"No, Douglas, we Therians feel no kinship whatsoever with whatever animals we might resemble, and as far as my knowledge goes, this is what most of us feel. So to answer your question, my eating a Pork Chop would not be considered cannibalism, no." - Zugfredo Runster, Pig-Therian Adventurer.

Cal spent the next two days as she mostly had fun in Paradise. She went around and sampled the many eateries that the city offered whenever she felt hungry - a task that would have easily consumed years of her time to finish were she to dedicate herself to it on every meal -, purchased various exotic sundries that just made life on the road so much more convenient - among which were a portable folding bath, enchanted to fill itself with hot water whenever unfolded, the sort of luxury she never thought possible to have during travels -, and enlisted the services of a master enchanter to further work on her collection of machetes and darts - they were masterwork items of craftsmanship, but master enchanters were a non-existent breed in the archipelago.

It was after breakfast that day when Aideen brought her to the venue of the festival. The Grand Stadium was located on the third-innermost ring of buildings in Paradise, an old, but later addition to the city. The stadium itself resembled a gladiatorial colosseum in design, a grand amphitheater with tiered audience seating that circled an open, circular area in the middle, of such a grand scale Cal expected it could easily fit a hundred thousand people with room to spare.

Since Aideen led the way, Cal had not needed to join the orderly line of people who lined up to enter the stadium - a privilege she learned were granted to all archmages, since a portion of them were the star of the show after all -, the Unliving woman leading her through the pathways and straight to the front-most row of seats, right at the periphery of the open area.

The seats themselves were all identical as far as her eyes could see, all simple L-shaped seats carved out of marble - a testament to the prosperity of the city -, with the backrest slightly leaned backwards at an angle for comfortable rest. Each of the over a hundred thousand seats were easily large enough to have accommodates even the largest breed of Therians, or put in other words, more than enough to fit two adult humans who sat side by side with room to spare - Cal herself had shared a seat with Aideen comfortably -, and had a plush, soft pillow that covered the seat itself to provide a modicum of comfort. Inwardly, Cal revised her estimate of the stadium's capacity to double her initial estimate, although she does wonder how those who sat in the back rows would be able to see whatever went on in the middle.

That questioned answered itself shortly after the majority of the seats were filled - Cal noted that the frontmost five rows were populated entirely by fellow mages, and that most of the commoners often seated themselves together as a family or group of friends, as they shared a seat or two adjacent seats as needed - as four Mist mages - One seated in each cardinal direction -, used their magic and casted gigantic re-enactments of the events that happened in the middle of the stadium on the sky, which easily allowed all those seated further away to watch the proceedings with clarity.

In the center stage of the open field was none other than Hans-Grell Zwergenbaum, the Dwarf-Elf hybrid that had served as the acting Mayor of Paradise since its founding, now clad in the full regalia of his office. Even if she usually felt women more attractive than men in an aesthetical sense, Cal had to admit that Hans cut a dashing figure, clad as he was in the well-fitted black silken tailcoat embroidered in platinum thread, secured with golden buttons. His luxurious beard meticulously groomed into a multitude of miniscule braids, each anchored with a ringlet of gold and looked like the result of hours of work at the least - would a beardo be an appropriate word to call a hairdo for beards, Cal wondered? -, and his ever-present monocle switched for one framed in Mithril and Adamant.

Hans tapped the staff of office - the staff looked more like a mere walking stick in his hands - on the ground, and the sound it created echoed clearly through all the stadium, yet never unpleasantly loud, the sound carried by the workings of Wind mages present in the audience. The audience fell into silence as the Mayor cleared his throat.

"Ladies, Gentlebeings, Both, and Neither, the Independent City of Paradise hereby welcomes you to the seasonal Festival of Wonders, of this Summer of the year 672 FP (a spreading term to denote the current era, counted from the year Paradise was founded.)!" Hans boomed over the audience, as he gave his best high-official voice for the occasion. "To open the festivities, please give a warm applause to High Lady Nydia of the Great Emerald Forest, who chooses this fine day to regale our senses with the finest of elven musical feats!"

The crowd applauded politely as Hans stepped aside from the dais in the center of the stage and made way for the oncoming performer. In the stands, Cal asked Aideen on a matter related to the mayor she always felt curious about.

"So… pardon me if this touches on some personal things… but how did Hans's parents get together? Dwarves and Elves considered each other ugly, as best as I could tell."

"Oh, it's but a simple matter of coincidences, lass." Said Aideen. "You see, Hans's mother was one of those rare dwarves talented in druidism, and spent a major portion of her life living in the elf lands to learn more of the craft. His father on the other hand, was not only born with mana-sight (a condition that renders a person effectively blind, yet allows them to perceive mana visually instead, often rising to become great mages), but was also one of the minority of elf males that could grow a beard, and kept a well-groomed one. The rest you can imagine yourself."

"I guess the world is vast enough for such unlikely coincidences to happen…" Cal said. "Speaking of elves, am I seeing things or is the lady about to open the festivities one of their high elders?"

The elven lady in question exhibited advanced age, by Cal's guess well past her eight century, probably past the ninth, dressed in a fine, billowing dress that seemed to always have a breeze that blowed on and played with it. The old elven lady was seated next to a harp as tall as she was, while musical instruments of all kinds - all wind instruments, Cal noted - floated around her.

"Nydia? Yeah, I think her title was Grand Elder or something. Always been a good friend to us, unlike her stuck-up xenophobic rat of a predecessor." Aideen nonchalantly said, as if there was nothing special about it. "You might want to keep your ears open, her performances aren't ones to be missed at any cost."

Aideen's words were the truth as Cal spent the next fifteen minutes completely enthralled by the otherworldly musical performance.

The elven Grand Elder used the multitude of wind instruments to serve as accompaniment. Her now-obvious Wind-affinity magic played the various instruments with expertise no less than a master musician who dedicated their life to the craft, even while her slender, wrinkled hands plucked the strings of the harp with measured movements, which imposed a sharp chord into the ensemble, that guided and harmonized the serenade into a musical performance words failed to describe. Cal had closed her eyes and immersed herself into the melody. She felt as if she were at times atop the highest tree and surveyed the forest landscape, at other times as if she was but a boat adrift in the stormy seas, at yet other times the melody led her to feel as if she were a bird that soared through the endless skies.

She was left speechless and craved for more as the melody ended like someone who went gently to sleep in the night.

The audience was left stunned for a good minute after the melody ended, before the first spectator stood up and started to clap their hands vigorously. The applause swelled like a tide as most everyone in the audience gave a standing ovation to the performance, Cal and Aideen included. An applause that did not stop until the elven grand elder packed her instruments and left the stage.

"If that was the opening performance." Cal said while she tokk a deep breath as she finally seated herself once more. "What will the festival be like?"

"Why, equal parts genius and insanity, of course!" Said Aideen cheerfully. "We would settle for nothing less."