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Fantasy Freecasters IC: Chapter one

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AtlannianSpy

Alarmed and Strangerous
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Chapter one: Your Gold, our Fire!

The Merryvale Marketsquare, Merryvale city, Valora; early morning...


"No, no, a little to the left.. now back to the right... Now that's too far right, pull it back a bit... that's it! Or...hmmm,"


It was a crisp, cool morning despite the bright sunshine, but the pack of laborers had still managed to work up a sweat. The burly, shirtless men suppressed a chorus of groans as the man directing them changed his mind again. He was a a short little man, at least by non dwarf standards and he may well have had a touch of that noble stock in his veins, though the furry, triangular ears surmounting his shock of red hair hinted at different ancestry. Meanwhile the man's finery and casual instructions to the much larger laborers at his command suggested a merchant background, or some other profession used to buying authority.

"You know what, right there, yes! Perfect!" Said the little man, looking satisfied to the relief of the laborers, who were able to move onto the next step in their task.

A small crowd had started to gather, watching with mild interest as the laborers put together a basic but sizeable wooden structure.

"It's a stage," someone from within the crowd said suddenly and the whole group rippled with murmurs of realisation and renewed speculation. What would it be? A play of some kind? A musical performance? A travelling salesman with exotic wares to spruik? The little man, with his back to the crowd so that his expression was hidden allowed himself a little smile as he pulled an ornate pocket watch from his waist coat pocket and looked at it.

"Right on time," Muttered the little man to himself. The workers he'd hired could have finished the work about an hour sooner if he'd just let them go about it themselves, but the foot traffic in the market didn't hit it's peak until later in the morning so by dragging things out about the man could ensure the largest crowd of onlookers for his latest venture.

The workers had put together the basic structure of the stage now, including a frame with a simple pulley system that controlled a seat of cheap, cloth curtains which had been pulled shut while the workers put the final touches on what lay behind it. It was show time.

With a practiced flourish the little man pulled a cloth circle and shook it, causing it to expand out into a long, top hat that he placed on his head at a jaunty angle. Then, with somewhat less flair, the man clambered up onto the stage and turned around to face the crowd, clearing his throat and raising his hands for silence and attention.

"Fair citizens of Merryvale! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; Allow me to introduce myself. I am Cornelius Ethelstein a man of business and enterprise. I come before you all now to announce an exciting new venture! Now all of you here today will know of Freecasters, those adventurous souls who perform all kinds of important quests and errands on our behalf; indeed the proud city of Merryvale is already home to many fine freecaster guilds. But I, Cornelius Ethelstein solemnly pledge to form the finest, most trustworthy of them all!"

Cornelius adjusted the lapels of his coat as studied the crowd before him, noting the looks of scepticism and confusion peering back at them.

"But Cornelius! I hear you say, how could you possibly make such a bold claim? Well ladies and gentlemen I shall not be making it alone! A freecaster guild is nothing without its Freecasters! And it shall be you! The people who choose the freecasters of this guild! I still see some confusion on your faces so I will demonstrate exactly what I mean! To do so however I will require the aid of a volunteer! Is anyone here a mage?"


Nellancholy Nellancholy Orikanyo Orikanyo Pao Pao Kloudy Kloudy Flashwolf96 Flashwolf96 Spoiled Bread Spoiled Bread cokemonster cokemonster HexDreams HexDreams Hanarei Hanarei
 
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Ramona Frederic
No. No way. Absolutely not.

From amongst the throng of spectators present in the market square, a head of waist-length silver hair swiveled from side to side in firm denial. With purple eyes shut tight and arms folded beneath a sizeable bust, the form of Remilia Frederica Armona Silvanis was filled with displeasure at the garish display, such that the hopeful, excited mood that had pervaded her entire morning had been all-but crushed in one fell swoop.

...Shoot. She did it again. It was Ramona now, not Remilia.

In any case, her arrival in Merryvale had brought forth a swirl of positive emotions within the nineteen-year-old as she considered the logistics of what the ideal guild for her would contain. Would a group whose skillset leaned towards offensive spells be the best fit for her? Or perhaps others skilled in White Magic that could assist in her research efforts would work better. A guild that specialized in working quickly and moving often sounded appealing too, as it would allow her the opportunity to travel to more remote locations where her father could not as easily keep tabs on her as she knew he would. Big or small... Diverse or uniform... There were many things to consider, and many avenues she could take now that she'd truly gained the freedom to operate as she pleased.

But this... this was...

Ramona watched the man named Cornelius Ethelstein with eyes no more trusting than that of her fellow bystanders. She watched the way he worked the crowd with a confidence that seemed unwarranted for his position, and a charisma that seemed almost sinisterly intentional. Rather than trying to gain the crowd's trust, he spoke as if he already had it - as if his success was simply a foregone conclusion and he was merely playing the humble merchant for the benefit of the masses. It was arrogance, hidden beneath a veil of modesty to create a more appealing personal image.

It was a demeanor that she was all-too familiar with as a member of the Morvanisian nobility, but in her experience was rarely ever accompanied by the substance to back it up. It was one of her father's earliest lessons: The dog that barks the loudest often has the weakest bite.

How inferior to the other guilds was this man, that he felt the need to put on this kind of gaudy demonstration? Not to mention that he seemed to be alone, with no allies or confidants aside from the hired muscle used to prepare the venue. No credibility, no supporters... No matter how you looked at it, a guild formed by a person like that was unreliable, untrustworthy, completely out of the question. His blatant goading for volunteers was so incredibly suspicious that Ramona was fairly certain that no one would be foolish enough to accept-

"Ah?!"

A startled gasp escaped her lips as she was suddenly thrown off balance, the flaps of her long, white overcoat worn over her double-breasted blazer and reaching all the way past her skirt to about the center of her gray tights fluttering with the force as a figure crudely brushed past her.
 
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The murmuring reply to the man’s request gave way to a few howls from a disturbance. There was a parting being made by the steady step of one barreling for the front of the line.

“Oof!” As a stocky laborer was brushed aside.

“Hey, watch-” When a mean mugged naridian soon followed.

“Pardon, pardon!” Came as Pi got her mask on properly.

Was she late? Pi couldn’t tell from the backside of this little crowd. She’d meant to be front and center after tellings of a recruitment being this morning, but there’d been this vendor from Skahad peddling sour berries that were absolutely arresting in their foulness. They’d been like what licking the back of a rat might taste like, and yet she couldn’t stop popping another one for the strangeness of it. Where’d he find them? Who ate this awful stuff and where could Pi find more? There’d been some tangent the skahad man went on that she participated in, and it was entirely tossed out of mind at the sounds of commencement. No worries. There was still a window of opportunity to be scratched out if she could only get to the front in time.

A pale-haired young lady was nearly knocked off her feet, but a pull of her sleeve by the bumbler kept her upright and right torn from her thoughts as the offender bulled forth. A “Pardon,” was absentmindedly offered to her as well as Pi broke out into that space between stage and audience. Only then did she slow, having to skid a pace and back pedal to a stand.

Sharp black kin-ears focused forward, straight black hair falling to either side of a horned mask concealing their face, a playful depiction serving in its place. The form was feminine beneath full caster robes. The voice as well. “I am Pi Hyo-ri, of the Dragon Empire’s Clan Pi.” This masked caster called to Ethelstein, benefitting the crowd only secondarily. “I’ll volunteer.” A hand fit with shining gold-leaf bracers came up to touch her heart. Only, it still grasp a vine of sickly yellow berries. Pi launched them exit stage right with a flick before performing the gesture again.
 
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Kandor Don Genée Terraccois
(Valora - Merryvale Marketsquare)
Merryvale. It was exactly what he had been expecting to see; citizens travelled between shops and houses, commerce and conversation flowed as freely as the Riverlands' streams and there was already some upstart dwarven salesman looking to manifest whatever wealth they could get their hands on. In some ways, he was glad real life racial stereotypes existed. It made identifying interesting or potentially valuable individuals more streamlined and less awkward for him.

"Out with the old... In with the new."

Kandor Don Genée Terraccois sucked in a sizeable breath of fresh Merryvale air and approached the crowd he'd noticed gathering at the nearby marketplace. He had entered the city for the first time the day before, quickly finding lodging in a modest inn and scouting out the local Freecaster guilds for work. So far he had yet to settle on one.

Walking through the mass of bodies to get a better position to see the announcement, Kandor squeezed further in until he was satisified with his view. His ears pricked up as the event began. The dwarf, who he now knew to be 'Cornelius Ethelstein - a man of business and enterprise', indeed seemed to be experienced in the art of selling wholesale consumerism through performance and promise. His overzealous confidence might seem obnoxious to some, but the young noble recognised it as a technique for establishing a believeable narrative. To sell someone something, you needed to position yourself as the expert offering a service the unwitting customer didn't even know they needed. As far as Kandor was concerned, the man was completing step one for drawing the interest of any third party investors: offering the carrot. Making grand statements that challenge current beliefs was undeniably controversial, but it did achieve the only goal required for step one. By suggesting that Cornelius had the power to magically conjure the best Freecaster guild in the city, the dwarf was already setting the precedent. People would want to know how despite the absurdity. Curiosities would be piqued.

"The carrot." He absentmindedly whispered.

Kandor, dressed in his usual navy cloak and casual travelwear, scanned the crowd with mild interest. It wasn't the snakeoil salesman pitch he was curious about, it was the reception. Mostly he simply wanted to get a feel for the type of people living in the city and acclimate himself to its society; it was essentially a people-watching exercise, but he did have another reason. If the people of Merryvale were truly to be judges of the future of this new guild, he wanted prior insight as to what that was likely to look like. Of course, that was even if this pitch was well received. So far, Kandor had only seen the set up of step one.

It was with the call for a volunteer that the Bluecaster rolled his stormy grey eyes lackadaisically. So step two would be a demonstration, of course. The stick in this situation was less imaginative than he would have assumed. Now that the promise had been made, the salesman needed some actual substance to provide it any kind of credibility. He unenthusiastically wondered if it would be more than simply showing off the abilities of whoever was bored or whimsical enough to jump onstage. He could already see in his mind Cornelius prancing across his newly constructed platform singing the mage's praises and imploring that all of his employees would be of similar or better aptitude. At the very least, Kandor hoped that the volunteer was a preselected agent of the dwarf that had been planted in the crowd. At least that way Cornelius could guarantee some form of impressive show.

Kandor's ears pricked up once again as he detected rustling and yelps of surprise from behind him. Instead of turning towards the sound, he decided to step to the side just in time to dodge the careening body of a masked woman making a beeline for the front. Despite her frame, she seemed to carve a line through the crowd with very little effort - something Kandor simply had to raise a curious eyebrow at. As the mysteriously non-muscled masquerader forged onwards, Kandor was almost knocked over anyway as another girl flew into him as a result of the beastkin charge. Stumbling back a little but ultimately keeping his footing, he caught the silver-haired girl and helped to prop her up until she found her balance before letting go.

"Are you okay?" Kandor asked while dusting himself off, his tone less of concern and more of polite regard.

cokemonster cokemonster
Flashwolf96 Flashwolf96
 
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"-but ma'am, are you...really sure? I've thought about this before, this kind of thing. I simply didn't know where to turn, and when you appeared before me, I just knew you could help-" A tall, red haired girl cupped her hands together, sitting over at a small cafe by the Merryvale marketsquare, pouring out her life story to the mysterious mage before her. The easiest of marks, the desperately in love, the kind so sure of their purpose and the sincerity of their feelings that they felt nothing, and no one should stand in their way. A little ironic, really, but Valla simply enjoyed aiding the course of true love.

"Zara, my dear, who is to say that the Lady Redgrave who has your Anthony's gaze has not made use of sorcery of her own?" That was how you reeled them in. Play on their fears, make them feel entitled, and then give them some...reassurance that only you can give. "I'm just helping you even the playing field." The hook was firmly in. Reaching into her pouch, Valla produced a jewel case she had used many times before, turning it discreetly towards Zara and opening it like it was some ancient, secret treasure. Inside was an ordinary silver-plated necklace, off which hung a tiny teardrop-shaped gem, pulsing with faintly visible waves of energy that an untrained eye could mistake for blue magic.

"This is..." As though transfixed, Zara took out the necklace unbidden, her gaze creeping over the enchanted gem on which her hopes lay. Valla knew the necklace was costume jewelry barely worth the clothes on her back, and Zara probably did too. But the doors it might open were worth a great price. "...you used magic on this, ma'am? Will it...make him...?" She let the question hang, as though the weight of what she was about to do was crushing her ability to say more.

"Of course it will, dear." Valla gave her most persuasive, winning smile, both hands moving to clasp Zara's. "Wear that the next time you see him, and you will have his rapt attention. It's up to you to take the next steps." That's right. Manage expectations, hedge bets and create plausible deniability if anyone comes looking. If Zara actually dressed better and put effort in, just maybe it'd work out for her. "And once you have his ring on your finger, you can just hide this away...no one has to know."

"Yes..." Zara murmured. "No one has to know." Her next thought seemed to shake her awake, blinking a few times before she met Valla's gaze again. "A-and the price...?"

"Oh, honey..." Valla's eyes narrowed. "Good work is never cheap. You're spending far less than Lady Red does trying to steal Tony from you, and what you stand to gain is far, far more..." She nodded. "No promissory notes, you understand. Only coin."

"Ah, y-yes!" Zara stammered. "I-I have half upfront, right here!" Fumbling on her belt, she produced the pouch jingling with coin, reverently setting it down on the table.

"Perfect." Valla couldn't help her eyes widening as she gingerly took up her prize, dropping it deep into her bag. "I do believe you have an appointment with your man tonight. And tomorrow, when you are satisfied, you may meet me again to deliver the rest we agreed upon." The coin she gained was already more than she expected. Doubling up would be reckless, and so she'd be long gone by tomorrow's daybreak.

Zara stood up, her dress rustling as she hurried to hook the necklace around herself. "A-a thousand thanks, ma'am! I'll be off!" And with that, the girl trotted away down the street, already rushing to prepare for her date.

With that conversation out of the way, Valla could focus her attention on the announcement being made by the dwarf. A whole stage, if a rickety one, and the audacity to announce a new guild on such poor terms. It'd been a while since she tried to run something like that. No doubt soon "Cornelius Ethelstein" would be asking for investors, promising tenfold returns...

Or not. A particularly enthusiastic beastkin had barged onto the stage in response to a request for volunteers. She looked like she knew what she was doing, and if Cornelius was running some kind of scam...

Valla crossed her legs, turning to get a better view of the stage. She wanted to see how it'd fall apart.
 
Shuuri
Location: Merryvale Marketsquare

Shuuri dragged her feet as she absentmindedly walked through the crowded market place. Ever since she entered Heartland she had been making some living by working as a solo freecaster. Though after a while she realized that most of her works consisted of some sort of glorified thiefing and smuggling jobs. She wouldn't be able to brag her achievement with those kind of works! So she decided to try her luck by paying a guy who proclaimed to be a recruiter from the big guilds, he said he would contact her once a guild expressed interest at her but after almost a week of silence she realized that she had been scammed. Damn that swindler, next time she met him she would cut his tongue.

A crowd which had formed around a stage piqued her interest, she climbed some wooden crates so she could see the performance better. Apparently the dwarf man was announcing a brand new freecaster guild! Shuuri's ears perked up at these words, a new guild means she would be easily accepted and wouldn't be overshadowed by veterans! The perfect stage to make a name for herself! Excited by such prospect the small beastkin girl slipped through the crowd and made her way to the front of the crowd as Cornelius asked for a volunteer. There's another beastkin woman already volunteered herself but Shuuri didn't care, she wanted to show off too. She nimbly leapt onto the stage and landed smoothly next to Cornelius.

"Name's Shuuri. I will volunteer too." She said confidently before looking at the crowd. A wide grin appeared on her face as she noticed how short everyone looks from here.

AtlannianSpy AtlannianSpy cokemonster cokemonster
 
Lief Greenhill

"..Freecaster... I suppous that IS the type of job I was looking for..." A fellow dwarf(?) from the man who was proudly announcing his intent stood within the growing crowd of people, whilst this dwarf was fully uncertain OF the prospect of joining this new guild and with somebody whom he... had really no background with, the prospect of dipping one's feet into something small before going bigger, is always a safe one. Should this venture cause trouble, he will be rid of it, and pretend it never happened.

Would be terrible to give up from the get go, his fudns were starting to run low from food and board..

The shorter statured young man stood nearby the front of the crowd, ready to watch whatever trifle was going to be going down.

"...Huh...? Beast-kin certainly seem eager to play this man's game..." The dwarf says softly, eyeing up the two upon the stage. A masked one, curious... Was.. the mask for show...? Something to hide perhaps? he could tell from here she was strong... The other... he.. didn't know what to think at the moment.

well.. Whatever this man was going to do, he better be careful, both seemed eager, but also probably likely to be giving a proper smack should he be fooling with them.

...Oh? somebody fell over? poor gir- Nope, eyes away, eyes on the stage no need to discuss or think of what you might've seen with that skirt, no sir, stiff upper lip and a gentleman are you.

yes indeed, nothing to see.

just focus ahead and think purest thoughts, like how cute beast folk are, fluffy tails and cute furry ears. yes, very important things.

...Was this man going to get on this this?
 
Pavlos Briggs

Idle chatter permeated through the early morning air, with the occasional clatter of coins to break the alliteration. Pavlos stood at the market with a brown cloak pulled over his golden tresses. It was not his first time setting foot in a large city, but it still set his senses alight. As a boy, he was always more sensitive to intense sounds, scents, and noises—the combination brought a subtle tremble to his stance. In his palm, he toyed with a coin to keep focus. As it flipped between his fingers, he honed into the various noises to find substance within the chaos. To his left, a merchant hoots about a missing shipment. To his right, a boy is getting suckered into something loosely resembling a pyramid scheme. With a shove, he returned the coin deep into his pocket. There was not a thing around but useless dregs and sinners.

The solution was clear. Through barely parted lips, Pavlos uttered an incantation, "Freyr, lend me your eyes and ears so that I may discern any falsehoods." His hand lightly grasped the emblem at his neck as mana swirled around him like a gentle breeze. With each word, the gust jolted and flicked his cloak upwards. It fluttered through every crevice of cloth and brought pause to his tremble. When his hand retracted, the world before him shrunk. Before his gaze, a boy buys a faulty piece of magictech. At his 6, an elderly man slips from their cane. His amber eyes narrowed at the sight of an unscrupulous pickpocket tucking into a corner. Pavlos sneered, not a whiff of a lead despite his best efforts—merely an outlet to let out his agitation. He pulled down on the cloak to mask his eyes and set after the thief's tail with grit teeth.

He followed and observed for some time as his target continued their schemes. The dreg was small for a shadow elf with short-cut and pallid hair. What Pavlos could make out of their body beyond the cloak was marred with scars. At his right bicep, a symbol that Pavlos could only assume represented one of Merryvale's gangs. The shadow elf's skilled fingers slipped through many pockets as they sailed through the market. The elf was too focused on their game to take notice of their hunter. Pavlos, at his back, was contrarily paying very close attention. The shadow elf walked with a slight limp to their gait and was much less dexterous with their left wrist. When the shadow elf careened into a vacant corner, Pavlos waited at the edge of a wall. "One, two, three..." the scruffy voice found Pavlos' ears as the man counted their score. It could only mean the thieving elf felt safe and better yet alone.

"For the love of money is a seed for all kinds of evils. Many of your ilk, eager for wealth, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with griefs." Pavlos' voice cut through the sound of the pickpocket's driven counting. The clattering noises of coins rebounded through the vacant walls as the currency lept from the elf's palms. Pavlos' sudden appearance jolted the thieves back to the wall. It took the shadow elf a moment to regain his composure before he hummed, "Now now, I don't remember digging through your pockets. You pious types rarely have anything good to grab." As Pavlos drew closer, the shadow elf brought his arms up to guard.

The last coin dropped from the elf's hands. The pickpocket's arms were tight to his sides. Each of the elf's legs intertwined as his feet vanished in a brutish rush. The dreg's head threw back as he surged with his right fist, temporarily his body blended into a shapeless gray form. The thief's arm was jointless for but a moment. The solid gray shape battered into Pavlos' chin and sent him backward. Pavlos had little time to reconsider before the thug's left hand swung to writhe towards his neck. A feint, Pavlos predicted—the thief would not strike him with an injured wrist. Without flinching, Pavlos' right arm surged backward before digging forwards into his opponent's ribcage. Taking full advantage of the shock that arose in his target's gaze, Pavlos used the moment to strike at the pickpocket's limp leg with his right foot. The integrity of Pavlos' opponent's stance fell apart as his body crumbled onto the floor beneath them. The alleyway lit up brightly as Pavlos snapped his right hand. It shone as he grasped the emblem at his neck. The metal heated until it glared just as brightly as his palm. When Pavlos intentions became clear to the criminal, the dreg crawled backward until his back hit the wall. "W-wait, you're a mage! Let's talk about this for a second, can't we?" The thief chirped between worried whimpers.

Something then had brought pause to the branding. There was a growing chatter in the distance. At the cusps of the whispers that reached Pavlos' ears hung the word "freecaster." The brightly heated emblem began to cool as the warmth around his palm waned. Pavlos wiped clean the red smear that trailed from his nostril to his upper lip with a cloth. "Next time. Should Freyr's light still not find you." Pavlos turned to exit, pathing towards the source of the noise. At his back, hurried steps beat in the opposite direction.
 
Jade Evergarden
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Jade wandered the streets of Valora alone. The green haired woman having found... relatively little success in her search for a freecaster guild. It wasn't as if there weren't places that were willing to recruit her, at least she would assume. It was a rather risky job, one that was certain to churn through potential candidates rather quickly. A big guild would more then likely want a good selection of recruits in order to cover more of their basis and increase their infamy. She was quite confident in herself she would have little effort in getting herself a spot in a large freecaster guild if she wanted.

The issue was she didn't want to join a large guild.

A large guild would have plenty of freecasters who already carved a path of their own and had gained prestige of their own. A newly recruited member, even as skilled as she considered herself to be wouldn't be able to simply outshine them. While she was confident she could build her way up overtime, it was a factor she had no desire to work towards. Not to mention it also meant she had to play by their rules with little chance to interject her own thoughts or ideas. She needed to find a new or upcoming guild. It was the best way to much more quickly create a name for herself. Not to mention the chance to create enough sway to get herself a nice new greenhouse. The sooner she had a new one built up, the sooner she could really work on her plant experiments once more.

Jade glanced over noticing a strange commotion going on with what looked to be a... stage? It must be some sort of street act or something she had to assume. Not quite something she had intentions of getting distracted by, but at this rate it was better then just mindlessly wandering around hoping for some sort of lead. As she approached the crowd she witnessed a bit of a scuffle from a distance as it appeared that a few 'volunteers' stepped up. For what she couldn't be sure. The short fellow on stage which she could only suspect to be a performer was likely preparing to do some sort of parlor trick she could only assume. The two volunteers being beastkin though clearly different species. Even by sheer appearance they seemed vastly different from one another, though the willingness to volunteer did seem to be a shared trait. Not exactly a smart thing in her opinion though at the very least some effort was put in to create such a stage so perhaps it wasn't as shady as it could be.

The young mage stood quietly, her eyes glancing about catching on a bit about the murmurings about what the man was going to do, nothing telling her what exactly he was going though the utterance about a freecaster guild sparked some more curiosity though much like the whispers seem to hint at confusion of what it had to do with anything Jade had the same impression. Even more so growing suspicious at the mention of 'seeing the contents underneath the skirt' making her only that more cautious for the sake of the two ladies on the stage not knowing the context of what was being muttered about only making her think the short man was possibly up to no good once again. Best for her to stay around and observe and jump into action if anything fishy started happening.
 
Stumbling back a little but ultimately keeping his footing, he caught the silver-haired girl and helped to prop her up until she found her balance before letting go.​

"Are you okay?" Kandor asked while dusting himself off, his tone less of concern and more of polite regard.

"Eh?' Ramona blinked as her stumble came to a sudden halt. She hadn't been pushed with enough force to throw her to the ground, but in such a tightly-packed crowd it was no surprise that she ended up colliding with someone in her loss of balance. "Oh, um. Yes, I'm fine." Somewhat embarrassed, she muttered out her reply to the man's question without meeting his gaze, instead averting it to the side as she gripped his forearms to right herself. He made to let go soon after, and she just about ripped herself away in kind, shuffling a step back and folding her arms once again.

It wasn't the first time she'd ever been in the arms of a man, but it made her uncomfortable all the same. With her mood already soured as it was, she wanted nothing more than to just forget the interaction had even happened in the first place. And though she could tell that his question was asked more out of courtesy than kindness, she knew it would be unbecoming to ignore it and decided to at least respond in kind. While still keeping her gaze to the side, she brought a fist up to clear her throat right as a second figure slipped past - another person with animal features, she noted from the brief glimpse. "Thank you. If I'd known the beastkin population of this city were so... rambunctious, I would have chosen to watch from further away," she said, noncommittally offering just enough for him to either end the engagement with a brief reply, or pursue a further conversation.

Kloudy Kloudy
 
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Ezra Lunaris

A young man within the crowd watches the promotional stageplay with great interest. It seems that his search for a guild has ended. He has been looking for a guild for quite some time, his travels have finally been paid off. He took out his journal and wrote something within it, analyzing his surroundings. “This town seems quite pleasant. I might enjoy my time here.”
He said with a confident smile. He closed his book and put it away in his satchel.

As he was watching the the stage, he noticed a person who had a mask on volunteering to demonstrate magic on the stage. They seemed to be very eager, due to the fact that they were running towards the stage, plowing through anyone who was in their way. He took out his journal once again to write something down. “Yeesh, some people don’t have any self-control…” Even though they prevented them from falling, he can’t help but be irked by such a brutish action. But then again, it’ll be interesting to see other people’s spells. Maybe he’ll pick up a few pointers during his time here. He kept his journal out just in case he sees any spells worth learning.

Ezra Lunaris sighed as he moved through the crowd, albeit in a more respectful manner.
“This seems like a good spot to observe some spells.” He said as he stood at the front of the crowd. In the corner of his eye he noticed two people talking. One of them seems to be a victim of the masked individual’s wild charge. The other seemed to be not from around here, just like him. Perhaps they’re also traveling to find a guild. But who can really tell? Ezra put his focus back on the demonstration, wondering what spells other people have learned.

Kloudy Kloudy Flashwolf96 Flashwolf96 cokemonster cokemonster
 
Raekar "Rae" itza

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The central court garden of the Akiba temple hummed with the low whispers of fireflies, their gentle light keeping the night at bay. The garden was a testament to the artistry and dedication of the monks who called the Akiba temple home; rare and exotic flora were cultivated into a tapestry of colors with the expressed purpose of bringing inner peace while enjoying its natural splendor. It was for this reason Rae Itza had found himself meditating in the twilight hours, when night became something more, an ethereal place between waking dreams where one could leave all connections behind and be left alone with the true self. The half orc sat with legs folded under him, arms laid on legs, the only protection against the elements were his tan linen pants.

Focused was placed on breathing, feeling the air come in through his nose, filling his chest, then expelling it in a calm rhythm. Thoughts were allowed to form, but no concern was paid to them. Outside sound was drowned out by the continuous tempo of Rae’s breathing. Eventually, the state of inner introspection was reached. Nothing existed outside of the air he breathed. He was the air. Inhaling. Exhaling. Acceptance. Release.

Weak.

Inhale.

Pathetic.

Exhale.

Let me out.

Inhale.

You know you want to feel it.

Exhale.

The burning rage.

Inhale.

The power.

Exhale.

Coward.

Inhale.

Silence.

Exhale.

Acceptance, then release.

Rae opened his eyes into thin slits, the soft rays of light being caught by the morning dew kissed leaves surrounding him. The sun lightly floated over Merrydale, it’s rays bringing a comfortable warmth. Rae sauntered back to his quarters, passing monks deep into their daily duties. A pair of steel plated leather boots, cream colored linen shirt with long sleeves, and steel scaled gauntlets were pulled from a personal trunk and quickly worn, Rae’s daily wardrobe.

Breakfast was shared with the other monks of the temple; flatbread and a bowl of roasted vegetables, grain, and dried fish.

“Still searching for a freecaster’s guild that meets your ideals, boy?” Brother Simu, the head monk of the temple, broke the silence that typically accompanied breakfast.

“Every day, honored brother,” Rae answered between mouthfuls of salted fish.

“Good, good, but I worry you will not find anything suitable with the established companies. They’ll push simple jobs on you, even if you prove yourself they’ll send you to collect debts and protect merchants,” Brother Simu was contemplative, he had taken an interest in Rae when he had first arrived at the temple a couple months ago and had decided to personally guide the half orc with his mission.

“There’s no other way, you must join a smaller or brand new guild. One where your true talents will be allowed to shine, where you can be allowed to pick the jobs you go on,” Brother Simu grunted in satisfaction, he had spoken and there was no need for more conversation.

After breakfast, Rae collected his messenger bag and headed out through the wooden doors of the temple - a spirit fish frozen mid swim carved into each door - and into the city proper. Rae typically collected the daily supplies of the Temple as payment for being allowed to stay with the monks and study alongside them. Rae walked with a cheerful step, the harmonious symphony of the market square with its many players and conductors radiated life in its most charming form. The shouts and barks of commerce were not something Rae typically found enjoyment in, but after spending many years traveling the world, he found the simple culture of the locals refreshing in its commonality.

As Rae navigated the maze-like market stall rows and sea of short humans, he was drawn to the crowd gathered around a simple wooden stage with a portly fellow calling upon adventurers to volunteer.

‘This is it, the creation of a freecasters guild. Talk about coincidence,’ Rae thought as he waded through the securely packed crowd, his tall frame and large arms shuffling the common people with ease. Rae headed towards the front of the crowd, standing a few feet from the stage.

“Well, get on with it,” Rae firmly suggested, followed by agreeable murmurs cascading from behind him.
 
"Now, now no pushing or shoving please!" Cornelius called out playfully as Pi made her way to the stage. "Everyone will get a turn," When the eager beastkin introduced herself Cornelius took his hat off to offer a flourishing bow in return. "Ladies and gentlemen all the way from the distant and exotic Dragon Empire! I hear it's lovely this time of year! now then let me explain how this will work!" Cornelius straightened and clapped his hands together expectantly. When nothing happened after a few seconds Cornelius raised a gloved fist in front of his hand and coughed cleared his throat loudly, provoking a surprised "Oh, right!" from somewhere behind the stage.

In slightly jerky motions the curtains were pulled back, revealing an enormous machine of uncertain purpose. The device was vast assembly of copper pipes of the kind used in dwarven technology, with lots of levers, valves and a large, central gauge which had numbers from one to ten running around its diameter. The most prominent feature of the device was a copper pipe which bloomed out into an enormous funnel or horn shape, somewhat resembling the smaller devices some wealthy people used for listening to music inscribed on crystals.

"This Ladies and Gentlemen is the Applause-o-tron 5000 mark 2!" Cornelius proclaimed grandly to amused titters from the crowd. "Using the latest advances in science and magitech this device can precisely, with 1000% accuracy determine the enthusiasm level expressed through a round of applause. If you'll allow me to to offer a humble demonstration,"

Cornelius waved his hands, performing a simple, gesture based incantation and a small, bird like spirit burst forth from his hands, circling above the crowd to shower them with faintly glowing sparks of light before dissipating as it returned to the spirit world. It was the kind of basic spell nearly anybody with a few spare afternoons could master, but the crowd was amused enough to offer a smattering of light applause, causing the gauge on the applause-o-tron to move, the needle turning until it indicated "4"

"Oh you're too kind folks," said Cornelius with a little bow. "But of course my little parlour tricks aren't what you're here to judge, your here to see real magic from real mages! And the ones that impress you the most will be invited to join the Goldfire Company! How's that for a guarantee? You can't do better than mages you handpicked yourself now can you!"

Cornelius turned back to Pi with a mischievous smile. "So then, shall we see if you have what it takes to impress the good people of Merryvale Miss Pi?"

cokemonster cokemonster
 
“Ooo.” A high note droned low from a fascinated Pi without her even being aware as similar such resounded around her. Dwarves really do make the most convoluted clap-measurers, don't they? The desire to get closer and clap into its cone was overwhelming. Being given the floor of a wholesome contest was the far more pressing task at hand though.

Pi made over to the waist-high edge and pulled herself up on stage with a “Hyu-p!” and swung leg with little grace to be had. The war club at her back was unstrung. A nod to the other beastkin contestor, and she was speaking to Cornelius again. “I couldn’t ask for better weather than what we have today.” She shaded the slits of her mask as she gazed up. “Could be a bit windier. I’ll see what I can manage for the good people.” Then, gripping the studded weapon with two hands she thwapped the stage’s planks. It was enough to leave a splintered indent, the long weapon bouncing off the impact. It hadn’t been that lengthy a moment ago. No, and still it grew from this seemingly random act of arboreal violence to become an oversized plank itself with its steel studs on one end brutally enlarged. The weapon stopped just wide enough to set foot on. This is what Pi did after setting the mana manipulated item down.

The attention gained from this strange start to the first act was a wary one. It continued quietly, leerily waiting for what the far-flung foreigner would perform. Pi did not rush this seeing as she was perfectly on time for once. Her arms turned skyward open palmed to the great blue. With this Pi threw up a hefty chunk of unseen magic, kept together in a ball she got to work flattening out with hard wrenching pulls. Her eyes were closed tight, all focus on shaping the mana with impromptu jerks where she needed it to be thinner, more spread out. A sharp corner here. A lump smoothed there. A few careful roundings of her fingers on an invisible curvature before fists were balled again to heave. As the vague shape in her mind’s eye from countless castings became defined, so too did it in the corporeal world. Red, and becoming more vibrant the passing second, a pentagonal sail formed corner by corner floating above the stage. From each was a tether tied taut about the Freecaster’s arms and enlarged weapon’s two ends. Slowly, the magical sail became aloft with life, lifting Pi along with it. A foot, then a few. Then one man’s height, and then two. Pi allowed herself a scant eyeing the crowd mainly just to enjoy the view. It was a bonus that many had brows raised in tangent with the higher she rose. That was always a bonus to this spell, the actual draw about to follow. “Look closely, else miss-”

The zealous sail sparked: a trigger flicked at the end of its cast. The energy kept inert burst into a burn, the nose kicking up and then nearly diving straight into the crowd if not for a fierce correction by a tug of the tethers. Pi grit her teeth, arms reeling to keep all the corners at rest to rise further. Her spell was having none of that. As if thrown in an unseen gale, the red magic’s burn only became more viscous. Pi could only direct its paths. Or suggest it. The caster towed along her spell flew above the now craning crowd just barely keeping to an angle to circle them and not crash into anyone. More than a few yelps passed as she did just above the heads of a few who hadn’t even been a part of the crowd. Where was she?

“Ah-Hahaha!”

This was not a laugh of joy, but anxious panic. The two just sounded similar. The stones and wood of street and roof were passing by in such a dizzying blur. Pi banked and found the crowd once more. She fixated on them as to not get lost in Merryvale- only to not be able to concentrate on keeping that nose steady. She climbed and dived, climbed and dived as a strange oddity to plenty on the outskirts or looking out their window who had no intention of visiting the market today. She made another round above the crowd, some of which believed the sporadic movements being intentional and gave their applauds. Pi might even convince herself it'd all been intentional, when a tether dissipated faster than the others, and with it even more control. Pi gulped.

Another hard landing, then.

Brief, difficult, with a wild whimsy did the life of Pi come to a careening end as the other tethers broke away. The sail flew off to burn into the sky leaving the caster to tumble downward with plenty of momentum to explode a hole in the stage. What clapping had been gained was cut as abruptly as the caster made impact, the Applause-o-tron 5000 mark 2 rating "4" before the following long silence. Someone coughed. Attention lingered over to the other beastkin and Cornelius.

Spoiled Bread Spoiled Bread
 
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Shuuri
Applau-o-what?? Shuuri raised her eyebrow in confusion at the weird device. She knew the city dwellers like their shiny magi machine stuffs but this one was just stupid. It looks ugly, and inconvenient, and its use was only to gauge clapping?? She could do that same exact job, but better! The girl sticked out her tongue at the machine to show her disdain, and one of the machine's pipe coincidentally let out a loud fart-like noise at her as if mocking her directly. So she gave the machine a kick that actually hurt her feet more than it hurts the thing.

Shifting her attention to the first participant, Shuuri was pessimistic at Pi's upcoming performance, but when the other beastkin put down the war club her attention was immediately drawn to it. The war club was big, and dangerous. It's duller, but at least it was comparable to her tribe's massive zweihanders. Shuuri let out a nod of approval at the weapon of choice, if only she's able to she would pick something like that too. As she continued to watch Pi started her showcase which mostly consisted of riding this mana boat. Quite impressive, but was lacking explosives and club swinging. 6/10 from her... See? She could do better job than that applause o whatever. The machine let out another fart noise as if it was reading her thought.

With Pi's performance as something she aim to topple and the damned machine's mockery to fuel her motivation, the small beastkin hopped towards the little area left of the center stage which was untouched by Pi's club and rough landing. Instead of starting her performance Shuuri faced the audience and started to talk with a loud voice that could even be heard to the back. She wanted to make sure everyone knows her name, and her stories so when she made a name for herself people would be more than ready to spread her tales.

"Hello, the people of Merryvale. I am Shuuri! A caster from the north. I used to fish leviathan and hunt mammoth for meal. After a grueling struggle in my tribe I decided to heed the words of Father Storm and challenge the sea myself to cross the ocean... with the help of my uncle. The weather was far from forgiving that night, I was caught unprepared by-" Shuuri's speech stopped when she realized the audiences' eyes started to wander and one of them took the opportunity to yell at her.

"So where's the magic?!"

"Fine! You will see my spells first! And then you will be so in awe you can't help but remember my name for life!" Shuuri fumed with anger as she started to pull roughly two dozens throwing knifes from various parts of her outfit. On her belt, beneath her cloak, in her boots, near her gloves and several other spots. Focusing her mind into her next spell, the girl silently muttered an incantation for a few seconds before she suddenly started throwing the knifes at various spots on the stage.

"Dance, my rage!" Shuuri roared at the sky while spreading her arms upward and a bright spark of blue lightning appeared on her hand, swirling and spinning before it jumped into the nearest knife embedded into the stage. The lightning did the same process of swirling at its current place before jumping into the next nearest knife for several times. From afar it might looks like Shuuri was playing with an overly energetic dog made of electric current but closer looks would see the spell for what it was, a dancing arc of lightning. Hence the spell's name.

Shuuri never bother to learn spell that aims to entertain people so she wasn't sure about her performance but glancing at the audiences she could see most people was moving their eyes to follow the jumping lightning, though some people seems to step away from the stage in caution. It was enough incentive for her to risk trying a stunt that she never did before though, Shuuri pulled one of her dagger and waved it in front of her. Practically trying to command the lightning arc to approach her. It was a spell that specifically target metallIc objects so she should be safe if she be very careful. She watched her father do this once during a ceremony so she should be able to do it!

Just like she predicted, the lightning jump at her dagger and she used the opportunity to aims it at another knife on the other side of the stage, bending the lightning's path to her will. The success of her stunt filled her with confidence, a few seconds later when the lightning arc was jumping near her she pulled another one of her dagger, once again trying to direct its path but when she tried to swing it to the other side of the stage the lightning jumped from her dagger towards the biggest metallic object on the stage, the applause o whatever.

Shuuri didn't meant to do that, w-who put the damn thing there?? Her face got pale when she watched her lightning jumped across the machine's surface, diving through the cogs into whatever mechanism lying inside, resurfaced then runs through the pipe at a much higher speed than before. The machine react by letting out a loud rumbling noises, the needle on its gauge was swaying repeatedly from one end to the other before it slowly stopped as the lightning arc gradually loses its power. 11/10.

"O-oops?" She was panicking at the sight of the machine going crazy so she did the only thing she knew to fix the machine. She kicked it again, thankfully the machine seemed to respond positively and went back to normal. The beastkin immediately bowed to the audiences as if it was all part of the performance and jumped off from the stage. There's quite some applause from the audiences but Shuuri just hide between ramdom crates while biting her nails. She was afraid that if she broke expensive things she would be ordered to work for free, just like that time she broke a fancy vase and was told to be dish cleaner for a week or get jailed.
 
"Oh, uhhh. Uh oh," Cornelius said weakly, as he watched his machine get lit up with crackling electricity. The machine, for its part, let out a distinctly human sounding "Urrrk," and then fell silent before, with a final clang a hatch on the side of the machine swung open and a frazzled looking orc girl flopped out onto the stage. The girl was unconscious and her clothes and hair were singed from the electricity that had pulsed through the machine she had been concealed within.

"Oh uh! Goodness how did she get in there!?" Cornelius exclaimed in a blustering voice loud enough for the crowd to hear. "A stowaway of some kind!? I can't even begin to imagine," Quickly the dwarf hurried over to the orc and hooked his arms underneath her shoulders to drag her off stage. "Let this be a lesson to all you children in the crowd not to sneak into places you aren't allowed!" Cornelius said, dragging the orc away as she mumbled something incoherent. "Now then let us proceed with the demonstrations! Unfortunately due to some slight damage the Applause-o-tron 5000 mark 2 has sustained I will need to uhh... conduct some slight repairs! Yes, from inside the machine," Cornelius said as he began to climb into the applause-o-tron through the hatch the orc girl had fallen out of.

"Nevertheless the show must go on!" Cornelius called from inside the machine, his cheery salesmen voice now tinny and distorted. "Please welcome our next applicant to the stage!"
 
Lief Greenhill

"...Well... Now or never..." The dwarven fellow started to walk up to the stage he stepped once upon the wood and heard a unpleasant creak... Hmm...? How... Annoying... Could it really withstand magic...? It mattered not.

He stood atop, quietly examining the crowd as much as they did him. "My name is Leif Greenhill, and as you might expect, I am here today to show you what I can do, and give you all a show at the same time.

It if unfortunate, that my spells are not as flashy as some." He withdraws his sword and bares ot forwards. "The blade, sorcery requires incantation, bows and such require arrows, a blade needs no such things.

So there in it becomes the base for great power!"

He begins, reinforcement, the magic surging up from his hand and up the blade like a wave, the magic forming a weave before laying it'self upon it with a spark of light. "Simple work for a two tome spell, repair and reconstruction! But not all!

Behold."

With a stomp, a pole of stone rose up from beneath the stage, punching up a board, then another and then 2 more, surrounded on four corners he begins first right, striking causing the stone pole to shatter, following the one behind, then the front, then to his left.

"And... Not a scratch upon the blade!" He holds it up showing the crowd. "No more whetstones for me hmm?

A degree of red magic doesn't go amiss." A small gout of flame from his other hand. "And geomancy, letting the earth's blood flow." Infront of the stage, a small gout of oil which he tossed the flame upon. Both gave off a small burst, well away from the crowd at least.

"Simple tricks, but simple doesn' mean useless. For a knife is simple, but we use one each day.

Now, I bid you all adiue, for that is all for this small displa- Ach!" His yelped as accompanied by a crack of wood, the sound of a loug BUNk as his head hit on the way down... The stage not liking the stone intruders, causing a dwarf sized hole to form where he stood...

Underneath, therein Lief lay, dazed from the smack on the head on the way down...
 
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Kandor Don Genée Terraccois
(Valora - Merryvale Marketsquare)

"Thank you. If I'd known the beastkin population of this city were so... rambunctious, I would have chosen to watch from further away," she said, noncommittally offering just enough for him to either end the engagement with a brief reply, or pursue a further conversation.

Kandor finished dusting himself down and looked back to the stage where the beastkin in question were standing for all to behold.

"Yes, I'd be inclined to agree..." He rested a relaxed hand on the hilt of the silver dagger holstered on the back of his waist, hidden under the cloak, "The carefree demeanour of this city is almost infectious."

Almost. Things certainly seemed somewhat happy-go-lucky in what Kandor now realised to be an unironically named Merryvale, but he was not one to get swept up in the euphoria of naivety. He had done some research before coming to Valora. There were neighbours all around the country's borders that might not be necessarily as friendly as the current peace time suggested. And beyond that were the three factions that ruled Valora; The Riverlands, The Arming Lake and The Great Forest. Internal power struggles were a thing that Kandor had been made to study extensively, among other topics of political intrigue. What Valora had now seemed tenuous in his opinion.

Kandor's eyes flitted back to Cornelius as he began announcing the big show's main act. He then rolled said eyes as the dwarfven proprietor confirmed exactly what Kandor had assumed would happen. A glorified talent show, of course. As obvious as it had been to the young noble, he for some reason still hadn't dismissed the notion participation entirely. In actuality, he'd been thinking up an idea for an act of his own should he choose to join the stage, rhythmically passing a small coin between his fingers as he did. Kandor had ideally wanted to remain under-the-map and work quietly when arriving to Valora, make some money and hone his craft as one of the many faceless freecasters working in one of many competing guilds. Revealing his identity as the heir of a powerful faction in the Narid Peninsula was not something he wanted to do frequently, especially if his bastardisation was not yet public knowledge here. He had been captured for ransom before and it had been entirely terrifying.

The volunteers that performed all conjured interesting variations of magic, but Kandor was disappointed in how many managed to damage themselves or their surroundings in the process. This was not what he'd signed up for when choosing to become a freecaster. A frown accompanied crossed arms as he watched on. It was his understanding that a freecaster was to aid and safeguard the people from the various dangers that precede the world's current defenses. While Kandor wasn't entirely uninterested in the wellbeing of those not associated with him, he only served the people for the sake of his pride as a self-perceived professional. And that meant making things as safe as possible for those unable to do so for themselves. So far, he had witnessed nothing but hazards to a potential questgiver and he thought it to be generally understood that harming your paycheck in any way was bad.

Genuine surprise was written across his face as someone actually crawled out of the 'Applaus-o-tron 5000 Mark II' after it had been struck by one of the beastkin's displays. Kandor shook his head, almost unable to believe what his eyes were showing him. Cornelius' conspicuous attempt at covering up the apparent ineffectuality of his machine didn't help assure Kandor's doubts. As the last contestant of the 'talent' show finished his act by falling through the stage, Kandor decided that he simply had to step up if only to reaffirm the good reputation of freecasters to the general public. It would be bad for him if rumours of dangerous freecasters began permeating Merryvale.

Kandor moved forward to slip through the crowd, glancing back at Ramona as he went, "Excuse me, miss."

Stepping onto the stage, he turned to face the crowd. He looked around, taking in all the faces that stared back at him. In his head the performance he'd concocted was simple and effective, but now that he was the centre of attention a shiver went up his spine. Was this really going to work? He liked to think of himself as well-studied and able to handle pressure, but what if it wasn't enough?

He grit his teeth anxiously, trying not to let his otherwise upstanding and ingratiating facade fall. He could account for the effects of his own actions, but people were unpredictable. What if his display was poorly received? He didn't want to be forced to reveal any more magic than needed and trying a impromptu trick after having failed once would wound his pride. Maybe they could already tell he was having doubts, maybe they already knew his plan would bomb, maybe they had noticed he had been standing silently for possibly much longer than was normal-

Crack.

Kandor sighed. What a comforting sound and sensation.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and associated outer-gender individuals, my name is Kandor Aurelius. I intend to showcase my expertise in the illusory arts, but..." With a warm smile, he extended a hand to the crowd, "I need a volunteer."

A couple tentative hands went and Kandor pointed to one, who promptly hopped up onto the stage. A young Heartlander with short auburn hair and a rogueish look, clearly dubious about what the bluecaster's showcase would entail given the previous freecaster candidates. Kandor smiled and led the doubtful boy to the centre of the stage before turning back to the crowd.

"I would like to assure the fine people of Merryvale that my performance is completely safe. I will go behind the curtains and, after ten seconds, there will be five of me." He waited to allow the audience time to take it in with a few muted questions and scratched heads.

He turned to the boy he had brought onstage, "It's you're job to point to the one you think is the real me. Pick carefully though, I'm very good at what I do."

"Oh yeah?" The boy replied with a smirk, "They call me Eagle-Eye-Earl, I bet you I'll win!"

Kandor chuckled, looking to the crowd, "Well, if it's a bet you want... If you guess correctly, you can have this." He showed his hands to the boy, which were empty, then flourished them to reveal a coin now between his fingers. He let the boy look at the foreign currency for a moment before holding it up for the crowd to see.

"And now, if Mister Ethelstein has no objections, we shall proceed..."

Kandor gestured for the workers sat off to the side of the stage to move, which they did after a moment of hesitation, and disappeared behind the aforementioned curtains. Standing by the Applause-o-tron, Kandor was about to prepare to cast his spell when he stopped altogether.

"Fine machine you have there, Cornelius." He said to the machine, well aware the dwarf was still inside.

All that followed after was crackcrackcrackcrackcrack-

The auburn-haired boy watched with wonder as the curtains eventually raised to reveal five identical Kandors lined up before him, "Oh shucks..."

The crowd gasped, astonished that there were actually five of the odd but friendly cloaked man. Of course, it was a 2nd tome spell - somewhat more impressive than the mere party tricks a 1st tome spell could achieve. However, the real illusion still had yet to be revealed. The boy struggled to point to any one illusion in particular before finally settling on the furthest to the right. The image of Kandor dissolved into mist once pointed at, earning a few exclamations of wonderment. Frowning, the boy pointed to the furthest clone on the left, which also dissolved in turn. Baffled, the boy pointed to the right and then left to which both clones turned to mist before his very eyes. Gasping along with the crowd, the boy eyed the last Kandor.

"Fine, you got me. You win." He crossed his arms with a scowl, unhappy that he lost.

Kandor walked slowly over to the boy with a smile and the shake of his head, but oddly saying nothing. Then, just as he reached the boy, Kandor dissolved into mist too.

Back where Ramona was standing, a cloaked figure walked by the spirit-caster and gave her a nod, "Excuse me, miss."

Jumping back up onto the stage, Kandor rejoined his volunteer with clapping, "I'd like to thank my helpful assistant here for participating, thank you." He placed the coin in the boy's hands anyway, placing a hand behind his back and waving to the crowd that had now begun applauding them after a brief moment of shock and surprise. The boy seemed just as surprised as everyone else, smiling and laughing along. No one had suspected that none of the Kandors on the stage were the real one, but that he had actually snuck back into the crowd while they were all focused on the curtains. It was a simple combination of a little magic and mostly stagecraft, but it seemed to have been well-received.

The Applause-o-tron's meter steadily rose with the applause, resting at a solid 7. Kandor glanced back, scowling at the machine while his face was turned, and the meter squeaked and ticked up to an 8. Returning his attention back to the crowd with a smile, Kandor bowed and took his exit off the side of the stage. Perhaps he had just been caught up in concentrating on playing his role, but Kandor briefly forgot the side of the stage had a metre drop to the ground and awkwardly stepped off the edge. Disappearing from view, he quickly reappeared mid-rebalancing and tried to play it off by dusting his lapels.

Walking over to a nearby bench nearby, Kandor let out a large sigh of relief and massaged his temples. It had been a while since he'd tried a trick like that in front of a large audience. He used to perform the same acts when he was younger and still learning the illusory-style clone spell. For a brief moment he felt like he was back home, back when things were still okay and he wasn't...

Kandor's brow creased as the idea brought up unpleasant memories and he returned his gaze to the stage for a view on the next act, his aloof expression already returning.

AtlannianSpy AtlannianSpy
Flashwolf96 Flashwolf96
 
So, it wasn't even a scam, but something below even that. A poorly-plotted vaudeville with a fair few moving parts, complicated by allowing boisterous volunteers who had power that far exceeded their restraint. The beastkin were predictably flashy with their powers, almost instantly exposing the trick at the core of this little pantomime. Most of the places Valla'd been, she'd have gotten chased out of town if she tried to pull a scheme like that. She didn't know much about machines, but she knew magitech tended to act up in response to mages exercising their powers nearby. Who would expect a contraption like that to work with so many mages around? The shadow elf seemed like a fellow who knew how to be subtle, but he gave a good enough show as well. He didn't seem like a local, else Valla would have put money on "Eagle-Eyed Earl" being a plant. The dwarf was...well, he was doing his best.

Curiosity well piqued, Valla closed Zara's pouch between her fingers, feeling it whisk safely into one of the hidden pockets in her robes. With a life like hers, that was as secure as you could get. Her ill-gotten gains secure for the moment, she left a coin for her and Zara's drinks before getting up and approaching the gathered crowd, scanning for likely volunteers. The gliding fox scored fairly low, and the beastkin that followed had scored high only because she directly influenced the machine. That seemed to imply that Cornelius and his well-muscled friend were...selecting for specific talents, despite their claims. If someone demonstrating a different type of mana got on stage...

Bullseye. The green-haired girl who seemed to be on guard for something after the little scuffle that happened near her. Clearing her throat, Valla raised her voice's pitch an octave or two. Combined with her stature that was on the small side, she was confident she could appear to be one of her peers. Treading quietly towards her, Valla gave her a little nudge in the crowd. "Hey miss, you're a mage too, right? Did you come here to join a guild? Even if this one doesn't look like much, maybe if you show what you can do here other guilds will notice too!" She beamed. "I think you could really wow them!"

Hanarei Hanarei
 
Pavlos Briggs
Far above his head, the crowd surged at an entity that soared through the airs. Whatever it was, the audience's attention was affixed to its shape. As Pavlos brushed from shoulder to shoulder, he began to gather details about the gathering. One man made mention of the creation of a freecaster guild. Another spoke with enthusiasm about some scoring device. Pavlos was nearing the center of the mass when half of the audience cried out while ogling the air. Amber eyes were quick to hone in on a silhouette that grew larger and larger as it approached the floor. Crash! Pavlos was hasty in throwing up an arm to shield his eyes from the splintered wooden shrapnel. The body was too embedded into the platform for him to make out any details. Her performance met its denouement, perhaps at the cost of her life; the audience was dead-silent before the strange machine threw up a matching figure. Was that the score? "Shame. Do yew tink' that's enough to go on the little man's little guild?" A formless voice cried out from behind his shoulder. Ah. So that's what this was. With his performance in mind, he began to pick up loose pebbles, random debris, and some of the splintered wood while steadily approaching the front of the mass.

He paused his collecting when a new beastkin took center stage. Better to take the time to observe than to act rashly. Two blond eyebrows knit together closely at the sight of a searing arc devastated the machine. An orcish body flopped onto the platform below, the body count of this performance now at 2. He could not help but wonder what circumstance led the orc to mistake the machine as a place for refuge. Perhaps it was a detail innate only to orcish culture? Pavlos let out a brief prayer that the gadget would not malfunction for his performance.

A very young boy was next on the stage, it made Pavlos wonder where his parents were. The little affair was not a safe gathering, a detail that would be very apparent now. Pavlos would have mistaken the young man for a dwarf if he had a beard, but instead, he wore a smooth chin. Pavlos only lost his gaze for but a moment when the boy took a stumble. He winced at the cracking sound that resonated through the crowd from the potential concussion. At this point, a new injury was hardly a surprise. That would make three performances and three bodies likely stripped of their consciousness. Pavlos briefly reconsidered partaking to preserve his safety when a shadow elf took their turn. Surprisingly, his performance was relatively clean and devoid of any traumatic injuries. Pavlos tossed around the variety of small objects he collected in his palm. With a deep inhale and exhale, he extended the opposite arm and pulled himself to the platform.

From this high up, it was easy to see the crowd had become denser. In the distance, Pavlos could see fellows ushering their friends joyfully to join in. His eyes widened at the realization that the focus was now on him—he herded his nerves quickly and took a low bow. "Greetings, my friends. My name is Pavlos, and I am a proud member of the Brightwells. It is easy to see that this city is littered with reprobate minds. Should you wish to correct your ways, merely find me after this showing." A mix of groans and less than fond language mixed into an incomprehensible gurgle by the time it found his ears. With his free hand, he stripped a line of cloth from the tattered end of his cloak and pulled the hood back to show his face. Now, he tied the strip of fabric to cover his eyes and secured it around the back of his head. His palm unfurled to reveal the random assortment of objects it held. "Please do excuse the lack of fanfare. I will let the work of Freyr speak for me."

Blind, the only thing he could feel was the heat emanating off the countless bodies before him. Each shape in his palm he studied by rolling them around the fat of his thumb. Every crack, crevice, crease, and compression was committed to memory before he curled his arm back and focused. The interest of the crowd became a gentle buzz at the back of his mind. In total, he gathered: a small chunk of rounded wood, a crooked pebble, a dull nail, and a cheap iron ring. With a fling, each object soared through the air and over the crowd. The few in the front recoiled and aimed their arms overhead to protect their faces—yet the clutter would never land onto them. A decisive sweep sent bright beads of light lurching above the audience from the tips of Pavlos' fingers. The vivid lights curved and bent around one another. In the passing half-second, it became clear that each had a destination. One after the other, in a cacophony of clashes, four subsequent snaps resounded through the air. Where each object had stood, instead was a bright light in the shape of a diamond.

What remained of the impact was a wave of dully glowing embers. The orange hue of the debris dulled as the wind whisked them out of sight. At the removal of his self-made blindfold, his gaze fell on the number 6. A fair assessment. With a short bow, he gave space for the next mage to take the stage.
 
Jade Evergarden
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Jade had kept a watchful eye on the... 'show'. It was about as much of a complete disaster as she had expected. To put on a show as a Mage was something you could easily plan, to ask other participants to join in without any idea of just what their capabilities might be was ripe to lead to complete disaster. She hadn't expected it to be that horrific of an event though seeing a poor fried orc came falling out after the short beastkin zapped the faux machine. A look of concern upon Jade's face at her condition as she was dragged off bythe dwarven ring leader. She didn't appear burned, just singed, but electricity could have various negative effects upon the body that might not show upon first viewing. It could through a wrench through your body's inner workers if it is disruptive enough and the body isn't prepared for it.

The disaster only seemed to pile on as the rough state of the stage itself was put into question as another sketchy looking dwarf so swiftly went about destroying the stage ripping it apart and certainly the already questionable structural integrity was made that much worst. It appeared his carelessness had struck back too as he suddenly crashed through the stage falling down out of sight. The green haired girl only lifting her hand up in horror putting it on her face shaking her head. This appeared to be the most helpless showcase she had ever witnessed in her life. As the dark elf wandered on the stage her hand had lowered looking on her gaze a bit more sharper looking on with some suspicion. Naturally, he seemed unconcerned wti the orc, nor the shoddy looking dwarf who had fallen through the stage. Just working on his act. As expected of a Dark elf.

Her cautious look upon him had caused the green haired Mage to be all but unaware as a small creepy devious figure approached. She let out a sudden gasp as she was nudged, fumbling forward, being far more cautious to catch herself (albiet the nudge was far from as jarring) before tumbling and having a repeat of what that girl from earlier had happen. The girl blushed looking a bit embarrassed and almost sweet. It was quickly and all so briefly disrupted by a glare glancing back like daggers trying to find the one who had did it, their yelling having been missed. Despite attempting to look sweet in her little shuffle into the public eye she half desired to smack the person who had gotten her up in front of people for it if she figured out who it was. Luckily for her it seemed another had stepped up quickly giving her the briefest of pauses.

She let out a sigh as she took the bit of space she had pulling out her satchel sliding her fingers through to get the right seeds as she pulled them out. Her head turning towards the Pavlos person who seemed to take eyes from her though less then she would of liked. It seemed she had to do something now still as she dropped the seeds as they seemed to sink into the ground almost instantly as she clasped her hands together.

Anguis Vinea

The girl stood in place as from the ground snake line vines grew out, entangling together to create a sturdy little platform. She stepped onto it, the vines lightly wrapping around her feet as she held her hands together to concentrate the vines suddenly taking off raising her up in the air towards the stage. Rather then stop at the center, the vines stopped at the first hole the dwarf had created, Jade carefully easing herself down shuffling slightly as she got her footing walking on the stage. She lifted her one hand in quick gesture the vine that had carried her to the stage dissipating as it rapidly decayed turning into soil, the remnants falling to the ground as a fine dust. She held her hands together focusing her efforts glancing over at the whole the dwarf had made as she purposely avoided it. While likely not very visible to the crowd her vines began to grow following along the structure of the stage acting as support. Where the holes were, vines flowed up briefly peeking up before twirling about creating some makeshift platforms. Lacking the smooth surface of the original stage though at least acting as some sort of ground to prevent someone from falling down.

"I apologize for the lack of a proper show attire, though I hadn't expected to be put on the spot like this. I hope I might not be too much of an eye soar in less elegant attire. Jade Evergarden isn't one who likes to disappoint those who depend on her." She spoke brushing her hair briefly smiling as she gave a wink as if in acknowledgement. To say Jade wasn't confident in her own beauty would be a flat out lie. Not that she flaunted it typically but if she was going to put on a bit of a show she wanted to create the best impression she could to get people's eyes drawn to her.

"None the less, I'm afraid a fancy show will have to be put on hold as one who puts the wellbeing of others who might be hurt before theatrics, I must make sure our current substage dweller is healthy." She spoke attempting to downplay the theatrics... while she was being a bit theatric doing so. She kept her one hand clenched as the other opened up lifting up as the vines beneath the stage had found the fallen dwarf along with her carefully glancing gaze. Her hand gesture all being for show as the vines lifted him up carefully propping him up slightly slanted to allow him to remain 'dazed' though putting him on display. It was pretty clear he wasn't seriously hurt though he had a bit of a concussion. The girl slipping her hand through her satchel pulling out a small flat ointment jar. A strength faint green substance visible, Aloes Sigillum, as her magic was called.

"My own devised treatment to cure any small ailments, pain and discomfort. A creation of my own and one I'd be willing to give any of you should you need special treatment." She spoke with a wink bowing her head before taking the sticky Aloe, rubbing her fingers through it and applying it to the bump on the daze's dwarf's head. The ointment itself feeling almost instantly cooling to the touch as well as numbing any throbbing... and being a bit stick in the process. The girl smiling as she slipped the premade ointment back into her satchel as she looked to the crowd using her hand to quickly gesture dismissing thje extra vines as seeds fell into her hand slipping it as well in her satchel. The remaining seeds twisting to create some ground where the dwarf shaped whole was, again lacking the smoothness of wood though it was far better then having another place to fall through.

"Again, my apologies for putting on such a lackluster show, but my duties as a healer comes first. I hope I might get a chance though to meet all of you and my own created brand of healing remedies and my magical talents might be used to one day help you personally." She spoke bowing as she attempted to do a bit more flourishing while pretending not to. Hopefully a decent enough show while tending to the chaos. She turned more looking like she was acting as a model as she went towards the back of the stage to try and find the orc. While she seemed like it hadn't been anything serious, she did want to give her a look over and make sure everything was okay.

Interacted: Orikanyo Orikanyo Nellancholy Nellancholy AtlannianSpy AtlannianSpy
 
And there it was.

At first she had actually been mildly impressed, having not seen anything like the strange contraption Cornelius had presented on stage. But now Ramona couldn't help but roll her eyes as the ruse fell apart to reveal what it truly was; no magic, no true advanced machinery, just cheap tricks and petty dishonesty. Cornelius, despite his short stature, truly was nothing more than a big dog barking as loud as he could to hide how weak his bite was. A con man. A fraud. His practiced bravado and showmanship had her wondering just how long he had prepared for this pseudo-pyramid scheme. What sort of hidden angle lay behind this strange recruitment effort? What was the benefit of putting on a public show like this when he was seemingly in full control of how the meter reacted to each performance? What was he looking for among the mages of Valora, truly?

Ramona didn't know. And that made her wholly aware of just how dangerous this all really was. Was this sort of thing even legal? Some of the participants looked so excited, so eager to put their skills on display and make a name for themselves. Even the gracious man that had caught her stumble earlier had gotten swept into the atmosphere and gone up to apply. The idea of such people losing everything to one man's lies birthed a twisting knot in the pit of her gut. Not of guilt, no, but of anger. And disappointment too, as it seemed even her stalwartly-united neighbors were no strangers to preying on the weak and innocent.

Well, she hadn't been expecting any different anyway. In the end, everyone was an opportunist.

Ramona shut her eyes coldly, refusing to gaze at the faces of the prospects anymore. It was a shame for the others, but she had no desire to bring attention to herself by openly challenging this farce. It was dangerous enough appearing in Valora without having put on any sort of disguise, relying on her change in name and the fact that her only time in the country had been when she was younger to remain incognito. If someone were to recognize her now, all of the work she'd done to get this far would be for nothing, and her goals would become that much more difficult to achieve while under the threat of capture.

"ALRIGHT, IT'S MY TURN! OUTTA THE WAYYYYYY!!!!" A large, booming voice brought her out of her thoughts as yet another person came shoveling through the crowd. Ramona made sure not to impede the young girl's warpath this time and stepped aside, along with several other people until a clear path was provided for her to clamber up onto the stage like those before her.

This one was a scruffy youth, looking barely more than a preteen and dressed in ragged clothing, yet sporting a grin wide enough to split her face in two. A few murmurs went through the crowd at the strange girl, then went quiet as she boldly stomped against the stage, arms crossed. "Listen up! If you thought any of those last losers were any good then all of your brains must be nothing but mush! I'll show you what real magic looks like! Better get ready to clap, 'cause this'll be a perfect ten, easy!"

Oh great, another dog has come barking. A deep sigh escaped Ramona's lips at the girl's bold statements and unnecessary provocations. Still, she looked on, if only to see what this loudmouthed idiot had in mind to create a so-called "perfect ten".

"Oh, but first I need a target. Um... Hey you! The chick with the bow." Ramona blinked as the kid's finger jabbed in her direction, and suddenly all eyes were on her. On instinct, she brought a hand up to touch the very bow in question as it sat slung over right shoulder. "C'mon up here so I have something to aim at."

"I refuse."

"W-What? Why?!" The girl looked utterly taken aback by Ramona's immediate reply. "C'mon, just do it! I can't cast this spell without a target, and that big white jacket of yours is perfect!"

"Even if you tell me that, my answer is still no."

"Well then, how am I supposed to do this?!" The girl whined, almost throwing a tantrum right there on stage. Still, Ramona didn't budge and simply stared at her blankly.

"Are you an idiot? There's no point in asking me something like that. Rather, why would I agree to be your practice dummy in the first place? I have no idea what kind of dangerous spell you're going to throw at me."

"It's not even that dangerous though..." One of her cheeks puffed up in a bitter pout, and for a moment it seemed like that would be the end of it. But the girl soon perked up once more. "F-Fine then! I'll just do it anyway! A-Aiming from this far is n-no problem! Just watch me!"

"No, I'm telling you that I don't want to be your target-"

Ramona's protest went ignored, and the girl instead brought her hands together with a small space between, muttering under her breath as she put her full concentration into her efforts. She stayed like that for quite a while; at least a minute and a half passed before a light shone from the space between her palms, growing in size until she held it in both hands.

Is that... a ball of fire? So her plan was something like that after all. But, for something so small, why did it take so long to incant...?

"So your plan was to throw that at me? And you wanted me to just stand there and take it?" Ramona asked sharply, gaze narrowed.

The girl didn't respond, and just continued muttering to herself.

"...If your skill in magic is so low that it takes your full concentration to do this much, then you should just give up for now and keep practicing," Ramona continued, and found herself ignored yet again. Another minute went by before Ramona took an annoyed step forward. "Hey, that's enough already! Any competent enemy will have killed you long before you could cast even a simple fire ball, so just give it up! And why in the world did you think this would get you a score of te-"

A sudden boom! cut off her words, not because she was startled by the noise, but because the accompanying sight had caused the rest of her sentence to catch in her throat.

In the blink of an eye, the small ball in the girl's hands had grown, immensely, until it was almost as large as the stage itself. The girl held it above her head with a wide smirk, reveling in the awed and horrified expressions on the spectators' faces. Even Ramona found herself wide-eyed as she and others in the crowd fell under the ball's shadow.

That... What tome is that...?

"Wahahaha!!! Take a look at this, losers! This is real magic!" she shouted, eyes alight with glee as she strained to hold up the massive ball. But from Ramona's perspective, the way the flames were reflected in her eyes as she stared down at them made her look extremely dangerous.

"Y-You... really are an idiot...!" Ramona barked, forcing herself to snap out of the shock and move before this crazy kid got someone hurt, or worse. In a nervous haste she removed the bow from her shoulder. She too began incanting.

"Who's the idiot, idiot?! Look at you, shaking in your boots 'cause you know you'll never master a spell this cool! And why are you getting all serious all of a sudden? I never said I was gonna throw this at anyone, just that I need a target to focus on to cast it properl-, whoa!" The girl suddenly wobbled as a small explosion burst out of one side of the ball. Her gaze snapped up to see other small explosions appearing along its surface. "W-What the...? This didn't happen before..."

I knew it, there's no way she can control something like that properly. I need to hurry and-!

"A-...Ahaha... Th-Th-That's weird." The girl let out a shaky laugh as she wobbled once more, nearly falling off the stage entirely as a larger explosion tossed her center of gravity off to one side. "Why isn't it l-listening to me...?"

"...Everyone is in danger. Please, help me with this," Ramona concluded her chant with those words, then addressed the girl. "Hey! Throw it this way!"

"W-What?! Are you crazy-"

"You're the one who's crazy for going this far! Just trust me and throw it already before you make things worse!"

"U-Ugh... f-fine! But it's not my fault if something happens!" the girl replied before hesitantly tossing the blazing ball towards the crowd.

No, it absolutely is... wasn't something she had time to argue at the moment. Instead, she raised the bow and pulled the string taut, tensing as if preparing to fire an actual arrow. With sweat dripping down her brow, she took a deep breath to steady any last minute nerves, then let it snap. Right away, a white light emitted from the space directly above her head, which quickly grew into a large transparent dome that surrounded herself and those from the crowd that were immediately next to her just before the ball made contact. Ramona grimaced at the cracks that immediately formed on the dome's surface as the ball fought to overpower it, confirming her suspicions that it was indeed something she couldn't stop with just that one spell.

But that was fine. She just needed it to buy her enough time for the next one.

"Everyone else, please take some distance. I will deal with this safely, but it's still dangerous to be nearby," she told those that couldn't fit in the barrier, who were more than willing to oblige rather than stay within proximity of the ball.

"...Okay, again." Ramona then shut her eyes, doing her best to put the looming threat of a fiery fate and the panicking crowd out of her mind as she focused on preparing the next spell. The exact same incantation done exactly the same way, and soon she let loose another imaginary shot that spawned a second barrier slightly beneath the first. She cut it close too, as it wasn't long after that the flaming ball smashed through the first barrier right into the second. More cracks formed.

"...Again." The same incantation once more. Ramona felt herself becoming more fatigued the more she kept at it, but she knew the sloppily-done spell wouldn't outlast her. She fired again, and a third barrier appeared just as the ball broke through the second. It was smaller now. One more would do it.

Her hands were shaking slightly as she pulled the bowstring this time, and she did her best to ignore the feeling of lightheadedness from the heat, the pressuring situation, and from having expelled quite a bit of mana consecutively. She kept her expression as even as possible and forced her eyes closed, thinking back to the days where she trained in her family's manor. Don't hold your breath. Steady your breathing and relax. Block out all outside disruptions. Clear your mind and focus only on the target before you. Aim. And then...

The final snap was made just in time to stop the ball once more, and Ramona opened her eyes to see that it was finally starting to dissipate, no longer able to sustain itself using the mana it was fed. Once the embers eventually faded away, Ramona too did away with her heavily-damaged third barrier and let herself fall to a knee, using the bow to keep herself upright so as to not collapse on the spot. She wasn't out of mana, but the drop in her reserves was enough to make her just a bit nauseous such that she needed to take several labored breaths until she managed to calm down.

After wiping her sweat away with a handkerchief from her pocket, she pushed herself to her feet once more to berate the girl for her recklessness, only to find the entire crowd staring at her. Several moments of silence passed as Ramona took in their mildly surprised expressions one by one, internally wincing as the very situation she'd wanted to avoid was now taking place. "W-What? What's with those..."

*clap*

Ramona whipped around at the sudden noise to see a small boy that had been one of the ones she'd encased in her barriers with his palms pressed together. Still quiet, he clapped again, then a third time. Soon the woman standing next to him, his mother by all appearances, joined in. Then a trio from the side started as well, and Ramona turned to them just as more noises appeared from a different place. More and more claps entered the mix, steadily increasing in speed until all of a sudden a resounding applause was traveling through the market square, accompanied by excited whistles and cheers.

Eh...?

Ramona looked up to the stage to meet eyes with the girl who had caused the debacle in the first place, finding her sporting a similarly confused expression. Almost as if on instinct, the two of them directed their gazes at the Applause-o-tron 5000 mark 2 together.

...

...Huh?

Perfect ten.

"Aha... ahahaha... WAHAHAHA!!!" The girl seemed to come to her senses far faster than Ramona, and pressed her knuckles into her hips in a gallant hero pose as she bellowed out a laugh. "See, see?! What did I say?! As expected of the great me, nothing short of a perfect te-, ah-, hey!" Unfortunately, her gloating was cut short as a couple of men from the crowd stormed up to her and seized her arms from both sides. "W-What do you think you're doing! Lemme go! HEEEEEYYYYY!!!"

And like that, they dragged her off, presumably to the nearest guardhouse to report her near-incineration of innocent bystanders. Conversely, Ramona was still trying to comprehend the situation as she found herself being pushed forward by the crowd until she herself was front and center along with some of the other applicants. It seemed that, in her efforts to protect herself and the rest of the spectators from immolation, she'd inadvertently impressed the crowd and gotten herself chosen to join the guild.

But she hadn't even wanted to join in the first place...

And yet, despite that... she wasn't making any moves to leave. Despite her increasing negativity towards this entire situation, Ramona realized that she still hadn't made any attempts to remove herself from the area and go searching for a more upstanding guild to apply for. And somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew why.

She wanted to stick around. She wanted to see who else would try to join. Up until this recent debacle, her eyes had been carefully trained on the people that were trying out for the guild one by one. She watched their performances with rapt attention, analyzing every movement, making note of all the subtle mannerisms and spells that were used. The first of them had filled her with profound concern more than any sort of awe, but they were still impressive feats of magic in their own right, more than suitable for directing attention away from herself during confrontations. The rest had been more subtle displays of skill that lent credence to each mage's true talent, satisfactory for bodyguards. Despite her misgivings, Ramona couldn't help but see the potential in joining up with this odd bunch. And if she found that there truly were misdeeds behind Cornelius' intentions, then she would simply leave and find a different guild. But for now, as far as she could tell, the perfect guild to be used for her benefit had been handed to her on a silver platter. And use she would.

After all, everyone was an opportunist in the end. And she was no exception.
 
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Jade had given a modest, but undeniably effective demonstration of her capabilities. Those that could heal and soothe the most pressing, most conspicuous injuries were sure to be well-received wherever they went, and while mundane society had accomplished many great feats in botany and medicine, the time of the magical healer was far from over. Valla needed a way to follow Jade's act with something the audience would think was similar. Reaching over to a flowerpot on a nearby windowsill, Valla broke one of the fresh, blooming flowers at the base of its stem, holding it between her fingers so that its impression could be stored in her mana. Turning it over, she gingerly poked it back into the soil. Maybe it could keep growing like that. Or maybe it couldn't, she wasn't much of a biologist either.

Just as she started to make her way to the stage to give her pitch, yet another girl broke out from the crowd, knocking people aside. Another show-off, it seemed, bickering with the girl wearing a white jacket and proceeding to gather...a massive fireball?! The ball swelled and grew above the girl's head as she boasted, but it gradually burned out of control, and-

It flared up, like a miniature sun in the middle of the day. And to top it all off, the white-haired one told her to throw it at the crowd.

Moving from instinct, Valla grabbed the nearest person to her, who happened to be a small child. "Look out...!" Turning, she moved to shield the child in her grasp. She could have run away, but there was no way she could counteract magic of that force, and...

The white-haired girl took charge, her bow loosing arrows that formed into barriers that rapidly ablated the raging flames. No one was hurt, not even a little singed. Much of the crowd had turned their attention to their savior while the braggart was marched away...

"Phew...that was close. You alright, kid?" She rubbed the kid's hair, causing replicas of the flower she picked to grow, entwining around their hair to form a flower crown. "Hold onto that, alright? I guess it's my turn then." The flowers would dissolve in an hour, but it was probably a nice enough gift anyway.

Taking advantage of the diverted attention of the crowd, Valla turned her cloak inside out and tied a headscarf over her hair, adopting her guise as a woman of the cloth. Taking the stage, she turned once and gave a curtsy. Time to improvise.

"A thousand felicitations, people of Merryvale. I am...Dahlia of the Order of the Gentle Lily. My pilgrimage has taken me far from the Sunrise Coast from whence I came, and I wish to bring the good word of our principles to your ears. Unlike some of the...passionate aspirants you have witnessed today on this stage, our order believes in modesty, the love of simple beauty, and dedication to all manner of arts and honest work." She twirled her hands a little for emphasis, swirls of light emitting from her fingers. "While we do not seek to impose our ways on others, we invite all who feel troubled to contemplate the peace they could find living in harmony with nature, free from the pursuit of wealth and power...and I believe this demonstration will show what it means to nurture and sustain, instead of to destroy and control."

With that, she gave a smile and a clap. "Come to me, children of nature!" From beneath and behind the stage came forth a motley assembly of small creatures in spirit form, mice and pixies, butterflies and wood sprites. "Let not the work of the craftsman be squandered!" At her word, the spirits swarmed over the stage, patching and stitching the shredded curtains, driving ebony nails into loose joints, wood sprites turning themselves into hunks of wood to replace splintered planks. The work may have seemed a little unsettling to watch, but it was swift and effective, if not the most precise.

As the spirits dispersed, she gave a bow. "This is the work of one who bears a humble heart in all they do, and devotes themselves to aiding the spirits and their fellow man. I believe this opportunity to lend my hand to this guild can expand my own horizons, and yours, oh people of Merryvale." In truth, the repairs were enough to stand up to casual observation, but the replacement planks were barely sturdier than cardboard, and the curtains would split again with a good tug. Real repairs would take a good grasp of black magic, more mana to bind the spirits longer and more reliably, and most importantly, actual raw materials. Still, if anyone tried to follow her act, they'd probably cause even more damage, and no one would ever notice her deception...

Still quite taken with Ramona, most of the crowd didn't bother to applaud. But a few did, and the gauge on the Applause-o-tron rose to...3. Valla shot a glare at where she knew Cornelius sat, but her expression soon changed back to a serene smile as she stepped offstage. She'd made an impression by contrast with the others, and that would be enough to get a few more opportunities in this town...as long as Zara didn't come back.
 
Ezra Lunaris

Ezra wrote down something in his journal and closed it in a somewhat aggressive manner. He looks at the mostly unimpressed crowd. “Not bad for a one trick pony, I guess.” He puts his journal back in his satchel. “Guess I should show them what a real Freecaster can do.” He scoffed. He got up to the stage with a cocky smile. “I’ll volunteer.” Once he got to the center of the stage, he started to do some stretches. “Gotta prepare myself first.” After he was done stretching, he looked at the crowd with a snarky smile. “Watch and learn. I’m going to show you how to make a real performance.” He says to himself. Ezra cracked his knuckles and began to chant the incantation.

Soon, a trail of stalagmites started to burst across the stage. Then, Ezra summoned a magic disk and sliced the tip of the stalagmites, which launched them in the air. He raised his arm and aimed at the falling stalagmites. Lightning started to spark from his hand. Ezra started to shoot the stalagmites one by one with lightning bullets. The bullets easily shatter the stalagmites into little pieces, which fell on the crowd. It didn’t hurt anyone but it did mildly annoy some people. One stalagmite fell behind Ezra. He quickly turned around and shot the stalagmite with
a lightning bullet.

Ezra felt confident in his abilities. His performance wasn’t much, but it was sure as hell better than the other performances done by the other participants. His old mentor would probably scold him for using magic this way, but he felt like he needed to show these mages a thing or two about magic. He looks at the Applause-o-meter with a cocky smile. As the the Applause-o-meter with anticipation as it was cycling through numbers. To his surprise, he scored a 7. To many people, a 7 would be pretty average, to Ezra, a 7 was disheartening to him. “Tch. No better than that one trick pony.” He looked at Kandor and then at Cornelius. He bowed to the audience. He got off the stage that was pierced with his stalagmites. As he went back to the crowd he got out in his journal and started to write in it once more.

Kloudy Kloudy AtlannianSpy AtlannianSpy
 
Cornelius Ethelstein
Hidden away from the audience, deep within the bowels of the Applause-o-tron, Cornelius allowed himself a weary sigh. This whole day was supposed to have been relatively simple : drum up some buzz for a new guild and scout some promising talent in one fell swoop; it was the kind of creative but economical move Cornelius felt separated him from the rank and file salesmen to the level of master merchant.

But of course things could never be simple, least of all when mages were involved, who used conductive lightning spells when they were standing next to a giant machine made of metal for Elisee's sake!? At least the orc girl Cornelius had hired to act as the applause-o-tron was still alive, the bill for healing her would still end up being a damn sight cheaper than a real device that could measure crowd enthusiasm would have been, maybe he could even get one of the new recruits to patch her up?

While Corenlius was pondering this matter the crowd chatter coming from outside the the machine was beginning to change in tone and timbre. While the energy of the last few acts had mostly carried the crowd past the revelation that the machine had been more of a dramatic prop than scientific instrument there was no a bit of a lull in the available contestants and without Cornelius out front to keep the energy up the crowd was starting to lose interest.

Desperately Cornelius began trying to wiggle his way back out of the cramped quarters inside the machine, it might be time to quickly wrap things up and hand out some flyers while the mood was still positive. Cornelius was wrestling with the latch on the machine's door when, from somewhere far off there was a deep, booming roar and then a tremor that shook the ground and travelled up through the stage to rattle the brass machinery around Cornelius. He frowned, was someone trying to upstage him with another performance. Shortly thereafter was a scream and then a lot of panicked yelling, Not a performance then. Hurriedly Cornelius wrenched open the hatch on his machine and tumbled out ungracefully onto the stage with a flop to find his little crowd abuzz with nervous chatter.

"A monster!? This deep into the City!?"

"How did it get past the walls!?"

Cornelius looked around wildly, spotting a plume of black smoke rising from the Old Town district, the very heart of the city. Cornelius felt his heart hammering in his chest and fought to keep his emotions under control. This was no time for petty tricks and rabble rousing, when an attack like this struck at the very core of a people there was only one thing to do! Capitalize on it!

"WORRY NOT GOOD PEOPLE OF MERRYVALE!" Shouted Cornelius, after filling his lungs to the brim with air. "FOR THE GOLDFIRE COMPANY SHALL SEE THIS THREAT VANQUISHED! I HEREBY WELCOME ANY AND ALL OF OUR CONTESTANTS INTO THE GUILD IF YOU WILL FOLLOW ME IN SUBDUING THIS SAVAGE BEAST!" Cornelius cried, leaping off the stage and hurrying off towards the smoke and chaos to the cheers of the crowd. Cornelius wouldn't be fighting whatever foul beastie was attacking the city himself of course, that would be the mages' job, but it was important to set the right tone for this kind of thing.
 

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