"Oh, hi there Wynterstarr." Aelyn says, trying to stay calm. "Yes, well this place is like a second home to me I guess....after Bow's End I mean." He says giving Aurora a warm smile, staying silent for a moment. "Listen, I have written something I would like you to hear, perhaps tonight at the tavern?" He says with a hint of uncharacteristic nervousness. "But yes, the frog race, I'm not really the competetive type, prefer to cheer others on, like my friend Arvol over there. Perhaps you will help me cheer him on Aurora? I'll just get the name of that frog, I hope he had the decency to give it a rhymable name. I'll be right back."

Ambre kneels down in front of the frog with a tophat. "Well arent you just the most dapper frog I've seen all day!"

It was a kind of strange relief for her when Quentillius approached her. The amount of people here, the buzz of excited conversation... all of it made her want to hide in an endless row of bookshelves and avoid reemergence. His appearance gave her something to focus on other than the fluttering of her pulse and how oddly sweaty her palms were. "Hello, Quentillius." She greeted him in return, offering a smile. "Are you participating in the, ah, races?" The wink caught her off guard and Aithne found herself completely uncertain how to respond to his observation regarding herself and Arvol. "Um, but... why? I already think... I mean, Arvol is very impressive?" She responded hesitantly. "He doesn't need to do anything."  

"I think I just might compete against you, Arvol! If you'll take the caped warrior, I think I'll settle for this little one with the bow-tie. May the best racer win!" Rampart says, giving a bow to Arvol.

Aurora smiles. "I'd gladly hear whatever you've written, Aelyn. As for the race... I think I'll allow you to be Arvol's cheerleader this time around. I wouldn't want to step on your toes! Who knows, if your cheer is catchy enough, perhaps I'll join in."

Rosie pats the frog with the top hat, and it lets out a little squeak. "This guy's cute. What a little gentleman! Er, gentle-frog. How about we call him Sir Slippery? Sir Squeakington? Sir... Hops? I dunno, what do you think, Ambre?"

 "Oh, I've just seen the two of you together around campus sometimes. Wherever you are, he never seems to be far behind. I just think he may have taken a fancy to you. Not that I'd blame him," Quentillius mentions. "And naturally, when boys take a fancy to someone, they want to impress them, at least in my experience. Anywho, no, I do not intend on participating, but I'll spectate, I think. Looks like Rampart, Arvol, and the joint team of Rosie and Ambre are interested in handling the slimy little things."

Klok grins and nods "Yes that is a good plan, a good plan indeed! I wonder if they are a rare species...Perhaps they will turn them over to use when they are done with.....this?"

Ambre thinks for a while, before proudly proclaiming, "Count Croakula!"

After walking over and checking with Arvol Aelyn returns to Aurora's side. "Geesh, Alacritous, thanks Arvol." He mutters. "Well, better make myself useful and get something together to cheer Alacritous on I guess." He says, striking a few chords on his lute to get some inspiration.

"Oh! So the competition is on then Rampart? I suppose the whole cape compliment was a clever ruse to distract me from the frog you wanted all along?"  Arvol's banter is playful and clearly he's not serious. "I truly did want the red one."

He briefly watches Rosie fuss over the frog with the top hat along with Ambre. He glances over to Aelyn when he comes by. "Did you hear the name?" he says. "Alacritous!"

He then scans the crowd for Aithne, quickly picking out her dark hair. "Frog's name is Alacritous! Be sure to cheer for him!"  Arvol then notices Quentillius chatting with her, and wonders what they might be talking about. For just a second his excited smile fades. 

He quickly turns back to the frog, and speaks to it. "So, Alacritous! Hmm... I do hope it's ok to call you that.  If you have a real name I'm sorry, I don't know it.  But are you ready to run a good race? It's going to be great! You'll have the most people cheering for you, I'm sure."

He pauses a moment,  looking at the bright red creature.  He switches to speaking in Draconic. "Do you understand this? I know dragons aren't frogs but it's close, right?"

He then tries Primordial. While Aithne has been teaching him, he's pretty poor at speaking it still.  He tries for an Aquan dialect. "Is this goodly to him? to you! You are beautiful. You run fast."  He grins to himself, thinking he really ought to know this by now.  Sure, the written stuff he's great at, but speaking it is so tough! 

He finally steals another quick glance to see what Aithne is doing.  Then he leans in, very close to Alacritous, whispering so nobody else hears.  "She doesn't have a crush on that guy does she? Right?"  He then turns his attention to see what it is the racers are supposed to do.

"Arvol and I are friends. Friends spent time together..." Aithne trailed off, her brow faintly furrowed. She wanted to protest Quentillius' words, but... could she? She and Arvol did spend a lot of time together, even considering their shared interest in Lorehold as their college of choice and their collective group of friends. He was certainly her favorite person to talk to; as evidenced by the fact that she spoke with him so often and easily that she often lost the stammer that was common in all of her other conversations. She enjoyed his company, thought he was funny and kind-hearted and charming. Was that the same as fancying someone? 

Startled by the revelation, she found herself staring at Quentillius with a kind of wide-eyed look. He was surprisingly knowledgeable about matters of the heart. It was probably because of his theatrical background. After all, many productions had romance as a pivotal part of the plot; and he'd played a significant number of lead roles. Unable to deny his statement, Aithne responded instead, "I hadn't... um, I hadn't thought about it." She chewed on her lower lip, then abruptly switched the topic, hoping he wouldn't mind too terribly. "Which frog do you think is likely to, ah, win? I hope it's the red one."  

"Yes, yes Alacritous I got it." Aelyn says smiling at Arvol, "You'll be fine, with everything my friend." He says, quickly glancing over at Aithne and Quent, giving Arvol a quick hug for good luck. "You're the best, you know that right?" He says, stepping back to Aurora again. "Now, go and win this my friend."

"I think this one might be important to Arvol, we should try to help him out." He says to Aurora beside him as the race is about to start.
He then starts cheering for Arvol and his Frog, hoping to inspire Aurora and others to cheer along.
"His strong red legs are fabulous
his hops and leaps miraculous
go, go Alacritous!"

"If I'm correct, I believe they may be ranamulus luculentus, a common species but quite popular for their colorful appearances! They're a common enough sight around Sedgemoor and the Detention Bog. Your friend Arvol seems a friendly sort, same with Rampart and Ambre, though that Rosie's exuberance does make me worry for her frog's safety. Best we keep an eye on the proceedings, eh, Klok? I'm sure all will be well."

Rosie gasps. "Oh. My. Goodness. That is genius! Count Croakula!" She cackles. "The fastest, most noblest and bravest of all hoppers! We're sure to win, Ambre, even against Arvol and his cape-wearing Alacri... Alac... Alactose-intolerance, or whatever weird name he gave it. Let's show these guys what the LARP Guild can do!"

 "Oh, not bad! Leave it to Arvol to come up with a name that's difficult to put into a verse, then leave it to you to find just the right rhymes for it, Silversong," Aurora says with a wink. "You two are like pests in a pod."

 With a chuckle, Quentillius sips at his coffee. "Of course you do. Apologies, Aithne dear, I didn't mean to pry or make you uncomfortable. Perhaps I'm just reading into things too much. Good luck Arvol, Alacritous! Ah, watch there, Aithne, you see that girl that just claimed the blue frog? The girl with the glasses and green hair? Larine Arneza. Bit of an odd one, but very good with animals - she might be a real contender."

 Larine Arneza, a fellow first year, picks up the blue frog with suspenders and stands with Arvol, Ambre, and Rampart. She holds the frog right up to her face and peers at it from behind her glasses. "Alright, I think I'll call you Azul. To complement your lovely blue color!" She giggles, then looks at Arvol with wonder as he speaks to his Alacritous. "Wow. Where you come from, are frogs multilingual, Arvol? Back home, ours don't talk at all... I'm a little jealous."

OOC: Frog Racing Rules!

Each racer must roll an animal handling check. Whoever rolls the highest wins; in the case of a tie, the race is a tie.

Spectators can choose to cheer or heckle a racer. Cheering for a racer grants them advantage on their check; heckling a racer grants them disadvantage on their check. Be warned: a heckler may not take kindly to your negative words, potentially damaging your relationship with them!

Ambre is being cheered on by Rosie and Arvol is being cheered on by Aelyn, granting them both advantage. If Klok or Aithne would like to heckle, let me know and I'll take that into account, but they don't really seem like the type, so I'm assuming they'll just cheer for their friends who already have advantage anyway. I'll wait until Ambre and Arvol roll their checks to roll for Rampart and Larine. 

Klok smiles at Urz and heads back over to his friends "Oh it looks like Ambre and Arvol have entered the race with a frog. Good luck!" Klok tries to be supportive despite his feelings towards the race

Arvol casts a glance over at Larine as she comments on him talking to his frog.  "Oh, no... umm... well, no they aren't multilingual. So, you certainly have no reason to be jealous!" He wasn't quite expecting anyone to start up a conversation with him while he was talking to Alacritous.  Standing up from where he was kneeling close to the frog, he turns to her, giving her a somewhat surprised look.  "I mean, they don't normally talk at all.  Or even understand one language.  Where I come from that is.  Or I don't think they do.  Well... no more than most animals understand when folks talk to them. So..."  It's at that moment he realizes she might have heard what he was saying just before.  He now looks a little anxious.  "You didn't hear EVERYthing I was saying there did you?"  He puts up his hand, "Nevermind. Oh look, it's just about time to start the race!"

He focuses now on Alacritous grabbing him up. He heads over to the starting area of the race, making one quick glance over to see what Aithne is doing.  He then gives the frog one last pat for encouragement before letting him go.  "Ok my friend! Here we go!" 

(Animal Handling Check: 11)

"Alright Count Croakula," Ambre says. "You're going to go out there and win this thing!" She sets her frog down, kneeling nearby and encouraging him along the raceway.

Animal Handling: 18

(Arvol had also planned to use the bardic inspiration from Aelyn which won't catch Ambre - but it's 4)

"Pests?" Aelyn says with a chuckle. "I hope I will be able to be something more than a pest to you in time Aurora." He says turning to the dhampir, looking into her dark mysterious eyes. As he does his attention is captivated by her exotic and alluring looks, and he completely forgets about cheering on Alacritous, with expected result. Aurora.

Aithne clapped as the race began and the frogs were urged onward by their assigned racers. "They look very evenly matched." She informed Quentillius, giving his coffee a longing look. The race had interrupted her original plan to pick up a drink and a pastry at the Cafe, but that could always be done once the event had concluded. "Hopefully, um, Larine won't prove too challenging a competitor." Suddenly inspired, she reached up to her earrings and detached one, leaving the length of scarlet ribbon free in her hands. Hadn't it been lucky that Arvol had selected the red frog? Lightly waving it through the air like a banner, she joined in on the cheering of the others in the crowd.  

Larine's check: 18

Rampart's check: 8

The race begins! Unfortunately, Larine's Azul just jumps right out of bounds, forcing her to chase it down and get back to the start, setting her back significantly and getting a laugh out of everyone. Arvol does his best to urge Alacritous forward, but the frog seems more content to just sit there for the first few seconds of the race before it takes off. Rampart's frog and Ambre's Count Croakula hop away down the track, Alacritous manages to catch up, and it looks pretty close between them...  but Count Croakula takes the lead in a final sprint and wins the race in a photo finish!

Rosie whoops and gives Ambre a big hug. "Yes!!! Croak-u-la! Croak-u-la! Croak-u-la!" She cheers, getting the assembled first-years to join in on the chant. Rampart sighs, looking to Arvol and Ambre. 

"Well, it was close, eh? Congratulations, Ambre!"

"Y-yeah, congrats," Larine adds, clearly a bit embarrassed. "You did your best, Azul..."

Arvol stops to give Alacritous a bit of a pat once the race is done, "Pretty good job there at the end fellow! You did well, even we you didn't win."  He then turns to Amber, truly excited for her, "Amazing job Ambre!  Very happy for you!"  He also gives a nod to Rampart, "Your frog did great too."  

He then notes Larine's embarrassment and comes over to her.  "Hey, Azul did really well. That jump was amazing. How was he to know that wasn't the right track?" He gives her a slight smile, hoping to cheer her a bit.  

"What? Is it over? Who won?" Aelyn says, looking around at his friends as the race is over.