a tiny model of some building or other. One series shows the gardens, another has the Palace of Spheres Hotel in it, and so forth. Just about any sight worth seeing on the island seems to be captured in a glass sphere, with its name inscribed on the simple wooden base above the name "Caroban".

Anisa leans closer to the little trinkets, and peers closer. "What are they, snow globes?"

"Far from it, dear lady!" comes a squeaky voice, as a squat – and somewhat rotund – Skeek appears from behind the desk. "These are no mere models embedded in glass, but actual views captured for posterity and rendered in glass!" Given the size of the Skeek Mage, one can't help but wonder how the top shelves get stocked.

Picking up one of the globes, the Skeek holds it up for inspection, turning it to and fro to show that the view inside never changes, no matter what angle the sphere is examined from.

Furrowing her brow, the snow colored rabbit takes the globe from the Skeek and turns it in her hand, grinning at the results. "Amazing… so it always shows you what the building looks like?"

"Indeed, it displays that exact moment in time, never changing!" the Skeek says, then adds, "We also do portraits, if you can hold the pose for long enough."

Anisa, being short herself, has little difficulty looking down at the mouse. "A portrait? How long does it take to do that?"

"These are pretty new," Spring Meadow tells Anisa. "Got the idea from some sort of popular gizmo used on Abaddon, I heard."

The Skeek fidgets a bit, and gives Spring Meadow a remonstrative look for talking out of turn. "Well … only about five hours now. Far less time than a painting would take, certainly!"

"Five hours?" Anisa's ears reflexively lean back. "That's a bit too long, actually. Especially if we have to go to the tailors in a little while. I guess I'll just get a couple of the pre-made ones." She examines at the selection.

A wide smile lights up the Skeek's face. "Oh excellent! They are all very reasonably priced, considering the huge amount of magic needed to create them!" he promises.

Anisa stops herself short, knowing the caveat that "reasonably priced" presents. "And that cost would be … what, exactly?"

The Skeek's smile falters a bit, and he nervously says, "Oh … only four hundred shekels for the aerial views, and three hundred for the ground-based ones."

Had the Lapi been drinking any water, she would have done a spit take. "Uh … yeah … reasonable." Smoothing her ears back, Anisa nabs the other Lapi's paw. "Tell you what, let me go back to my hotel and get my bigger purse. C'mon, Spring… " Tugging on the gray rabbit's arm, she starts out the door.

"Bigger … oh!" Spring Meadow says as she's dragged out of the shop.

Making her way back out into the street, Anisa makes sure to get clear of the view of the Skeek proprietor, then stops to wipe her brow. "Three hundred shekels! That's a bit steep for a souvenir." The Lapi shrugs. "I make decent money at the tavern, but tips are never that lucrative. Looks like Ben'll hafta settle for something run of the mill."

Spring Meadow apologizes, "I didn't think they'd be that expensive. Sorry, Anisa."

Anisa grins at the other rabbit. "Don't worry about it. They were nice to look at anyways." Smoothing out her ears, the lagomorph scans the area for other shops.

"I really wish we had more regular craftspeople," Spring Meadow admits. "You want something smaller than a floor rug, right?"

Anisa laughs. "That'd be nice, yes. Mama has enough rugs to take care of as it is." The Lapi's stomach rumbles, and she looks down at it, giving it a small pat. "Looks like we may have to switch priorities for a bit, however."

Spring Meadow giggles at the sound. "Hmm, well there's a snack stand I like to go to nearby. And it's reasonably priced, too!"

The white Lapine grins. "Reasonably priced, or reasonably priced?" She winks playfully. "Lead the way! I feel like I'm going to implode."

The mage-bunny leads Anisa past several shops, then into a little courtyard off to one side of the street. A few people sit on benches, drinking juice or nibbling on light lunches, and a large booth at the back sports more people waiting in line.

Anisa follows Spring Meadow, and gets in line behind the others. "I hope it doesn't take too long. I'd like to look around a bit more and get a better feel for the city. Who else lives here besides the mages?"

Spring Meadow turns in line to talk to Anisa. "Support people mostly, for stuff that apprentices aren't suited for. Some mages have families too."

"Support? Like laborers and stuff?" Anisa puts her weight on one leg. "I guess you'd need those to keep things running. Your family's from Rephidim, right?"

"Lots of carpenters, masons, cooks, maids, teachers and other skilled types too," Spring Meadow says, and nods. "Yup! Well, my Aunt and cousins live on Rephidim at least. I'm from Seaborne Reach originally, and Rephidim had the best campus for me to go to."

A couple of dark-robed children wander past. One of them looks like the kitten from the other night, clutching a stuffed golden fox doll under one arm. Beside her is an older child – perhaps a Cervani – who is holding a bag labeled "Babelite Bonanza", into which he reaches every once in a while to scoop out its contents, and then munches on them absently. It might just be a trick of the light, but whatever he's eating seems to squirm.

Off to the side of the line, there's a sign box with a glassed-in front, and something very colorful inside. Upon further inspection, it looks like lettuce with garish and unnatural colors in wild patterns. "Garden of Wonder – Find mystical patterns on each leaf! Find a head of state on your head of lettuce!" Also in the case is a head of lettuce with patterns that bear some faint resemblance to … well … some poodle fellow. If only Anisa were up on politics, it might possibly be recognizeable.

"Oh look!" Spring Meadow says excitedly, pointing to a bowl of colorful spirals. "They've got fresh Twisty-Berries! Those are great with cake and cream."

The white Lapi notices the sign out of the corner of her eye, and squints at it absent mindedly. Unfortunately, she finds politics pretty boring. "So are you moving back to Seaborne Reach, or going to Rephidim with Xander?" She watches the children walk by again, and can't help but fix her gaze on them, getting slightly sick at the sight of the squirming snack. Wrenching her eyes away, the Lapi looks in the direction of Meadow's paw. "Twisty-Berries?"

It looks like, in addition to Twisty Berries, there are also various otherwise mundane fruits in exotic shapes – cubes, pyramids, toruses, and so forth – in just as many varieties of colors.

Anisa blinks at the strange fruits, her ears perked forwards. "Weird. Do they still taste good?"

The "berries" look a bit like brightly colored worms braided together into short, thin ropes. The textures look like those of normal berries that Anisa is familiar with, although the colors seem somewhat arbitrary. "They're pretty juicy! And not so chewy as the gooshy-balls."

The pair finally gets to the front of the line, and Spring Meadow quickly orders, "One funnel-cake with twists and cream, and a Chaos Cola please!"

"I'll have a funnel-cake too, that square apple, and some of those Twisty Berries. After all, when will I get a chance to try those again?" She grins to the other doe. "What's a Chaos Cola?"

The Jupani behind the counter moves off to fill the order, while a Khatta girl works on the drinks.

"Chaos Cola is … well, it's popular, but I suppose an acquired taste," Spring Meadow explains. "It's like fizzy juice that changes flavor each time you drink. All fruits, though."

Anisa blinks, then shrugs. "I suppose I'll give it a try then, just so long as it doesn't give a surprise meat flavor or anything."

"There's a caramel flavor," Spring Meadow warns, but has already held up two fingers to the Khatta girl, who is filling up a pair of chitin cups from a large dispenser.

The Jupani returns with two cone-shaped bundles wrapped in paper, and a bright blue square apple. "That's a tenner with drinks," he barks.

"My treat!" Spring Meadow declares, and passes over a ten-shekel coin, and starts to look around for a clear spot to eat.

Fishing in her pocket, Anisa begins to pull out the money, but replaces it as the other rabbit pays. "Well, if you insist, I won't stop you." She giggles, taking her share of the food. "A blue apple … this place is starting to grow on me."

Handing over Anisa's funnel – a sort of thin toasted cake wrapped around several of the twist-berries and filled with whipped cream – the gray-furred Lapi picks up her own and the cups of Cola. "There's a nice spot over there by the palm tree. Watch out for Creens though!" she says, and leads the way again.

Anisa follows her hostess. "Yay, Creens. They're just vermites with wings, if you ask me." As they approach the spot, the parched Lapi takes an experimental sip of the cola.

The bubbles are indeed fizzy, and threaten to tickle Anisa's nose. The first sip has a caramel syrupy taste to it, almost like xocholatl.

The lagomorph is a bit surprised by the taste, expecting a more berry-ish one to start it off. She sits down under the palm, setting her drink aside and taking a sniff of the funnel.

Spring Meadow sits on the stone bench, and digs into her funnel cake with obvious experience, as she doesn't spill a drop of juice or cream.

The next table over, a couple of older mages sit – one a Rhian, one a Khatta, and both very gray. The horse has robes of red, much like Hotfoot, only with a finer cut and a great deal more intricate detail, including representations of flames running along all the hems. The feline, conversely, has robes of a sort of turquoise green, marked by swirls that suggest stylized waves, with an embroidered picture of a great crashing wave on the back of his robes. "… so you've heard about that business going about, what that the Sphere of Dream is going to be taken over by Mind, haven't you?" the cat mrowls over a steaming mug.

"Sheer nonsense," the fire mage Rhian snorts. "Not that it would do much harm, but that would be throwing countless years of tradition to the wind, and Stars know we need to keep what tradition we have left, with all the changes forced upon us since the Wars… "

Seeing that it's safe, Anisa takes a small bite into the funnel cake, holding her paw underneath in case any juice escapes. As the two mages begin to chat, the old Lapi curse of nosiness kicks in, and the doe can't help but tune her oversized ears into the conversation.

The two mages carry on in this manner, Anisa's Lapi ears picking it up easily enough. "No, what I'm more concerned about is the matter of the Savan," the Rhian counters.

At this, the Khatta nods and lets in a hissing breath. "Yes, yes, quite the problem. Ah … Xenea, specifically, I am assuming?"

This is met by a nod from the horse.

"I heard there's a giant Zerda-eating Gooshurm loose in the sewers of Rephidim," Spring Meadow says, looking to Anisa as if for confirmation, then leans in closer after picking up that last bit herself. To her fellow Lapi, she whispers, "They sent a bunch of their shaman hedge-wizards here, you know – the Xeneans. All Savanites, too."

A blue-and-green Creen flutters overhead, then alights upon a nearby canopy, watching the Lapi's meal covetously, and chirruping hopefully. However, at the movement of Spring Meadow, it doesn't seem brave enough to attempt to filch any food for itself. Not yet, anyway.

Anisa looks to the other Lapi. "A giant Gooshurm? I wouldn't be surprised; there's all sorts of strange things in the sewers." She takes a bite from the funnel, dribbling some of the juice on her paw with a wince. "That's gonna stain my fur… " Leaning in closer, she whispers to Spring Meadow, "Savanite Mages? How do they do anything if they can't talk?"

Shrugging, Spring Meadow whispers, "By signing, maybe? Or dancing, I think, according to Envoy. I don't know if they were allowed to demonstrate while they were here. The timing wasn't the greatest, what with the Babel business going on."

Anisa flattens her ears. "Yeah, that'd be awkward. I take it the higher-up mages don't have a high opinion of them?" She takes a bite into the apple, and another sip of the cola.

"Everything is sort of up in the air in a holding pattern now," the Earth Mage says. "I mean, the Council hasn't decided how to deal with shamans and priestesses and stuff, just that the old rules don't really work now, after recent events."

The Cola has a sweeter, strawberry-ish flavor this time around.

Spring Meadow's voice was perhaps a little too loud, as at "the old rules really don't work now", she seems to have drawn a couple of disapproving frowns from the Khatta and Rhian, who momentarily break from their conversation.

The white rabbit's taste buds stand her fur on end. One drawback of this drink is that you can't prepare for what you're about to taste. "Ah well, they usually figure these things out. I don't know much about Savanites myself." She lowers her voice, setting her ears low at the stares from the mages. "What about you? What do you plan to do when you graduate?"

Finishing off her cake, Spring Meadow tosses one of the larger crumbs up to the waiting Creen. "Well, unless I get a good offer at the Ball, I'll probably go to Rephidim and see if I can do some work for nobles. I specialize in transplanted plants and crops."

The Creen snatches up the offering, and happily flies away with it. Meanwhile, the older mages lose interest, and turn away again, focusing instead on their steaming drinks.

"Just don't let them walk all over you; they're good at doing that." Anisa takes another bite of her funnel cake, stuffing much more into her mouth this time. "Wha doesh Shander pran on doing?" she asks with a stuffed mouth. Chewing more, she swallows and wipes her mouth with the fur on the back of her paw, which is now stained a myriad of colors. "By the by, hope those guys won't get you in trouble," she whispers, gesturing to the mages.

A third mage joins the group at the next table – a Naga with bright red crimson scales, offset by the dull gray of the robes he wears. He bobs his head in greeting to the Rhian and Khatta, and then settles down with his own mug and a scroll. He unrolls the scroll and wordlessly starts perusing it while occasionally sipping from the mug.

"Earth Mages are welcome just about everywhere," Spring Meadow confides. "It can be dull work, but it pays well." Looking over at the senior mages for a moment to make sure there aren't any from her Sphere, the Lapi shakes her head slightly in a "not a problem" gesture. "Xander wants to hear from the towns that'll be sending representatives to the Ball, to see if they're shopping for fire fighters. Otherwise, he says he'll look into Saskanar, since they do lots of controlled burning to clear their fields."

The white doe cocks her head sideways in curiosity. "So you two will be parting ways then?" She takes another bite, finishing off the funnel cake, followed by a sip of the cola. "Long distance relationships can be a pain, or so I've heard."

Off to the side, it sounds like the elder mages have tried to strike up a conversation with the visiting gray-robed mage, repeating the rumor about Dream being taken up by Mind. The snake hisses something politely noncommittal in reply.

Spring Meadow's ears twitch, and she almost chokes on the cola she just sipped. Once she recovers, she explains, "Oh, it's not … quite that sort of relationship. I mean, being a mage sort of changes things – although Fire Mages can be a little more hot-blooded, but Xander handles it okay."

The crimson red Naga flicks his tongue in a gesture that might be amusement or annoyance. It's so hard for mammals to make out reptile emotions, after all. The Naga quickly finishes up his drink, hisses a few niceties, rolls up his scroll, and uncoils from around the stool he was using for a perch, after only a brief visit to the next table.

Anisa looks at the other Lapi in confusion. "So you two aren't an item? Aaron seemed to think you were." She shrugs. "Ah well, better to live your own life than someone else's, anyways. Besides, I can show you all the new fun spots that have popped up in Rephidim since you've been gone."

The red Naga slithers by. Perhaps it's only Anisa's imagination, but his slit eyes seem to flicker over in her direction and linger for a moment longer than would seem purely casual … and then he moves on. Perhaps old mages are just rude and suspicious that way.

Anisa catches the stare, and has her attention wrenched from the other doe momentarily. The look causes her a small, barely noticeable shudder, partly from some long buried instinct, and partly from the mage's creepiness.

It also triggers a fleeting sense of deja vu.

"Now that sounds good, Anisa!" Spring Meadow gushes. "It's really dull around here most of the time."

Hypnotically watching the Naga slither away, the Lapi digs in her memory to recall where she's seen the mage before. It seems like a fleeting recollection, perhaps a dream of some sort. She's snapped back to attention by the otherrabbit's sudden comment, and looks back to her, startled. "Oh… oh, well at least there's magic and stuff, but I guess it lacks a night life." Leaning closer, she gestures to the Naga, and whispers almost inaudibly in Skeek that only creatures with the best of hearing could hear. "That Naga, do you know who he is?"

"I think that's Mage Shift of Dream," Spring Meadow whispers back, "one of the Masters called in to help get that Sphere back in order. From Nagai City, I think; he's got that sort of creepy aura they get down there."

"I think I've met him before… " Anisa continues to watch the snake slither away, taking another sip of her drink nonchalantly.

"In Rephidim?" the gray doe asks. "Does your tavern get Nagai customers?"

The snow furred rabbit thinks hard. "No… I didn't meet him at the tavern. I think- I think I met him in a dream. Something to do with a dream god… "

"Seriously?" Spring Meadow whispers, the younger Lapi's voice tinged with a bit of excitement. "Like one of the Seven Sisters?"

"Yeah … as a matter of fact, I think that did have something to do with it!" The memories come flooding back into Anisa's head, and what she thought was simply a strange dream becomes all the more chilling. "It was him! We had to free some god … Morpheus, I think, from one of the Sisters. That mage was in my dream, and he helped me. Well, he sort of helped me." The rabbit strokes her chin in thought.

"Oh wow!" the other Lapi blurts out, then covers her mouth and looks embarrassed. "Which one?" she whispers to Anisa.

Anisa grabs one of her ears, tugging on it in thought. "What was her name? Dagh, it's so hazy." The doe closes her eyes, and thinks hard. "Ba-… Banada? No, that wasn't it. It was … Bar-, Barada!" The Lapi blurts the last part rather loudly, clasping a paw to her mouth. "Er, Barada. That was her name."

Spring Meadow gets even more fidgety now. "That's the one that wasn't accounted for," she hisses. "Nobody knows who beat her!"

The loud mention of the name definitely draws the attention of the two mages at the next table, and a few other random diners.

The white doe hunkers down nervously at all the sudden stares. "Well," she whispers in Skeek to Spring Meadow, "in the dream … I was the one who, uh, got rid of her."

The stares don't linger long. It's likely more that the patrons were looking in her direction because of the exclamation – not for the particular word, per se.

"Oh wow oh wow oh wow," Spring Meadow mutters, and tries to look innocent until people stop staring. "They'll want to talk to you then, I bet. But it's a real mess," she whispers. "I mean, they had to call in Dream Mages from off Caroban because half of the ones here were in comas through the whole Seven Sisters thing, and a bunch more were found out to be in cahoots with the Royal Babel Mages behind it all. The Dean of Dream got arrested, and my old dorm-mate even got possessed by one of the Sisters … although it did liven up the New Year's Eve party quite a bit, which wasn't so bad."

"Who are they?" asks Anisa. "And … what do they need to ask me about? I thought it was just a dream I had when I was sick." The Lapi fidgets nervously. "They won't arrest me or anything, will they?"

"Well, the High Council would want to know, but… ," Spring Meadow whispers, and starts to look uncertain. "Maybe theywouldn't want to know after all. I mean, not want to open up the whole mess again, not after the executions. I'd say you should talk to Envoy about it, but then … well, who knows what that could lead to? Mage Shift doesn't look too concerned about it, and you said you met him in that dream place."

Anisa shifts her seat uncomfortably. "E-executions?" she asks with a high pitched squeak. "I think I'm gonna be sick… "

The Earth Mage pats Anisa on the back, and whispers, "Oh, don't worry. They just executed the mages that took part in forbidden rituals. They couldn't do anything to you; you're not bound by any College laws. They might offer you compensation for helping to bring it all to an end, but then again they might not."

Anisa nods, setting her apple aside in a disinterested manner. "Yeah, we'll see what Envoy has to say about this." Taking a sip from what's left of her drink, the Lapi pauses. "By the way, who's Envoy?"

"A fellow Earth Mage, an Exile," Spring Meadow says. "Kinda dull in person, but okay if you don't think about anything she says too much. She's living proof that there is such a thing as having too much excitement in your life."

"Well, I don't know about that." Reassured and calm, the color starts to come back into Anisa's cheeks. That is, it would if she wasn't covered in white fur. "I look forward to meeting her. Hey, what time is it?"

The Lapi mage jumps up and looks at the length of the shadows. "Oh no, our appointment! We've got to run to make it now!"

Anisa tosses her food aside, and leaps up to her feet. "Lead the way, I'm right behind you!"

The gray Lapi mage quick-walks back to the street, then picks a direction and walks as fast as she can without actually jogging. Mages don't run, after all – not without a proper mob chasing them anyway. "This way!"

Barmaids, on the other hand, have no aversion to running. Anisa sprints after the gray doe. "I'm way ahead of you, literally!"