Miawynn turns to Paartu first with a look of shock and then one of anger. "This is not dinner" She puts one hand on an arrow and the other on her crossbow. Simultaneously, Ewock quickly burrows back into the bag as he sees Paartu look at him with hunger in his eyes. 

Alcazar laughs at Paartu's comment. "Indeed. Though it looks like a chubby ferret -- all teeth, and no meat." He smiles down at the backpack, his expression quite in contrast to his words.

After a moment he sighs and looks around, hoping for events to proceed, then turns back to Paartu. "Fear not though! When we finally get some food, you can have mine. I don't have much of an appetite today. The ferret gets a reprieve, eh?"

Paartu looks at Miawynn with shock as well. “I have angered you. I am sorry. This land is different from my own. I would not take your dinner. To do that would dishonor me and my clan. How can I right this wrong?”

Jinx looks at Miawynn, then at Paartu, then back at Miawynn, and finally dissolves into a fit of laughter. "Ewock isn't her dinner!" she finally gasps as the laughter subsides. "He's her...well, she said he's not a pet either. He's like her friend?"

Jinx chuckles at the tortle's misunderstanding. "You really aren't from around here, are you? Don't worry. We've got your back. First lesson first though. Our dinner is usually served on plates, already dead."

At that moment, Headmaster Vance Moontalon interrupts the proceedings in the class, "Okay, you've all had your time to develop your emblem and team name. Now I'm going to have each group introduce themselves. Let's start with your three."

The headmaster then points at the group of three students sitting nearby—the group consisting of a human man, a dwarven man and a yuan-ti woman. Immediate, the dwarf lunges to his feet, "I am Dreadbeard, and this is Dracon Killjoy and Halazar Hisserin. Together we are Demogorgons after my patron, Demogorgon."

He then holds up a piece of parchment which displays a symbol. The symbol consists of a line running vertically, whilst an upside-down crescent intersects with the line. Touching the sides of the crescent shape are two lines sitting at angle to the vertical line, and with two more lines at either end.

"This is the symbol of Demogorgon and it will be our emblem."

Moontalon nods his head buy looks rather unimpressed by the whole presentation.

"Very good, now how about you six? You lot with the tortle."

Sylvie places her hand on the table, prepared to stand up. Her voice lowers slightly, leaning in to speak with the others. "D'you want me to introduce us?"

Miawynn grins at Jinx, a way to thank her for standing up for Ewock. She then says "Fine by me" in response to her question about answering for the group.

Still upset about Paartu mentioning Ewock as a meal, she responds to him "I do not know your kind or your clan but I shall let this go in good sense since it appears we are stuck together during our time here."

Alcazar nods to Sylvie.

Paartu's face is creased with confusion. To Miawynn, he says, "Thank you for forgiving my ignorance. Perhaps you could explain to me later why you have no friends of your own kind and instead befriend meat. I could be your friend, if you like; I'm sure I could learn much from you." To Sylvie, he says, "Yes. Please speak for us. I am ever on my back tonight."

Hearing no one object, Sylvie pushes herself to her feet. She takes a quick look around at the other groups as she clears her throat. "Name's Sylvie. We've got Jinx Onyxseeker, Nepharios Tenebras, Alcazar Tremayne, Miawynn, and Paartu of the Flusshaven Clan." A finger is pointed to everyone as she introduces them. "Our crew's the Pale Hand. There's a lot of different meanings to it, and you can come up with your own too."

She nudges Nepharios gently with a hand, if he wanted to reveal the concept for their emblem.

Jinx sits back and listens as Sylvie introduces their group. She is eager to see how the other groups and the Headmaster react to their rather intimidating name and elegant yet slightly menacing emblem. Surely the Headmaster will be impressed with their creativity and the other students properly daunted by the prospect of having to compete with such a talented group. She can't help but grin as she awaits their reactions.

"Um, yes, it is not quite finished Headmaster, this is only a rough sketch." The young noble explains, showing the emblem as it is drawn in ink, an upward facing open hand surrounded by small six-pointed stars in the vague pattern of a tree. "It will need some finalizing work but I think this might be fairly close to what The Pale Hand will use as our emblem." He adds, looking around at the others in his team for agreement.

Miawynn sees Nepharios looking at the group but unclear what the look on his face means, scrunches her eyebrows and tilts her head to the side. Ewock slowly makes his way to the top of the bag but still fearful of Paartu, barely sticks his head out. 

She then turns to look back at the headmaster to see what his response will be to the beautiful emblem her peers have made to represent them. With that in mind, she eases at the thought of having to work with them and for a moment you can see her relax as her shoulders drop. 

The other students watch as Sylvie talks about the group; they show little interest and are much more concerned about their own groups.

The headmaster nods his head, "Very good. Let's have you lot present next. The four kobolds."

The group looks around in shock before one of the four kobolds climbs to his feet. He introduces the group as Meepo's Minions.

"Meepo was an ancient hero, and we have decided to honour him with our group's name. But I'm Hagnar, this is Molo, this is Rotom, and that's Taklak. We didn't come up with an emblem, though."

Then a pot-bellied dwarf who looks too old to be in this classroom jumps atop a table to shout his introductions. By slurring his words, he sounds to be between tipsy and drunk.

“Fellow students! I am Gutboy Barrelhouse, famed leader of the Marauders—the group that puts the word ‘party’ into ‘adventuring party.’ And I want you all to know that you are invited to the mixer in our dormitory tonight at...”

“ENOUGH!” The Headmaster scowls angrily at the now-terrified dwarf. “This is over. Consume your meals and then go to your rooms. You will meet your instructors tomorrow.”

The Headmaster, still glaring at the dwarf’s cowering adventuring group, stomps out of the room. This leaves the rest of the groups without a chance to introduce themselves or show off their emblems. It is also uncertain just how many points each group has earned themselves.

Nepharios gathers up his materials, and looks to the others in his his Team. "So, Pale Hand, time to get something to eat and drink?" He says plainly, standing up.


(Do we know where to get that meal, and do we have rooms already, and can we know just a little bit more about the Clearwater Academy for immersion purposes? :-)

"My companions, should we not go to the party? We have received an invitation?"

"Considering the headmasters reaction I sincerely doubt there will be any party, this particular night at least. That dwarf will be fortunate to not be expelled for such blatant behaviour." The young noble says dryly at the tortle's comment. "I should mention I am here to study and achieve, not to indulge in frivolities, and I would hope that whatever my teammates choose to do tonight will not in any way interfere with accomplishing our assignments tomorrow with top grades." He adds to no one in particular.

"Studying's good and all. I'm here to learn anything and everything. But we can have a bit of fun or experiences outside the books."  Sylvie comments. "Parties are a great way to meet new folks. Though we might wanna go to one where we aren't hearing about it during the pre-party festivities."

She snaps her fingers. "We could have our own party! Just something between us. It's a great bonding experience and all."

Alcazar looks unimpressed. He stares at the dwarf for a moment before answering  Paartu. "The dwarf seems too frightened to continue with his plans, and -- this being our first day -- I plan to play by whatever rules the master of this house cares to set. The breaking of rules is best left for a time when it can be most advantageous, especially if you do not know the cost..."

As his words trail off, Varlan walks over to the now-cowering dwarf, and makes a small bow. "Alcazar Tremayne, at your service."

After a quick glance toward the podium, Alcazar draws another breath. "Ser Barrelhouse, do you mind if I ask one question: Is there any history between yourself and the Master of this House, or was this response completely unanticipated on your behalf?"

As Sylvie mentions having a party of their own, the young noble seems both intrigued and intimidated by the thought, himself not really going to any parties for a long time, ever in fact.