The Meeting with the Teacher
Florian, and anyone else who wanted to go meet the last teacher of children in Massilia...
(Just make up some reasonable plot excuse to be along with Florian!)
It's the beach, in the middle of the day, north of the Breakwater.
The sea is choppy today, but the fishermen have to go out anyway. In some safer, more prosperous places they might choose to skip a day like this, but not here. Every day in Masillia is work. So dozens of little fishing boats are bobbing up and down, as heavy surf hits the beach.
The beach market is up and running, and wind blows the cloth stalls like sails. Many of the shops here are food oriented, with a few grilling seafood straight from returning fishing boats. There is a popular ocean front tavern - Mermaid Tavern- which is next to (and enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship with) the small Seaside Theater, used for music and dance, often by locals. Goscus the hat maker also has his shop and workshop here. Next to his shop, there is a large display of reed mats, some of them very colorful, hanging up. They are the kind people buy if they are one step above sleeping on piles of straw, but not nearly up enough for a bed. They are a universal floor covering. One is a mat. Stack them up and you have a mattress.
The youth Florian spoke to the day before is here, and motions Florian over to the reed mats. He whispers, when Florian is close enough to hear:
"Come with me if you want to learn."
They walk between rows of hanging reed mats. The rows of mats quickly hide them completely from the rest of the market.
And they hear a woman's voice.
"It's all right.. I know him.. of him. I don't think we have more than one Faun in town. You want to be a student? I need to know what you already know. What would I be starting with?"