Merrin blushed at the congratulations and murmured a thank you, unsure how to respond. She was saved further awkwardness by a new arrival, who seemed a touch unprepared. Perhaps in the middle of something involving flour, judging by his hasty, "Snowing, it was, you know."

She was reasonably sure it wasn't snowing - Wyvern would have been complaining long since if it had. A corner of her mouth twitched up in a grin. There was a large patch of white adorning the newcomer's sleeve, which he seemed to have missed. A moment of uncertainty, and then she reached to brush it off, with a half-smile, slightly apologetic, and a shrug. "Fl - I mean, snow, I -" she abandoned the explanation, going a little red. "I'm Merrin."

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Lips parting in surprise and a little caught off guard, Merrin felt the slight pulse of the little globe against her palms before she quite realized what it was. "What -" she began, bemused, and stopped. There was snow falling within the miniature scene; light, powdery flakes carried on the faintest of winter breezes. She could almost feel them. What was it that was so familiar -

She started a little, involuntarily. The scene shifted and she could see the little square - snowmen clustered haphazardly about the frozen well, the melting icicles on the still-warm smithy's forge. Twin boys pelting snowballs at each other - "You are a wizard!" Merrin gasped, astonished. Drifting snowflakes blurred the scene and she looked up, expression startled. "How do you know -?"

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As the strange man appeared in the middle of the room, Jate sat upright. Here seemed to be something of interest. It was about time too --he was getting tired of just sitting listening to people prattle along. The drinks were good though. Much better than that brew at his last inn, though anything would be better than that stuff. A closer examination of the newcomer revealed a fine dusting of, not snow as he maintained, but what appeared to be baking flour. Jate supressed a snort.

Something appeared to be happening. Moving closer to the people, Jate caught snatches of conversation. "..closely.." "...a wizard.." "..Christmas.." Jate peered over the girl's shoulder to see a miniature globe, complete with snow and playing figurines. He'd never seen such a display of magic! The closest to a wizard he'd ever seen was that woman Eledhe and her small tricks. This though, this was powerful stuff.

"..Let's put it to divine influence," the man --Devarion?--laughed. Jate could only stare in amazement at the stranger.

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going on a journey through my old claims

"Ah -" began Merrin, a little uncertain. "Subcommander Tenil na'Tatha," she said, indicating said personage and stumbling a little over the name, "and Arruina Cele...Celevonmerin." She indicated Arruina in turn, and ended by looking at Rina. "I don't think I caught your name, m'lady."

Suddenly aware that people were watching, ostensibly having noticed Devarion's deft use of magic, Merrin lifted the little snow globe still cupped in her palms. It was faintly warm still.

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Ruth Ann turned her head in the direction that she thought the newcomer was in. "Horrific Big Folk," she thought aloud in a whispher, "always have to be so tall."

Determined to see just what was going on, Ruth Ann scuttled her way through the crowd of spectators to come upon a little circular opening where all of the action was taking place.

"Sorry," he apologized to a man (Jate), as she squeezed past him to see just what new marvel had taken place.

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Denaris was about to open his mouth to recite an excerpt from 101 Ways to Flatter Damsels with Wings, when an equally interesting sight popped into existence with a brilliant flash of light. Eyes widening, he rose halfway to his feet. Here was someone worth his notice! Ripples - no, tides - of magic undulated from the man in waves. Though invisible to the untrained sense, they set the nerves of any competent magic-user within a hundred-foot radius virtually tingling - the equivalent of a warrior's instinctive buzz and, in a certain elf's mind, much more refined.

Decisions, decisions. Leave the girl? She was rather attractive and, as an added bonus, suitably receptive of his charms. But - what a pity - business before pleasure. After all, an encounter with a demon only cropped up once every decade or so. With any luck, Dark would understand. He'd make amends later that evening.

"Sincerest apologies, my lady. Perhaps I may catch you later tonight?" With a flourish, he produced a sparkling crimson rose out of midair and placed it in her hand, which he took the liberty of kissing. It occurred to him then that he'd entirely forgotten the half-wolf - Cu'scath, his name? He wondered if the half-breed liked roses. If not, he could always conjure a nice juicy bone, but that would likely be perceived as an insult. He sighed. Some poor souls were simply too sensitive for their own good.

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Rina clapped politely at the end of their host's presentation, bestowing congratulations where they were due. If there was one thing to be said for this celebration, it was that everyone seemed remarkably relaxed despite knowing no one. Or perhaps, Rina thought wryly to herself, because they knew no one. For most of the events that Rina found herself required to attend, a façade was just as much a part of one's attire as a gown or jewelry. Practically everyone in attendance sought to improve his or her public image for some upcoming election or persuade another guest to join a certain movement in the Senate. Quite bothersome, really.

Now there was a man standing in front of them - lightly coated in something that looked suspiciously like flour, though he seemed rather unphased by it - and performing what appeared to be a magic trick of sorts. Rina had met a Jedi once before the fall of the Republic, and of course Commander Skywalker on occasion, but never had she seen anyone accomplish a feat such as this. She had at first suspected a clever hologram, or perhaps a cloaking device, but the ball seemed real enough, and the stranger did not appear to have anywhere to conceal even a cloaked item. Maintaining a polite distance, she attempted to study the globe more closely.

Abruptly, she realized that the young woman, Merrin, had been addressing her. "Rina Natasi," she replied belatedly, inclining her head in Devarion's general direction.

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Cu'scath smiled. "It certainly was interesting. He's a very dashing man- or Elf, rather."

He paused. He had a question for Dark, but wasn't sure if it would be considered impolite. After a quick moment's thought, he decided he might as well ask. "I was wondering- if you don't want to answer, feel free not to- but, where did your wings come from?"

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly

Cu'scath listened to Dark's story, interest written across his face. He didn't quite understand all of what she said- especially the part about <i>DNA</i>, but he could sympathize with it. His own ancestors, generations before him, were the result of dark wizards' tampering, an attempt to make stronger humans- better servants and soldiers.

Realizing he had let his thoughts drift from the present, Cu'scath blinked and looked at Dark. "I'm sorry." he said. She had talked in a casual tone, but he could smell the anger and sadness about her.

"Well." He said, changing the subject abruptly. "It looks like there's quite a stir over there- should we see what's going on?" He gestured towards a fountain, near which a group of people were gathered.

Arruina clapped and cheared and congradulated those who recieved awards. She then sat down on the edge of the fountain, and jumped when a man suddenly appeared, slightly covered in what he called snow, but looked mysteriously like flower. Right away it seemed to Arruina that he started charming the girls, especially Merrin, with making a small image of what looked like a snow covered village. A few other people came close to take a look, but Arruina decided it wasn't worth the effort to try and push past them just for a fleeting glance at the image. Even if she had never seen magic like that before. The country she came from, magic was basically in the elements, animals, and healing with the acception of a few special powerfull sorcerers.

Idly, Arruina started looking around again, and someone-no two people- caught her eye. What looked like two hybrids. One part eagle(but in the country she came from that was called an angle), and the other looking to be part wolf. With a glance at the three woman she was previously "talking" to, she noted they seemed busy, and walked over to the two in the corner.

When she came close, she almost bowed, but remembered she wore a dress and curtsied.
"'Evening, friends. I couldn't help but notice such a... unique group, and thought I'd fit in better over here, not being entirely human myself. I'm Arruina Celevonmerrin of Namorine," she said, hoping she wasn't intruding on any conversation they were having...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

(I have a great question for the club, which should strike up some talk, what is your favorite character (played by another person) that your character rped with?)

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"Good evening." Cu'scath smiled at the woman. His "quiet corner" was proving to be rather popular this evening, not that he minded. It was rather nice to talk with others for a change. "Would you like to sit down?" He motioned to one of the empty chairs.

((Wow, that's a tough question, smeag! I've got a lot. lol Here's some that I can remember off the top of my head-
The Phantom Grey, played by Melda
Jais, played by LDM (both of those in the Phantom Grey RP)
....*thinks* I know there are tons more, but my brain isn't working very well right now. lol

(a character played by LDM in Tur's Pirate Crystal rpg, though I don't remember his name... but he was so funny and awesome! I shall quote him if you don't mine LDM! "Where is my spoon?" lol...
That or maybe Andruil's character in "Crystals of Caos" because he rides a dog...)

Arruina nodded, and took a seat.
"Thank you. I just thought that I'd stay away from the crowd that is growing where I was. And, noticed this seems to be the half-human corner, so I might fit in better here. Being half vampire," she said with a shy smile, and taking a sip of her red wine...

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

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Just became a college freshman; be on sparingly