City of Mages: Chapter II

"Xindor the Incredible! Xindor the Grand! Goblin Slayer, Dwarf-Defender, Hero of Elf and Man!" As Halyn's high clear tenor voice finished the song, applause errupted from the other two occupants of the carraige.
"Sing the one about the Ogre!" Implored Tiryn. She was a small girl of about twelve, small even compared to other hill gnomes. To look at her, one might have thought she was a house gnome. Like her brothers, though, she was dressed in the Gypsy like clothing of the hill gnomes.
"Another time," promised her older brother, "I need to rest my voice. I may well be asked to perform tomorrow. And if I'm lucky, I could walk away with a very well-paying commission. With a tune I can reuse to boot,"
"I can't believe we're actually going to meet Xindor the Incredible!" intuned the girl.
"And maybe he'll let me join the Sorceror's guild!" chimed in third brother, Erdyn.
"Oh, Erdyn," said his little sister, "It takes more than some dancing lights to qualify as a Sorceror,"
"But it's real magic!" argued her brother, "Plus I can do that thing with my face. And I know I have other powers! I just haven't discovered them yet. We have the bloodline.."
"There hasn't been a real sorceror in the family in three generations," said Halyn, "But stranger things have happened. We'll see what Xindor thinks of your little light show,"
"And it won't hurt that my older brother wrote the song that made him famous!" suggested Erdyn, hugging his older brother.
"C'mon," said Tiryn, "One more song,"
"Alright," said Halyn, "One more, but that's really it! I mean it,"
The elder Gnome pulled out his Lyre and struck a chord. He broke into a rousing ballad about the kind-hearted Ogre who loved to sing. By the time he had finished, the small carraige had come around the side of the mountain.
"Look out the window!" said Erdyn, excitedly.
As the carraige turned around the bend, the city of Erilliance came into view. The most noticible feature was, of course, the Tower of Doom. It was not nearly as imposing as the name would suggest. The name, in fact, was a holdover from an earlier age, when the word "Doom" had simply meant fate - either good or bad. Still and all, the tower was impressive. Easily ten times as tall as the surrounding buildings, it seemed to stretch towards the heavens themselves. Even in the middle of the afternoon, light seemed to radiate from it, originating of course from the stargem that was housed inside. The other buildings around it and the forest which surrounded them seemed tiny in comparison. A few buildings did stand out, though. Especially when a huge green fireball momentarily errupted from the large semicircular structure known as the Alchemy building.
"It's amazing," said Tiryn, with awe. "I'll be so jealous if you get to live there, Erdyn,"
"Don't speak to soon," answered Halyn,"There's not a lot of gnomes studying in Erilliance - you'd be a minority for sure. And the less powerful spellcasters tend to have some trouble adjusting, especially the sorcerors. If you do have powers, it might be safer to develop them at home,"
"And miss all this?" said Erdyn, "No way. The Gates of Erilliance are open to all students of magic. I'm gonna be a sorceror. And if it turns out I don't have the power, I'm gonna study and be a Wizard!"
"More power to ya, kid," said Halyn, reaching over to tossle his brothers curly brown hair.
And the Gnome carraige trundled down towards the city.