Lesson 1: Don't Lose Your Marbles

[Woe]

44th of Ymiden 722

Woe and Sage rode in on the back of his Kutzeldaur, Soz. Woe rode in front. While Sage was the more experienced and skilled rider and trainer, it was important that the beast grow accustomed to him being its primary rider. Not that there was any question. Woe alone bore Kuvarakh’s effigy, and had a bond to the dark-winged dragonling. It was merely a way of enforcing best practices, when it came to training beasts, and Sage was always about the best way to do what she was good at.

And she was good with animals, no mistake about it.

As they landed, Woe got off first, and then offered a hand to Sage to get off. She graciously accepted, although she was perfectly capable of dismounting the dragonling. Again, another gesture to enforce Woe’s dominance over the beast. It was a strange concept to Woe, but Sage insisted upon it.

Then, it was time to greet the guards at the gate. Woe would inform them that he was there to meet Princess Alyssia. Was it Princess? Or Baronette? Or perhaps Baroness? Woe wasn’t keen on the nomenclature and titles of Scalvoris landholders. He nervously reached down to his belt, to feel the pouch of marbles he’d planned on gifting to Alyssia. The marbles were of green glass, tempered for hardness, and would not shatter easily. But more importantly, they were cool to the touch.

Woe had thought to give her the green glass as a reciprocal gesture for her gift to him on Saoire’s holiday. She’d given him river rocks and green sand. So he would give her a set of green glass marbles. They weren’t merely a plaything though, as Alyssia was already growing a little old for toys. They were a meditative focus. Woe would teach Alyssia his best to control her emotions.

Sage was there, as promised, to help teach Alyssia how to tame her pets. Woe turned to Sage, who smiled back at him, and then they were let into the gates, where he expected to find Alyssia in the courtyard.

[Alyssia]

Alyssia pulled her hair up into a ponytail as her heart pounded. Woe would be arriving shortly with a good friend of his to help the girl learn to train her dragons. Myrixa wasn't too hard to handle being so small, but Rymid was another story. When he did not want to move there was no getting him up. Her hand slipped into her pocket feeling the coin that resided within it. So much had happened since she arrived in Scalvoris. First she had helped with the Scalvbeast or rather tried, then she became a fire forged when the late baron had called for help, she had met Saoire herself during the goddess' gift giving event, she had been named baroness, and had saved dragons from being attacked by her own kind which earned her a position as curator of a dragon's hoard when she came of age to explore.

"So much has changed Novus," Alyssia looked down at the still sleeping nightpup. A small smile graced her face as she looked at all the amazing pets she had acquired. First Novus, a pure white nightpup with purple eyes, then Rymid(Dragonling), Myrixa(Dragonet), and Fowler Goosestep that chose to stay with her. The girl actually got Rymid to sleep in the barn for the night so that he would be ready to go when Sage and Woe arrived. The girl put on her pants and a top with no sleeves so that it would be easier to move depending on what she would be doing. The young Aukari did not know what she would be doing so she did not want to be without something covering her legs, but not have something on that would restrict her arm movements.

Woe had also told her that he would help her learn to meditate as well. It would be great to have someone who could teach her what to do. Everytime she tried to do it herself, the teen ended up falling asleep. Was there something that she was missing? Did she just not have self control? After lacing up her boots, the girl got up and headed outside to wait for word from the guards that Woe had arrived. Once she made it outside, Alyssia was glad for the warmer weather. Though she was not as bothered by the cold as some of the others that lived on Faldrass. It did not take long after she had stepped outside for the guards to let her know that Woe had arrived. The teen hurried down the stairs to the manor and stood in the courtyard with a smile as the visitors arrived.

“Welcome to Smooglenuff Manor! Woe, it is great to see you again! This must be your friend you mentioned. Hello, my name is Alyssia Smooglenuff,” Alyssia stated and bowed slightly at the waist when she saw his companion.

[Woe]

They bid farewell to Soz, who flew off into a darkened cove on the coast of the island of Faldrass. The dragonling was anti-social in the extreme, a characteristic that Sage insisted to Woe that was a natural aspect of the Kutzeldaur.

Sage was wearing dark brown hunting leathers over riding boots, with a long-hemmed green overcoat. Her golden hair was tied back in a tail as well, as her brilliant green eyes regarded the aukari child with curiosity. It was no secret that Woe had an odd sort of soft spot for children, although the girl in front of them was well on the cusp of full adulthood by Scalvoris standards. Still, a child she was to the likes of Sage and Woe, who were both quite a lot older.

Even so, Alyssia seemed well mannered enough as she greeted Woe and Sage. “This is Sage, Alyssia. The animal tamer friend I told you about.”

The naer extended a slender hand to Alyssia, by way of greeting. There were nuances in her body language that still eluded Woe, and he supposed were part of her upbringing in Augiery. The way she twisted her hand as she extended probably had some hidden meaning, one that those not versed in Euthic sign couldn’t be privy to. Even so, he trusted Sage, and knew her to be a good enough person, if a little peculiar.

“These must be your beasts.” Sage said, turning to look at the animals after introductions had been given. “May I take a closer look?” Sage asked Alyssia, and wouldn’t take another step toward them, unless she gave her express permission.

Woe, in the meantime, was more focused on Alyssia than the remarkable menagerie the young girl had gathered around herself. “I brought you a little present.” Woe produced a small woolen pouch from his domain bag, and handed it to her. The contents of the pouch were cool to the touch. “They’re egilrun green glass marbles. Cool to the touch and well tempered, so they won’t break merely from dropping.”

“Not a toy, however, but a meditative focus.” Woe nodded at her to take a look inside the pouch. The green marbles had pretty patterns in other colors swirling within the green clarity of the glass, in varying degrees of opacity. There were red streaks of color slashing through the green marbles in some, and purple in others.

“It’s helpful, when meditating and slowing down your mind, to focus on a small object, seemingly insignificant. And I thought the cool glass might help you when you feel your blood beginning to heat up.”

Woe took a look around the courtyard of the manor of Smooglenuff. It was really an impressive edifice, and Woe would have to ask the constructors sometime where they’d gotten their design ideas. He could use such insights for when it came time to build his own places of business and the Glass Harbor itself.

He waited to see if Alyssia would allow Sage closer to the dragonling, and her other animals. Sage explained to Alyssia, “It’s important that they see you’re in charge.” She made clear to the aukari girl. “And it’s a fair practice not to approach a strange animal unless it’s alpha -that’s you- has given permission to enter their midst.”