Open Chronicles The Dancing Illusionist

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Kalianna Romane

The Masked Bard
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There was a thick crowd moving through the square, common considering it was the main method of entering the Inner City of Alliria. It was an interesting blend of outfits and apparel; some wore regal fabrics and clothes, while others wore the common garb of a worker or craftsmen. The hollers of mothers after their mischievous children and the familiar sound of money being exchanged was prominent throughout the square, many paying little mind to the odd figure strolling through the crowd towards a nearby fountain.

A rapier at their side and a violin at their hand, along with the faceless mask on her face, it was a bit of an odd image. However, from the faces of some of the passerbys, they seemed to recognize her. She gave them a little nod and salute before moving on towards the fountain in the center. She hopped onto the edge of it with natural grace, a soft 'thud, thud' coming from the movement.

It was at this time the crowd began to properly take in her presence, most looking on with a sort of confusion. The bard, as she seemed to be, offered little explanation, instead looking up to the sky. Indeed, a familiar white shape was floating above, akin to a winged rabbit. Beneath the mask, she grinned, setting the violin under her chin and grasping the violin bow.

Slowly at first, speeding up as she continued, flowing music began to emanate from the violin as the bow made its round journey across the width of the violin. A fiddle-like jaunty tune began to play, the masked bard beginning to rapidly tap her foot to the tune. As the song progressed, the creature in the sky began to descend. He flew around the bard as she played and danced, circling around her before flying off over the crowd that was now beginning to stagnate as a few members stayed to listen. Oddly enough, as she continued to play, more and more instruments began to join in, even a light chorus at some moments. Despite it making no sense for a violinist to somehow simultaneously create the sound of drums and flutes or even a chorus, it appeared to be happening.

The bard began to dance more and more, even stepping foot in the fountain at times, her vision grinning to spin and turn from her movements, but the music did not cease, even for a moment. As she danced, images began to streak across the air beside, behind, and in front of her. On her left was a mirror image of her, dressed in the same clothing, except it was as white as snow. On her right was another mirror copy, this one dressed in black as dark as midnight. Both copies began to dance almost immediately, no longer having the constraints of playing a violin or obeying physical rules due to being mere illusions. Their movements seemed to flow almost unnaturally, contorting in ways that seemed to disobey gravity. Around the fountain, light sparks and stars began to coalesce and form, falling gently to the splashing waters below.

The juanty tune reached a high, some of the children in the crowd clapping their hands at the climax and the illusions, the sound of an ethereal chorus and drums reaching its loudest point. Although unseen by anyone except the closest row, the bard was beginning to breathe heavy from the exertion. Magic wasn't easy to sustain, especially when dancing and playing.

Suddenly, it appeared as the water in the fountain exploded outword, blasting towards the bard and the crowd. The violin hit its peak before being silenced as the illusions vanished, the nearest crowd members reacting instinctively by holding up their hands to block the water. However, the water suspended itself in the air right above the crowd, white and frothy as if it was taken from a wave itself, revealing the fountain to be perfectly fine and the masked bard bowing down, causing the crowd to begin to applaud the performance.
 
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Lectrix! Lex! Come on, hurry up it's about to be over!

Delta begged, pulling on his hand. She was quite excited about the street show that was occurring at the moment. She was pulling quite hard, pleading for Lectrix to hurry.

Charlotte followed suit, grabbing Lectrix's other hand and pulling harder than Delta. Considering she was older, she was much stronger. She even used her bit a bit of magic to manipulate the air around Lectrix, pulling him faster.

Come on Lex! Please hurry.

Great. Now Charlotte was begging. He sighed heavily, facing the floor, and then finally looking up to meet the glare of his two sisters.

Fine, let's go.

The two girls cheered and raced toward the crowd of people, and Lectrix reluctantly followed.

Once he arrived, he could see that Delta couldn't see, so he lifted her up over his head and sat her up on his shoulders, and the three watched the ongoing show.

The show was marvelous, the girls couldn't keep their eyes off the dancer, their eyes wide open and mouths gawking. He had to admit, the woman's expert use of magic was astounding, but he had scene many a things in his life that were wondrous, and this moment wouldn't even make the top ten. He sort of smiled, thinking about the flower in his bracer compartment, one he had custom made for storage of Auran's flower.

Once the show was over, the audience applauded, including Lectrix and his sisters. He finally set Delta down, leading the two girls to whisper into each others ear. He saw them finally look at each other, nod, and then race into the crowd towards the dancer.

Shit he said under his breath. Delta! Charlie! Come back. He began to push people out of the way, making his way toward the center of the crowd and towards the dancer.
 
Faurosk usually hated visiting the inner city. Too many people for his tastes, more often than not, and many of them found their time to valuable to stop and enjoy the day. But, there were a number of factors that kept him coming back to the city which he used to call home.

His connections,at the College of the Elements, for example, kept him coming back, even if his tutelage at the aging institution had come to an end some time ago. After all, with the way he burned through magic when the going got tough, a constant supply of material spell components was a must. And so it was that he found himself in the square, looking around for anywhere he could go to get his athame sharpened. Along his journey to the only arcane smithy in the area that he'd heard of, however, he got sidetracked by the most hauntingly beautiful orchestra he'd heard in years. His untrained eyes scanned about the bustling square, stopping on the fountain about which a crowd had been gathering.

He could pick up on the jaunty fiddling even at such a distance, though it was the other musical elements that enraptured his attention. The drums, the flutes, and most of all the singing voices ringing out across the great expanse bore him closer to the performance like a moth to a flame. Strangely enough, he could only make out one performer, traipsing about upon the lowest tier of the gorgeously made facade of the fountain. Then there were two. Then three.

His interest was only spurred further, increasing the pace at which he approached the crowd from a slow walk to a brisk run. If it was some type of illusion, as he was wont to suspect of such a mysterious appearance, then he thought he might know the spell she'd used to pull it off; the issue is, for him to create even a single double of himself is a full body experience, requiring his keenest focus and the proper body position to make even a blurred copy of himself that mimicked his movements to a fault. Now let it be granted that he's more of a practitioner of transmutation rather than an illusionist, but the way that this woman could perform such a feat without breaking away from her more musical performance was impressive on a level that Faurosk could hardly put to words in his mind. He stood enthralled by the performance, trying his best to shuffle closer through the gathered people in spite of his broad framing. He'd heard rumors of the folk legend known as The Masked Bard, of course, but to see her in action was something entirely different than hearing about the experience from secondary and tertiary sources.

As the not-quite-solo act made a crescendo towards its climactic ending, the mage found himself tense with a giddy sort of joy he hadn't felt since he was a child, watching his father perform magic tricks in the Areck Slums. Newly flooded with pleasant memories, he found his jaw hanging agape in awe as the fountain seemed to almost explode outward, freezing mere feet from the eager crowd.

A heartbeat's breadth of silence hung in the air as the bard took her bow, but the quiet was broken as the audience broke out into cheers and applause that could best be described as thunderous. Even among the cacophony of praise, however, it wouldn't be much of a stretch for The Masked Bard to notice the blue-robed wizard who stood nearly half a head over most of the audience, bringing his gloved hands together time after time while shouting all the while as to just how phenomenal the performance was. He almost seemed to be addressing the bard directly as though he held a deeper-seated understanding of just how exhausting that must have been, even though he was a little over ten feet from her makeshift stage and therefore was too far to see just how heavily she was heaving her breaths.
 
Quoril was sitting in the workshop of Abracapothecary, the alchemy store just off the square that he had inherited from his parents. As he stood huddled over the colorful, bubbling breakers he was startled by the loud start of a street performance coming through a partially open window. Quoril jumped in surprise and knocked over the elixir he was mxing, spilling it all over the stone table top he had the brewing stand set upon. After a brief flash of annoyance, he wiped up the mess with a nearby cloth, exited the shop, and joined the crowd to see what was going on.

He saw a strange masked woman playing a violin and dancing on the fountain in the center of the square. This wasn't like any performance Quoril had seen before. There were images floating in the air around the woman - which he could only guess was some form of illusionary magic- but what really amazed him was the fact that the woman was creating the sound of a whole band by herself. Suddenly, the fountain seemed to explode outward as the music reached its peak. Quoril was stunned by this unexpected occurance, but as the masked woman bowed he joined in with the rest of the crowd and began heartily clapping and cheering.

As the audience started to disperse, he noticed the tall man standing near him wearing traditional wizard robes. As a fellow student of the arcane arts Quoril decided to introduce himself. Extending his hand in a friendly manner he said "Hi, the name's Quoril. I own a little alchemy shop here in the square. Who might you be?"
 
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Faurosk was shocked out of his revelry by a voice at his side. He did a double take over his shoulder, locking his gaze for a moment with the alchemist who'd just addressed him. Caught mid-clap, the mage pulled one hand free from where both had previously been mutually entangled in applause, meeting the slightly younger man's offered greeting halfway with a brief but not infirm shake.

"And I'm Faurosk." The man cocked his head off to the side for a moment, deciding to follow the same outline Quoril had in his greeting before straightening his neck out once more. "I own considerably little aside from what I carry on me, and I already know who you are. Wonderful how introductions work like that, isn't it?"

The wizard laughed jovially, well aware that the previous performance had put him into high spirits in spite of his previously soured mood. It was a bit of a shame, really; he'd always wanted to get better at pouting, and coming to the inner city felt like the perfect opportunity for practice. "I don't suppose you know what all that showmanship was about, do you? I mean, I've heard rumors of occurrences like this, but it can be sufficed to say I've been out of town for a solid while now. May have fallen behind on the local legends, you know?"
 
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Shaking Faurosk's hand Quoril replied, "Of all my time living in this city, I've never seen a performance like that."

"I'd say it looked like she was using highly advanced illusionary magic. As for any local legends, I've been out of town for a while myself so I'm not going to be much help with that either. Although I have heard rumors on my travels of a masked woman putting on these kind of performances, I've never been able to get a name nor a city of origin. I've tried asking about her in every city I went to but nobody knew anything past the legend. She almost really did seem like nothing more than a mere legend to me until I saw her here today. From the tales going around she uses extraordinary magic and I've been dying to meet her and learn all about it."
 
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Kali waited until the applause ended, upon which the suspended water rapidly evaporated and turned to mist that itself dissipated into nothingness. All that remained now was the bard, who now stood up from her previously bowing position, bringing her violin around her body, attatched to a strap. Oddly, she glanced up at the sky, a mix of blues and whites. As she looked up, seeming to beckon something in the sky, a white shape darted down towards the crowd, turning at the last minute toward the unfazed bard who held out an arm. The white shape landed on her shoulder, quickly wrapping itself there. As the creature remained stationary, it became clear that it was an Allirian Korvin, a small rabbit-like creature with long ears and wings. She laughed a bit, reaching over to pet Pan, scratching his fur.

Before she took a step down from the fountain, she took clear note on the tall man who clapped as hard as the rest with double the knowledge on what it took to do. She gave a salute and nod pointed directly at him, a small gesture, but one that showed recognition and thanks as best as one can without yelling over people. She took a graceful hop off the fountain, about to take in the crowd and perhaps meet a few of its members, making her way in the vague direction of the tall man in the hopes of perhaps seeing what it was he seemed to understand so much. Another illusionist would be a pleasure to talk to, perhaps they could exchange ideas for illusions, maybe even collaborate on a performance! Another bard would also be a pleasant conversation to have with.

However, she paused halfway to the man, when she saw a trio darting through the crowd towards her. Two children at the front, and what looked like a man, old enough to be their brother but not their father, chasing after them. Pan began to skitter across her shoulders away from the flock of people, hanging behind her neck. She reached back to scratch his back as a bit of comfort, kneeling down in anticipation of the children.

She always did love how excited children got over her performances, it always seemed genuine as their eyes filled with wonder and awe. Kali gave a small wave and a tilt of the head towards the girls, allowing them to come to her. Having heard the man call after them, she knew their names. Delta and Charlie, nice names. "Hello Delta, hello Charlie! I've never had someone be so excited to come to my little performances!" She said in a kind and almost unnaturally smooth voice.Illusion magic, contrary to popular belief, is not limited to simply visual illusions, but also auditory ones. A favorite for when she is performing, coming in the form of vocals and other instruments, or when she speaks under her mask, allowing her voice to appear to take on a more ethereal and smooth voice.
 
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The two girls looked up at the woman in marvel of the recognition and the fact that the performer knew their names.

Hi! Hi! The pair said in unison. They looked up in awe as they saw the small animal that rested on her shoulder. It's adorable! Delta called out, holding her hand out to touch the animal.

Delta! No.

Lectrix arrived behind the girls, clearly out of breath. He was used to running, but running after these girls was a bit of a workout.

You can't touch...other people's... companions... without asking them first.

He spurt out between gasps for air. He raised his head and torso and looked toward the sky, then finally caught his breath and made eyes contact with the woman... well... her mask at least.

I'm sorry about them. They really enjoyed your show and they can be very... curious.

He said, lowering his head to look at the two girls.
 
Under the mask, a wide grin was spreading across her face. As they reached for Pan, however she moved away a bit, holding up a hand. "His name's Pan, and yes, he is rather adorable. He's also very shy, so you'll have to be gentle with him, okay?" She glanced over at her companion, asking Pan, "What do you say, buddy? I promise they won't hurt you. Isn't that right, girls?" Pan looked a bit unsure, his nose wrinkling up as he sniffed the air. After a bit, he decided to move, flying off Kali's shoulders and onto Delta's hand. He didn't stay long there, however, hopping off almost immediately to loop around the girls and the man following them, returning to land on Kali's now outstretched arm.

The Korvin flashed a glance towards Kali that said, 'You owe me an extra carrot after this,' or something to that extent before dipping his head for the girls to pet. "He's very shy around people that aren't me, but if you happen to, say, bribe him with a carrot," she said, dipping her other hand into a pocket on her belt, taking out two carrot pieces and slipping one into the hands of the girls away from the gaze of Pan, "he'll probably make an exception."

As the girls began to occupy themselves with Pan, the masked bard turned her attention to the man. As he began to make his apologies, she simply shook it off with a small laugh. "No need to apologize for people enjoying it, it's always flattering to see people this excited after a show. I was the exact same girl when I was younger, after all! Always running to the first performance or performer I saw. It's how I knew that this is what I wanted to do, after all."
 
Lectrix smiled at the thought of Charlotte using her magic to entertain. It was better than what some people used their magic for.

Your magic is majestic. I'm happy to see someone actually use their abilities like you do, to do something amazing, rather than what most do.

He rolled his eyes at the thought, and then remembered something. He stuck his hand out toward the woman.

My name's Lex. Nice to meet you.
 
"I like to think so, but I'm sure there are some uses to other types of magic and professions, even if they are dreadfully boring in my mind." The masked bard shrugged, still scratching Pan's back as she spoke, a soft purring coming from the white ball of fluff and feathers.

She never was particularly interested in the other genres of magic one could learn, they all seemed to lack a certain luster or capability for performance as illusion did. What could you do with evocation in a show? Throw a fireball, risking burning all your viewers? It wasn't as needed, but perhaps in another rlife she would've found illusion useless, throwing fireballs and transmuting stone to gold instead. "If someone wants to learn it and can do it creatively, then people shouldn't force them to do anything else. Of course, if they just want to learn how to steal and kill, then maybe people should force them to find another hobby, but that's going a bit much."

As Lex held out his hand, she grasped it with her free one, having to contort in a slightly uncomfortable way to do so since Pan was being held on the other. "Nice to meet you, Lex. And these two were named Charlie and Delta, isn't that right? Lovely names." She didn't continue on with the introduction, stating nothing in return that would resemble a name or identity, instead opting for introducing Pan. "You know Pan, the little Korvin right there," she gestured toward the winged white creature the girls were petting. "Got his name from the pan I found him eating out of when I decided to take him in under my wing. Or rather, his wing."
 
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An appropriate name then!

He said, a smile on his face. He noticed that she didn't mention her name, but he didn't mind. He barely knew the woman, and she clearly cared about her security.

And yes, this is Delta and Charlotte. Charlie here actually has a bit of magic of her own. Will you, love?

Charlie looked at her older brother, a red glow appearing on her face. Her hands came up from her sides, and she placed her right hand out, palm upwards. With her left, she took her index finger and began to spin it around her hand, slowly forming a tiny whirlwind of dust. The dust refined itself in the wind, giving it a crystallized look, making the whirlwind sparkle as if it contained diamond.

 
So the key to the performance was "extraordinary magic", at least according to this small-time alchemist. Faurosk nodded along, but took what he heard with a grain of salt; after all, urban legends and rumors were usually of nothing more than a nugget of truth wrapped up in the finest of manure. Still, he was thankful to learn that he wasn't the only one wholly impressed with the entire ensemble of music and magic, and gave Quoril a toothy smile.

"Well, friend, today may just be your lucky day." The robed man looked back over the crowd, spotting the mystery woman easily by her stark-white mask among the crowds mixed and dulled garments and noticing that she was heading closer to them throughout the lake of people. "Our bard is more than personable, it seems."

Faurosk couldn't help but crack a smile when he saw Kalliana stoop to address two children on their own level. He himself had been infatuated with the arts for as long as he could remember- In fact, performing was the first reason he'd ever picked up magic in the first place, learning small feats of prestidigitation to impress and entertain his young peers. Oftentimes, usually when he found himself in a particularly unpleasant corner of some ill cared for archive, he would even fantasize about if he'd become a performer, himself. 'I could've been a dancer,' he'd think, 'Or maybe an instrumentalist. And not just a lute player, either- Someone refined and daring, a true debonair.' He'd never given serious thought to abandoning his life as an academic to pursue one of passion and artistry, but the fantasy of life as a skald did make the least interesting of times at least a little bit more bearable.
 
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"Yes, she does seem quite friendly," Quoril said to Faurosk, who for some reason had a smile on his face and a distant look in his eyes.

There were a million questions he wanted to ask her, all of them echoing inside his head, desperate to be spoken. At the same time he felt a slight twinge of unease in the pit of his stomach. As a practioner of only the most basic form of magic -only slightly more advanced than the kind that is usually taught to children- Quoril hoped that she wouldn't immediately write him off as a squib. He worried that, compared to the level of skill she had just displayed, being able to only manipulate the base elements would make him seem like nothing more than an amateur.
 
"Does she now? Well, I'd love to see it!" Kali gave a clap of her hands, clasping them together as she watched the display. Children learning magic always did remind her of herself at their age, although the circumstances under which they learned it versus how she learned magic are probably quite different.

Slowly, she saw dust materialize into the air, getting picked up by what she thought at first was a passing breeze, only to become locked in a whirlwind. The dust whipped around in circles, colliding with one another and refining themselves into a shiny material like diamonds, glittering from within the whirlwind. The bard watched the trick attentively, just as excitedly as the girls had been for her show.

"Impressive, Charlie! I should use that for my next performance, I'm sure everyone would love it. The only air magic I know is blowing air at someone's face, and that isn't really magic, so you're leagues ahead of me!" She gave a soft laugh and began to stand up, allowing Pan to get petted one last time by Delta and Charlie before he flew up to her shoulder again, immediately posturing in such a way that he was comfortably looped around Kali's neck. She reached back to scratch him a bit, the Korvin giving a content look on his face. "See, I told you the bribe would work. It always does."
 
Alright girls. Let's leave the performer and her companion be, she may have other stuff to do.

Lectrix said, turning to his sisters and signaling them to move. The sisters sighed loudly, making sure Lectrix felt some guilt from it. He turned to the performer once again, and stuck his hand out one last time.

It was a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for making their day. I bet they won't stop talking about this for the next few days.
 
She gripped the hand, giving it a hearty shake. "The pleasure was all mine. I hope to see these two, and you of course, again." She let go of his and, with a slight bow, she leaned over to the girls once again. An outstretched hand soon showed itself. A light purple shine out from the clenched fist, before it opened to reveal not an empty palm, but rather a purple hummingbird. The hummingbird zipped back and forth rapidly, chirping out a spontaneously created song. It zipped through the arms and hair of the girls, phasing through the occasional hair before looking both in the eye, a harmonic chirp emanating from the illusion. "This little birdie will follow you for a little bit of time. Take it as a parting gift, of sorts."

It was only an illusion, but one that was reasonably simple and quick enough that it shouldnvt require to much fine manipulation. The hummingbird was clearly meant to be less so realistic and more so artistic, with long lines of an almost paint-like substance trailing behind it as it moved. So long as she knows where they generally are, she'll be able to manipulate the illusion easily enough. When they leave her sight, she'll just have the bird disappear in some aesthetically pleasing way. Perhaps stars would be nice? She considered it for a moment, before deciding that that should be thought about later.

"You should be able to see me playing occasionally out here in the Outer City, so just follow the loud music and people complaining about said overly loud music to find me. Oh, and Charlie, since you seem so skilled in magic already, maybe next time I can teach you something." She gave a grin under her mask, unseen but heard through the tone of her voice, beginning to move away. Before she moved too far away, she gave a wave behind her back to the trio. She hoped to see them again, and maybe in the span it takes for her to see them again, Charlie will pick up enough magic to even help a bit or even learn a simple illusion.

Making her way away from the family, she decided to venture through the now dissipating crowd towards a lingering pair, one of which she noticed peaking over the heads of the crowd with an oddly understanding look on his face and the other of which was conversing with him. She caught a couple of words, but not enough to make out the point of the conversation. The bard walked up to them, giving a slight nod to both gentlemen. "I remember seeing you both during my show, isn't that right? I hope you both enjoyed enjoyed it, and if you have any comments, questions, concerns or recommendations, please do tell me! No one reviews better than the viewer, after all." Her voice took on a more melodic, ethereal tone with the help of some auditory illusions, lessened slightly in the midst of a full conversation but still clearly present.
 
Quoril opened his mouth to offer a greeting, but was topped short by the sweet sound of the masked woman's voice. He sensed that she was layering some sort of magical effect onto her voice but couldn't figure out why that would've left him speechless. Finally finding his voice, all he could get out was "That was amazing!" Although he still had a million questions to ask her, he was shocked into the silence from being in the presence of somebody so talented. Since he was to awestruck to speak, Quoril decided that he would just learn all he could about her and her magic by listening.
 
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The robed mage turned towards the mystery woman, a tad bit surprised by how quickly she'd made her way to the duo. A nostalgic grin still played across his features, and he gave her a nod on her approach.

"I'd have to agree with my friend, here," he said, voice taking on a tone of genuine praise. "That was a truly impressive performance-- So many moving parts, I'm surprised you can still keep up the auditory illusions." There was a nod towards her mask, there, perhaps assuming it was some sort of focus to make modulating her voice easier. In truth, the mage had no idea how she managed it, being a novice in illusions at best. This fact, however, only seemed to spur his admiration for her craft.
 
If the mask had a face, it would be grinning at their reactions. Her mouth was grinning underneath it, after all. "Marvelous! I'm glad you both enjoyed the performance, as I certainly enjoyed doing it." She didn't bring much attention to Quoril's speechlessness, taking it more of a compliment than an oddity. To be fair, she was quite a surprising sight, what with the mask and rapier's almost threatening appearance contrasted with the sweetness of Pan and her voice, along with the violin strapped to her back. It was certainly an odd sight to see come at you unexpectedly, as made quite clear from her earliest performances.

As the robed man mentioned her auditory illusions, her head began to slightly turn in his direction. That comment and his nod towards the potential focus of her power being her mask made her realize something. "Ah, I knew something was unique with you! A man of the arcane, I presume? Here in Alliria, we see a surprising few amount. Most usually go to Elbion for the college, so it's always nice to see one here. " She didn't make much comment on being a mage herself, not really considering herself one. A performer, yes, but not a mage or wizard.

She nodded, taking a moment to consider, before going back into her comments. "I usually lessen down my usage to more simplistic varieties than I do in my performances." She gave a slight peak into her process, which is more than most receive. The mask that Kali wore was partially a stylistic choice and a practical one, as covering the face allowed her illusions to be a bit easier to maintain due to the less fine features needed. It also just looked intriguing and mysterious, in her opinion.

The mask turned once again to the more shy one of the pair, her voice once again coming through. "Are you another mage as well, along with this one? I would love to get a few opinions from some more magically oriented people, in case they have any advice for future performances. Of course, regular opinions are also helpful as well."
 
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"Are you another mage as well, along with this one?" Having a question asked directly to him made Quoril suddenly forget his previous shyness. "I have studied and learned all I can about many kinds of magic from a very young age, but I can't really use any of it. Magic to me is more of a curiosity than anything else. The best I can do is basic elemental magic." Saying the last part out loud made him a bit nervous. The elf was in the prescense of two professional magic users, and he hoped the last statement wouldn't make them think any less of him.

"I'm an alchemist by trade. Some people might consider it a kind of magic but its really not. It just requires knowing what properties, be they magical or not, each material has and combining them in different ways to get the results you're looking for. Trial and error is the basis of my work. Personally, I would consider it more of a mad sience."

"I like to explore the world looking for new ingredients and learning new ways to use them. A lot of my time is spent experimenting in the back room of my little shop here in the square, trying to discover new ways of combining the materials I had found. The majority of my business is making sleeping potions for insomniacs and healing potions for adventurers."

Realising he had been rambling, the tips of Quoril's ears turned bright red. Pulling the hood farther over his head in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, his shyness quickly returned.
 
There was a small, confused laugh at Quoril's use of the phrase 'mad science', but the mage seemed content in pretending he knew what that meant. In keeping with this half-there illusion of understanding, Faurosk clapped his hand softly onto the alchemist's shoulder, giving him a small yet well defined smile. "Manipulating the elements is no small feat, my friend; if there is, well... My education is mostly a sham, so let us just say that it's a very difficult task for my pride's sake."

With a hearty laugh, he turned back to the bard, nodding his head off to the right and gesticulating a hand out to the city at large. "And, ah, Alliria is home. I may not visit as often as I'd like, but there are reasons to come back, as I'm sure you can understand. Besides, I left Elbion a few moons ago on good terms-" That was a lie, but a decent one. "-and I've been making a circuitous route back here since. But, well, enough exposition."

He offered the woman a small bow in greeting, perhaps a slight bit too formal for the otherwise casual setting, but a sign of respect nonetheless. "My name is Faurosk, of the not-quite-great family Drewry." His back straightened once more, offering the bard a wry smirk. "I'd understand that, as a performer, it's wise to keep from offering a title in recompense. Believe me, I won't be offended."
 
Arnor had little interest in magic. It was rare, in his people. Rare and mistrusted, or misunderstood, more like it.

But it always amused him, to see sleight of hand an illusions. He never experienced it, with all the Norden folk, beyond the spine. The girl with the mask elicited a clapping response from Arnor, as he observed the show. The Nordenfiir stood out, not just due to his size- but many of those with more sensitive nose, such as himself, could smell him.

Even if he did happen to use his latest earnings to buy a radical new thing called 'soap'.
 
The bard listened interestedly to the alchemist, nodding along to his explanation. While it did seem to drag on a bit, it also seemed to get him out of his shyness for a moment. "I can't even do elements or alchemy, so don't sell yourself that short. Plus, while I've never been one myself, I feel like those adventurers are rather happy that someone is making them healing potions." A short laugh escaped her as she finished her sentence.

She looked back to the robed mage as he started gesturing to the whole city. "Ah, well in that case, welcome back. How is Elbion, by the way? Besides the whole college thing, I never hear anybody mention anything else besides that part of it. Hearing something about the rest of the city would be refreshing, to say the least." It was true, at least from the people she knew who had gone to Elbion. Most were more arcanely talented, visiting the city for the college present within its walls. Nearly all of them seemed to only want to talk about the college and the mages within it. While she was sure it was interesting to a more studious and serious learner of magic, to which she could perfectly understand their reasoning for, it always come off a bit odd that one could somehow gloss over the details about the people within the city who weren't mages; people like the musicians, the performers, just the general citizens of it.

With the introduction and bow, she returned it in kind. More specifically, the latter half, bowing dramatically and exaggeratedly, seemingly uncaring about the reactions around them. "Good to meet you, Faurosk. And you are, if I may ask?" She asked, looking over to the elf. "Oh, and this Pan, of the great house of Korvin." The white Korvin shook itself from what was likely a nap at the familiar voice calling his name, giving a slight sound in response. The large black eyes focused in on the people nearby, taking note of another, much larger, man by the fountain. Its nose wrinkled up in response to the odor surrounding him, although he did begin to stretch out his wings. A few small flaps came, before the small animal leaped off of Kali's shoulders, it's wings giving off an impressive span, flying off into the air. With a few more flaps of his wings, Pan made it over to the large man circling above him in the sky. "Huh, odd." Kali, with her less sensitive nose, was unequipped to detect the smell that emanated from the man, and was thus unaware of what made him seem so intriguing to Pan.
 
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He ran his hands along the water of the fountain, walking towards the illusionist. The small crowd that gathered 'round her parted, some of them knowing who and what he was. They weren't afraid, just cautious. Most had never seen a Nordenfiir- after all, they were rare, and often misunderstood. But what was correct about the stereotypes, was the penchant for violence and a somewhat shared disdain for humans.

Being enslaved and created for slave labor- that often caused some animosity. He stared up at the bird, who could no doubt sense his...difference. He never liked to think he smelled bad- just different. He walked forward, before getting relatively close to Kali.

"I did enjoy your show."

He quipped- and his accent gave him away as a foreigner. Somewhere far and to the North, based on the way he said the letter 'e'.