"Welcome one and all, to the future of coexistence!"

The continent of Valenia, or the Mythic Dome as others call it. It is home to many, many races, but three stand out from the others. To the north, protected by the Iriden Mountains, lies the United Human Kingdoms, home to the Dragonlance royal family (along with many others). South of the United Kingdoms are the Mirklands. Home to the entire assortment of elves. And lying outside of the main continent of Valenia, is an island chain (bearing west) called The Izmol Conglomerate, home to the Anima-Iht, or most commonly known as the Animal-Shifters.
These three races have battled long before anyone can remember. Blood has been spilled on all sides of the Never-Ending War. But something changed…

Through the winds of time, people forget why they were fighting, some even lost the will to fight. On the largest peak on Valenia, known simply as “The Peak”, the three main races, along with representatives of all other neutral races (such as the Naiads and the Thunderbirds), made history. They signed the Ending Pact, bringing the Never-Ending War to its conclusion.

With the Ending Pact made, there were countermeasures made to stop another Never-Ending War. One of them was the Grand Council. This creation was the brainchild of William Othello of the Human Kingdom known as Erstgard. Othello was not a warmonger, but a known pacifist. With the creation of the Grand Council, all races had a voice in the world, and wars would have to be made publicly known in the council before made into fruition, as surprise attacks and hate wars were made continentally illegal through the passing of the Ending Pact.
Though Othello already made his impact on this world in a positive way, he still had one more brainchild. The Erstwhile Academy. The academy itself was built on the same peak where the Ending Pact was famously signed fifty years ago. It took ten years to build, but once it came to life, it was unlike anything anyone has ever seen.

The grand white arches and royal indigo roofs resembled something only the great royalty have seen. The academy was to be the next step towards peace. A select few of outstanding citizens from each race would be chosen by their leaders. Then they would be sent to neutral territory to display their wit, might, or intelligence. There they will be either chosen to attend Erstwhile Academy or be sent home.
Those in Erstwhile are future leaders, politicians, warriors, generals, wizards, professors, or anything of that caliber. They have big expectations in place for them, but the rewards will be extraordinary once they graduate.

Erstwhile Academy is split up into three “Domiciles”, if you will. Each domicile is a generalization of what career you want to pursue. For the future leaders, there is Domicile Princeps. For the warriors and strategists, there is Domicile Bellator. And for the wizards, professors, or the intelligent kind, there is Domicile Divinos. These three Domiciles work hand in hand to ensure the future of Valenia is bright and prosperous.

The great white halls of Erstwhile academy open for the first time. Ever since before the Never-Ending War have peace been so achievable. The first day of the academy is scheduled for orientation. As the many flagships of the United Human Kingdoms (ever so kindly donated to Erstwhile to take the students to The Peak) start to pop up from the horizon, a quite tall man with a handlebar moustache smiles. Once the flying ships make it to the Docks, hundreds of students start flooding in. This is the future of coexistence for all of Valenia, how will you make your mark?

A wormhole opens up and Spencer walks out of it and surveys the school... He then bends over and pukes his guts up. " oh man I guess interdimentional travel doesn't agree with me. " He grabs his back pack and starts to walk into the school. Looking around Spencer was impressed the school was huge in Spencer's opinion the food reached the heavens it seemed like. Smiling and ready for the year to start Spencer joined the crowd of people rushing into the school. As he was walking he took out a pack of cigs and started smoking one earning some weird looks from the other people attending.

As the dawn broke this morning, Momotaro could hardly wait to get going for the capital; the night before he slept but a little, and as a farmer's boy, he was up before dawn to carry out his daily chores, for the last time, in fact! His excitement reached the highest peak once he caught sight of those flying ships; having grown up in the countryside, airships never were a common occurrence, and so his brain was being overloaded from every possible angle. The students upon these airships came from every corner of Valenia! There were alchemists, archers, mages, even some country-folk, like him!

Then he promptly fell asleep for the remainder of the ride.

Now, fresh and ready after an excellent nap and armed with his luggage in hand, Momotaro steps foot onto the sacred grounds of The Peak, home to the honorable and illustrious Erstwhile Academy. To put it simply? Not bad. In fact, so "not bad" that Momotaro loses control of his vocal cords for a second, making a vague "oooooh" sound as he advances onward, eyes frantically taking in the scenery. This, he realizes, is way better than Tamako, peach trees and all (sorry, mom and pop!). And he gets to live here! Talk about lucky.

"What a place..." Momotaro murmurs, thick country-boy accent slipping through his words before he catches himself. Nobody heard that. That's right; as excited as he may be, he still has a reputation to uphold, a script to follow. (Or maybe, just maybe, he's simply worried about being teased about his accent. Shhh. Don't tell.)

Still, just 'cause he's gotta be careful with his words doesn't mean he can't make friends! Quickly, Momotaro scans the area, and settles on a sorta-shady-looking dude with a sleeve of ink and a vague tobacco smell. Then he reconsiders. And then he thinks, eh, what the heck, nobody earned anything without taking a chance anyway, a statement that is definitely not true, but cheers him up nonetheless. Catching up to the guy, but not full-on approaching him, Momotaro shoves his hands in his hoodie and makes his move.

"Impressive, huh?" he comments, in a voice loud enough for the five people closest to him to hear, but not quiet enough that it seems like he's talking to just one. A perfect delivery, if he does say so himself.

Spencer turns hearing a vaguely southern sounding voice and sees Momotaro. " What's up are you from the south to? "He says based on his accent as he takes a drag from his cig. " And yeah I agree it's super impressive reminds me of the big ol cathedrals back home." He says taking another drag. " the names Spencer nice to meet you. " He says holding out his left hand while his right held the cigarette .

This whole little community of stone and wood and lacquer was such a strange place, so high up and yet no it was no aerie. So high up and yet the landbound races had decided to come here and make this a center of learning.
High up enough to decide that hitching a ride would have been a worthwhile choice had that been a consideration before starting the high-flying trek here. But Garuth had not taken that path. He'd decided to try flying himself right where he was going. This was obviously, in hindsight, a mistake. The mountain had looked so small before but after that hot and endless pursuit to the peak it was obvious just how not-small it was. But the sun was so close now, so much closer than it had been at home.
This was just another conquest for Garuth Stone-Singer, yes, just a few more flaps, a bit more pumping with his wings and he'd be there among the rest of the students. Well, above the rest of the students, but that was just a given when being Garuth Stone-Singer. And like crossing the finish line, flying above the student body came with an immense, immeasurable relief that could not hope to be quelled or quenched. He'd made it here, after all.

He shrieked, exactly as one might expect a bird to, and then he proceeded to whoop and loop and swoop in the air like no mortal bird the size of an eagle was meant to, every senseless caw to the heavens cutting through the air to invade the ears of anyone unfortunate enough to be near him.
I wonder if I can borrow someone's shoulder...or if there's a good place to land around here...they were expecting me right? I don't wanna land on the ground and get stepped on. Some small part of the bird thought, the part that wasn't busy assaulting the ears of innocent passerby.

When Spencer takes the bait, Momotaro makes a discreet fist inside his hoodie pocket, a silent we got 'em before responding. "Uh... yeah, more or less," he says, surprised by Spencer's quick conclusion (his accent wasn't noticeable, was it?) and confused as to why Spencer would say "south" when the United Human Kingdoms are in the north, but figures he meant "south" as in "south of the U.H.K." Or maybe he thinks Momotaro is an elf. That would be cool.

"Momotaro," he introduces himself, pulling out his right hand as is usual, then switching to his left to shake. "But that name is kinda stupid, so just "Taro" is fine. Or "Momo" if you want." He lets go, a bright grin on his face; although he was going for a more relaxed expression, his inner excitement bleeds through and he can't help but elaborate on his earlier point. "I'm from the middle of the countryside, so this is my first time seeing so many people, or such fancy buildings. It's really exciting, though."

Spencer nods " yeah it sure is. "He finishes his cigarette and throws it on the ground." so where from the south are you georgia, South Carolina , I'm a Texas boy myself. " he finishes shaking Taro's hand" Have you guys had the civil war here yet and if so who won the Yankees or us rebels? He takes out another cigarrette.

Riding an airship was surely an experience considering Jeralt had never ridden a boat, let alone a flying one. For a majority of the ride, Jeralt had been glued to the railing, watching as the world passed underneath his feet. It was beautiful yet terrifying, seeing the landscape turn from plains, forests, and even a city every now and then though he knew that one mistake could send him plummeting to the ground, and that was a long fall he wouldn't want to make. Pretty soon the mountain in the distance became closer and the ship was finally at its destination, Erstwhile Academy. A pool of students started to fill up around where they would be departing, and of course Jeralt was one of them, with a bag slung over his shoulder and his sword at his hip, Jeralt was ready to take on this new challenge.

Stepping into the sea of students, he couldn't help but feel the temperature, it was colder than he was used too. Then again they were on top of a mountain, "Man, chilly here," Jeralt mumbled to himself, gazing up at Erstwhile and all of its glory.

The young nobleman found himself at the forecastle deck, a finely deceorated bag swung over one of his shoulders, ending up at the side of his waist, wearing the insignia of house Frayheart. A heart eveloped by thorns and swords. Galdin found himself gazing over the railing to their destination further below, as a god descending down to his subjects. The wind blowing through his hair, he casually placed his left gloved hand at his waist, just above his shethed sword. It didn't evade his attention that there were many eager people onboard, as the gasps and voices grew louder the closer they were getting.

"Bask in it's glory, all of you who seek to open the doors to the heavens." He said in a soft tone, not in a hurry to get off the ship with the first wave, as such likely would mean pushing and possibly dirtying ones attire uneedingly.

True enlightenment is on the way, the coexistance of Valenia is about to take many steps in the right direction. Thus comes the time before the great liberator and tactician set out to save this world. He thought to himself, a smile forming on his lips.

Then his attention snapped to two young men nearby, who appeared to be commoners by their way of dressing. "I'm certain in the end of your time here you'll do plenty of impressive things, which may put this grand view in the shade." Galdin said in a matter of fact tone of voice, he seemed like he was about to continue but a sound from above caught his attention, there was some flying creature up there. "How noisy..." He said in a momotone way, before turning back to the other two young men.

One of them spoke of places which Galdin had never heard about, perhaps they were places of no interest or far away from the human kingdoms. He spoke of civil war? Galdin shook his head softly. "The war came to a stop 50 years ago, as to who the winners were? Look around yourself. The result is all around us." He briefly nodded his head towards some non-humans being present, including the flying one above them.

"Oh but allow me to introduce myself, I am Marquis Galdin Frayheart, head of the Frayheart noble house of Marland." He gave a flourish with his right arm and did a nod of courtesy towards Momotaro and Spencer, his left hand gently carassed across his own chest, with a few fingers to clearly show his two medal looking insignias. One depicting his status of Marquis and the other as him being the head of his house. Another young man had spoken out about how chilly it was in the area they found themselves. Galdin hadn't thought too much about that, having been slightly distracted by the various others gathered around. "The cool air will help you keep a cool head." The young nobleman gave an upturn at the corner of his mouth.

Spencer gave Marquis a look of slight distaste. He knew these types of people saw plenty of them in the war acting like they were all nice when they were secretly horrible." nice to meet you my name's Spencer. " He holds out his left hand as he takes a drag with his right." fifty years ago huh? Well it turned out the right side one from what it looks like. " He takes a drag and blows some smoke at marquis's way" c'mon Taro let's go this guy gives me a bad feeling. " He turns around and starts walking away taking another drag and hoisting his bag higher on his shoulder.

Meer Yucatia was never the type of person who actively socialized with others, especially those of non-noble, non-human births, which was certainly abundant in the airship she was boarding on, she kept to her room for most of the journey. Her family was rich enough to purchase the first class treatment for their daughter, so she had not to sit in the large waiting hall shared by hundreds of the other students. Instead, she could spend her time reading her magic book on a comfy, fluffy, first class bed.

However, after the announcement that they were arriving at their destination, she decided it was time for her to leave her room at last. She grabbed her bag and staff with her. THe rest of her belongings would be sent separately to her dorm room.

She soon arrived at the deck of the ship, greeted by the strong, constant breeze common in the region and altitude.

She quickly put her hands on the hem of her dress, knowing perfectly well the effect of such a phenomenon could have on her clothing.

She then looked over down the railing, watching as the most eager students made their way out of the ship in a tightly packed crowd.

Hmph, no reason to rush and join such a crowd. I shall wait here for the moment.

As she looked downward over the railing, she didn't pay any attention to the fact that her fiancee was just a few dozen meters away from her. She knew he was going to the school as well of course, as her parents, and himself, had gleefully announced. But she didn't know which airship he had boarded on, which suited her perfectly to be purely honest. She never really liked him in a romantic way. He was simply the kind of person she felt she would never be able to get along with well.

But alas, she was going to marry him nonetheless. And she would do it out of a simple sense of duty for her house, as their union would grow it even larger than it already was.

@Dezuel

The bell rings, telling everyone that the beginning speech is about to begin

Leirha walked up to the airship, heart in her throat. She stole a nervous glance behind her, spotting her Grandfather, who game her a reassuring nod. Officially, he was here as one of the representatives of the council, but she'd had a few private words with him. It was nice to have him come to see her before she left, but she was still very nervous. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her posture, and walked forward confidently, though when that earned her several stares, as she was suddenly significantly taller than most in the ground, she quickly, hunched back over, embarrassed.

The flight over was uneventful, though she got a more than a few stares. Once they could see the school, however, she felt her heart race. Several conflicting motions surged, one one hand, it was nice to be in mountains, so much like those back home, at the same time, the airships being able to so easily fly up here, meant her home was much less safe than it had been before. She was along stunned by the school itself. Despite her family arranging for her to see some of the structures of the main races, so she'd not be overwhelmed, she'd not seen anything quite like this before.

The shriek of an eagle, though unlike any she'd heard before, woke her from her stunned state, and she scanned the air, trying to spot the creature, mostly out of habit. Eagle eggs were a delicacy after all, and finding eagles nests had become second nature. Soon she spotted the bird, but realised it was no eagle, but rather one of the phoenixes she'd been taught about. It seemed to be struggling to find a place to land in the crowd. Remembering her grandfather's advice to try to make friends, not only for her own sake but for her people, she steeled herself, then straightened herself, so she stood about the crowd, and beckoned for the bird, offering her shoulder. Just as she locked eyes with the Pheonix, the bell rang.

"Uh... yeah, probably." Surprised by the sudden introduction of the Marquis, Momotaro can only offer a vague reply, put off by his formal way of speaking and grand gestures to some shiny things on his chest. While it's not like Momotaro has never seen a duke or duchess before, usually they don't stride up to him and introduce themselves, leaving at a loss of how to respond. Nevertheless, it's not like he's being unfriendly, and so Momotaro will be friendly too.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Momotaro. From west of the capital, Tamako," he adds, more for Spencer's sake than for Galdin's, but before he can continue his second conversation of the day, Spencer makes a (kind of rude) comment and pulls away. Alas, Momotaro's loyalty for Spencer is more than his loyalty to the Marquis, and so he makes the decision to run after rather than stay. (Besides, Spencer called him "Taro!" They're, like, buddies now!) "Talk later!" he says, sending Galdin a wink and a wave before leaving.

"Huh, he seemed nice to me," Momotaro says, once he's beside Spencer again. "And yeah... nobody really won; it was a colossal tie. Then we signed the Ending Pact -- not me, I wasn't born yet -- and now Erstwhile's here."

As they walk into the school auditorium, Momotaro takes note of the number of students that appear, whether they be Anima-Iht, elf, or man; he may have underestimated the number of students here at Erstwhile, judging by the hundreds of students flowing into the main room; and come to think of it, is that a phoenix? And are those merpeople!?

It seems like he's in for a lot of surprises today.

@Jasper19@Dezuel

Spencer walked in with Taro and was breathless at the sight of all the other races. "sure is a lot of people here huh taro." He said smiling at his new friend and nodded when Taro said the war ended in a tie." Wondered what would have happened if my war won in a tie. " He mused to himself as he stood ready for the announcement. Spencer took a long drag and saw the Phoenix choking on the smoke in surprise he started coughing." I-Is that a pheonix? " he asked Taro.

Jeralt looked over to the fellow student, he wasn't expecting someone to reply, "Guess so, though I wouldn't want to be stuck out here durring winter" he said glancing over at the student. Clearly he was a noble, seeing his attire no commoner would wear military attire like that and the crest in his bag was distinguishable, though Jeralt never really paid attention to those things. "Ah right, guess this is a good time to introduce ourselves, seeing as we're both students here. I'm Jeralt Seymour, adopted son of Duke Lionel Seymour," he said, offering his hand in a friendly gesture. After getting acquainted a bell rang out, probably signifying something important, "Ah, guess that's for us."

Garuth took another lazy loop in the sky as the bell rang before he took note of the strange landbound person who seemed to be watching him and inviting him.
She was so tall, a mountain among humanoids on a mountain among mountains. But that just made it easier to spot her—he was pretty sure it was a her, she didn't seem too extravagant so that was a point in that direction—so he started to fly on down, pulling his wings in and just letting gravity take charge. As he approached, he spread out his wings and began to slow down, aiming to make a perfect, discrete landing...
Problem was that a nice pretty landing like that, from air straight to shoulder, was something more accessible to a creature much lighter, smaller, and more acrobatic. He tried to slow down enough to land nice and gently, but it wasn't really enough. He recognized that much, and rather than let his talons sink in to the kind lady's shoulder, a few desperate, quick flaps of his wings redirected his path, cutting out his speed and stalling him in the air, to predictable results: He slipped through the air and hit the ground at her feet, a ruffle of feathers and soft flesh tangled up before the harpy. He managed to squawk after that landing though, announcing himself, so at least it wasn't a dead bird at her feet. It would only be a few seconds though before he would start straightening himself up, standing on his own legs and looking up at her expectantly as if nothing was wrong.

@SmokeDragon

Leirha was... Surprised, to say the least, when the bird, no Pheonix, crashed by her feet, instead of landing on her shoulder, though with the force it still carried when it hit the ground, she was glad for it. Getting hit by high-velocity talons hurt a lot, that's one of the first lessons you learned, playfighting with other Heiratians. Luckily the Pheonix seemed to be alright. Leihra bent down to it and introduced herself, her voice slightly accented, and with some sounds sounding vaguely bird-like "Are you alright? I- umm, you can call me Leihra. P-pleased to meet you?" She'd almost used her 'old' name but stopped herself, her grandfather had repeated many times that it was better to use the 'human' name they'd thought out for her.
Almost none of the other races were even physically capable of pronouncing her name, and even amongst those that could, it'd be rare to find someone who'd learned how to make the right kind of noises. Her grandfather said it'd make people feel more comfortable around her if her name wasn't so strange. Then she realised that the Pheonix, being a bird, might actually have an easier time pronouncing her 'old' name than it would her 'new' one. She started blushing slightly and feeling rather silly, but tried to collect herself. If she were to blush for every tiny blunder, she'd probably not stop blushing till she came back home, and that wouldn't do, she had to be a good representative.

@Ginnungagap

As the beings congregated to the courtyard, there was the man with the handlebar mustache. HE was wearing a brown three piece suit and was holding a golden cane. Everyone could see compassion in his eyes as he addressed the crowd. "Welcome, one and all, to the future of Coexistence! I am Minister Othello, representative of the United Human Kingdom and the headmaster of Erstwhile Academy. I understand that a few of you are scared, and that this may be the first time out of your region. We made history fifty years ago with the Ending Pact, and we will continue to uphold the essence of the Ending Pact with this school."

He continues. "Now I know you must all be wondering who your first year representative is. As you may know, Every school year, a student will be chosen prior to the school year starting. Said student will represent their entire class. It is my honor and privilege to welcome to the stage, Lucian Dragonlance of Galnea!"

A tall man with long, flowing white hair comes to the stage. The first thing you notice about him is his trouble walking up the stage. Immediately, you all guess there is somethign wrong with his legs. He heavily leans on a white birch staff. Once he gets up to the stage, he turns his face towards the crowd, brushing some strands of hair from his face. The second thing you notice is his eyes. They are, quite literally, neon blue. He smiles to the crowd and says...

"Hello Everybody. My name is Lucian Dragonlance. I come from the largest kingdom of the United Kingdoms, Galnea. Although I am royalty and the representative for your year, please do not hesitate to come forward to me. Here, we are not different classes or races, we are students. We are all here with the same goal of becoming future leaders, doctors, generals, warriors, wizards, et cetera. Now, I would like to announce the leaders of each Domicile. I personally chose these leaders from their initiation tests. They will represent their respective Domicile in the school meetings. Please note, I will be choosing a third leader for Domicile Bellator in a later date. Now please welcome to the stage, your two Domicile Leaders. Garuth Stone-Singer of Domicile Divinos and Jeralt Seymour of domicile Princeps!"

@Ginnungagap@Spoopyskell