As the others approach Caelyn smiles at first, watching Kira move towards them. Then seeing Pepper but carrying Cyril. 

She starts to walk towards them, seeing that they are all looking a bit rough. What happened? Is Cyril alright?

Caelyn looks back to Andela and her eyes start to scan for a healer. She will walk with them, not so much to help Pepper carry Cyril but just for the sake of walking alongside them. 

"Hey, girl," Pepper says, as Caelyn falls in with her. "He'll be fine, just took the brunt of the guards. I heard your trap go off, did anyone get hurt?" Pepper will take Cyril to the healers.

(OOC > Did the guards slice and dice, or were they using non-lethal attacks?)

 (The guards were using wooden weapons, so all damage was non-lethal. Cyril will be fine - just needs to shake it off =D

Andela walks back with the group, listening to your recounting your trial. She makes no comments, but smiles knowingly as you speak, as if she somehow knew what happened in each building. When you reach the Academy barracks, she stops you and says, "Congratulations. You have successfully completed your Apex Examination. There was no passing or failing. Only completion and enduring. So it is as you serve the Queen. You don't win. You don't lose. You just do - every day. You complete tasks. You find different ways to accomplish them if needed. There is value in failure - learn from it. And don't let success get in your head - for pride always precedes a great fall. Rest tonight - maybe party a little. Review what you've learned over the years. Be in the main hall in your dress uniform tomorrow at eleven hundred hours. Well done. I look forward to serving with you."

(The rest of the night is free - feel free to write up any scenes or conversations your character would have. Tomorrow at the ceremony you will receive your masterwork dagger (+1 to hit and damage, but not considered magical...) if you want to include that in your equipment =) Finally - Congratulations! You are now 2nd level!)

Pernach listens to Andela's words with equanimity. "Interesting set of exercises. I gather we should keep the details of the graduation to ourselves?"

With no ability to eat or drink, Pernach is fairly un-interested in a party as not much to do. :)

Pepper, on the other hand, is always ready for a party, and relieved she's better at something than Pernach is. She is going to lean heavily on her high constitution tonight, and wake up somewhere that is not her bunk. She is happy to spend as much of this time with her companions as they care to spend with her, but she also enjoys the company of any others she finds who are willing, though she is less interested in the younger recruits, as she keeps enough wits to have some concerns about the appropriateness of that. Also, she's all about consent.

(OOC > Happy to role-play anything anyone wants to role-play.)

Ashe raises an eyebrow at Pepper. "Well, I know that look. Alright, I'll tag along. After all, someone's got to keep you out of trouble. What about the rest of you? Wanna come with?"

"Is the point to stay out of trouble?" Pepper asks with a grin. "But I'd love your company. We've all done this together," she includes everyone in her gaze, Pernach included, "And I'd be as happy to help any of you back to your bunks tonight as I am to help you off the field after a fight."

"Well I, for one, could definitely use a drink."

Cyril moves up quietly next to the others, a little stiffly in all honesty. 

"My head is still ringing from being smacked with a wooden sword. Honestly just glad that all that's done." 

Caelyn follows the others for a drink.

Sitting in what passes for the tavern of the academy she will engage in some small talk with many of the others and the younger students that have come to pass some time and celebrate with them. 

As the evening progresses Caelyn will get asked by a student what they had to do. Caelyn looks around quickly and raises her voice. Very well you want to know what happened? 

We were tasked with a seemingly impossible task! In small groups we were dropped not to far from here. She eyes several people at her table as she continues We had to venture forth into the darkness with nothing more than our wits the gear we carried. 

She leans in over the table drawing in the attention of those already listening Howls could be heard in the distance. Pushing through we finally reached our destination. Caelyn stands up from her chair wobbling a bit to keep her footing. She was known to be a lightweight when it comes to drinking but still holds a drink in her hand as she gets up. 

Streching her arms to bolster her words A huge fortress was in front of us. Guards patrolling the walls and land around it. She points to Ashe 

Our team captain drew our plan into the sand as he divised our tactics. We walked in the shadows.. she bends her knees a bit and starts walking between some tables drawing in the attention of more people. ..untill we found a door. It uhm was open she says with a grin and a shrug. 

Entering the building we heard patrolls roaming the halls, we had some narrow escapes Still working the room she hops up onto a table in a swift leap then takes a sip of her drink One of the patrols came so close i almost told him he needed a bath she chuckles as she walks across the table, wobbling a bit left to right for everyone to see but making sure she doesnt knock down anyones drink. 

Nearing our objective .. someone  She glances quickly to her teammates .. had some trouble with the floorboards and a squeaking sound echo'ed the halls. A deathly silence followed. She bends through her knees again, keeps her head low and pauses for effect Nobody had heard us she says with a sigh of relief

Having found what we were looking for we could not yet return. A room filled with traps held the key to our escape, we had to figure out an evil wizards puzzle. She says with a grin trying to find Andela somewhere in the room. 

The room had deadly traps with the skulls of those that had come before us littering the room. Caelyn jumps down from the table and with her free hand leans on one of the students to catch herself from tipping over. A sheepish grin aimed at the room follows. 

As i was saying, one wrong step and .. she tosses her drink into a nearby fireplace creating a sudden spark of fire that shortly dies back down Boom! One less bastard. 

When finally reaching the exit we had sprung a trap after all, a deathly fog filled the room as we quickly ran into the next one. The poison burned in our lungs and on our skin. Only our fearsome captain was uneffected by powerfull magic. 

She strides forward two steps looking backward then as she turns forward again. Unknowingly we ran into a small battalion of guards, very mean looking ones. she adds. 

As we battled our barbarian held the front lines striking down two of them in a single blow Caelyn swings her arm widly emulating the battle. But the swarm of guards kept coming, defeat seemed imminent. 

With a leap forward Caelyn she slams her dagger into the table between two students, having pulled it out of her belt in a blink of an eye But they had forgotten there were three. Caelyn eyes the students menacingly as she pulls back her dagger

We didnt delay any longer and made our way out as quickly as we could. The long way home still awaited us. She walks back keeping her wobble up to when she reaches her seat then sits back down. Finally home to rest our bones. With that she ends her tale. 

Those who know Caelyn well knows she really is a lightweight in terms of drinking but also know she rarely drinks much at all and those who kept an eye on her would have seen she only took sips from her drink and didnt really have much to drink at all. 
Her motivations are often to create a sense of importance around herself and those near her, displaying a vulnerable self while in truth fully committed to sway those hearing her words. All things carefully thought of in the time before her tale. When sitting at the table. Listening and looking around to read the room. 

As she is sitting down the crowds attention will fade away and Caelyn will exchange glances with Pepper, her trusted friend who would likely know her well enough to not be fooled Caelyn cant help the corner of her lips curl up briefly before she breaks her glance and continues with the small talk. 

Pepper looks up as Caelyn gets to her feet, concerned at first as she climbs on top of the table, but soon she's smiling along with the others as Caelyn wobbles her way through the story. She gives a whoop at "One less Bastard!" and when Caelyn makes her way back, Pepper shares a smile with the elf. Then she stands up and says, "We just threw Cyril at them, and they all fell down!" With a laugh she toasts Cyril and sits back down.

Ashe smiles, shaking his head at Caelyn and Pepper's antics like an amused parent. "Needless to say, a very good time was had by all - all except the poor Bastards who got in our way!" Ashe exclaims, raising his mug of cider as the crowd dissipates. "Here's to all of us, surviving the infamous Ape!"

Pepper, unlike Caelyn and Ashe and Pernach, is not holding back on the drinks, but it takes a lot to get her truly drunk, so she's got most of her wits and reflexes about her even as the night wears on. She's not armed and armored, but she keeps two long daggers on her, prominently hanging from her hips, and a smaller knife she uses on her food and wipes clean on a serving nap. She'll josh and laugh with the others, and even joins a chorus trying to get Ashe to prove he's really a bard with a song or a story. She'll keep trying to ply Caelyn with drink, but somehow seems to end up drinking them herself, instead.

At one point she pours a glass of something fiery and murmurs quietly in Ashe's ear, then flings the contents into the fire for a rousing flash. She puts the cup back down on the table, upside down, and growls if anyone tries to move it.

Before the night winds down though, she's made eyes at a cute girl across the room, and excuses herself. "You all can find your own way home, right? I need to go make a new friend. I'll see you all bright and early, dressed and pressed."

Kira joins the others for drinks, but she won't say much unless someone tries to talk to her. Being about 45 pounds, she knows she can't drink as much as the others, so she sticks to the lighter stuff.

"You want a story? Alright, then, I'll tell you a story before you go. Gather 'round, you lot. I'll tell you the tale of the Prince of Frost."

Ashe grabs his lute and plucks out a somber tune to underscore his tale, clearing his throat before he begins. 

"Once there was an immortal prince whose domain was the summer itself. The warm breeze, the clear skies, the sweet taste of ripened blackberries... all his. But there was one thing he did not have, and that was the love of another. That is not to say he had no beloved, though; the prince had sworn his fiery, passionate heart to the fairest in the land, a princess of the water spirits. He lavished gift after gift upon her to earn her love until she finally agreed to join him in his castle. The wedding date was set. But before the day could come, a foul beast began to plague the prince's territory. It was at this time a mortal hero offered her sword to slay the creature and protect the lands of summer. Fearing that facing the beast could mean his death before his wedding day, the prince granted the hero his permission to take the glory and the risk for herself.

"And it was glory she did reap! The beast was slain, and the hero celebrated throughout the land. The prince offered his greatest thanks and granted the hero a place in his court. The princess of the water spirits had different thanks to give; she had fallen deeply in love with this mortal hero, not only for her bravery in the face of danger, but also her selflessness. The hero, too, had her heart stolen by the beautiful princess. When the day of the wedding came and the prince awaited his bride, she was nowhere to be found, nor was the mortal hero. The prince hunted them throughout the castle, sensing their treachery and seething with the rage of the blazing sun. He found them together in his castle's threshold, attempting to escape. The prince cut them off and raised his fiery sword to cut the both of them down, but the princess cast an ancient and powerful spell, casting the couple forward on the river of time and out of harm's way. 

"The prince, heartbroken, fell to his knees and weeped, weeped for the first time in his life. So many were his tears that they pooled on his chest and froze his heart. All the fire and heat in his entire kingdom was extinguished. The land of summer was plunged into eternal winter beneath the weight of the prince's sorrow. To this day he still waits for the hero and the princess to return so that he can exact his terrible revenge upon them. But until such a day arrives, he sits and waits in his palace of frozen tears, only leaving its icy walls to torment and punish other virtuous heroes unlucky or unwise enough to intrude on the domain of the Prince of Frost. 

"Learn from this story, my friends. It is a harsh world we live in and life is short, even for the longest-lived of us. Let loss not turn you cruel, lest all your love and all you love be lost beneath the ice forever..."

With a final strum, Ashe's story comes to an end. His face seems a bit darker than it did before. "... Thank you."

Ashe’s story elicits a long and quiet drink from Pepper. But she rouses herself as Ashe returns to say to him, “You could have told one about how there once was a gal named Sally, who loved an occasional dally…” She tries to keep a straight face, but doesn’t really want to, so she fails, grinning at him, but she lets it drop quickly. “No, that was well told. The Frost Prince is a right bastard. You’re not owed anyone’s love. It’s theirs and only theirs to give.” She drinks to punctuate that.

The other students are all drawn to the various performances of the night, spellbound by the latest graduates of the Apex Exam. Several students laughed throughout Caelyn's tale, yelling an occasional crude comment of disbelief, but Ashe and Pepper could tell that they were wondering how much was true and how much was the rogue's embellishment...But Ashe's somber song marked the end of the celebrations this night. The masterful performance evoked half memories of lost parents or siblings, or hopes for a love in the future, or fear of a similar heart-breaking fate. And so the gathering dissipated, alone or in small groups...

I'm on the road tomorrow and have an evening virtual event for work, so I may not get to post the graduation ceremony and the next thing for the group until Thursday evening... =)

Caelyn listens to Ashe's story, happy to hear the bard share his tales. 

During the story as others are distracted Caelyn leans forward to reach for some food to snack on and in a fluent motion uses her movement to switch her own drink with Peppers empty mug. Pepper seemed to either not notice or not mind that her mug was suddenly almost full again. 

At the end of the tale Caelyn holds her empty mug and slams it onto the table a few times as a tavern style applause for Ashe. 

She then stands up and raises her mug up high To those we have lost she says with a serious face looking around, followed by And to those still with us. 

As the others take a drink Caelyn puts down her mug and starts to mingle elsewhere in the room. Making sure to talk to different people to make sure to get atleast somewhat of a connection to various groups of the academy. 

She ends her round spotting Kira sitting there quietly. She takes a seat across from her and smiles while gazing into her bright blue eyes. Quite the contrast to Caelyns golden brown eyes. 

You know... i heard you are often seen tinkering on small stuff. What kind of things do you make ? If you dont mind me asking. she says as she leans back and watches Kira

Pernach stands quietly by the wall; looking imposing during Caelyn's tale of their exploits. 

They seem to relax slightly as the evening goes on, but doesn't get much involved with the partying, but does seem to enjoy the music and stories.

As things start to wind down, they head back to their room to rest for the evening. 

Cyril sits quietly throughout most of the night, taking his drinks and food and watching the others around him. He is not mirthless, and indeed smiles and laughs with the others, even if he offers few jokes himself. And while he cannot quite match Pepper's pace, the drinks he consumes over the night do indeed loosen him up as the night goes on. He watches, intrigued, as Caelynn puts on a performance, regaling the audience with what he assumes is a much exaggerated tale of their final trial. Memories seem to bubble up as he listens, like the faint trickles of air coming up through a still pool. It is nothing that he can quite place, but it nags at him, urges him to reply in kind, like Caelynn's story is a challenge of some kind, ritualistic, a tradition. He is near to rising from his seat to do just that, when Pepper breaks out with her own answer about throwing him at the guards. He cannot help but snort in laughter at the blunt joke, a grin breaking on his face and dispelling whatever strange urge had risen within him to play out his own tale for the small crowd. 

Likewise, Cyril listens with rapt attention as Ashe spins another tale, lute in hand. The urge to reply in kind does not arise this time, however. Seemingly whatever spell it had been was gone for the night. Draining the last of his glass, the elf pushes himself to his feet, swaying slightly for a moment before regaining his equilibrium. Ever the observer, he notes the direction of Pepper's attention and grins slightly. Cyril drops a hand to Pepper's shoulder and whispers into her ear, the words laced with the smell of wine. 

"Her name is Leanna, just so you know, and she likes horses, as I recall. Bet a Bastard like you could get into the stables where it's nice and dark and cozy..." He chuckles and claps his hand lightly on her shoulder before turning away to make his own slightly unbalanced way to his own bed and a night of blissful darkness.

Pepper puts her hand on his, keeping him there a moment longer, though she keeps watching the girl, Leanna. "This is why I don't keep secrets from you, Cyril. It would be a wasted effort." Her tone is light, but when she glances back at him, there's something in her look, something a little dangerous. She lifts her hand to let him go. "Get back safe," she says, turning back to drain her (suddenly full again) cup. She narrows her eyes at Caelyn, then laughs, gives her a little salute, and pushes her chair back, to make her way over to the horse-loving woman.