"Two, please," Mei replies, fetching her coin purse. "Do yooou, um... do you offer student rates by any chance? We came from Strixhaven for the gymnastics meet."

Mae interrupts Mei as she starts getting her purse out, putting a hand on her shoulder and shaking her head. "I got this," she said with a warm but tired smile. She then swiftly pulled her own bag out and brought out several gold coins. "We were told the rate was three gold per night with double occupancy. We will share a room. And if you have any extra amenities I would be interested to know."

The gentleman at the desk first responds to Mei. "I'm afraid we do not have any such discounts. But we are most pleased to see students coming to visit our town." He then turns to Mae. "Yes, of course, 3 gold is the rate for 2 nights. As for other amenities..."  He seems to think a moment. "We do have both suites and mini-suites. But you might be more interested in our small spa. We have baths fed from geothermally heated waters. For a massage and a soak in the bath we charge 12 silver."

“Happy to share, roomie? And that hot spring sounds sounds healing.”

Knap takes a big yawn, but doesn’t want to sleep at all. 

"One room for the two of us, and for the hot spring." The purple-skinned tiefling says to the gentleman at the desk, ready to pay for Knap too if he couldn't afford it.

Mae nods, "Very well, for both of us then." She gestures to Mei and gives her a small smile before counting out enough gold and silver to pay for their accommodations, then waits for directions and such to their room. "I think I could use a good soak after that ride."

Mei looks ready to cry as Mae pays for their room and sniffles as she gives the aasimar a side hug, promising to repay her. She then lights up bright as a beacon as the hot springs are mentioned.

"I haven't soaked in a hot spring since I left home," she says to the others as they make their way to their rooms, an extra bounce in her step at the prospect. "I wonder if they're mixed? Did you know that they have health benefits too? The minerals help with blood circulation and can soften your skin! Not to mention they help with getting deeper sleep." As if telling a secret, she leans in to reveal, "The hot spring in my village is said to have purifying waters. If evil even touches the waters, it's banished back to its plane. I'm not so sure that bit's true, but--" she continues to chatter on, clearly excited to be somewhere new with her friends. 

"Of course, I will have someone lead you to your rooms," the gentleman responds, taking the fees for the two room as he rings a bell. "Unfortunately, at this late hour the spa is closed. But it will be open tomorrow later in the morning."  No sooner than he said that a stout young dwarf comes up, dressed as a bell hop. "This way to your rooms," he says. "Does anyone need a hand with their things?" 

He moves fairly swiftly and soon you have made it to your rooms which are on the first floor, but near the back of the building. He indicates two adjacent doors. 

You know that the gymnastics event will be at a facility next to the Aven Academy. You aren't quite sure where that is exactly. The event starts rather late in the morning, just barely before mid-day.

The purple-skinned tiefling declines the offer for help with his modest luggage, following the young dwarf to his and Knap's room where he settles in for the night, first suggesting to the others that they could perhaps visit the spa together with Guardok tomorrow night after the gymnastic event. Considering the late hour, Malvyn would do just some light reading to bed before sleeping soundly after the long coach journey, getting up early to ready himself for a day of cheering on his gymnastical friend.

Mae nodded a bit at the dwarven bell hop, but took what she could to help Mei on their way to their room. "That's fine, I'm sure we can visit it in the morning before we go out maybe. But um, do you know where the Aven Academy is? We're going there tomorrow but we haven't been here before."

Mei makes sure to tip the bellhop a silver, then gets settled with Mae in the room. Exhausted as she is from their travels, she has a relatively quiet night with only some whispered sleep talking here and there. Mae does, however, end up with a pair of cold feet against her calf as the Dreamer unconsciously seeks out the aasimar's warmth.

Slow to wake in the morning as usual, Mei eventually is ready to head to the meet (assuming they got directions). 

An early riser, Guardok is able to get in his exercise and sword practice before having a good breakfast. He doesn't have a huge amount of time though, as the group will leave fairly early in the morning so that they will have a little bit of practice time.  Warm-ups for the competition begin before mid-day. 

The dwarf leading everyone to their rooms quickly replies to Mae's question. "Aven Academy? Well, it is just a bit to the west of here.  A bit more than a half-hour walk to get there. The city has coaches that go that way. Then it's usually about 15 minutes or so. Ask at the desk and they can give you street by street instructions if you need them." 

The bellhop thanks Mei for the silver and is on his way back towards the lobby.  

Everyone gets settled into their rooms fairly quickly.  And as late as it is, the morning seems to come quickly. With the daylight, you see that the windows of your room have a nice very of a small, tree lined, park-like area.  Only a handful of people are out taking a stroll in the early morning. 

Once everyone is awake and ready, you head out into the city of Silkmeadow.  you had learned the night before that this hotel does not include any dining facilities.  But there are any number of little cafes and a couple of restaurants readily apparent nearby. It also takes little effort to spot the carriages that run along the main street, which the The Needy Raven sits on. One seems to stop every 5 minutes or so and the traffic looks pretty light at this hour of a Saturday. It's also easy enough to get specific directions for walking from the desk. The route does not seem to be very complicated to get there.

Knap settles in for the night, “oh, I almost forgot, thanks for picking up the room… here,” and the satyr hands over a gold piece and 5 silver. He curls up in the bedroll and dreams of condensed, slick sludge being sucked up from the bottom of a pond, the sludge then transforms into a cutesy Silverquill mascot toy, just like the one he brought along with him. 
…

Knap wakes early, rested despite strange dreams.  “Silkmeadoooow,” Knap yodels a little too early for this time of the morning. 
“I’m going to go sit at a little street side cafe and eat a pastry and drink a coffee and watch the people.” He says to Malvyn before quickly washing and making his way outside to take in the day. 

knap would also Druidcraft for a 24 hour weather check. 

"An excellent idea my friend." The purple-skinned tifling says, seeming to be in good morning mood in spite of special morning call, quickly washing up and getting dressed, gently knocking on the girls' room to inform them of their plans, then ready to join Knap for a cafe visit before making their way to cheer on Guardok.

Mae didn't mind the cold feet because honestly, she usually ran hot in bed anyway. She found herself dragging to bed as well, musing over irony of being tired from sitting all day, and slept mostly well. Despite being away from home and home, she woke as the morning broke and went through her typical morning meditation, humming softly so as not to disturb Mei much until she woke. She cracked the door at the knock and acknowledged Malvyn's plans and then relayed them to Mei when ready.

"Well the meet doesn't start for a couple hours I think, and we'll need to eat before we go. The men were heading out already, but I didn't know what you wanted to do. I am hungry though I think."

“O-oh! Yes, of course! Let’s go!” Mei says, then flits about to collect her things before heading out with Mae for breakfast.

Mae smiles a little as Mei flits about and then goes out with her, down to the street to look for a place to eat for breakfast, though not necessarily looking for the rest of their group.

As Guardok appears at the designated meeting place, completely out of breath having had to run, he finds everyone else already present.

"Phew, I made it", he says bending over and taking a few seconds to catch his breath. "I thought you might have gone without me", he adds, before taking a bite of a half eaten pastry he had grabbed from the breakfast buffet before leaving Dresar.

Knap and Malvyn are first out of the hotel, and they quickly note a small cafe situated on a side street that runs along one side of the hotel.  It's almost a block down, which you see leads into a more forested area.  Though on the street, the cafe has seating around the corner that borders on some of this greenery.  

Knap's weather forecasting gives him the indication of clear skies and calm weather. It seems the weather will be quite nice. 

The cafe offers numerous varieties of drinks, as well as a smattering of pastries and small breakfast items.  

It's a bit later when Mae and Mei head out, they too head down the street and spot the little cafe, bordering on a forested area just down the street.  Although there is also a bit of a larger restaurant down along the main street that appears to be advertising a wide array of elaborate pancakes and waffles with almost any kind of topping you might desire. 

(Where do Mei and Mae decide to go? And Knap and Malvyn have a brief moment to settle themselves in.)  

Zanther heartily greets Guardok with a firm pat on the back when he arrives. "Giving us all a scare with your late arrival!" he calls out in a good-natured tone. "But I see you were merely getting in some pre-teleportation exercise.  Well, the teleportation circles are waiting.  Let's get on to Silkmedow!" This is directed not just at Guardok , but the others as well.  

Conys is the first to go, stepping into the teleportation circle almost as soon as Zanther finished speaking. She leads a group of 6 others that vanish as soon as the Owlin man completes chanting the magical words.  That just leaves 8 more of you, ready to step into the circle. "Here we go!" Zanther shouts as he literally jumps into the circle.  The others follow, including Guardok .  You hear the Owlin again chant the words and when it ends, you are suddenly no longer looking at the Strixhaven campus.  

Instead, the buildings are suddenly a slightly different shade of grey from what you are used to on the central campus.  There are a lot more green tones and accents as well.  Though from here you only see large towers and what you might assume would be classroom buildings.  There is a sign indicating 'Aven Academy' on one nearby wall.  And you cannot help but notice the large number of avian beings walking about.  The majority are probably Owlin, but there are a fair number of Aarakocra as well.  Not that there aren't other races - just a noticeably different mix here. 

"All right! Let's head to the gymnasium. It's not far from here," Zanther bellows out as he and Conys are already moving off.  "Oh, and welcome to Aven Academy," he adds.