"Apologies, Miss Dresar. It was not my intent to upset you. As for you, Ae... lyn? Aelyn? I have no intention of doing anything of the sort. Pah, the arts. Ludicrious," They murmur. "If it is quite alright with all of you, I think I'll enter spiritual stasis for this next leg of the journey. Art and me mix like oil and water - ergo, not at all. Wake me should you need me, Miss Dresar. Just a few taps on the head ought to do it! Gently, though - I do not wish to lose another horn. Good night and good luck!"

With that, the magic energy that runs through Makyra's head fades completely as they enter stasis. 

The amphitheater is not very far from the Hall of Oracles. You find that it is an impressively lavish stage with red curtains drawn back as if to reveal the players on the opening night of a theatrical production. Next to the stage, a young human man with combed back brown hair and piercing blue eyes in a costume doublet holds a script in his hands, reciting from it with intensity. He is near a table covered in scripts and props, along with what appears to be a sign-up sheet with a few names written on it. A sign near the table reads "Join the Playactors Drama Guild today!"

"Five colleges, all alike in dignity,

In fair Strixhaven where we lay our scene,

Here students bold will find their destiny,

And through hard work may newfound knowledge glean..."  The young man orates, seemingly oblivious to the fact that you have arrived. 

"I think that may be worse." Aithne laughed softly, twisting her hands together. "I know each of you now. So it's even more daunting." She inhaled and exhaled a shaky breath. "I've always been terrified to speak in public. That may be why I, uh, prefer spending my time reading. I'm envious that you're so good at performing for an audience." She peeked up at Aelyn with a crooked smile. "Maybe that's something I can work on while at Strixhaven."

"Well I certainly wouldn't want to discomfort you with any forced performances Aithne. Perhaps we can solve this in some other way, and if you'd let me I would be happy to give you a few lessons on how to overcome that stage fright." Aelyn says, feeling genuinly sorry for the aasimar.

"Playactors guild, oh, if only I could fit in 3 extracurriculars somehow." Aelyn says to no one in particular as they enter the Ampitheater. Confidently he then walks onto the stage, looking first out at the seats of the audience making a theatrical bow, before looking around for clues on the stage to what they are supposed to perform to win the last prize. "At least come up here and help me figure this out, the stage won't bite you Aithne." He says jokingly with a warm smile. (Help action to Aithne, or anyone else investigating the stage.)

"Now performing, I'm convinced you all have it in you." He says encouragingly to his new friends. "Just think of something that you want to share with the rest of us and we will appreciate getting to know you a little better." He suggests convincingly (Granting Arvol, Ambre and Aithne bardic inspiration on any performance checks, or any other checks I guess for the next 10 minutes )

Aithne retrieved Makyra from the Mage Hand and gently placed the statuette into a side pocket on her pack; securing the figure, but leaving her able to see should she awaken. She could understand Makyra's desire to retreat, at least a little. If she could simply place herself in status to avoid the upcoming assignment, she'd be tempted to do exactly that. "I'd like that very much." She smiled warmly at Aelyn. "Perhaps that's what we can trade in return for lessons in Primordial." She suggested, calling back to one of their earlier conversations.

Turning her attention to the stage, Aithne clapped as the brunette completed his recitation. She hadn't been lying; she was an excellent audience member. Though she was appreciative of the arts, she had no desire to attempt them herself. "That was wonderful." She said as she approached the table with the sign advertising the Drama Guild. "You must be a long-time member." She guessed. An easy enough deduction considering his talent and his position next to the sign-up table. 

The young man takes a bow as Aithne applauds. "Why thank you, thank you, you are far too kind. I'm but a humble first year such as yourself, judging by the uniform you're wearing. Though I have been honing my craft since I was but a boy. Ah, but where are my manners? Quentillius Antiphiun Melentor III, at your service," He croons, extending a hand in friendship. "Are you and your friends here for the scavenger hunt? My fellows in the Guild have prepared some scripts if you are in need of materials to perform."

Aithne readily accepted the performer's hand, trying to recall the full breadth of his name in order to offer a reply, but froze the instant he offered the scripts. "Oh. Um. Well..." She was tripping over her tongue, already fumbling under mere suggestion of a performance. The fluttering sensation in her stomach was growing stronger, threatening nausea. "Yes, we are. This is our final stop of the orientation hunt. I think my, ah, classmates would be happy to take you up on that offer." She swallowed hard and retrieved her hand, mustering a smile. "I'm Aithne Dresar. And I think I'll probably leave the, ah, performance to my schoolmates."

Arvol peeks past Aithne's shoulder, speaking to Quentillius. "She can be our director! Unless you have any non-speaking parts for her?"  He grins as he points over to Aelyn, "That one will be our lead actor, and actually I'd prefer something non-speaking as well."  He then gives Ambre a look for a moment, "I'll bet Ambre will do a fine job at whatever part you have for her, I think."

The look Aithne gave Arvol was wide-eyed and desperately relieved. She could feel herself relaxing just a little at the suggestion. "I would be happy to direct. Anything that doesn't require me to be, uh, on stage. If that would, um, suffice to complete the orientation tasks." A shaky smile accompanied the speech. Physically being on the stage wasn't the issue. It was the idea of performing on the stage that had her heart pounding in her chest and her palms turning clammy with perspiration. 

"Oh, I'm not in charge of casting or distributing materials. It's up to you to decide what to perform! Don't overthink it - all it takes is a single act of beauty to get the prize you seek!"

"If that's the only way to complete this portion of the orientation, I think I'll probably need to sit this one out." Aithne said weakly. "At least we know we're in the right place? And these tasks are, um, voluntary, right?" She wrapped her arms around her midsection, inadvertantly crushing the blossoms on her wrist.

"Perform? I mean, I can build you something to perform on," Ambre offers. "But it doesnt hurt to try new things. Nice to meet you Mr Melentor!" Ambre wavez

"Please, call me Quentilius. It's nice to meet you all. I'll let you in on a little secret... You don't all have to perform. Indeed, I would not personally recommend it if your heart is not in it. Only one person needs to in order to get the scavenger hunt items. I was stuck with a bunch of Quandrix-bound mathematicians who would not recognize a theater if their life depended on it. I performed a soliloquy on the stage and the items for us all were revealed. But it seems you don't even need to be that good of a performer; I saw a giggly halfling let out a belch in one group, and a hobgoblin happened to be whistling when they stepped on stage with their party. Both were good enough for the magic of this place, I suppose. Do with that information what you will. Don't overthink it."

Arvol nods, "Good to meet you Quentillius and thanks for the tip.  So... a single act of beauty, eh? Hmm..."  Nervously he plays with a small charm hanging from a chain at his neck.  And then quite suddenly he leaps on the stage, uttering a couple of arcane words, then as he makes a motion, he is suddenly transformed.  He now appears as a voluptuous woman, a bit taller, with fiery red hair, sparkling emerald eyes, and bright red lips.  The figure is clothed in a well-fit, low cut, light green dress.  For those that might have seen such a thing, it is obviously a replication of the most common depictions of the goddess Sune.  (Disguise Self)

In a voice still quite clearly Arvol's, the figure speaks, rather quickly and nervously: 
'In nature there's no blemish but the mind;
None can be call'd deform'd but the unkind.
Virtue is beauty; but the beauteous evil
Are empty trunks, o'erflourish'd by the devil.'
(OOC - from Shakespeare, Twelth Night, Act 1, Scene 5)

(Performance if needed: 2)

Immediately when done he hops off the stage, dropping the previous illusion.  There is a look of satisfaction mixed with embarrassment at his sudden act. 

"Oh, it would be my genuine pleasure to try and ease that stage fright Aithne." Aelyn says returning the warm smile before walking on the stage.
From there he listens as the orating young man gives them instructions on how to proceed and promptly walks off stage again, taking a seat to enjoy Arvol's surprise performance.

"Bravo, bravo, bravissimo!" Aelyn stands in his chair as Arvol finishes, having been captivated by Arvol's short but oh so beautiful performance.
"Such beauty must be celebrated with a song." Aelyn then says, hopping on stage again as Arvol/Sune leaves it, not being clear about if he was referring to Sune, Arvol or Arvol's performance. He turns to his audience, slowly takes his lute and starts with a few soft jazz chords before he sings, looking back at Arvol.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of Heaven shine,
And often in his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owst,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

(Imagine, if at all possible, the following sung by a soft tenor accompanied by a lute ;-)
Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day - YouTube

Aithne clapped heartily after each performance. Part of her enthusiasm was driven by the realization that she wouldn't be required to perform herself, but the rest was pure appreciation. "That was fantastic! You're both very talented." She complimented warmly as Arvol, then Aelyn exited the stage. "And you used magic!" She beamed at Arvol. "I've always wanted to learn proper illusory spells. It, ah, certainly added to the performance. Your depiction of the goddess was lovely. You know, you should consider joining the Drama Guild, both of you. You'd be wonderful additions, I'm sure." 

All the surrounding students are enraptured by the performance. As Arvol and Aelyn perform five magical floodlights snap on around the stage's perimeter. Once they have finished, there is some scattered applause from around the Biblioplex. 

"Well... that was rather impressive. Such clear action, such natural emotion. It has been a while since I've seen performances like that. And I believe the others would be happy to have you join our guild, if you would be so interested!" Quentilius croons. "You may all take your prizes, if you wish. I'll admit, I found them a little underwhelming, but they may come in handy someday, who knows."

The actor gestures to the lights, and you all find that each one is a hooded lantern filled with oil. There is enough for each member of your party to get one.

With that, the orientation scavenger hunt is complete! As you all gather your prizes, you hear crashing as well as some scattered shouts coming from the Western Stacks study area.

"Umm, yea, a little magic," Arvol says as he again grabs the small charm at his neck.  Hanging from a thin chain, the charm is silver-colored and in the shape of a masquerade mask.  "The illusion is thanks to this little thing though. Just something I, umm, picked up." Very briefly he holds it out so others might see it, then lets it drop back.  "And I guess the Drama Guild might be fun, but I think I'm set on joining the Historical Society and the Strixhaven Star.  I don't want to have too many things going on.  Plus, I've already got our language study thing too, Aithne." 

Aelyn makes another theatrical bow, clearly relishing in magical floodlights and the applause. He then grabs his hooded lantern and hangs it on his backpack before exiting the stage and joining the others. "Yes, thank you, but it will be the Show Band and the Star for me too." He says giving Arvol another smile. "And yes, language studies of course." He says to Aithne with another smile.

"Did you hear that, action in the Biblioplex, who knew, perhaps a book clerk turned over a bookshelf trying to put a book in its proper place, can be a hazardous job book clerking Aithne." Aelyn says to the aasimar with a wink "Let's check it out." Aelyn says excitedly and quickly moves towards the noise. "Come on!"

(Don't forget you have bardic inspiration lasting 10 minutes :-)

"I suppose that's true." Aithne sighed. "It really was wonderful, though. But I can understand the lack of time." As the necklace-- presumably the source of the illusion magic-- was presented, Aithne nudged her glasses a little further up her nose as she stepped in close to Arvol to examine the trinket. "How clever! I wonder if I could imbue an enchantment onto a quill in the same way. Not for illusions of course, but something with a similar function." She didn't seem to realize how close she was standing until after concluding her thoughts, only then backing out of Arvol's personal space with a faint apology.

Turning to the performer they'd interrupted upon entering the theatre, Aithne said, "Quentilius, thank you so much for providing us your guidance with the orientation hunt. I certainly wouldn't have been able to complete this task alone." After taking a deep breath-- and with a very hesitant step-- Aithne moved onto the stage, retrieved the lantern, then skittered back offstage as rapidly as possible. She wasn't interested in being there any longer than necessary. Even that brief journey across the boards had sent her heart racing. How was she ever going to present her scholarly works to a collection of her peers if she couldn't even manage such a simple task?

The crash, thankfully, distracted her from her thoughts. "Oh! The books!" That had her scampering, immediately rushing back in the direction they'd come to ensure that no harm had come to the delicate tomes housed in the Biblioplex. 

Arvol stands still, smiling a bit nervously, as Aithne moves in close to examine the charm.  With her faint apology, he mumbles, "Oh, it's fine," but perhaps nobody actually heard him.  He quickly grabs one of the lanterns, and then quickly follows with the others to see what has happened over in the Wester Stacks study area.  "I hear shouting. I wonder what's happening."