Mae's face flushed again and she couldn't resist smiling back even though she was getting desperate to leave the area. "I-I see." She looked down at her feet and back up again, "Feet...no, not really. I mean I suppose I walk just fine, but I've never been much else for good feet." She gulped as the words left her, realizing how ridiculous she was sounding. "I, um, will let you know." She finally found her feet, and hurried off to the showband table to introduce herself to the girls there, not daring to look back at the fiery man behind her.

"Drazhomir Yarnask," the minotaur replies to Mei, the words again like a whisper. He extends his hand, very gently taking your much smaller hand in his.  He holds it just a moment before letting it go. "As I said, the work is still in the process of translation.  We know enough to guess at the pronunciation, but the meaning of a few words is still up for debate."  He pauses a moment, "I believe the general meaning is plain enough though. It tells of a Loxodon warrior preparing for war. It offers a rare glimpse into the ancient days before they were displaced. It would be great if one day further pieces could be found to expand the fragment. Is it a prelude to a story of battle and honor? Or does it follow the family left behind as they wrestle with worry over a loved one? It's been the subject of much debate within the club."  Even as he goes on it is clear how invested he is in this subject.  But never does the volume of his voice rise, always maintaining a deep soft tone. 

A dark-skinned woman greets Mae as she walks over to the Show Band Association table. "Rubina Larkingdale," she says.  Her hair is very neatly pulled back and she speaks with a rather confident tone. "I see you met Zanther Bowen. And he still seems to have an eye on you. Hmmm," she says with a slight grin.

The other woman jumps in. "Geesh! Don't listen to her. Who cares about him?" Her long straight black hair comes down over most the right side of her face. Her skin is a darker color and she has distinctly pointed ears which make you think of an Elf. Although dressed in a first-year uniform, she wears an ornate choker with red stones, and she has several piercings to her ears, nose, and lower lip. "You interested in the band? Or just escaping Zanther's suffocatingly positive attitude?" 

"Drazhomir," Mei repeats in her own soft voice, bowing her head slightly.

As he explains about the ballad, she finds herself cradled in that deep, soft tone--the lull of it dangerously close to putting her to sleep. It takes all of the willpower that she possesses not to yawn and make an utter rude boob of herself. "That's beautiful," she says genuinely of both his passion and the potential subject. "It's really quite romantic what you do, isn't it? Unearthing these lost stories that were always meant to be shared. It must be frustrating when any of it is lost in translation," she muses with a melancholic curve of her lips. "Oh! Do you mind if I, um, I take a flyer for my roommate? I think she'd be very interested in joining."  

"Of course," Drazhomir says to Mei. "I hope to see all of you at our next meeting. The brochure has the time and location." He picks up one of the pamphlets and offers it to you. 

The purple-skinned tiefling simply smiles, hopefully politely, as Mei mentions joining the Iron-Lifters Society. They would most likely love to have her energy there but there were certainly many other clubs that would likely suit the sweet purple-haired girl better he thought. So the Strixhaven Star was a student newspaper then. He hadn't ever given journalism any thought but admittedly he was very curious by nature, a trait that might show to be appreciated in journalism, and the chance of digging up secrets, dark ones in particular peaked the tiefling's interest. He's about to answer Mei as a minotaur greets them and tells them about the Dead Languages Society. He was hoping for something more sinister than a ballad and as the gentle minotaur expands on the subject Malvyn gets the impression it is mainly a poetry discussion club, not quite what he had imagined and hoped for, still, he didn't want to write it off just yet. "Yes, quite beautiful." He chimes in with Mei, hoping to sound sincere and polite. As the minotaur mentions time and location for the Society's next meeting is in the brochure, Malvyn quickly looks it up and commits it to memory. He would most likely pay it a visit to see if it was more than ballads. "The Strixhaven Star then?" He says to Mei and moves over to that station to see what they had to offer.

Guardok inclines his head to Lesviel in appreciation for the answer to his question, and then bolts after the others heading for the Activities Centre. Once there, he wanders around reading the names of all the various activities, with two striking a cord in him. The first being the Intramural Gymnastics Club and the second the Mage Tower Cheer Squad.

"Yes!", he says to Mei as she suggests the very same two activities. "I think you are absolutely right, Mei. I think I will go and find out more". 

When he notices Mae heading towards the latter, he moves a little closer, his small frame quite hidden from view as he listens in to what is being said. When the fire genasi appears, he stands jaw agape for a little bit, having not had much interaction with other earth genasi, let alone those of other elements.

Listening to the one who called himself Zanther speak of inspiring school spirit with acrobatics and aerial displays, a wide grin crosses his face.

When Mae excuses herself, he stands for a few moments watching Zanther stare after her before audibly clearing his throat.

"Hi, I'm Guardok from Freestone’s Festival of Fascination. Have you heard of it? It's a circus. You mentioned inspiring school spirit through acrobatics routines. Sounds just my thing. How is it different from the Intramural Gymnastics Club?", he then blurts excitedly.

Malvyn heads to the table with the 'Strixhaven Star' sign. There is a woman there dressed in a black and white Silverquill uniform. She has long greyish white hair and dark brown eyes. And from the wordless exchange between her and Mei, you would guess they are acquainted in some manner.  As you approach the table, she introducers herself. "Hi, I'm Mina Lee. Interested in joining the Strixhaven Star? We produce a monthly newspaper that is distributed across all parts of the campus. It's the Strixhaven University source for news of all sorts. Admittedly, a lot is just a recap of events happening at the school.  But we try to do some investigative work as well."  She gives you a grin. "Well, I do at least." 

The fire genasi introduces himself to Guardok, "Zanther Bowen. And you've come to the right person, as I am in both activities.  We do try to incorporate a lot of gymnastics into our Cheer Squad. But that is not just gymnastics and acrobatics. We try to put in some dance and some chants and cheers to get people inspired with school spirit!"  He ends emphatically, clearly excited about this topic. "Gymnastics is more of a sport, where you compete in various acrobatic activities. It's a great way to prepare for cheer, but also is fun in itself." 

“Amazing”, Guardok replies. “When are try-outs?”.

"Well, admittedly I'm more of a reader than a writer, but if you have any need for investigative work I'm certainly interested in helping out." The purple-skinned tiefling says with a hopefully polite smile, trying to not show his sharp fangs to Mina Lee, then glancing over at Mei, curious to see if this was anything she would be interested in too or if she just felt she needed to stay by his side for some reason, not that he minded the company, in fact he couldn't quite recall ever having anyone voluntarly following him...anywhere. He knew he appeared quite sinister to most people back home, but somehow people seemed to not be intimidated by that in this place.

As she says her thanks to the quiet Drazhomir, Mei walks along with Malvyn to the Strixhaven Star table. Again, it seems her interest in the club is more on Malvyn's behalf, though she certainly has her own reasons for wanting to come to the table. "Mina! Mei, hi!" she says as she points to herself. Her cheeks grow warm as a half-concocted thank you tumbles out of her mouth, "I didn't get to thank you properly for your kindness yesterday. So, um, thank you! That's not how I usually arrive places." She reaches up to tug on a braid which turns into an awkward brush of her collar as she forgets her hair is in a bun today. 

"Er, so! Investigative journalism? That sounds exciting!" She drops her voice lower to ask with conspiratorial but innocent interest, "Are you investigating anything at the moment?" 

"Early next week," Zanther says to Guardok. "Well, I wouldn't call the Gymnastics a try-out really. We'll take most and are happy to have learners. There's more of a screening happening next week.  For Cheer there's a tryout early next week.  Again, it's not particularly competitive but we do need folks that can learn the routines." He pauses a moment, giving you a big smile. "Are you interested in both?" 

"Oh, I always have a number of projects in the background," Mina says, responding to Mei's question with a bright smile. "Sometimes you don't know where a story will lead until you do the investigating."  She pauses for a moment, looking at Malvyn, "Well, while we appreciate readers a great deal at the Strixhaven Star, they're our customers after all, but what we really need are writers.  What good are the investigations if you cannot put the information into words that inform and enlighten people so that something can actually be done?  We do usually like to have our new members focus on writing a bit more mundane items. You know, the latest intramural feats or interviews with prominent faculty.  Communicating with words is really rather valuable.  Just think, all of those books you read would be for naught if someone didn't have the skill to write them." 

Mina than turns back to Mei, "And it is nice to finally formally meet you Mei. I certainly understand the first day on campus can be a quite a bit to deal with. I'm glad I could help you, and sorry that I was in a rush yesterday."  She pauses, giving the girl a slight wink. "Hope you're enjoying your book. I certainly found it fun." 

Mei is quite certain Malvyn could be a writer if he wished to be. As well-read as he seems she's sure he's learned holistically about the techniques and skills required to put word to parchment. She's about to say as much when she's caught off guard by Mina's wink and comment. 

Her eyes dart to Malvyn then away as she clears her throat and says far more loudly than her usual volume and in academic tones, "Haha hhaaaa, yes! It's, um, riveting! Very, uh, informative and I'm looking forward to critically analyzing its themes and, um... motifs!" She glances sidelong at Malvyn, hoping it might seem she's talking about any old academic text. 

She lowers her voice to add, "And if you have any other recommendations, I'm always on the lookout for..." she pauses and clears her throat again. "Hooooo, well, maybe I should see if there are any book clubs on campus!" 

((Deception: 18)

Mae looked a bit shocked again suddenly as Rubina spoke. "H-he's still looking!?" She quickly cleared her throat and began looking down intently at anything on or around the table. Mae finally took a glance at the other woman, a rather stark contrast to her more angelic features, but nonetheless a welcome sight. "I, um, I suppose both. He is...a bit much, I admit. I'm all for presence but I've had too many force their presence on me. I'm not sure I'd really be cut out for cheering on...uh, sporting events? I'm not that athletic anyway. I think I'd much prefer something more musical, that's always been my niche. I grew up a solo performer, but the idea of a much larger group getting together sounds...intriguing at the very least."

"I don't know, I have only ever written transcriptions, not anything of my own, I'm not sure I have what it takes to write, at least in way that your readers will find interesting." The purple-skinned tiefling answers a bit awkwardly. "Let me give it some thought, where do I find you if I decide I will give it a try?" He finally says to Mina Lee after pondering a moment.

As Mei and Mina starts discussing some old academic text, Malvyn's curiosity is immediately piqued, the purple-skinned tiefling making a mental note of asking Mei about it later. "I'm not sure there are any book clubs as such, but there is always the Biblioplex if you are interested in critically analyzing old academic texts. Or maybe you simply form your own club, I rather enjoy critically analyzing old academic texts myself so I might well apply for admittance." He says with a polite smile, not having the faintest idea it seems what kind of litterature the girls were really discussing.

(Passive insight: 12 ;-)

The air is thick with a cavernous sense of order. It sticks in Knap’s throat leaving him speechless. He felt out of place, uncomfortable in this uniform, mutton dressed as lamb. You’re gonna be fine. Everyone’s a little bit out’a place here. The measured lines, intricately designed statues, archways and other fine architectural magics wrapped around Knap like a net. It’s not that Knap didn’t enjoy the very occasional good book but he preferred reading the meaning of moonlit night flowers or trying to decipher the chortles of crows. 

Knap dawdles discombobulated behind Lesviel and the other first year floormates.  A flourish of greenery creeps into the corner of Knap’s eye as he notices a little bit of wild(ish) life to one end of the great hall. Knap began gravitating in that direction but noticed the others were not. You’ll somehow get lost between the stacks, keep up. And Knap, recalibrates his step in line with Mei, Mellori, Mae, Guardok and his roomie Malvyn. 

“Yaassss, Clubs” he says as his companions drift towards various tables. He catches brief snippets of their conversations. Hmmm you know what, acrobatics sounds really fun actually, he thinks to himself. Even the cheer squad for that matter. I love poetry but I’m not so ready for a dead language though…. 

“Wait, what was that Mei? ‘Trying to join the Iron Lifters Society’? No worries, I’ll get you a pamphlet.”

And Knap walks towards the table set up for the Iron Lifters, the heels of his Satyrical hooves gently clacking on the Biblioplex floor. 

Mina gets a grin on her face as Mei mentions doing a critical analysis of the book. She chuckles. "I look forward to hearing about that." 

She then turns her attention back to Malvyn. "I'm sure you'd be great, once you get a little practice. We'll hold a meeting for prospective new journalists towards the end of next week. The details are in the pamphlet there."  She picks two up, handing one over to Malvyn. 

"What about you Mei? Any interest in writing? I'm afraid there's no book clubs that I know of, although both the Dead Languages Society and Dragonsguard Historical Society will discuss certain books at times." She offers you a pamphlet as well. "Hmm, maybe we could use a book reviewer or something? I'd have to think about it." 

"Admittance.. to my... club?" she squeaks in an echo of Malvyn's words. Like mercury rising in a thermometer, color also rises over Mei's face. "I--ooohh, um, well... it might be difficult to find time for--er--maybe for the first year I should focus on--um--we could just critically analyze things together privately! Casually!" She manages a bright smile, bobbing up and down on her bunny-slippered toes, until she looks at Mina and realizes the actual genre of book they were discussing makes her suggestion sound like quite the euphemism. 

"I mean, n-not like--I didn't mean--" she chokes and coughs on a strangled sound caught somewhere between a whine and a chirp that was likely meant to be a laugh. "But--cough--book reviews, y-yes! That could be... Oh, did you hear that? I think I Knap called my name, I should--" Mei jerks her thumbs in the direction Knap is headed and begins to back away, but darts back in to receive the pamphlet. "Itwasreallynicetomeetyou,Mina! Wouldlovetotalkmoresoon!" She bows far more deeply than the situation calls for, forehead nearly touching the table, then spins on her heel, hurrying after that Stars-blessed Satyr.