[centre][h1][color=8882be]Lyrel Swistral[/color][/h1]
[@OppositionJ][@Rigmarole][@Snagglepuss89][/centre]

[color=Gray]One after another they appeared in quick succession, new members seeking out their fellow recruits to introduce themselves or to seek solidarity in numbers. Lyrel's first instinct was to shrink away and hide, a hard-learned habit of trying to avoid attention and running away when noticed seeking to override her more cognitive intention to connect with the people here. The food in her mouth and the legs crossed under her, thankfully, prevented her immediate flight and even the most observant might put down her immediate jitteriness down to nerves or surprise rather than anything more significant.

She swallowed the food she had been chewing, feeling her throat constrict as the second wave of panic at being talked to approached so she washed it down with some of her tea despite its near boiling temperature. She winced as it cleared her airways with its heated passage while simultaneously trying to mask her obvious aversion to social interaction. By the Sleepful Watcher, she was not doing well at this!

Her first 'guest' looked travel worn, the brightness of her clothing making the marks of dust and dirt one naturally accrued from being in the outside world even more noticeable but Lyrel herself had not exactly made herself presentable. Her hair was bound roughly into a ponytail but that was clearly brushed in a hurried manner and she was wearing the same clothes she had gone to sleep in: a white blouse that was beginning to be more grey than its brighter relative and simple black trousers, both creased from her nightly tossing and turning.

[color=8882be]"Mirande said they were a gift... some grateful artist. They make everything seem brighter, somehow."[/color] She left out the part about how she rose early every morning to see the spectacular display, a selfish part of her wanted to keep that a secret from the other recruits for a little longer. [color=8882be]"In a way, I suppose. I've been here for a few weeks now, the Master,"[/color] she paused, working out how to explain her arrival without revealing too much, [color=8882be]"she brought me into the guild ahead of the muster. I'm Lyrel, nice to meet you."[/color]

Another young woman arrived and greeted them before moving on just as a third arrived with an ebullient greeting. More and more people were spilling into the hall as the morning progressed, breaking their fast or just woken by the sound of life stirring all the way into the heart of the guild. Some of the new members who had not slept in the guild the night before were also arriving, entering the hall with nervous glances all around them and all admiring the stained glass windows in the wall. From outside they looked unusual, almost tasteless because of their lack of pattern or apparent design but inside the mastery of their creation was shown by the differing hues of light washing over the hall. It was chaotic but not random, shifting and yet still calming; it was [i]alive[/i] and that was what Vale Craft represented to Lyrel, it was perhaps why she found herself so attached to those windows.

[color=8882be]"The windows were a gift."[/color] She explained again to the newcomer whose clothing did not quite seem to match her, a little too masculine but the same could be said of Lyrel herself. Part of her wondered whether that was how others saw her, she was too used to her appearance to find it an oddity and had spurned dresses and more feminine apparel for the vast majority of her life, ever since working on the docks as a child. [color=8882be]"The guild has money though. A lot gets spend on feasts and parties, I heard. Oh, I'm Lyrel and this is Gwen. We just met as well."[/color] She gestured to the woman in the white, travel stained attire, and glanced at her abandoned breakfast. At least she had eaten most of it before others arrived, it would see her through the morning easily.

A glance around showed her that Mirande and Alexandreus had not yet arrived and she found that surprising, having expected at least the latter to have been in the hall to greet the new recruits. Mirande was more of a free spirit and paid little attention to ideas around etiquette although she took her responsibilities seriously but Alexandreus always seemed so serious, so proper. For now she would have to continue talking with the others until an announcement was made, as much as she wanted to find a quiet corner.

[color=8882be]"Gwen, have you come far to the guild? You look well-travelled."[/color][/color]