Clearly Sylvie was a good singer, if only she had better taste in music, the young noble sighs to himself. As he realized most of the others in the Pale Hand had now contributed to the soiree, Nepharios held up his black tome in an effort to hide himself. Maybe they would forget he was there and simply go to sleep.

Alcazar quickly looks around but sees nothing busy or missing from the map.

The half-orc shakes his head, "Unfortunately, there isn't much of a nightlife or anything to do. However, it would give you plenty of opportunities to study. You could put yourself as the top student if you applied yourself with all that free time."

Alcazar nods, "I suppose that's why people make their own trouble, eh? I'm thinking of Ser Barrelhouse."

He takes a deep breath and looks around one more time before making another bow, and getting ready to return to the dorm.

"Pleasure to me you...ah...I'm not sure I caught your name?"

(( If he gets a name or not, he smiles and nods, then heads back into the dorms, looking for the rest of the Pale Hand... ))

Paartu responds as enthusiastically to Sylvie's song as he did to Jynx's. "Wonderful!" he cries. Looking to Nepharios, he asks, "Do you have a song you'd like to share?"

At first the young noble pretends not to hear the tortle, but after an awkward silence in the qurarters of the Pale Hand, he looks up from his book. "I have songs, but nothing I would like to share. I'm not a singer you see and fortunately for all of us I am quite aware of that fact and will therefore not torture you with any singing on my part. However I will of course contribute to our evening." He says, while slowly closing his tome and standing up by the window, opening it slightly, then picking up a lantern for a suitable eerie illumination. From the darkness outside you hear a brief flutter of bird wings and in the next moment a raven lands on Nepharios' outstreteched hand.

After a moment of silence making sure he has the rooms undivided attention, the young student starts to passionately recite a poem.

THE RAVEN 

"Professor Roghan Silverstone", the half-orc replies. He seemingly ignores the comment regarding  Barrelhouse. "Now if you would please return to your dorm."

(If no one else has anything else that would like to do. I am happy to skip to the first lesson.)

Alcazar returns some time later having apparently wandered the halls for a time. He nods to anyone who is still awake as he enters the room then finds a vacant bunk where he seemingly settles into a meditative trance, staring straight ahead. Some time in the middle of the night he rises again, looks out the window and sighs before returning to his bunk accepting, at least for the moment, his imprisonment.

(( Happy to proceed! ))

Paartu is absolutely enraptured by Nepharios's recitation. "What a wonderful...speech? Talk? I don't know what you did, but it was wonderful. I felt shivers up my spine. How talented you are! What a lovely party."

Once the festivities die down, Paartu places his things on an empty bunk, gets down on the floor beside it, and retreats into his shell to rest.

Jinx claps as Nepharios finishes his recitation. "Wow, that was really creepy!" she says. "I loved it!"

((Also ready to proceed!))

The young noble is a bit surprised to hear the appreciative words of Paartu and Jinx, realizing he felt a bit awkward now, not knowing how to react, not even remembering the last time he heard words of appreciation before arriving at the Clearwater Academy. "Ehm, thank you, it was just a poem I read once, it sort of stuck with me I suppose." He says, almost embarrased now. "Well, that should have bored us sufficiently to want us all to have some rest." He says with a wry smile. "This is Mortio, my familiarus and trusted friend. I can assure you he's not quite as sinister as he looks." He says, motioning towards the raven that now flutters up to perch upon a bust conveniently placed by Nepharios' bed. The young noble would then put out the candle in the lantern and hang it by his bed, putting the tome on his bedside table and use the darkness to slip into his nightshirt before slipping into bed. He lies awake for some time, pondering what assignments the Pale Hand would have in the morning, feeling unexpectantly comfortable with sharing room with the rest of the team. But when he finally drifted off into sleep the nightmares was there, as strong and vivid as ever.

(Yes, ready to move on.)

Sylvie shivers at the recited poem. "Can see why it'd stick with you. It's haunting."

The former sailor squints at the familiar, before seeming to decide to trust the raven. Much like Ewock, the creature gets a little wave as a greeting. As the merriment was dying down, the former sailor hangs her bag off one of the bunk posts, once she made sure the flap was secure. It's not long before she's out like a light.

((Ready to continue!))

In the morning you wake early to enjoy a nice breakfast in the refectory with the other students. The breakfast is quick and you are soon walking over to the classrooms for your first lesson.

At the front of the large classroom stands Rogahan, the half-orc that Alcazar met the previous night, and a half-elf.

"I am Professor Zelligar Gosteth," the half-elf anounces.

"And I am Professor Roghan Silverstone," adds the half-orc.

"Today's focus will be on strategy and working in a team."

"So we're going to talk about a common combat manoeuvre; defending a flank. Typically attacks from behind leave a group vulnerable, and it would be possible for an enemy to circumvent a fighter like me to pick off weaker members of the party."

"Well, those who don't typically wear much armour, not necessarily weaker."

"Right... So, it's important to protect your flank. There are several ways of doing this, and we're going to discuss the main methods in today's lesson."

"Any questions so far?"

Alcazar remains almost completely motionless throughout, the only signs of life being the occasional movements of his head and eyes as his focus shifts between the two professors.

He shows no signs of wanting to interrupt or ask a question, though he does move his chair slightly, to allow a view of the doors and windows, as much as that may be practical given his habit of sitting near a wall and towards the back of the room.

Nepharios sits in the classroom with the rest of the Pale Hand, eager to get the first assignment and he listens attentively to the two professors. As they mention protecting the teams weaker members he looks around at his own team and realizes Paartu definitely has his work cut out for him, although he's not sure how the powerful tortle will be able to protect the others at the front, the flanks and the back at the same time.

Miawynn breathes a sigh of relief as she sees Professor Gosteth, the one who say the potential in her and took her off the streets, though also away from the forest. She listens attentively to the discussion. She nods fiercely to his comment regarding weaker vs low armor. She survived living alone in the forest as a young child, whose to tell her she's weak. The rest of the class he face resembles a nicer version of a glare towards Professor Silverstone. She begins to look around the room at the other adventuring parties who they will be up against. 

Can I do a perception check? 9

Paartu asks, “But why is the back considered a weak spot? I understand that not everyone is blessed with a shell, but surely all understand that the thickest armor should go where your eyes cannot. Your back should be as a fortification so that your mind and body can focus where the danger is greatest.”

Miawyn looks around the room and sees the familiar faces of the other students that she saw the previous night.

Professor Silverstone nods his head, "That's a good question. However, the majority of your encounters will be fought face to face. Like if you encountered a barbarian in a beserker rage, they are more likely to attack your front."

"There's also long ranged attacks that you might have to defend against. Most of them will also be from the front, and you might not see them coming."

"So, as I was saying there are other methods of protecting your rear, than just wearing thicker armour. The first is the usage of terrain, the second is intercept the attack, then you can draw fire and lastly you can make use of magic barriers."

"So let's discuss these methods through practical exercise. Can we get some volunteers?"

Nepharios is eager to make a good impression but he's unsure if the professors are looking for two full teams of volunteers or just a couple of students, in which case he hoped Paartu would step up to volunteer himself for the good of the Pale Hand. 

Jinx listens attentively during the lecture, but she is very bad at sitting still for any length of time. She keeps fidgeting in her seat, tapping her leg, or playing with the hem of her shirt. There weren't any gnome-sized chairs so she swings her legs back and forth and tries to sit up as tall as she possibly can.

When Professor Gosteth asks for volunteers, her hand shoots up, although she's not sure exactly what is volunteering for, but she knows it will be interesting. "I'll volunteer!" she declares.

After Jinx raises her hand, Paartu realizes that they wanted students to volunteer. He had always found the ways of instructors mysterious; this seemed unaccountably dangerous. Not wanting to put anyone else in danger, he says, "I, too, will volunteer."