By the time she arrived at the school, several of the parents who had volunteered to help her set up the stations were already there. Tables were set up in scattered locations all over the school yard. One was in the school itself since there wasn't enough room for it outside. Each table had a privacy screen around it so that kids who were waiting for their turn at the station wouldn't be able to see the questions the groups ahead of them were getting. The tables would each be manned by a volunteer from the village. Mr. and Mrs. Gardener had each offered to man a table as had several of the other elderly members of the village. That way, able bodied farmers wouldn't have to lose precious time in bringing in their harvests. The ones who had come to help her set up for the treasure hunt would be leaving as soon as everything was set up.
Once the tables were set up, the volunteers who had offered to man the tables got them organized the way they wanted them to be while Tei'serin and the other volunteers went out to hide the clues, and various items that the kids would need to find. Some of them were hidden in the school, and school grounds. But others were hidden throughout the village, and in the surrounding woods. This task took longer to accomplish than setting up the tables had, but with everyone working together, they still managed to get everything done before the first kids started to arrive.
Sorin was the first of Tei'serin's students to arrive at the school. He was more than a little confused as to why he had been told to go to school when most of the kids his age would be out in the fields helping their families bring in the Vhalar harvests. If anything, he had more work to do than most of the kids his age since his guardians were getting up there in arcs, and as such weren't strong enough to do much of the farm work themselves any longer. But when he asked Tei'serin what was going on, she simply smiled at him, and told him that she would explain everything once all of the students had arrived. Sorin clearly wasn't happy at the idea of having to wait, but he subsided after a few bits of good natured grumbling.
The next group of children to arrive were some of her younger students. The three girls were best friends, and they did everything together, so seeing them walk into the school yard together was no surprise to Tei'serin. In this fashion, the students arrived on their own, or in small groups until all of the children could be accounted for.
"Now will you tell me why I'm not out in the fields helping my family bring in the harvest?" Sorin asked, frustration, impatience, and confusion mingling in his tone.
The other students looked equally curious, and Tei'serin grinned as she began to speak.
"Over the last few trials, I've been busy contacting everyone's parents, and we all agreed on one thing. We agreed that you all deserve a break as thanks for all of the hard work you have done so far, and the work that will be asked of you as the season progresses. And what better way to enjoy a well deserved break than with a fun trial in the sun with your friends? With the help of these volunteers, I have created a treasure hunt for you. It will test your knowledge about the heroes of Treth and Ne'haer in a way that I hope you will enjoy, and honor the celebration of Heroes at the same time. You may even learn something about our heroes that you didn't know before."
This got a chuckle out of several of the students.
"You will start by getting into groups of two or three. It doesn't matter what age group you are in for this. You may pair up with anyone that you like."
Tei'serin waited patiently as her students sorted themselves into the required groups. She noticed that Sorin and his best friend had teamed up. That much didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was that they had included a younger girl in their group. She had moved to Treth last season, so she had not had the chance to make any friends yet. Some of her age group teased her because she was new. Tei'serin was keeping a close eye on the situation to make sure that the teasing didn't descend into outright bullying, but aside from that, all she could really do was punish the children who were teasing Mayu if she caught them in the act. And even then, she knew that that would only make it worse for the girl in the long run when the children took their displeasure in being punished out on her. It was something that most newcomers had to face, and Tei'serin knew that it would pass in time...but that didn't make it any easier for the child who was suffering through it. Tei'serin was proud of Sorin and his friend for taking Mayu under their wing. With any luck, it would put an end to the teasing she suffered at the hands of her age group.
Tei'serin had two more new students in her class as well; two sisters by the names of Keiaris, and Meiarin. At nine arcs, Keiaris was the older sister by two arcs. But the two girls were so close that they might as well have been twins instead of just sisters. They received the same kind of teasing that Mayu got, but despite their having arrived after Mayu, many of the kids had given up teasing the newest members of the class already. Tei'serin couldn't be certain why this had happened, but she believed that a large part of it was that whenever someone teased they, they simply stared at the offender with blank, emotionless eyes until they gave up and left them alone. During these times, their expressions unnerved the other children, and Tei'serin could understand why; no child should have eyes like that. Since they had only been with the class since the first of the season, Tei'serin had yet to have a chance to meet the girls' guardians. But she did know that it was a situation similar to Sorin's where their parents were unable to look after the children, so they had been sent to friends of the family who could.
Another reason why the other children might be less willing to tease the sisters than they were Mayu was that Sorin was quick to come to their aid if he saw anyone give them a hard time. Since Sorin was well liked, most of the other students weren't willing to bother anyone he wanted to protect. Keiaris and Meiarin had joined up together, and formed a team of two. Tei'serin hoped that they did well in the treasure hunt; it just might be enough to earn them some friends.
Once everyone had split into teams, Tei'serin addressed her class once more.
"There are a lot of tables scattered throughout the school and school yard. Each of those tables is a station. You may choose any station you wish to start at, but you will have to go through them all in order to complete the treasure hunt. At each station you will be asked a question about one of the heroes that we have studied. In order to answer the question, you will then have to find an object that represents the answer to the question. These objects can be found anywhere within the school, school yard, village, and the surrounding woods, so it will be something of a challenge for you to find them. Once you think you have found the right object, you must bring it back to your station. If you are correct, they will give you a clue that will tell you which station to go to next. If you are stumped, you can choose to go to another station, but once you complete that one, you must do one more and then go back to the one you got stuck at and try again. I will be standing on the stairs leading into the school house for part of the time. For the rest of it, I will be wandering around. If you can find me, you can ask me for a hint for the question you are working on if you need it. Only when you have completed each of the stations at least once will you have completed the treasure hunt. And there will be prizes for the first three teams who finish it. But the most important goal for the trial is to have fun. Are there any questions?"
