They went through the Orientation and signing of the Oath fairly quickly. She gave him his money and sent him to shop.<br/><br/><dl class="codebox"><dt>Orientation | <a href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="var spoiler = this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('dd')[0]; if ( spoiler.style.display == 'none' ) { spoiler.style.display = 'block'; this.innerHTML = '-'; } else { spoiler.style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '+'; };">+</a></dt><dd style="display: none;">“Please fill out these sheets of paper and bring them back to me when they are dry.” She spoke quietly as she hands the papers to the person.<br/><br/>Paperwork<br/>Your name:<br/>Next of Kin:<br/>Kin’s Address:<br/>Are you married or engaged?<br/>Do you have any children at all?<br/>Do you have any property to take care of?<br/>What is your job?<br/>What are your hobbies?<br/>What chores do you like or dislike?<br/>Any Comments?<br/><br/>When the person brought their paper back, The Loress glanced over it then gave the person a card which said<br/>Please check the bulletin board between 5 and 6 PM this evening to see if you qualify for Dragonopia Academy.<br/>If you name is one the list, then you will be given an Inn token so that your expenses will be paid by Dragonopia Academy for two nights with meals included. Alcohol not included and do not come to the class after you drink. Drinking alcohol will disqualify you from the class and the trip to Dragonopia Academy.<br/>If you name is not on the list, you will be given a slip of paper stating that Dragonopia Academy will pay for 1 night stay and breakfast. You will need to pay by 10 AM if you are going to stay additional nights.<br/><br/><br/>The following people will report to the meeting room at 9 AM. Information class will begin then. Please eat breakfast before hand. It will be a very busy day so please be on time. Thank you!<br/>The Lore Master<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Once everyone has gathered for the meeting, Lore Master Mystique Weathermaster began the meeting.<br/>“Welcome to all of you to Dragonopia Academy. Yes, this is the Dragonopia Academy of the old lore. My name is Lore Master Mystique Weathermaster and I am the head of the Academy. My job is to take all of you to the secret lair of Dragonopia Academy.  You may call me Lore Master or Lore Master Mystique Weathermaster or Loress. Do not call me by my given name until you are given permission to do so. Once each of you become a student of the Academy, you will be referred to by Student then your given name unless you give me the permission to drop the Student.<br/><br/>This is a once in a lifetime invitation. Each of you will have the chance to raise a dragon hatchling to adulthood. This will take a lot of stamina, time and patience. Each Dragonling must have its own partner and this is a lifelong partnership. You and your hatchling will live and die together. You will share your room with your Dragonling. Your Dragonling will practically drive you insane and yet will love you unconditionally. It will challenge you, protect you, make you angry, give you great joy and happiness. <br/><br/>You will this dragonling’s parent, teacher, first friend and lifelong companion. While raising this dragonling, you will have other duties to attend to. You will chop wood, carry water, tend crops and animals. You will cook, clean and study the lore of the dragons. You will learn how to make poultices, potions, harnesses, and much more. <br/>Does anyone want to leave this meeting and go back to your old life? If you stay, you will be bonded to go to Dragonopia no matter what you think about tomorrow.” Mystique spoke to each one.<br/>She waited to see if anyone would leave or not.<br/><br/>“Now comes the time where you will sign a blood contract. Each of you will receive a small black box tied up with red ribbon. This box will contain a blood pen.  The blood pen is a simple gadget that will prick your finger and let the blood flow into the tip so that you can sign this document with your own blood. I will be the first to sign.” She spoke calmly as she picked up one of the boxes and passes them out to each person. She then passed out a scroll to each person.<br/>“Please read and sign at the bottom with the status of Student of Dragonopia Academy.” Mystique spoke as she rolled out a sheet of enchanted parchment paper. She then read the Binding Vow:<br/><br/>I, the undersign, do declare to have the desire to be a Dragon Rider. I shall obey the rules of Dragonopia Academy and will respect all who enters Dragonopia. I will listen and take advice of The Lore Master.  I will take good care of the Dragonling that chooses me. I will raise the Dragonling with care, love and patience. My Dragonling and I will be a team of the famed Dragon Riders who will defend Justice, Law and Order.<br/>I have been told of what happen before. I will remember the past Dragon Riders and how they failed. I will live my life by the Laws of Justice and Order. I will stay informed of any new Laws of Justice and Order and will uphold them. I shall strive to be the best that I can be. <br/>I will have five years of raising a Dragonling and will give five years of service to the Dragonopia Academy in repayment for the education, supplies, housing, clothing and Dragonling.<br/>I, the undersigned, so do declare to uphold these vows and will renew the vows as deemed necessary by my Lore Master. My signature is written in my own blood which will seal this vow to my heart. May I feel the pain of Death should I ever stray away from these vows.<br/>Mystique carefully puts her blood pen back into the box and ties the ribbon before she passes out a plain brown satchel, an ink pot and quill to each student.<br/><br/>After all of the students had signed their name and put their blood pens in their boxes, Mystique smiles and begins the next part of the meeting.<br/>“You may place the blood pen back into its box and place the box in your Academy Satchel. Please write your name on your satchel so that it will not get mixed up with someone else’s;<br/>Here is the Legend of the Dragon Riders as I was taught.” The Lore Master begin as she glanced around the room.<br/>“Many a long year ago, there was a wonderful place where there were many dragons and dragon riders. They were trained at one academy called Dragonopia.<br/>Dragonopia was pretty much hidden away in a large mountain range in a distant village. This village had an Inn where you could apply for a dragon rider. You had to do much work and book work before you were allowed to even have an egg. Many tried applied, some were lucky enough to enter the school and even less was allowed to have an egg.<br/>Whether the reason was due to the actual hard work, not being able to pass the strict written test or if there was not enough eggs to go around, I do not know. But I do know what was passed down to me from my grandfather.<br/>Dragonopia became very prosperous and quite powerful. Some said too powerful in the lives of regular humans. They even were judges of the courts. They were hard and tough beings. Their hearts must have turn to stone for they gave out such stern decisions in the court. Some say that they barely heard what was said by either side and had made up their minds before they even held court.<br/>All of the Dragon Riders had magical powers as well. Fearsome powers like being able to throw fire across the room just to turn a person to ashes…. Just like that! Some even were able to appear and disappear like ghosts. There were so many different powers that these Riders held that people became very scared of them. Scared enough to declare war on the Dragon Riders.<br/>At first it was just not coming to meetings when they were called or not showing up in court or not paying the high fees of protection.<br/>The Dragon Riders were not happy in the least. But they tried to reason with the people about needing their supplies and their taxes. Finally the people seemed to give in. The Dragon Riders got their taxes and supplies but the food was tainted with various poisons and diseases. They tried to fight back without fighting. It did work for a while but after a while the Dragon Riders caught on. They had a mage who could tell diseased food from good food. The person who gave the diseased food had to cook it and eat several helpings as punishment for the crime of pestilence spreading.<br/>Once more the people refused to give the Dragon Riders anything for the loss of the family member- usually young males who had the job of taking the food to the collection centers- and they declared an all out war on the Dragon Riders.<br/>Of course the Dragon Riders would not stand for this and fought back. But the Dragon Riders had become lazy and not as quick as they once were except the young ones who were in training or not out very long. The techniques and skills were diminished by not working out and by over eating. Even the dragons had become lazy and sluggish due to the lack of exercise and overeating.<br/>With that in mind, the war was pretty even. The war went on from springtime when everyone should have been planting crops to the dead of winter where the last of the Riders and Dragons disappeared from the face of the Earth.<br/> Some say however….. deep in a hidden cave lay many eggs of the Queens. Yes there were more than one Queen. Each species of dragons had a Queen Mother. She was the main egg layer and would protect all of the eggs with her life. All of the females had to bow down to her for she was always the best of them. She was the strongest, fastest and the most intelligent of all of the females and she would not mate with a lesser dragon. To do that would thin her blood line. So it was always a contest to mate with the Queen of any of the dragon species. <br/>Except for this one last time where all of the males that were left mated with the Queens. They knew that their hours were limited and they wanted their species not to die out. Even if they could not see their young, they wanted them to have a chance to live in the future time. Each Queen rider was a Mage of Magic Spells and after each Queen had laid their eggs, the Rider would close the cavern with a sleep spell of protection. She then would lay with her own mate, become pregnant with his seed, then leave by a secret way of the Riders, never to return again. She would pass on what she knew to her child once it was born. And the child would pass the information to his or her children who would pass it on their children.<br/>The Hundred Years of Sleep of Protection Spell should be nearing the end. Then Dragonopia open her secrets once more. Students will be trained by a new set of leaders and hopefully they have learned from their past mistakes. Hopefully the eggs will wake from their long sleep unharmed and healthy. Hopefully the bonds will be made strong and last long.<br/>The Lore Master took a deep breath before continuing on.<br/>“This time will be different from the last time. I will be leading the Dragon Riders and Dragon Riders will have a specific code to go by. Here are the Laws that I have set so far. More will be added. These are based on what is considered to be the downfall of the last group of Dragon Riders.<br/>1) Leaders are Leaders-They must keep their morals higher, must have a monogamous relationship with their mate, will keep order and laws.<br/>2) All people are equally able to do jobs. Everyone has their own specialty. <br/>3) Males cannot force females to lay down for a pecking.<br/>4) Females cannot flaunt their wares.<br/>5) Everyone will pull their own weight and will do chores.<br/>6) Teachers will do their best to teach each student on an individual basis if they need extra tutoring.<br/>During the winter months, those of us who have had Ancestors of the Dragon Riders will sit down and discuss what should be set into Laws. Until then these Laws must suffice and I will uphold them.<br/>Any questions so far?” The Lore Master asked as she gazed around the room.<br/>"Now while the contract is drying, I will explain what shall happen next."<br/><br/>At THE GYPSY STORE<br/><br/><br/>The Lore Master spoke as she pulled a small trunk out from under the table. She unlocked it.<br/>"Each of you will receive a bag of coins. Fifty of each copper, bronze, silver and gold as a sign on bonus. You will get this money one time. The rest of the money you will earn while you are at Dragonopia Academy. I will explain what you may do to earn more money when we have class.<br/><br/>Across the street is a gypsy store. There will be wagons with trunks and supplies for us. Each student will receive one wagon with following items:<br/>One trunk will contain pieces of leather.<br/>One trunk that contains a hand press and dies.<br/>One trunk that contains metal and a shape cutter.<br/>One trunk that will contain leather protective garments.<br/>One trunk that will contain various beads and such ornaments.<br/>One trunk that will contain a variety of books such as Leather Making, Basket Weaving, Herbal Gardening, and other useful informational books. “  she spoke as she placed a bag of coins in front of each student.<br/>“All magick books are at Dragonopia and I will issue you them as you need them. I have wands and staffs as well if you wish to learn how to use them.<br/><br/>This is what you need to buy for yourself. You will want to get a bed, table, chairs, kitchen equipment, blankets, at least 4 buckets, an axe, saw, baskets. If you want other things, buy it now for we will not be back here until spring. Of course you will want to barter with them for they will expect you to do so.  There are wagons for you to put your items in. I have assigned you to a wagon. You will be driving these wagons tomorrow.  There is no need to get food stuff because I have plenty in Dragonopia and there should be more on a few wagons waiting for us to take.<br/>Gypsys expect a little bit of bargaining so don’t settle for the first price. But do haggle in a respective way. They do not have to bring goods to us. They don’t need us but we need them. They will leave before the snow falls then come back in the spring.<br/>Damon- leader of caravan<br/><br/>“Greetings, Damon. I have brought my students to bargain with your people as agreed upon our last meeting.” Lore Master spoke calmly.<br/>“Greetings, Lore Master. Please allow them to do their bargaining .” Damon spoke in a pleasant .<br/>The Lore Master turned to the students and spoke. “You may do your shopping and it will be loaded up in a wagon.<br/><br/> “I have 12 wagons.  4 have food stuffs. There are 2 with your student boxes. The last 6 will be filled with what your students buy.  Shall we deal?” Damon spoke softly to his adopted daughter, the Lore Master.</dd></dl>