Chapter 1: Departure (Day 1)

For once in her life, Ember makes it a point to arrive early. The random summons from the stiffest of the Seven Schools reeked of subtext. Still, she smiled at the boy from two days ago, laughing when he arrived.

"Maybe this is why I haven't been accepted yet - I'm too old!"

Joking aside, now that she's in the halls, she is on edge. This is her first time in the inner sanctum, and she's still not totally convinced she's welcome, even with the pompous seal on the letter in her hand. She crammed everything she could into her belt pouches. She knows she's not the only one summoned, which is hopeful. Because if an Elliad is summoned alone, it's usually a bad sign.

But I don't have to be an Elliad here.

She smiles, a glimmer in her mismatched eyes. This place really is magnificent. And even an unknown task is more exciting than working at the tavern, right? Maybe things are looking up!

Given that it has been two days since they received the summon, I figure Yelnar and Ember have probably spoken about it (I assume Ember would not have been able to not talk about it).

Yelnar would purposefully wait to give Ember a little freakout time before presenting himself and joining her, giving his usual non verbal and small wave by way of greeting, but he can't help have a big smile on his face - he knows Ember has been dreaming of this moment for some time.

She's startled by Yelnar's presence, but tackle-hugs him when she realizes it's him.

My favorite statue! I was starting to think you weren't coming! What's the news?

Oh, we're definitely in trouble, what did you do?

Yelnar manages to keep a straight face

She rolls her eyes.

Pssssh. Just like these old bags. Always trying to blame the naturally talented. I didn't do anything!

She already got him in trouble, and the day is this young? That's hardly fair. Though she'd never let her guard down around someone she didn't know as well, her face falters.

In the last five years. On purpose. What did they tell you?

Krav confidently strides through the courtyard, entirely unfazed, as if the grandeur of it all is wasted upon him. He has never really enjoyed being in the clean and polished areas of the school, and this part of the grounds always made him feel patronized. He couldn't wait to get out of here.

After being escorted to the main hall, a small rodent pops his head out of Krav's robes and peeks around a bit. The relative seclusion of this area seems to have made Shiloh more comfortable. Krav surveys the room and sits as far away from the other two as possible. He does not make eye contact with either of them, but instead pulls a small bit of food out of his pocket and begins feeding it to Shiloh. He then whispers something to the rat and strokes him gently while he waits.

Yelnar goes from jovial to stone as soon as Krav enters the room. He is somewhat relieved, as he knows he would not be able to keep up his charade with Ember for long, and honestly has no idea what might be behind the summons.

He does give Krav a small head nod of acknowledgement though.

When Elora first received the summons her head was swimming with worry. The Masters? Did I do something wrong? Am I being expunged? And similar questions stuck in her mind for the part of the day. Realizing if she was being kicked out it wouldn't necessitate being personally summoned, her concerns next lied in what exactly the situation is. For two nights she speculated, never quite satisfied with her answers.

As the day arrived she promptly made her way to the Main hall, not wanting to disrespect the very Masters. She wore her hat tilted forward just over her eyes in an effort to hide her face, feeling her peers bore into her as if she was embarrassed they knew some secret regarding the summon. After what felt like entirely too long she finally arrived. Pushing her hat back up she even recognized some of the people already gathered, feeling a bit more at ease. Wordlessly she positioned herself right behind Yelnar and Ember, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

As soon as Ember notices the newcomer, she goes silent, relieved that she doesn't have to continue the conversation. She melts into her usual charming smile.

Elora, is it? I remember you from the tavern. This is turning out to be an interesting group!

Her younger side breaks through when she sees Krav, though, and she darts over to him.

Stars, you're Krav! I didn't know you were a caster!

She attempts to mimic one of his classic take-down shots on an imaginary opponent.

And apparently falls flat on her face with an impressive "thunk".

Krav nods at Ember and chuckles slightly at her form. "Those days are behind me though. Shiloh here has taught me my true calling. Are you a fan of Meriavan street fighting?"

Krav is slightly embarrassed to be recognized. He never really considered himself a great fighter, it was just all he knew. Until now. He likes Ember already though. He gets the feeling she is genuine.

Ember rubs her nose , hoping she looks more wounded and less like she's blushing.

Idiot.

Yeah! I've snuck out to watch it more often than "the man" wants to admit. I was actually thinking of getting on the circuit myself, but well...

She gestures to herself as if she's referring to her clumsiness and physical stature. Then she grins with a glint in her eye.

...They don't let natural casters in. We'd have it too easy.

Don't freak out, there are plenty of minor celebrities in town. Just, not all of them could pile drive an orc into the ground....

So Shiloh's your familiar? He's cute!

"Yes, Shiloh is my familiar. Although most days it feels like vice versa. I’m not quite certain where I’d be today without him."

Krav is not too comfortable talking about himself so he turns the tables, "You’re a caster? Of what nature?"

Yelnar turns to Elora along with Ember and nods.

After Ember rushes off, he has a bemused look on his face, looks at Elora and shrugs.

Ember grins. She does like being the center of attention. Especially when she's not in trouble.

The best kind.

With a short vocalization, she snaps both fingers and flicks her hands palms-down. Marionettes of bent light - a little man and a little dragon - fall from her fingertips. The images are basic, like twigs cobbled together, but she acts out a tiny fight scene before catching them back into her hands.

Not saying other casters aren't good, of course! There are plenty of things I can't do. But if you ask me? Sorcerers have the most fun.

"I-um...would like to point out that there are any number of reasons you weren't admitted, natural caster or not their rules are rather rigid..." Elora clarifies, barely speaking loud enough to be heard by Yelner, let alone the fleeing Ember.

"Oh...Hi Yelner." At least she can talk to him.

Ephwrath slowly shuffles into the room following his escort who appears to be mildly annoyed with him. The old dwarf has his nose buried so deep in a large tome that his face is barely visible. Nevertheless, he somehow successfully navigates his way to the nearest chair, hops up onto it, and continues reading.

Viani takes a deep breath outside the room she was told to wait in. She has no idea why she has been summoned here and hearing Ember from the tavern and that strange druid talk about being invited as well only adds more mystery to the situation. Finally, she gathers the courage to enter and looks around. There appears to be a full group of people gathered here. She has seen all of them before. A strange group.
She looks from one person to the next and says, trying to sound confident and to hide her nervousness: "Hello, everybody"
She then walks over to Elora and sits down next to her. She gives her a nervous smile and asks whispering: "Do you have any idea what this might be about?"

Verrian walks, unhurried, toward the gate leading out of the Meriavan Kinship compound. Her ability to feel the kinship's presence has already begun to fade, and she knows that between the tenth and eleventh step beyond the gate, she will cease to sense it at all. In the early days after the wards went up - really, that whole first year - she would feel almost a sense of panic when the connection faded to nothing. Nowadays, she accepts it, along with the knowledge that it will be there again when she returns.

Each bit of knowledge brings her pain of a different kind. She could have let both pains go long ago. She chooses to keep feeling them.

Leaving the kinship feels much like stepping out of a warm bath into a vacuum, a nothingness. The air of the city is noisy with the voices of the unjoined, but there is no sense of connectedness between them. Verrian spent a great deal of time living among the unjoined, both as a student of the School of Seven Stones and then as a Naucan diplomat. It had always been an uncomfortable but worthwhile sacrifice for her country, and she'd often comforted herself with the prospect of the next trip home, back to her kinship.

The wards had put an end to that comfort. Now, no one knows what actually lies outside of Meriava's wards. In the kinship, a frequent source of debate and controversy is a movement to accept the loss of Nauca as permanent and have an official renaming ceremony. She would wake up Verrian of Cyr and go to bed Verrian of Meriava. The kinship is just shy of evenly divided on the idea, which is why it hasn't yet been implemented.

As she walks at a calm, measured pace to the School, she is greeted by various city residents. She smiles and returns their greetings and pleasantries with genuine pleasure. She feels no contempt for the unjoined, and certainly no pity. They are living according to their nature. If they are aware that they lack a rich dimension of connection and sharing that Naucans have, they can't begin to appreciate the depth of what they're missing, so they are not really suffering for it. She likes the people of Meriava. As far as she can tell, most of them also like her.

She wishes she could leave.

Verrian presents her summons at the Main Gate and receives her escort to the meeting room. She steps inside and surveys the scene. She recognizes everyone in the room; some she knows better than others. As she walks toward the one remaining open seat in the circle, she smiles at those she makes eye contact with, giving a specially warm one to her young friend Ember. Carefully, she keeps her internal misgivings out of her facial expression. Whatever they've been called here for, she's not at all certain that a teenager like Ember should be part of it.

"Apologies if I am late," she says, amiably, to the room.