It made the master chuckle. "Sure. I'll have some when they grow. Might even make a nice jam out of them." he said after gaining his composure. David smiled and said his final goodbye. He then led the peaches over to the college. Once inside, he had to find the headmaster. That was easier said than done as the campus was huge and spaced out. There were several multi story buildings. He ran into Players and NPCs alike as he asked around the student body. Once he finally found the headmaster, he introduced himself and the others. The headmaster was an elderly woman with gray hair. The few streaks of black and the sharp look in her eye showed that she was hardly a defenseless or fragile woman. "If you want to join the Bard College, you need to choose the school you want to follow. Each school will lead you down a different path. This is a smaller College so we can only offer 3 of the 6 schools." "What are the 6 schools?" David asked. She sighed and said "The 6 schools in a Bard College are Herald, Requiem, Circus, Shadow, Origin and Orator. We only have staff for the first 3."
Circus was a school that made David curious. Bards of the College of Cirus are called blades, and they entertain people through daring feats of weapon prowess. The blades perform stunts such as sword swallowing, knife throwing and juggling, and mock combats. That made the name pretty apt. Though they use their weapons to entertain, they are also highly trained and skilled warriors in their own right. Their talent with weapons inspires many blades to lead double lives. One blade might use a circus troupe as cover for nefarious deeds such as assassination, robbery, and blackmail. Other blades strike at the wicked, bringing justice to bear against the cruel and powerful. Most troupes are happy to accept a blade's talent for the excitement it adds to a performance, but few entertainers trust a blade in their ranks. David could identify with the need to live a double life. Blades who abandon their lives as entertainers often run into trouble. That makes maintaining secret activities impossible. A blade caught stealing or engaging in vigilante justice is too great a liability for troupes.
Doing that also came with their own alternative career choices. With their high weapon skills and magic, these blades either take up work as enforcers for thieves' guilds or strike out on their own as adventurers. It definitely seemed like the place to be for David. He asked the headmaster to join the Bardic School of Circus. She smiled at him and said "This is a college, my boy. We don't just let anyone in. You need to prove your worth. I have just the task in mind." she said. She told him about a dungeon under the school that housed the remains of the founders. Apparently, the last known copy of one of the school's founders was stolen. She wanted David to go down and retrieve the original so that a new copy could be made. "I must warn you that the tombs of the founders are guarded with traps and even the spirits of their most apt students. Do you think you are up to the task?" David just shook his head. "How about we work for the college instead." He then showed her their Guild Journeyman certificates. "We can make instruments if you let us in and get the materials." he offered.
Even she could realize that it would be better to have a core of smiths in the college that could create instruments in-house. Purchasing them at the local markets could be expensive. Merchants were also fickle and the actual quality could not always be guaranteed. It was then that she agreed to admit us in the college. "You can all join the School of Circus. We will prepare a small smithy for you to work. In the meantime, the task still stands if you want some favor during your stay here. Do not let your studies slip either." she said. That was fine with David. He asked where he could find the teachers for the school. The headmaster gave him a small list of 3 teachers to see. It was a small college after all. David could go learn from all of them or simply choose one. The peaches were going to be in the School of Circus as well. They had dorm rooms on the campus. His roommate was Chris. It was assigned to them that way. David did not know how the game determined that. Chris was happy with it. Alec and Alex were roommates. So were Claire and Sasha. That was actually really good.
