Joshua nods to Tamwood, helping himself to a sandwich from the basket while he tries to think of an answer for Toren. What was life like in Mage society? "'Nasty, brutish, and short,'" he finally supplies. "And if you've been sheltered by your mentor then it's going to be a--" A rude awakening, he almost says, but catches himself before he can accidentally make the pun. Instead he ends with, "--A wake-up call. You're likely to find things very different. But that's what your Order, and I guess us, are for. Is your mentor in town as well?"
He glances at his watch. Almost time to start; he'd wait just a little bit longer before calling things to order.