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Post by Red Charge on Mar 8, 2014 17:06:13 GMT -5
Sylvia awoke to the gentle music that Sandro had brought her before, she noticed him sitting in a chair near her, pleasantly humming as he read a book, waiting for her to wake up from her slumber.
The dragon had to wonder how long he had actually been sitting there and despite being friendly with her, how much gall he must have had to be in a room with a sleeping dragon. It was polite of him however, to wait for her to wake up rather than waking her up. Which was something more suitable to Ambrosios really. She noticed he wasn't carrying the journal he used to document her this time. Perhaps that was a good sign? This time the focus would be on her training rather than... her?
As he noticed her stirring, Sandro marked the page he was on and closed the book, placing it in a satchel he was carrying and straightening up in his seat, turning to look at her. The sage-like griffon smiled at the waking dragon and presented a bounty of gems for a healthy breakfast before they started.
"I'm afraid these sessions would have to be indoors for us to be able to complete them without distractions. My apologies for the inconvenience. I would like us to begin working as soon as you are ready."
Surely the lair of the Triad seemed far more claustrophobic than Sylvia remembered after being allowed to fly outside and especially after the tour of the corpse museum with Ambrosios. She understood the necessity of burning corpses... but she didn't want to have to experience it firsthand, at least she got a shiny for it. Sandro seemed to have noticed it as well, but said nothing.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2014 16:34:41 GMT -5
Sylvia gratefully crunched on the gems, her powerful back teeth grinding them down into fine sand-like particles before she would swallow them. The gems certainly helped develop her flames, and they always seemed to have a nice sweet taste to them, almost like candy. She wondered why she never saw the griffons munching on them...
However, as he spoke, she frowned and gave a nod, a bit disappointed at being stuck inside, but she knew she would have to deal with it. "Alright, I guess you're correct. As long as I don't have to work in the morgue anymore, I'm okay." She murmured as she sat up and stretched, glad to have such a nice wakeup call. Music was very relaxing to listen to, and she had almost wished she had her own personal bard back at home. She chuckled softly at the thought. "I'm ready when you are." The dragon proclaimed with a nod of her head.
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Post by Red Charge on Mar 9, 2014 17:35:57 GMT -5
Sandro nodded quietly at her, getting up and leading her out of her lair again. "Here's a question to ponder while we're walking. What makes a dragon feel like a fly?" He asked, a strange question, but he must have had some reason to raise it. Sylvia had begun to notice that many of the things Sandro said, or asked had some significance. Though it was barely clear, Sylvia has learned that it was often best to answer truthfully and pay attention.
Sandro continued to hum to himself as they went. "I think it's time I told you what we know, at least, what we think we know, about the dragon's agenda. Dragons supposedly ruled most of the world once, before the Equiterian Empire that is. Today well, you are rare. There are whole dragon clans, but even those don't amount to more than a few hundreds world-wide. Certainly not the zounds spoken of in the Dragon Wars, tens of thousands of dragons supposedly participated in that war. We believe the Dragon Council has learned from it. They cling to old traditions and power to keep the remaining dragon population alive. Their primary concern, it seems, is to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed and preserve, perhaps even increase their numbers. A worthy goal." The griffon mentioned, "They keep well out of politics, try to avoid any tensions with the other nations and do whatever they can to make sure another dragon genocide does not take place." The griffon glanced back at Sylvia to look at her reaction.
"There used to be a dragon emissary to the Griffon Kingdom, the griffons would trade gold and gems for enchanted weapons, particularly in the Hephaestus period of smithing, I'll tell you about it later," He added, "But said emissary was caught red handed consorting with the Necrolord, something neither the Dragon Council nor the Griffon Kingdom could accept. The griffons had Field Marshal Starling of Equestria end the dracolich and immediately severed their ties with the dragons. Now I hear the dragons have an emissary with the Diamond Dog invaders of Equestria, a bad choice according to most."
As they reached the large hall where they tested Sylvia's flying in the days before, Sandro stopped. "I think and perhaps you would agree with me, that the emissary is not there to promote dragon to Diamond Dog relations, but rather to make sure a dragon who is serving the Diamond Dogs does not inadvertently raise ponies in arms against dragons again. Does this tell you anything about their motivations?"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2014 17:45:42 GMT -5
Sylvia frowned at his first question, "Er, I don't know, really. I mean, I'm still a young dragon, so I don't feel large by any means. When I was by the ocean, it was rather large...and I guess if a really bad storm rocked my father's cave, I was always afraid to go outside, fearing that the wind would catch my wings and blow me away. But whether that would happen or not was beyond me." She shuffled nervously as she continued listening to him.
"So...you think the dragons are only looking out to repair relations with the diamond dogs and no one else?" She raised a scaly brow at it and frowned, "It would be rather sad if it were true. Perhaps they're trying to get things back to the way they were? Before the dragon wars?" She flicked her tail side by side. "Either way, at least the emissary will hopefully avoid hostilities between ponies and dragons. The last thing we need is another war...I don't want to be one of the last dragons remaining if such a thing were to happen." She shuddered at the thought.
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Post by Red Charge on Mar 10, 2014 17:47:51 GMT -5
"Well if we can assume their motivations are first and foremost survival and rebuilding, rather than conquest or gaining power, we have a much better starting point in negotiations. Their point of view is legitimate, should we be right in our guess, they merely want the survival of their race. They would avoid conflict at any costs, because while they have dwindled and weakened, we have grown far stronger. Not that I am to say they are weak, to the contrary, what forces they do have might be few but they are very powerful." Sandro said, "Have you been to any dragon migrations?" he asked the dragoness.
"Have you ever had the chance to view any social constructs within the dragon migrations? Once a year the dragons migrate to the Zebra Lands volcanoes to roost in the warmth when winter comes by. At least that's what ponies think. We are also aware that it is in this time that dragons get together to mate. Females get to pick suitable males and males suitable females and if they are not able to fertilize, there is a wide selection to continue to. Unfortunately in such long lived creatures like yourselves, with no natural predators, it seems it is in your nature to take things slowly." Sandro continued, "And you usually only hatch at the most a couple of eggs per mating and even of those usually an even smaller number reaches adulthood."
"Am I saying anything new here, or is this something you were aware of?"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 19:05:52 GMT -5
She shook her head, "This is news to me. I think my father had mentioned some sort of migration before, but we never went. He kept mostly to himself all the time, and I was to young to go on my own for anything of the sort...but every winter I do feel kind of a...pull. It's hard to explain. I would get horrible headaches and wanted to fly south as quickly as possible, but my father taught me to fight the urges and stay in the cave when that would happen. I always hated that time of year." She murmured as she scratched at her head.
"As for mates...I think I'm still a bit to young to think about that." She chuckled softly at the thought. "And with no brothers and sisters to grow up with, well, it's hard to say what it was like as a hatchling."
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Post by Red Charge on Mar 15, 2014 12:43:39 GMT -5
Sandro shrugged, "Well Sylvia, for this exercise I want you to say the first thing you can think of and talk about it, just continue on about it until I tell you to stop. If you find yourself switching topics while talking feel free to do so, just don't stop talking alright?" The griffon asked, relaxing in his spot. Sylvia noticed the few others in the room, a hippogriff and two griffons leaving.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2014 0:32:08 GMT -5
The red dragon was surprised at this request. Why would he want her to keep talking? What kind of training was this? She tried thinking of anything to start with, anything at all...
"Well, I found out that one of my favorite past times is hunting. There's nothing better than flying above the ground, searching for unwary prey and swooping down with no warning to catch 'em in your claws! My father wasn't very fond of me, but he did admire my hunting skills. It was the only time he really paid attention to what I did...It was a little annoying really, mostly because he would steal a majority of whatever I killed and I was left with the bare minimum, unless I of course snuck it away."
She frowned, "He never found out about those of course. I was always afraid his temper would flare up. He wasn't the most understanding father in the world. I'm glad I left. When I met the Kelpies at the bay, I felt like I was actually starting to make friends. Being alone, well, you don't really get a chance to meet and learn about others. That's why I'm so shaky when it comes to history, or politics, or anything like that. I wish I could learn more, but at the same time, a part of me just wants to hunt, gather gold, and live my life in peace. But then again, another part of me always wanted to go out on a grand adventure, fighting monsters, saving creatures in distress, that sorta thing."
She chuckled, "It sounds silly, doesn't it?"
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Post by Red Charge on Mar 19, 2014 15:47:09 GMT -5
Sandro didn't reply, he simply motioned for her to go on, completely silent. Whatever the point of this exercise was, it seemed the griffon had not reached it yet. Or maybe he has... perhaps this was an exercise in improvising?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2014 4:21:04 GMT -5
The dragon had no idea why he wasn't responding. She tried hard to think of what to talk about next, "I don't really know what else to talk about...I haven't heard much about other creatures until recently. I never met a Pony before, and I just met you griffons and the Kelpies when I finally left home. There were a few monsters that tried attacking to take some of my father's gold, but he and I fought them off."
Her eyes closed, "We did used to make a good team. Even though he and I weren't close, when we would battle together, we seemed to work as one unit. Soon no more monsters would even dare try showing up at our cave. It was amazing..." She began to trail off, unsure of what to talk about.
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Post by Red Charge on Mar 29, 2014 17:39:51 GMT -5
Sandro still remained quiet and motioned for her to continue, he wasn't writing anything down or messing about with any journals or books or pages. He was at complete, rapt attention, almost awkward in a way. Sylvia had never had someone so focused on her, so eager to hear what she had to say. Maybe he was waiting for her to reach something in particular, or waiting for her to ask what this was all about. Was this a lesson of patience? Of improvisation? Of wasting her time? Who knows?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2014 13:13:16 GMT -5
Sylvia was feeling more uncomfortable, but she continued talking, "When I met you griffons, I wasn't sure what to do...I mean, I was off on my own, exploring the world. I guess I saw the weapons and didn't want to start a fight with your kind. I did kind of want to see the world for myself, but I guess fate had a different plan for me." She flicked her tail and curled it around her forelegs, "Perhaps if I had went on my own I would've ended up meeting into trouble. I'm still a bit naive about the world, and I'm not sure if I could handle new things that well." She scratched her chin, trying to think of something else to say, but words weren't coming to her.
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Post by Red Charge on Apr 2, 2014 16:30:02 GMT -5
"Good." Sandro said, smiling, "You see, I got you to share things, somewhat private things I'd dare say." The griffon said slyly, "I never said a word." He got up from where he was sitting and began to pace around Sylvia. "A true diplomat gets the most out of his interactions while giving the least. If he can, he will conclude an entire conversation without having given a single useful item of information but gaining many."
"Of course you may think, this is spy's work, but a silver-tongue is not just a skill, it's a profession. What better way to smooth your way past your target's defenses than knowing them? Knowing what they like, what they fear, what they hate... unite them against a common foe or for a common goal, agree on the things they like and revile the things they don't... make them see themselves in you and you will have them."
"Attention to detail, mimicking, prior knowledge, pretense... the golden tools of the diplomat. A skilled wordsmith can write a legendary ballad, but with a word a silver-tongue can convince him it is worthy of the trash. A master smith convinced to give away his masterpiece, an emissary his secrets..."
He gestured at Sylvia, "Do you understand this? It's the basis of all we learn. Not lying, but the graceful manipulation of information, whether true or false. There is no right and wrong, only positive or negative results."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2014 16:38:07 GMT -5
She frowned at this information, "I...I see..Yeah, that's understandable. You did get a lot out of me, but I was asked to, really. If you hadn't told me to keep talking, I probably wouldn't have said much." She was a bit indignant and she frowned as she scratched nervously at the floor, "Unfortunately I don't possess a Silver Tongue, I don't know the first thing about taking diplomatically..." She sighed and scratched at one of the plates on her chest.
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Post by Red Charge on Apr 17, 2014 18:27:26 GMT -5
"Well you've had little to no contact with others while growing up, it's natural that you'd feel that way." Sandro said, grinning, "It's a very difficult thing to acquire and it takes a lot of practice. Which is why I'm here to teach you exactly how it's done." The griffon nodded at her once before proceeding, "Preparation is key, it's very hard to be diplomatic if you do not know first; what you are trying to achieve in the conversation and second; how to achieve it. Know your targets, learn about their life, their goals, their opinions. Never approach them directly, try and pick everything you can up. If you'll allow me to give an example - if I was looking to convince a dignitary, I'd make sure to study him a long time in advance, learn his routines, his friends, his enemies, get into his mindset. At the ball I would skirt his edges, listen to his conversations, move in when the time is right."
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