Prince Faadil isn't that interested in the trade discussion, and turns his attention to the guests instead. "So what kinds of things do you all do?"

"We're all still in school back home, we don't have jobs yet," says Uamok.

"Oh? What are you studying?"

"Kiv is mostly doing math but the rest of us aren't very specialized. I like everything too much," says Uamok. "But maybe I'll settle on being a wizard!"

"It's good to be well-rounded," he nods. "I've been studying the Virdan school of elven art, recently, and algebra, and astronomy, and a little bit of music composition."

"Elven art? They have a specific kind?" asks Zoi.

"They have several! Verdan was invented by Triszana Verdan about three hundred years ago, she was inspired by the Ararie school but wanted to try using color differently and that led to a number of other changes - it's much more muted and soft, and it was popular with the halflings in the area so it's been spread everywhere, I can bring some examples out after dinner if you'd like. Rumor has it she's been talking about retiring, I'm hoping I can make a trip to see her before she does but I'm not sure I have a good enough understanding to get the most out of it yet."

"If it spreads everywhere why is it still specifically an elven genre?" Iss asks.

"Oh, other cultures try, but it's never as good as something made by someone who's spent hundreds of years refining their aesthetic sense."

"Oh, because they live for a long time, okay."

"Well, that and being elves, it's part of how they are as a species."

"...artistic?" says Skon.

He nods. "And interested in the kinds of art they are, especially - other species have other specialties, besides humans, we don't specialize as a species at all."

"What about us? I don't know if we'd have noticed from the inside," says Uamok.

    "Traveler Raafi would probably know." He gets his attention.

"I really didn't notice anything, art-wise. You might be more like humans that way, if you weren't designed by a god either."

"We weren't, we evolved from other hexaped species," says Zoi.

"That's odd but I suppose it explains it. None of the species of people here evolved; it's a mystery how humans got started, but the gods know how long it takes for animals to evolve and they wouldn't have taken that long to notice us."

"That's so strange," says Uamok. "And none of the animals are getting peopley?"

"I suppose I don't know that for certain - there are creatures that are between humanoids and animals in intelligence, and the ones I know of are all magic-influenced one way or another, but I haven't actually made a study of it, it might be that some have evolved their intelligence instead of getting it from the magic. Druid Suhail might know."

"Are we going to meet her?" asks Uamok.

"He manages the zoo, has my uncle shown it to you yet?"

"Yes! We provoked a tortoise," says Zoi.

"It was Suhail who said you could, then, he keeps track to make sure we don't do it too often."

"What would happen if you provoked the tortoise too often?" asks Skon.

"Well, what would happen is Suhail would find another zoo to take him. But if he were to let us for some reason, the tortoise would be stressed, and start to act differently, and be more likely to get sick or die."