Mae wanders inside the Biblioplex, looking around with a small bit of wonder and a bit of excitement as well, although perhaps not in the sense that others had seeing the rows and rows of books. Useful, yes, but not where she imagined she would spend most of her time. But the aesthetics of the place were very pleasing, and she found herself only half listening to Lesviel mention the affairs and jobs and such, taking her list of classes and merely putting it into her bag for the time being. "Hmm? Oh, I'm sure I'll ask about a job or something later." She mentions to no one in particular.

Frowning at the wide open space and high ceilings--the feeling of them so similar to those from the night before--Mei fidgets with her card holster, opening and closing and opening and closing the latch. She slowly takes a few steps back, bumping into Knap and then Malvyn with a "S-Sorry!" as her eyes dart around the area.

Her grandmother's voice is soft in her mind. 'Not all Dreams come to fruition, child. We are not all-knowing. There are many ways in which the patterns of the Weave can be interpreted. A tapestry of possibilities.'

Perhaps her Dream was just... a dream. 

Mollified by that thought, Mei accepts her class sheet with a tentative smile and then immediately blanches at it. The color drains from her face at sight of her 9am start time. Maybe she could fit a nap in between Archaeomancy and Magical Auras, though she'd have to skip lunch then. A little noise of worry catches in her throat.

(OOC: Sorry I haven't been super active on this thread... work has been absolutely kicking me around... apparently, my employers have decided that 'rest and recovery' aren't a thing that matter).

Looking around at the massive open space, Chara suddenly feels tiny... like she did when she was a little child looking up at whatever devil her father decided to summon in the middle of their living room to make another deal for... um... whatever it was he was trying to accomplish. She's suddenly realizes just how messed up her childhood really was...

"Oh... oh my... this place is... really big," is all she can say as she enters the Biblioplex for the first time.

If Mellori's jaw could drop any more, it would have hit the ground. She loved books of course, and her favourite place in the world was the library she frequented, but this? This was on another level. An exponential other level.

Like a fish out of water, her mouth moved but no sound came out. She was, quite literally, awe-struck. Finally she managed to squeak out, "Amazing. Truly amazing." It was all she could do not to rush to the closest section and read all of the titles.

Calming slightly, she took a deep breath and wondered out loud, "Has anyone ever read every book? I mean, unlikely and maybe not even possible."

Turning to Lesviel, she asked, "I'd love to know how the books are classified, and the sections organised. And I too would love to work here. I'd do anything, anything at all, just to spend as much time here as possible."

With a self-satisfied grin now plastered across her face, she finally stopped talking.

Lesviel interrupts any conversations as she prepares to continue on with the group. "Hopefully you all got the classes you wanted. Most first-year classes are located on the central campus.  Some are even right here in the Biblioplex!"  She has started walking slowly towards the east.  As she gets to the corner, she motions to her right (B7). "These are two of the classrooms. There are two others to the other side."  

She continues to walk, turning to the north past the packed in eastern stacks.  Ahead you see two other rooms (B14 & B15). "These are the Student Activities Center and Student Council Hall. I mentioned that campus representatives are in the Council Hall if you wish to discuss employment. And several of the extracurricular's have people set up in the Activities Center."  She takes a glance at one of the clocks on the wall ahead.  "We still have a bit of time, so feel free to take a look for a bit if you wish. I'll be just outside here and we'll move on in a few minutes."  

"Yes, quite impressive." The purple-skinned tiefling chimes in, gently catching Mei as she stumbles back into him, somehow feeling comforted that some of the others too seemed to feel the Biblioplex was a magnificent place. "I'm sure you could get some kind of work here Mellori, I certainly hope I will. We could go to the information desk after the orientation and ask about it." He offers the red-haired girl with a friendly smile.

Malvyn then follows Lesviel and listens attentively to her guiding. The tiefling wasn't sure he would be joining any clubs, that had certainly not been his plan when he got accepted to Strixhaven, but somehow much had changed since then and it couldn't hurt asking about what kind of clubs there were. "I think I'll visit the Student Activities Center then." He says to his floories to see if anyone would join him, then heading in there, looking to see if there was any written information about what clubs were availble at Strixhaven.

"The orchestra would be interesting if it is an option, although music is not my main interest in truth. I prefer to be more physical, acrobatics and juggling and the sort. Not sure I have the discipline to be a part of an orchestra", Guardok replies to Mal with a little chuckle.

"Looks like all my classes are present and correct", he says in answer to Lesviel. "Does anyone know how many people are in each class?".

He waits for a response to his question, and then waves to Mal as he wanders away. "Wait up Mal, if we have some time then I will join you".

Lesviel replies to Guardok, "I think first-year classes tend to be around 20 students. I guess there can be up to around 30, but that's pretty unusual."  As Malvyn heads for the Activities Center, the elf peeks inside.  Two students, Aurora - who had run in to Malvyn in her rush yesterday - and the other dark-skinned girl that had been waiting for her, briefly wave to Lesviel.  They are at a table with a large banner that reads 'Strixhaven Show Band Association'. 

Insides the Activities Center, a number of tables are covered with flyers from the Dead Languages Society, the Dragonchess Club, the Dragonsguard Historical Society, Future Entrepreneurs of Strixhaven, the Intramural Gymnastics Club, the Intramural Silkball Club, the Intramural Water-Dancing Club, the Mage Tower Cheer Squad, the Strixhaven Iron-Lifters Society, the Strixhaven Show Band Association, the Strixhaven Star, and Student-Mages of Faith.  Each table is staffed by at least one student. There are also a handful of other first-year students wandering around from table to table.  

“D-Don’t go alone!” Mei blurts out to Malvyn before slapping a hand over her mouth in surprise. “Er, I mean, um… I’ll go with you!” She hurries after him, still oblivious to her footwear and how the little bunny ears flop up and down with each step, and sticks a bit closer than she should to his side as she keeps an eye on their surroundings. Her class sheet crinkles in her grip.

“I’ve been trying to decide if I should join a club with an activity I’d be good at ooorrrr,” she gets distracted for just a moment by the sheer number of clubs, “or something I’m not. It’s important to—to try new things, right?” As Guardok waves after them she pauses. Good, safety in numbers!

When he catches up, she nods over at one of the tables, "What about the Cheer Squad or Gymnastics? That's physical with lots of acrobatics! And still a performance too? Maybe they incorporate illusions into the routine." 

The purple-skinned tiefling gives Mei a curious look. "Please do, trying new things is why we're here I guess, I'm sure there's lots of interesting clubs..." He says to the purple-haired girl, then turning to Guardok. "...even ones for acrobats." He adds with a friendly smile. Once inside the Student Acivity Center, Malvyn quickly gets a flyer for the Dead Languages Society, but then also out of curiosity one for something called the Strixhaven Star, reading the flyers thoroughly to see what these clubs were about exactly and how one would go about to join them. "Find anything interesting?" He looks up and asks Mei and Guardok as he finishes reading.

Mei's amethyst eyes glide over the tables for the Silkball, Water-Dancing, and Iron-Lifters clubs. She looks curiously at the students manning each of those tables, though she stays with Guardok and Malvyn for the moment.

As Mei enters, she notes at one table the same dryad that had passed her just as she lost her book when she arrived.  At yet another table is the girl that had stopped and helped retrieve your book.  The sign in front of her table says, 'Strixhaven Star'.

Her cheeks immediately heat at sight of the discourteous dryad student, her lips stubbornly twisting to one side even as she tries to hide her face behind her sheet of classes. Her features soften, however, at sight of the girl manning the table for the Strixhaven Star.

At Malvyn's question, her attention returns to her immediate company. "Maybe... though they'd probably laugh me out of here for trying to join the Iron-Lifters Society," she says with a self-deprecating laugh as she feels her bicep for any semblance of a muscle.

Noticing the flyer in Malvyn's hands, she rises to her tiptoes to read a bit of it over his arm before looking curiously up at him. "Are you interested in journalism? The student at their table, um," doesn't judge you for reading spicy books, "is very kind! She helped me when I first arrived. We could go talk to her if you'd like?" 

Mae sees a few others going off to the activities area and snaps out of her wandering mind long enough to follow them over. She began to peruse the tables slowly, taking flyers for everything although she wasn't necessarily interested in most of them. She didn't even know what water dancing entailed, but she wasn't really the most graceful person around anyway. History and things like dragonchess were going to bore her quickly if she stayed there too long. She certainly wasn't the strong type, physically, so Silkball and Lifting Iron...that was a club?? Definitely not. Same with Entrepreneurs and the Star paper, she liked her distance from people, not getting in their faces. She wasn't interested in theology of any kind, nothing personal against the gods of course, and sitting around talking about a dead language made her feel dead inside. Learning a language so she could read some epic tale in its original language could be something, but not doing it all the time. She stopped with the cheer squad and the show band on top of her list. She admitted to herself she probably would do alright with either of them, but she wasn't about to do both because she planned to check out the cafe later for a job there. She sighed and put the papers in her bag and reshouldered it, looking around to see what her floormates were checking out and up to.

The minotaur behind the table for the Dead Languages Society speaks up as Malvyn is perusing the flyer. "Well met sir," he says in an extremely soft voice. He starts to recite what sounds like a poem, but in no language you have heard or could even guess at. "A short excerpt from a ballad that was recently discovered.  A full translation is still being worked on."  

As Mae slips over to the table marked 'Mage Tower Cheer Squad', it had seemed to have nobody manning it.  But a rather large fire genasi steps over as you are starting to step away. "Hello!" he calls out in a fairly loud voice. "Are you interested in cheer? We'd love to get more members! I'm Zanther."  He looks rather athletic, with broad shoulders and a well-muscled physique. His skin is a dark red while his hair is a fiery orange. His eyes as well are bright glowing yellow.  Yet for all of that, his broad smile is perhaps the most noticeable feature he has. 

You haven't made it to the 'Strixhaven Show Band Association' yet but see the two girls who had waved to Lesviel earlier. 

Mei notes that the woman at the Strixhaven Star table seems to have caught her gaze, giving her a small smile of recognition.  The minotaur also seems to catch site of your interest in the Dead Languages Society pamphlet. "Good day to you dear lady," he says in nearly a whisper. 

Mae was completely shocked at the genasi called out to her, having not seen anyone around the table before and still musing about her possibilities. "Oh! Oh, I don't know! I..um.." She looked the man over for a moment and tried to speak again but her throat suddenly went dry for a moment. She felt her cheeks flush suddenly and quickly brushed it up to the heat coming from the fire genasi man standing near her now. She coughed softly and regained her composure, "Well I'm honestly not sure. I'm really more of a musician than...um...a cheer...person? What exactly do you do together? I usually have people cheering at my performances, not do the cheering myself. And..." she stopped talking as he was still smiling and suddenly her warning bells went off in the back of her head, but she stayed for the moment as to not be rude. And she was actually interested in what he might have to say about the squad.

Mei smiles back at her unnamed book rescuer and gives a little wave of her hand before she tucks a loose bit of hair from her bun behind her ear, intending to go thank her properly before the soft voice at the table catches her attention. 

"And to you, um, good... good sir," she replies with a warm smile, "I'm Mei Fujimori." She holds out her small hand to shake the minotaur's much larger one.

Her interest in the club might be more on her roommate's behalf--though she certainly understands the merits of studying dead languages--but she can't help but be drawn in by the melodic recitation of the poem. "And that was from a ballad, you said?" she enthuses, quite a fan of those that tell tragic tales of romance. "Can I ask what it's about? It sounded very lyrical in the tongue you were using." She glances over his uniform to try and place his year.

The fire genasi responds to Mae. "The Cheer Squad of course is there to cheer!" he says with a bit of a laugh. "But that isn't much of an answer, is it? Our role is to help inspire school spirit. We inspire pride in our official Strixhaven Mage Tower teams.  Specifically we create different routines and cheers to inspire both the participants and all the students there to support the teams. We try to be very creative in our routines. I've pushed for a lot more acrobatic and athletic elements. You should see the aerial feats we've put together sometime!"  As he speaks, his enthusiasm does not seem to wane at all.  He pauses a moment, giving you a very close look. "I would bet you are good on your feet - a real asset for our group. And you have quite an uplifting smile too."