The town hall was just as intriguing as it had promised to be. Great white steps lead up to its enormous gold double doors, which had small cherubs moulded onto its surface. The cherubs moved magically, flitting across the doors surface. Great columns, also gold, supported the building and were decorated similarly to the doors but with leaves instead of cherubs. These leaves, true to real foliage, moved gently with the breeze.
Around the entrance stood a number of guards in a uniform that was the same design for each, but a completely individual colour for every soldier. They stood so still, one almost thought they might be statues, if it weren't for the fact that occasionally one would bar someone from entering the dome.
Most of those turned away without so much as blinking, but one particularly wiry looking goblin did become overexcited, screeching and throwing himself at the soldiers. They merely lifted him up as though he were of feather weight and launched him over the chairs and onto the street.
"Maybe non-mages aren't allowed in," Snails commented nervously, partly because he didn't really fancy being in a room with all those magic wielding fanatics. Had it been Sumdall, the group would have known for certain that any minus the abilities of magic would have been less welcome than rodents.
But physical harm by the guards appeared to be only a last resort, so the travelers were willing to at least try. If nothing else, Marina, and probably Norda should be able to attend the Meeting of the Mages and the rest could wait outside.
They headed towards the doors, but were mystified to discover that not one of them was stopped from entering. If it had nothing to do with magical abilities, why were some turned away and others not?
Inside, the town hall was rather like a museum of odd artifacts. The corridor towards the main hall was actually a series of connected rooms and these were now filled with the same sorts of imaginative things that decorated the streets. Strange metal structures, glowing paintings of strange metal structures, a collection of enchanted objects ranging from the more usual (medallions) to the bizarre (a bedpan), things that made clicking and ticking noises, some bizarre and hideous creatures. The group passed an entire section dedicated to herbs and wildlife, where one half of the room was much like a garden, the other side jungle-like.
Finally the five of them arrived in a large round auditorium. Chairs were seated in a three quarter circle and were quite full of all kinds in mage robes so that only a few chairs at the very back were free. At the far end of the theatre, on the stage, two podiums were erected each with a middle-aged mage standing behind. The one on the left was wearing bright red robes whilst the one on the right was in a softer blue. A third mage, in neutral robes, was standing to the right on the very edge of the stage and watching the other two very closely.
"...the very idea is ludicrous," the mage in the red argued, ending a sentence, as the traveling group crept in and seated themselves uncertainly in the empty back row.
The man in red leaned across his podium and continued, "The intricate system of magic has been well established for hundreds of years. We know it is acquired in one of two ways – one can learn it, if one has the mental capacity, thus mages and wizards. Or it can be bred – one can be born with magical abilities, thus sorcerers. What you are suggesting goes against countless years of studies by countless mages. There is no third way." He addressed his last statements to the man beside him in blue robes.
"Not at all,
