Demivh gave a smile to the guards. Being a duke's son, he grew to good standing with his castle town's guards, an under-appreciated but vital part of urban life. He's more then used to dealing with them trying to provide directions, which they must be doing a lot on such a busy day.
"We are students, yes. I can't speak for my companion, but I at least came out here to do some last minute banking before heading off to the ceremony. Overly generous noble families and all that. Speaking of which, that building behind you looks rather trustworthy, but I want to make sure."
Double check with the guards that the 'bank' behind them is trustworthy. If yes, then deposit the money into it and begin heading back to the ceremony.
"It's the biggest bank in the city," the junior guard informs you.
You head over to the gates.
Murble begins to sputter in outrage (and embarrassment) before noticing her new friend. She realizes he's probably setting her up for something well after she's already wrapped around him like a drowning man clinging to a buoy.
"Uh, yes! My friend! My good friend who understands my sorrow! Poor Gibbles, gone so soon!" Gibbles was actually a young cousin of hers, though he was tragically alive last she heard. "And you!" she continued, pointing an accusing finger at the gatekeeper, "Assuming I'm a thief merely because of my garb, have you no shame?! Simply because I am of a noble, wealthy, and normally finely-dressed house doesn't mean I'd have to be!"
Raioyris watches the unfolding events curiously.
Pauper? If they catch a glimpse of my coin purse I may find myself in a similar predicament.
"But you misunderstand," Raioyris says making a confident stride toward the gatekeeper.
"This is my dear friend from years distant. Today she mourns the passing of her noble cousin, a death premature for such vivid youth. She would dare not mock the memory of dear cousin with gilded wear."
"Today she mourns in sackcloth and ashes! I demand you put end to your invective and exculpate her charges lest you jail the innocent in this sorrowful hour!
"...Right," declares the gatekeeper. "Well, now that the quartermaster--" the quartermaster arrives right away in short notice: a scrawny old woman with a cheerful look on her face, wearing a black-and white striped sundress that seems completely unfitting in this kind of weather. She holds in her grip a giant lens which greatly enhances the appearance of her eye, which she tends to point at random things whenever she isn't pointing it at whomever she talks to.
"Ah, Murble, is that you? What are the chances..."The soldier gently overpowers her voice to explain the circumstances: "I found Master Nagato distracted in the marble garden looking at insects."
"I was on my way here!" the old woman contends.
The gatekeeper is making every effort to become irrelevant in the conversation, and turns to admit the other students.
The Grand Plaza
The walled-off college campus sprawls over almost a square kilometer. Gothic-styled minarets, horseshoe arches, and steepled buildings dominate the scene, interspersed with fountains and waterways home to passing gondolas. Despite the sprawl, most of the space is taken up by parks, memorials, and the famous sculpture at the front gates: a round Sunray Mirror the height of three men, erected on a pedestal in the middle of a huge circular waterway filled with goldolas and passages into the two arterial waterways connecting the various sections of the campus. The boatways are fully operational, the waters kept warm by unquenchable flames bubbling under the surface.
There are two waterways, each with two lanes demarcated by glass torches lit with blue fire. Bridges allow pedestrians to cross without disturbing the boaters, though each gondola is rowed by a shorter-than-average servant.
The pathway splits. To the west, a path of stepping stones leads into a fresh garden filled with colored flowers and marble statues (mostly covered in snow, at this time of year). To the east, a raised plankway leads into a grove of trees and giant mushrooms set over scattered ponds and muddy banks. A single spire shaped like an arrowhead pokes just above the canopy off in the distance, tilted sideways a few degrees.
Up ahead over the bridges is the main roadway, leading to the plaza. Two great halls overlook the Sunray Mirror, buttressed domes adorned with multicolored glass panes affixed to a ring around the base of the central dome. These windows glow with additional light from some unseen relectors hidden among the marble pantheons, rows of statues depicting every god you could possibly think of and more, in all the various incarnations. Further ahead, you see the shadow of a great domed building with a wide set of stairs and pillars.
Around the fountains are gathered tables and pavilions staffed by members of the extracurricular clubs, which will clearly be competing for the new students' attention in the following weeks to come.
Author
Topic: Folstag University of Magic (Between Light and Shadow) (Read 54728 times)