(OOC: The food is not free, so that is okay. Having the food brought upstairs is free... heh. Also, media reference coming up... )
Meanwhile...
Kos and his siblings arrived at their school on time, as usual.
The school they attended, The Red Claw academy, was private. Dracons had no such thing as public schools, so all education was left up to temples, tutors, or a school run by a non-governmental institution. "The Claw", as it was called, offered education on a wider range of levels than humans were used to seeing under one roof... this institution educated Dracons from elementary to college level, even going into specialist fields, such as conjuration magic and architecture.
Five main buildings surrounded by a high sandstone wall made up the institution... one for the younger Dracons, one for teenagers, one for the college-level students, an office building, and a structure for advanced classes. In addition to this, there were many smaller buildings which served various purposes (storage, a small temple, housing, additional office space, etc.)
Located in the middle of Minthebec, "The Claw" was a respectable school, but hardly the richest that a Dracon could hope to attend. There were at least three other schools in Minthebec which were even more prestigious, and one other which might also qualify for that title. In addition, The Claw had to compete with schools in other cities for the attendance of the rich... the University of Hewaniar far outstripped its capabilities.
Kos liked the school for its nice playground... which is typical of a six year old... Ver liked the magical lab available there, although his talent was growing at such a pace as to outgrow it! He also like the library. Kria disliked her school, as it had a very lax dance program... her parents had to enroll her in classes in another school, one specifically set up for dancing.
While this was going on, Ophion and Aurescia ran their magic shop. Attached to their house, their shop was relatively small, but nevertheless useful. Upon entering, customers would see two sets of brown wooden shelves on either side of the store, and a counter with several more shelves behind it. Someone wishing to buy a simple magic item could just pick it off of the shelves, but more serious customers (the ones who made Ophion real money!) would go up to the counter and ask for an item that was not as readily available.
The store, named "Ophion's" was not a speciality store. It sold magical items of all kinds... wands, staffs, rings, books, amulets, powders, elixers, tonics, tinctures, potions, scrolls, staves, necklaces, talismans, magical and alchemical components, balms, salves, and many others. In addition, Ophion offered magical services to customers, such as enchanting items or interpreting arcane texts. Aurescia helped her husband run the shop in many ways, especially when it came to Alchemy, as she spent much of the time preparing potions in one of three sizable gray cauldrons in the back room. She also spent time inscribing magical scrolls, which was considered busywork among the Dracons... making scrolls to order as well as keeping a stock of commonly-purchased scrolls.
Magical scrolls were pieces of paper with a spell written on them. Once read, the spell would be activated, and the magic in the scroll would be discharged. These were not to be confused with magical books, the likes of which commanded a massive price, but were also hard to sell at a profit, due to the high price Ophion had to pay from his suppliers, and the fact that there was so much competition for magical books, that any hike in prices beyond a certain small profit margin would enable his competition in that field to undercut him.
Some items were useful and practical... such as healing balm, or curing elixer. Others, such as enchanted perfume and ensorcelled foods (enchanted so as not to spoil, like magical apples or pomegranates), were luxury items which commanded great respect among the vain rich. Many of these wealthy Dracons did not care for the price, so long as it was an item that was in fashion. As a result, the stock of these items changed very frequently... with every passing of the moon, it seemed. Recently Ophion had to order five different colors of crystal balls in five months to keep pace with the changing demands of the consumers...
But the largest profit-making goods Ophion could sell were magical antiques. A purchase of these goods was rare, as they buyer would have to be able to recognize the power in the item and have a use for it. In addition, Ophion's supply of such items was limited to what he could purchase from mundane antique and curio dealers and use his own powers to identify from. Non-magical goods in his stock were enchanted and sold at a profit, too. Recently, business had been going very, very well. It seemed that more and more Dracons were turning to magic to solve their problems... using things like magical rings to keep one safe from violence, or using love potions to smooth over relationship problems, or even enchanting a weapon or armor to gain an advantage against foes in an arena...
One area that the couple had considered going into was the sale of magical familiars, animals or other companions of a mage... but since neither Aurescia nor Ophion had a familiar of their own, they were hesitant. Business had been good, although there was a possible problem in the recent opening of so many specialty stores for certain items... they had seen their wand sales plummet after opening of a specialty wandmaker two blocks down the road, and their sales of scrolls had stagnated after a magical scribe opened up his shop five blocks away from them...
Regardless, there was no question that their store put more than enough food on the table, and kept a roof over their heads.
