"So let's be all three: over-prepared, well-trained, and creative. Take quests we think we're overqualified for, and make ourselves even more overqualified before heading out. If there are problems in need of solving badly enough to get labeled quests, I wouldn't be me if I left 'em alone. So we just have to get so good that by any reasonable measure we should curbstomp it, and then we'll wind up barely scraping by because the world is terrible, and then train harder and do it again. Until we're the very best."

"I wouldn't say there's an 'us' quite yet, though it does seem like we have varied interests and natural talents. Flexibility."

"Room for synergy, and room to grow."

The line moves up.

Lenora is baited into a ramble about Avatar: The Last Airbender when Bys says something incorrect about Katara, and that plentifully occupies the rest of the time until they reach the front of the housing line.

"Next, please!"

As the trio walk forward, the redhead at the booth smiles, with a slight side-eye to Bys. "Oh, are you three a group? We can give you a standard house if you'd like, a four-bedroom. The board might want to give you another roommate at some point, though. There's a few spots left if you want that, and the other major option is dorms. We've got Wasatch, climate set to sunny and warm. Trinity, a more built-up domain loosely modeled off Europe that's set temperate. Or Scotia, which is designed as cool with occasional mist or rain. The climate is the main difference, unless you want to be near something specific."

Sable jumps in periodically about Avatar, because Katara is pretty great, until finally they reach the front.

"Ooh, those are neat," she says of the climates. "I have maybe a minor bias for Scotia? What d'y'all think?"

"That sounds nice. I like the cold."

"We can visit other places? No strong preference... Well, actual weather sometimes would be nice, really. Yeah, Scotia."

"Scotia it is! Alright, time for everyone's favorite fun pastime - Paperwork. Don't worry, it's not much. Just because you aren't pre-registered. Just a signature that you do intend to enroll in Arcadia and that you've read our common law. We're fairly relaxed around here. The rest is done behind the scenes by divination." She hands over three stately papers, each with a short list of rules and a statement and signature line at the bottom.

She reads the whole thing twice, and pauses to think about it before finally signing. The rules here are really minimal, just stuff anyone would consider illegal anyway really. Theft, assault, nonconsensual murder, destruction of property, harassment, consorting with Outsiders... And that's about it, in slightly more flowery language. She signs.

Lenora reviews it considerably less thoroughly before signing.

She reads it very carefully, all mania redirected into swift-but-deep review of the contract.

And then she signs it happily.

"Aaaand... Orientaton packets!" She produces three bundles from within her cloak with a flourish, taps each with a wand that appears with a few sparkles. "Maps that now have your house marked, class schedules - there's no graduation requirements, attend what you like - and Fusil runes for everyone. Welcome to Arcadia! Any questions?"

Fusil...

"Giving everyone free contraception. Nice."

"Mm-hm, it's a student council public health measure. Well worth the investment. It should be intuitive to activate, but there's a clinic marked on the maps if you have trouble. Any other questions?"

"House'll recognize us or something? What's the security like?"

"Yes, we have staff who prefer to stay out of the spotlight scrying this location and fixing everything up. The wards there are now keyed to you three as well as campus police and senior leadership. Nobody else will be able to get in without very serious power, unless you let them. Anyone can leave a house, though."

"Smart, not letting these very nice wards turn into a way to take prisoners."

"We have some very smart people here, it's fulfilling work to keep everything running smoothly for the Arcadia community. If you're interested, you should totally find something to volunteer at, from decoration and cleanup to orientation to the library to digimaintenance and on and on. Some roles are high trust, of course."

Lenora starts gently tugging the other two along. "Sure, we'll think about that later. Have a lovely day."

"NEXT!" Can be heard in the background as they leave. Lenora opens her map and studies it. "Looks like we have to turn right here and then walk down the street, then left by Daisy's Dairy Delight - restaurant, I guess."

Sable gladly lets herself be tugged. "Ooh. I wonder if they have ice cream."

And off in the distance, there are occasional hot springs. With hot witches in them. Her eyes flit about, taking everything in, from the scenery to the population to the navigation.

Be cool. Do not look at the scantily clad witches. But don't obviously NOT look either. A fine balance to strike. Are her eyes moving naturally? Is her pose neutral? Impossible to tell...

The occasional hot springs dotted around sometimes have wicker screens dividing them from the rest of the campus, or little brushes of vegetation, but some are simply open except for the warm mist spilling out. There are a good few swimsuits, and a few witches going entirely nude. Though not on the main thoroughfare, just in the semi-obscured pools. The crowd continues to be mostly female.

There are shops and student clubs and small lecture halls, all with red brick and ivy in that old Northeastern style. In this part of town, at least. There's stalls selling semiautonomous umbrellas, and unmelting ice cream, and pastries that revitalize you. Daisy's Dairy Delights has a moving illusion of a cow-girl with tropily large breasts, wearing a cowbell, spotted low-cut shirt and pants, and horns. She waves continually to the street, holding a slice of cheese and a glass of milk.