The hobgoblin stands roughly at 5'9 (~175cm) and stares at the statue, awestruck. I'm here. Their face is round and almost youth-like, with doe eyes, thick brows, and tusks peeking over their lip. The red of their skin is tinted purple from anticipation, and you see that their nose in particular is more blue than it is red. The gold of their eyes almost seems to beam under the sunlight. Their black hair is mostly short and chin-length, save for a long braid trailing at the back. A thigh-length hooded cloak hides their figure, the hood is down and seems weirdly bulky.

Having to tear their gaze away and look towards the group approaching, they adjust their body language slightly. They start pulling the cloak inwards and worrying their hand over the letter. They clear their throat and with a small, standard hand-to-chest bow, they say: "Good morning, my name is Laurence Khi'mur, pleased to meet you. I believe I have received an invitation to..." they trail off and look towards the statues again, "pardon me, this may be redundant, but are we at the Thearrothen Academy?" Just as they finish speaking, their hood rustles and an opossum that looks fresh out of a garbage pile emerges momentarily, squeaks, and ducks right back into Laurence's hood. "...And that would be my familiar, Roquefort."

Barburry playfully waves but doesn't speak as he anticipates that the loxodon is going to take the lead.

Gilded eyes look Laurence up and down as Mythe surveys the hobgoblin, taking in their appearance and mannerisms. After a moment of silence, she turns away, uninterested in the new arrival.

Laurence, as this motley crew lead by an older loxodon approach you, you watch the tall, lanky firbolg in the back wave at you and the well dressed elf give you a bit of a stink eye. The loxodon is dressed in ornate blue robes with an ivory trim. He wears a simple pair of spectacles on his face, his large elephant ears and tusks are adorned in simple, yet elegant jewelry. He seems to be talking to the group as they approach, but as they do, the loxodon speaks up towards you "It is a pleasure to meet you, Laurence. Yes, you have made it to The Thearrothen Academy, and I am Thal'rin, the Hallmaster." He looks toward the portal you found yourself stepping through before arriving here, Laurence. "Curious, did you come through alone? Nevertheless, it seems today may be a rather different day than normal." He seems almost joyous as he says this, almost as if his days have a strict uniform and he has grown bored. "Well, seeing as we were about to start orientation for this group with me, and you're here now, you might as well join us!" Thal'rin gives a low, hearty chuckle "It'll save Ms. Silentstep more walking than she needs to be doing. Matter of fact, she should be here soon and we can get started." About this time, you all hear a soft singing and you see a young child fire genasi skipping along, singing to herself and an already very tired looking, older halfing trying to keep up with her, leaning heavily on her cane. "Thal'rin! What is this? Why do we have another recruit, and more importantly why are they here alone?" as she says this, Laurence, she comes up to you and with a single deft move snatches your invitation from your hands, pulls a monocle from her pocket and begins scanning the invitation. "Why, you're late, hobgoblin! You were to be here yesterday, you were to attempt the puzzle with these folks here." She pauses and thinks to herself a moment, Thal'rin almost begins to speak up as she cuts him off "You, however, did complete the entrance puzzle on your own, so I shall grant you acceptance to the academy." She then hands you a small bronze brooch with a topaz inset, and a small brochure.

Now, let's get on with our orientation. "Please, follow and listen as we travel across the academy grounds. Let's start here, with the founders" Thal'rin points towards the three statues "Thul here is known as The Loreweaver. He is the god of all knowledge. The ultimate historian, nothing is ever forgotten by him. During the 3rd era, when deities were made to walk among us on Weskeilia, Thul needed to be able to record history, but without access to the heavens, he couldn't." Thal'rin takes a moment to catch his break and think "The story goes, he set off in search of Iris and Sezira. Two deities he had grown close to prior to the fall, even inviting Iris to live within his personal domain. Later inviting Sezira after they returned to the heavens. Thul and Iris designed the observatory" He points over towards a large building on the east side of the academy grounds, where you see a massive telescope pointing out of an ornately designed stone building "and Sezira single-handedly built the observatory for them. It's also said the observatory gave Thul access to his tome, so he could continue recording history, without being capable of walking through the heavens." Edna speaks up "So, we have Thul, Iris, and Sezira to thank for the observatory and the idea of the academy itself. They took in many Weskeilian natives who survived the gods crashing into the earth, and turned the observatory into a sanctuary. Once the ice age came to an end, and the deities were allowed to return to the heavens, Iris deemed one of her favorites, Zilbern Deeplight, to be Keeper of the Observatory." Edna looks towards Thal'rin and back at all of you "Zilbern, realizing the knowledge the observatory had gathered and the power it contained, turned it in an academy. Allowing those interested in studying the arcane a place to do so. Eventually, to protect the academy, Zilbern with the help of some of his star pupils moved the academy from the Prime Material Plane, to a pocket dimension of its own, which is where we currently are." While Edna takes a moment to make sure she hasn't overloaded you with information, Thal'rin speaks up again "So, while we have our wonderful founder and first Keeper of the Observatory, Zilbern to thank for the academy, it is Thul, Iris, and Sezira we have to thank for giving Zilbern the opportunity to create the academy." "AND!" you hear a shriek from the fire genasi "Zilbern is a super cool guy, there are statues and portraits of him in the Grand Hall! He's also like Edna's great-great-grandfather!"

"Now, we'll move to another part of the grounds you are all familiar with, the tower yard." As you move toward the tower yard, you all notice something is missing. Your tower. It's not there. As you get closer however, you watch as a tower begins to rise from the ground exactly where yours was when you left it this morning. "You may not have noticed, but the tower yard isn't the largest part of the academy and we've been housing students for thousands of years now. We manage this, by giving each tower their own pocket dimension. As long as your brooch is visibly displayed, as you approach where your tower should be, it will appear for you. When you graduate and move on, your tower will remain. It will only be accessible by someone holding your brooch, or a faculty member." Edna looks towards you Laurence "Seeing as you were supposed to be entering the academy with this bunch, you will be living with them moving forward. I will tell you the same thing I told them. While studying here, you will live together, you will study together, you will attend your general classes together, and while on academy grounds, you should always know where each other are. Should you decide this is unacceptable to you, you shall be expelled and never allowed to return."

13 or higher passive perception

"OK, let's continue on" you walk past multiple buildings Edna and Thal'rin tell you which school of magic each building focuses on, as well who the professor is. "When you declare your specialty, you will report to said hall to attend your specialized classes. This will be one of the few times you won't be in class with your fellow living mates, unless you declare the same specialty." They continue to lead you towards the observatory itself "This here, is the observatory Sezira built for Thul and Iris. It is the actual observatory. The ruins on the Prime Material Plane are simply the remnants of other buildings that were constructed around it." And finally, you are lead to and into the Grand Hall. You see many busts and portraits lining the halls of this building. You are eventually lead into an empty classroom. "Please find  a seat and get comfortable. While we wait for Professor Maz to arrive, are there any questions for us now that the tour is over? Once Maz arrives, we will be leaving, and he will be in charge of you all, until he releases you for the day."

"I have couple questions, Hallmaster! As far as food goes, is there a market or garden here at the academy? Further to that point, is there a trade system or monetary exchange and work exchange in place? I don't own much, and parchment and quills as well as other essentials might be beyond my expenses without an income. Also, is there an expectation of when students will pick a specialty? I suppose my last question might be less helpful to the group, but are there farms or gardens to tend here?"

Barburry had been writing down these questions as they occurred to him, but despite the preparation he still rifled them off a bit quickly as if trying to fit them all in one breath; an innocent betrayal of his nerves.

While listening to Barburry listing off his queries, Hin---caught up in the excitement of a new arrival---starts thinking of some questions of their own. "Barburry makes a great point, how would we make the income needed to purchase our materials?" She pauses for a second, playing with a lock of loose, red hair. Her brow is furrowed. As she comes up with some questions of her own, her eyes widen, and the highlights dance in her eyes like the leaves of a tree blow in the wind. She almost seems to jump forward from a herculean amount of anticipation. "Where is the library? Are there other children here, like Lena? Are there extracurricular classes or clubs, such as theater or performing arts, creative writing, technical theater? What kind of books are in the library---fiction? Non-fiction?" In her excited frenzy, she turns over to Lena and asks, "Lena, what's your favorite type of book?"

(ooc: Happy Mother's Day, everyone! That is, if you're in the U.S., and if you celebrate it.)

Glancing at the rest of the initiates, Laurence tilts their head curiously, seems more of a motley crew than expected. They nod their head towards everyone with a smile and is unbothered by Mythe's disinterest. In fact, Mythe's reaction is more along the lines of what they expect from students here.

Laurence's head hangs low and their ears droop remorsefully to Ms. Silenstep's chastising. They resist the urge to roll their eyes. "My apologies, it will not happen again, the roads were quite rough..." and that entrance wasn't exactly the most obvious thing out there. Prepared to further extend their apology to Ms. Silentstep, they are stopped as she hands them the items. A grin lights up their face again as the seemingly more critical of the masters gives them a begrudging acceptance. Their attention is drawn to the trinket and they bow their head slightly in gratitude, "t-thank you very much." They discretely exhale a sigh of relief for avoiding being kicked out 1 and a half minutes after they set foot here, mentally waving away the plan B's they had of spending the next years sneaking into campus.

When the two masters talked about the history of the observatory, Laurence listened absently and sifted through the brochure. Nothing new and groundbreaking but intriguing all the same. While it was likely nothing special here, they ran their fingers over the brooch, again and again, cementing the fact that they were really accepted.

At the tower yard and in front of their- plural their tower, Laurence swallows again. They like to think they are pretty knowledgeable, but that pride is diminishing very quickly. At Ms. Silentstep's words, Laurence pauses a little and remembering their current persona, nods hurriedly, "of course, this is most generous-- and ingenious." They turn to the other initiates and offer a soft smile, "Honoured to be a part of this, I look forward to knowing the each of you."

As they are led into the classroom, Laurence sheds their cloak, revealing simple dark teal robes over a cream-coloured blouse. The robe is crossed loosely across the chest and is tied at the waist with a deep red sash. Under the robes, they wear a flowy palazzo. Roquefort hops onto their shoulder, looking around with its beady eyes and an almost grin-like expression with all its jagged and uneven teeth. They hang the cloak over the back of the chair and sit upright. Hearing Barburry's questions about foods and income, they blink appreciatively at him. He knows what's important. They raise a hand and speak up meekly, "Adding on to that, is there an opportunity to explore our specialties? I understand that this is an academy of arcane traditions, but are there perhaps specialties from other fields of magic, such as, say, the mechanical?"

Hearing the questions directed to Lena, Laurence also waits for a response from her curiously, having wanted to ask about her earlier, yet not prioritised enough to bring up while the masters were speaking.

"Madame Silentstep!" Vera exclaims with wonder when she finds the familiar face of the towermaster. She grabs the hem of her skirt with both of her hands to lift it up slightly, so that she can move forward more freely. "One of our friends decided to drop out. He left the brooch and the brochure with a handwritten notes to explain the reason. I believe you might want to read it."

Finally, she spots the new recruit who are about to join the party, she waves to greet the newcomer. "Better late than never! Luckily, it's not too late for introduction. I'm Donavera Isemist of Viktal, a hexblood by birth. In case you have no prior knowledge about my ancestry, I will make it less complicated for you."

"I'm somewhat connected to the lineage of green hags." She starts laughing in a high pitched tone, then covers her mouth to silence herself and stop the disturbing noise.

Barburry coughs a loud choking cough as a bug flies into his mouth that is hanging wide open after Vera's revelation. He was beginning to wonder about what story every one else has to share.

Seeing Barburry choke, an alarmed Hin stretches up to slap his back and try to stop the choking. "Oh goodness, Barburry, are you ok? Try to cough it out." It wasn't until a few seconds later that she registered the new information on Vera's ancestry. She didn't really pay any mind to it past that.

After Edna grants you access to the academy Laurence, Thal'rin says clearly enough for you all and Edna to hear "do not worry, her bark is much worse than her bite. She loves new admissions. She thrives on it." Very clearly, no roll needed, you all see Edna give Thal'rin the stink eye as he says her bark is bigger than her bite, it would appear she has a reputation to uphold. "The entrance puzzle is meant to be difficult, but the academy does pick its students well. I've never seen one fail in my time here, have you Thal'rin?" "No, Edna, I have not." Upon hearing this from you Vera, "It's wonderful to see you again Miss Isemist. I was noticing the distinct lack of half-orc. May I see the note? I will also need to take the brooch back, you can keep the brochure, should you wish though. Such a shame to see him go. The academy likely lost a bright mind, but it does happen." Vera, you notice Lena looks at you wide-eyed as you express your connection to green hags, and when you laugh, you notice she can't stop from displaying a slight smile.

"Well Barburry, when it comes to food, your kitchen should be well stocked. Next time you're in the kitchen, go ahead, take an apple from the counter and check it out later. Your kitchen should restore anything you take from it. Sometimes it restores said products immediately, but other times it could take a little bit to do so. Should you find yourself needing produce or other cooking ingredients you can't find, simply reach into a cabinet, and it should magically be there. Our student towers are capable of some brilliant things." He pauses for a moment "but the magic can only be sustained while within the tower. If you try to bring something outside the tower that was made of ingredients from the tower, it will crumble and turn to dust. Because of that, yes, we do have some small vegetable and fruit gardens. They are well tended to, and you're welcomed to take what you need from them. As for any sort of trade system, officially, no. The academy provides our students with the things necessary for success, this includes the majority of any materials you might need to practice your spell casting." He looks towards you, Hin, while delivering that last sentence. "It's part of the bonuses to studying within its realms. However, you may find postings on the student boards around campus where they will offer their services in exchange for yours, or something else. As for picking your specialty, while you're free to wait as long as you want to pick your specialty, you cannot graduate until you do so, and complete all your specialty classes. The longer you take to declare, the more of your time you will be wasting here." Thal'rin looks around for a moment, seemingly attempting to remember your last question. "Yes, you may tend to the gardens, should you wish. We have a handful of students who find zen in doing so."

Moving on from Barburry's questions, Thal'rin looks at you Hin "Each hall has a library of its own. The books in said libraries focus on the type of magic the hall belongs to. There is also a general library just a few rooms down from here. You also have the libraries in your tower, which is capable of materializing most books, for you to enjoy while in the tower." The loxodon looks over towards Lena who is laying on her stomach stretched across one of the desks in this room. She appears to be very bored, but hearing her name peaks her interest as she looks up towards you Hin. "Yes, there are a few children on the grounds. Some folks have no choice, but to bring their children with them when coming here to study, others have found relations while on campus and have begun families. Definitely not going to fault these wonderful young minds on finding love, so their children are allowed on grounds while they are. However, Lena here, is my granddaughter, so she gets to hangout with me from time to time. We do have some extracurriculars, yes, however they are not run by the academy. Assistants of professors, who are working on becoming professors themselves tend to run classes on the side to gain experience teaching others. You'll need to check student boards across the campus to see if any are active currently. You may also find clubs posted there as well."

You all notice Lena is bursting at the seams waiting for Thal'rin to finish speak before she erupts "I LOVE ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE!" she launches to her feet from the desk "My favorite book ever is 'The Storybook of Quinn and Zara' it contains a bunch of small stories about Quinn and her pet dragon Zara when they were my age! She is my favorite person ever! And and and rumor has it -" she nudges you Hin "She's writing another storybook for us to enjoy!" she nudges you again "I started the rumor, but but but if it spreads across the lands she'll have no option but to do it!" Thal'rin looks towards you Laurence as you ask this question "That is a wonderful question, and one we get a lot. We do tend exclusively to wizards, so we don't have any major inventors on campus. We do however, have many connections with multiple colleges of the bards, and some connections with a few inventors guilds. We can get you connected with an inventors guild, should you wish to study something more in the engineering field rather than arcane. Getting invited to study within The Thearrothen Academy will come as a great referral, and without a doubt, they will accept you as a student."

"Surely Professor Maz should be here any moment" as Edna says this the door swings open. You all watch as a tall, slender silver dragonborn walks through the door. He wears simple brown trousers, and a white linen tunic. You see his ornate, silver brooch pinned to his tunic. He takes his satchels off, laying both of them on the desk in the front of the room before speaking "I apologize for being late, Thal'rin, Edna. I got caught up with a student on the way here." Where you expect a rough, draconic accent dominate voice, you instead hear a soft, melodious voice. He pulls a small wand from his pocket and begins writing in the air "I am Professor Mazhulli'maameq'zall'lulath" You now hear that draconic accent as he pronounces his name. You also notice that he's spelling his name and it's appearing magically in the air as if being written on a piece of paper "but as that's a handful to say, you may call me Professor Maz, please do not call me Professor M." "Well, we'll leave things to you, they're yours until you release them." Thal'rin ushers Lena out of the room, Edna follows and you're left alone with Professor Maz. "Now, if you would all please produce your spellbook and the enduring spellbook that was provided for you on arrival, we can get started." He pulls a book out of one of his satchels. "I'm understanding that one of you was a late arrival, this is for you." Laurence he hands you an enduring spellbook. "Now, we're going to spend the next couple hours transfering your spells from your old book, to this new one." You all spend the next few hours transferring all of your spells from the spellbook you brought with you into this new book you were provided with. "This spellbook is fire and water proof. Should you find yourself swimming, your spellbook will take no physical damage. Similarly if you find yourself in a fire. A spellbook is the most important thing to any wizard. Without it, you cannot cast spells. Fire and water are the top destroyers of spellbooks. Now you're safe from those two elements. Well, your spellbook is, you're not."

(OOC: material cost for this was provided free of charge by Professor Maz. You can now use your enduring spellbook to cast spells)

Laurence's mouth opens in a small 'o' as Vera introduces her ancestry. They have no knowledge of hexbloods. "I have only heard of the hexblood in passing tales, lovely to meet you. Your wreath is absolutely gorgeous." They do not seem to react to the strange laughter, nor to Barburry's choked surprise.

Hearing that much of the daily costs are already covered by the academy itself, Laurence could sing from relief. They have to pinch themself to avoid looking too impressed by the generosity. Even more so when Hallmaster Thal'rin talks about other traditions of magic. They extend a well-rehearsed request: "Having the opportunity to study the arcane is my dream, but inventions have always been fascinating to me. I would love to be introduced to the inventor's guild, please."

Laurence inhales in surprise and receives the [Tooltip Not Found] with both hands. Attention caught entirely by the new spellbook, they forgo the elaborate etiquettes and says a simple "thank you." They then go straight to following Professor Maz's instructions, raising their head here and there to sneak a few peeks at their fellow initiates, observing how they are doing in between copying spells.

As Thal'rin answers the group's questions, Hin nods solemnly, taking in the information fully. When Thal'rin started speaking of the children on the campus, it was like her whole body was  filled to the brim with joy.  "Oh wonderful! I wonder if I could offer a children's book reading club of service for the children here, like in the library..." At the end, she trails off her sentence, mainly talking to herself. 
Hearing Lena's excitement for the books she likes, she nudges her back and whispers "I'll make sure to let Quinn know that the masses are expecting another book, if I ever see her." She gives her a small wink. Hin is very much in her element, talking to children. She then turns back to Thal'rin and says confidently, "I would love to read to some of the children on campus, as well as introduce Lena to some of my favorite stories. I'll look at the student boards to see if there is anything like that available, such as a children's literature club and such."

After Professor Maz finishes his introduction, Hin sits down and quickly gets out her enduring spellbook and her old spellbook, and produces a Wizardly Quill. Having been trained in writing down information and transcribing spells, it only takes her approximately 6 minutes to transfer all of her spells. After she is done, she politely raises her hand and asks, "Professor Maz, I'm all done transferring my spells. What could I do now, while I wait for everyone else?"

Barburry does his best to settle into the academic setting which was in line with his expectations, but had a difficult time physically getting cozy with his seat.  His mind raced at what he learned about food sourcing.  Sure it was convenient, but inability to remove it from the tower was a letdown.  He liked to share, so the local gardens would be a must.  Maybe he could request a little greenhouse edition to their tower, but how would getting sunlight work?  So many questions, but he was concerned about how pertinent they would be to the tasks at hand today so he kept them to himself.  

"Ah, done so fast?" He comes over and checks out your newly filled out book, Hin. "Now that is refreshing. It's been a while since I've had the pleasure of dealing with a student who can transcribe so quickly. It's a rare talent. Perhaps later, we could speak alone. What is your name? I however cannot dismiss you yet. This is only the beginning of our class. Feel free to take a nap, or something else that won't disrupt the other's work while they finish up." As he wraps around the desk to inspect Hin's book, Barburry, you feel Professor Maz's gaze fall on you. "How about that. Where did you get that stool?" You notice now Barburry that the stoll is giving off a faint light, barely visible in this well lit room, yet visible nonetheless. "A wizard's spellbook is often the only thing setting them apart from one another in the beginning. Some students here do in fact share their spellbooks with others, while others prefer to keep it to themselves. I do believe a first year tower has the capabilities to conjure the ink you require to transcribe spells. So you can share and transcribe your spells for free with your partners here. Though, perhaps it's the second year tower that is capable of doing that." He stops to think for a moment "I'm not real familiar with capabilities of each tower. You may need to find Ms Silentstep for those answers."

"Thanks for the compliment, Miss Laurence Khi'mur. I'm relieved to find that you don't mind my peculiar mannerisms and ancestry intolerable." Vera decides to hand over all of the items left behind by the former initiate to the towermaster. She doesn't seem interested in Lena, quite strangely. Also, she avoids eye-contact with the child as if she weren't even present there.

Does it have something to do with the strange connections between children and hags that are often portrayed in folklores? Perhaps, the young female is trying to conceal the darker side of her past?

Vera will carefully copy the spells, especially the ones from the school of divination to the new spellbook. When Professor Maz explains the special features of the spellbook, she tries to examine the features practically. She spills few drops of water on the book to inspect its durability, then setting it on fire by using a tinderbox to see if it's reduced to ashes.

She nods her head at Professor Maz's comments. "Thank you. My name is Hin, sir. I grew up in a library, transcribing and organizing information, so I have a lot of practice under my belt."

After he passes her, she pulls out a book and starts reading. As she sits and reads, she shapeshifts into what one can only assume are the characters in the book, and she is silently mouthing the dialogue as if she's acting it out. This seems to amuse her for quite some time. When she finally decides that she is tired, she puts her head down to take a quick catnap.

Barburry takes quite a long time, as his chair he conjured disappeared about an hour later. Much to both his surprise and his butt as it hit the floor. Scritches scampers out of the pocket they were in and moves atop the desk where the spellboooks are. A litany of screeches and squeaks pour forth at Barburry who gets up frustrated and embarrassed.   "Let up already Scritch, I hardly knew I could conjure something like that let alone how long it lasts. Remember when I couldn't figure out how to conjure you again for over a month!? Always got my components stocked now, right?" 

He takes a seat back in the provided seat and sets to work on copying which takes him a painfully longer time than he thought as he kept snapping the quills in his large hands. "Why did these spells seem so easy to do when these others take so long? Oh cherry blossoms!" He doesn't realize it yet, but the spells that were easy for him were all conjuration.

As you drip the water onto the pages, Vera, you notice the water beads on top of the pages, like rain on a metal structure, and rolls off the page, leaving no trace of its existence on the page. Identically, you manage to start a small fire on the enduring spellbook. The flames dance for a moment, but quickly goes out as there is no fuel to feed it. You notice there isn't even a noticeable scorch mark.

Noticing everyone seems to be done transcribing their spells your professor speaks up "Seeing as you've all finished up with your spells, I'd like to take you to a brand new archeological dig we've uncovered in the past few days." Professor Maz begins picking up his belongings "This is a brand new discovery, and this will be your first visit to many digs. Please be cautious of where you step and what you touch. As students, you're free to explore the dig and learn what you can, just, exercise extreme caution. Gather your belongings, and we will get this show on the road." He moves towards the door, opening it for you all.

Hin jerks awake a Professor Maz's voice. She yawns loudly and stretches a little, waking up from her long nap. Upon hearing the words 'archeological dig', she snaps to attention. As Professor Maz pick up his belongings, she does the same and follows him out the door. "I've never been to a dig site before... what fun!"