Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Sept 4, 2013 11:15:51 GMT -5
Ambrosios had to restrain himself from drumming his talons impatiently. Hearing her reminisce about 'this one time' her father brought back a necklace wasn't very helpful. "You and your father were pretty solitary then. Are most dragons like that? It's hard to believe an entire race could be so seclusive, even among each-other."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2013 16:13:15 GMT -5
She was starting to catch onto his impatience. She had to refrain from grinning as he spoke, "Like I said, I'm not really sure how other dragons are. Perhaps they gather in groups, perhaps they live alone. I don't know. You probably know about as much of other dragons as I do." She curled her tail around herself, perfectly capable of waiting to get the information she needed. If he wanted to try to pry information out of her, he was going to be sadly mistaken. She knew little of other dragons and how they acted. Her father did brag about the strength and power of their kind...as well as told her about her mother leaving them when she was born. But little was known about how others lived their lives.
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Ambrosios
Griffons
Disciple Griffon
"And from the ashes, life begins anew."
Posts: 150
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Post by Ambrosios on Sept 4, 2013 17:56:56 GMT -5
"Mmm," Ambrosios let out after Sylvia had finished. That last line pretty much squashed any chance he had of getting anything useful out of her. A dragon who knew nothing about dragons. That seemed like it had its own benefits, but learning more about Draconic society wasn't one of them.
"Well," the griffon spoke, standing up from his stool, "It was a pleasure getting to know you, but for the time being I'll leave you to your reading." After tucking the stool under his arm, Ambrosios made his way to the door, holding it open before he left. "Hopefully I'll get the chance to see you again in the future, after you've had some time to get adjusted."
With that he left the door close behind him, leaving Sylvia by herself. "A dragon who knows nothing about dragons," he thought, making his way down the hallway. "What are the odds..."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2013 6:29:40 GMT -5
Sylvia watched as he took off. She frowned, not quite getting the information she wanted either. But with a shrug of her scaled shoulders, she stretched her wings out once more before going back to her book.
After finishing the chapter, she glanced over at the small hoard provided to her and she crawled over to it. Curling her body around the precious gems and treasures, she gave a content sigh before closing her eyes, her breathing growing slow as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 24, 2013 2:11:19 GMT -5
The next morning (at least Sylvia thought it was morning, there were no windows to look through and check) the dragon was taken out of her room and led out to a much wider and more spacious hall it was large and cavern-like and allowed her to stretch her limbs and even fly around a bit. She was then paired up with a griffon she didn't know, a half white tiger, half buzzard going by the name of Sandro. After a short introduction and small talk, he asked her whether or not she would mind helping them learn more about her by agreeing to a little workout to test her physical power, he promised that after he would sit with her and teach her about griffon culture and etiquette.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2013 15:59:34 GMT -5
The first thing Sylvia did when she entered the room was stretch her wings and fly about a bit. Once the griffon came in, she had landed lightly upon the ground and tilted her head curiously. "I have no problem with that." She stated, "What kind of physical tasks do I need to do here?" She asked, stretching out her arms and legs, her bones cracking from being cooped up in the little room. She shook herself and prepared for whatever he had in mind.
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 26, 2013 5:20:05 GMT -5
The griffon clapped his talons with reserved enthusiasm. "We've prepared a makeshift stress test, basically we want to know how much you can carry while flying, how much weight can you lift on the ground and several other tests. We want to tests your limits, if you are serious in your intent of helping us, we wouldn't want to assume things and end up overburdening you along the way. So this will be our point of reference." The griffon explained.
Farther in the large cavernous space, Sylvia could notice a sort of makeshift harness and piles of various crates, each bearing a heading as to how much weight was inside. "We'll put on the weight and let you fly around the room a bit, adding more with every pass until you think you can fly no more. Don't strain yourself, we don't want you to get hurt doing this, so please pace yourself."
At that they strapped the harness on the dragoness, loading the weighted crates on her back and allowing her to fly free, increasing the weight whenever she landed after a fly around the cave. It was up to Sylvia to tell them when she could do no more, Sandro of course, kept asking her whether or not she was fine with each weight added.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2013 17:17:38 GMT -5
The weights started off easy. Her musculature beneath her scales was capable of handling such flights, having had to haul prey up to her father's cave every now and then. However, she too had her limits, and once she hit quite a few crates, she landed quickly after feeling the strain of her wings.
"That's about all I can handle. Anymore and I'll end up hurting something." She said honestly, taking a few deep breaths.
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 26, 2013 18:13:43 GMT -5
When she landed she could notice Sandro busying over a very large leather bound journal of some kind. A sneak peek at it would have shown her very elaborate sketches... of her, flying, all sorts of calculations, numbers, diagrams, even sketches of her musculature, skeleton with highlighted joints, range of movement, pretty much a complete anatomical study of her as she flew and moved. She could tell the journals was already nearing the halfway point. Was everything before it notes about her? Her behavior, her medical results? Sandro was quick to finish scribbling the final weight as a couple of griffons hurried take pictures and write more notes down.
"Alright then, let's see how much you can carry on the ground, we will remove the crates and start you off at scratch, you will run as fast as you can around the cave, after every lap we will load another crate on you until you say that you are at your max."
The exercise repeated much like the first one, Sandro was scribbling in his leather-bound journal, the other griffons scribbling down notes and loading crates on Sylvia every time she passed until she could no longer stand the weight, at which point they all hurried to scribble it down as well.
After that they continued to test Sylvia, measuring how fast she could run, fly, for how long she could maintain top speed, how hard she could flap her wings and many, many other exhausting tests. When they were done, Sandro apologized for the thoroughness of the trials.
"And now, I will escort you to your chambers where you will have lunch and I will fulfill my end of the bargain." He said, leading her to her chamber, his journal still tucked under a wing. As they arrived Sylvia found a large and nutritious meal (also delicious looking) in her room. Sandro sat down some distance away to observe her as she ate and wait for her to ask questions.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2013 18:17:40 GMT -5
Physically exhausted, it didn't take long for Sylvia to lay on her belly and scarf down her meal. She would grab large portions, tossing them up in the air and practically swallowing them whole. Occasionally she would tear through her meal with her teeth, but she ate rather voraciously to recover after using up so much of her energy.
Finally, when she was done, she licked her chops and looked Sandro right in the eyes. "So...I wanted to learn more about your culture. What is griffon life like? What is the state of the world right now in your eyes? I'm assuming your kind don't get along with us dragons, seeing the utmost care your soldiers took bringing me here."
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 26, 2013 18:28:22 GMT -5
"Ah, we Griffons are complicated creatures - Artisans! Crafters! Warlords! Tradition-Keepers! Innovators! We are all these things and more! We find our finest hours in both creating and destroying, in preserving and inventing... in this comes our internal conflict, what shapes our very life. What is better, the confidence of tried steel, or the exciting passion of fire-powder? A pen, or a sword? We are connisseours of both fine arts and vulgar monstrosities, we crave for the new and yearn for the ancient. How can one describe a griffon without forever getting caught up repeating the same word cycle? Creation, Destruction, Old, New." Sandro spoke with much passion, "These qualities define us as a species, as a people. These conflicts have shaped our society since we first formed our kingdom. I suppose the most accurate way to convey what we are, is to say we always wish to perfect that which has been perfected. Imagine the best weapon ever made, a sword with no flaws that could cut through anything. For a griffon, that is a challenge. He must make the better weapon, innovating, inventing new methods to do it. We might create a sword which is just as hard or just as sharp, but can project fire, or perhaps a sword that can shoot out darts, thus surprising the enemy? Do you understand? Ponies have magic, Dragons have fire, Diamond Dogs have gems. Griffons only have wits, materials and the tools to forge them."
Sandro surveyed Silvya for her reaction, "A griffon's best weapon is his mind, therefore when it comes to any creature whose weapons are more naturally... prominent... we must take the utmost of caution. In close quarters, after all, a dragon like you could cause a lot of damage." Sandro admitted, "But I am happy to see you are very cooperative and pleasant."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2013 18:35:05 GMT -5
Sylvia was impressed at how passionate he was about his race. She was interested to learn that the griffons relied on ingenuity to survive. It was quite impressive, and she could imagine many griffons working long and hard to create such weapons.
At his slight compliment, Sylvia beamed, and a light tinge glowed on her cheeks. "Well, I try my best. Unlike my father, I always wanted to learn more about the other creatures that lived in our world. I've met so many interesting beings since I left home, and I'm quite glad that I've been accepted here." She gave a happy sigh and thought of another question to ask.
"So, you are a creative race, it seems. Does your kind like art? Or do you stick to mainly weapons and armor? So far I haven't been harmed by your kind, so I'm sure you're not a completely warring race."
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 26, 2013 18:43:27 GMT -5
"Oh yes, the arts, of course, the work of the smith is an art all of its own, but the culinary arts, the visual, the musical and written arts are all things we partake and enjoy. From dancing and flying to books and novels, from piano to violin... We griffons, as part of our nature admire the arts, for is it not another chance to improve and perfect?" He nodded, "I will have a gramophone brought up to you with some of the great griffon symphonies, I'm sure they would ease your ears while you read. Of our cooking you've had more or less the chance to taste. Sadly we do not have any world class chefs here, but we try our best." The griffon smiled at her.
"In our capitol, Royal Rocks there is a great market on the terraces, where you could find anything from all over the world, exotic jewelry, books, recipes, spices, produce, clothes, music and instruments, weapons and armor and furniture. That's not all however, there is also a plethora of performers from jugglers to mimes to hilarious entertainers to musicians and singers and much, much more. Perhaps one day I could take you there, when the time is right."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2013 18:48:23 GMT -5
Sylvia's tail flicked back and forth as she envisioned such a place. Her excitement grew when he also said she may be able to visit there someday. The thought of hearing the music, seeing the treasures of all sorts, it made her heart sing with joy.
"I...I would love that." She stated with a grin, "And yes, the meal was fantastic, and the books are very easy to read. I could just imagine the care everyone puts into their work here." She gave a small sigh, "Unfortunately, we didn't have much music or books back when I was at home. And my father wasn't much of the creative type. It'll be nice to have a change of pace." She stated with a slight flap of her wings.
She pondered what else she could ask him, "How about history. How did all of this creativity start?" She asked curiously, "I read a bit in the books, but I'm not quite sure I understand most of it."
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 26, 2013 18:56:08 GMT -5
"Clans, large extended griffon families all occupied the kingdom. Of course, each clan wanted to be better than the other. Better warriors, better artists, better cooks... it didn't matter so long as each clan had something that put it above other clans." Sandro said with much amusement, "Often there would be competitions between clans for rights of trade or marriage to the larger clans. Clans were like small countries, would make peace or war with other clans, conspire against some and work for others... it drove Griffons to try and excel at anything. Those that didn't excel were just not worth having around." The griffon explained with a grin, "Some clans even assimilated the smaller ones, with all of the perks that came with them. Larger warring clans would adopt smith clans and cooking clans to keep their warriors well equipped and well fed. Others might adopt trading clans to keep their coffers full and sometimes clans were forced into servitude to larger clans."
"Eventually we were united into a kingdom, not the most impressive kingdom, but of course, we improved as we went. However we always kept our competitive spirit and our will to continue and improve."
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