Fable - Ask Husbandry of Arcane Beasts

[Kikwi]

Open to students of Elbion College. First years attending, older students as course helpers.

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Despite being within the city, Elbion College was vast enough to have a few large courtyards and fields within its borders. Some distance from the main buildings (and a considerable distance from the normal stables) were some barns and small huts. From afar that is all they appeared to be, though upon closer inspection one could see that they were unsettlingly sturdy, many bearing massive iron locks, reinforcements, and a section glowing with a handful of magical wards.

These barns housed magical animals, creatures naturally imbued with the arcane or supernatural abilities. Kikwi spent much of his time out here tending to the educational specimens. Shortly after their construction, when the stalls were being filled, there had been a secret pool as to when the tiny kenku would be eaten by one of his pets. Miraculously this had not occurred.

Kikwi attributed this to them being “very good animals,” but it was likely more so due to his exceptionally good understanding of the creatures’ needs, expressions, and communications. This was something he hoped to teach to all students, for he believed that any beast, be it Snapping Gristlehorn or Slick-Backed Slubberworm, could be tamed. Or as he liked to say: “made a friend.”

Kikwi stood atop a rough-hewn fence post at the edge of a small paddock, facing a group of students. Behind him were three Gristlehorns, bovine-sized beasts of burden with thick, rust-colored skin and large horns sprouting from their noses. The horns ran down the midline of their faces, diminishing in size as they went until they disappeared entirely behind the ears. While the gristlehorn’s skin was hairless, a wirey fur covered these horns (hence the name). Their eyes were small and beady, while their large ears swiveled to and fro. Enormous lips pulled up chunks of grass to be gnashed by large, flat teeth.

“Welcome, class!” Kikwi began in a high voice twice the size of his body. “To another year of learning and excitement!” He inhaled a big (relatively) breath of the outdoor air and exhaled the earthy smells.

“Not all knowledge can be gained from behind a desk, much requires hands-on experience! There are many flora and fauna that hold innate magical or supernatural powers. Knowing how to handle, manage, and understand these beings can bring great benefit to you and your community. For instance -“ he turned and gestured to the gristlehorns, “the snapping gristlehorn can generate tremendous power from its rostral horns, that, when harnessed properly, can power many magical devices. Observe!”

With nary another word Kikwi turned and hopped down from the fence into the paddock. He approached one of the gristlehorns, whose ruby-red eye locked on to the approaching kenku. It kept its head low, but it stopped chewing the grass as it observed.

Kikwi stopped about thirty (human) paces from the nearest beast and produced a purple crystal from deep within his pocketed robes. The gristlehorn slowly raised its head, seeming to recognize the crystal, and Kikwi placed it upright on the ground. He held up a tiny hand, and kept it raised as he slowly backed away from the crystal. Once he was safely away, he lowered his hand and said “Pip!”

At this command, the gristlehorn bowed its head towards the crystal. The fine hair on its horns raised up, made a faint buzzing sound, and a second later a sharp crack of lightning leapt from its largest horn to the crystal, sending a small plume of dust into the air. Kikwi clapped his hands twice, and the beast returned to its lunch.

Kikwi retrieved the crystal and presented it to the class. It was now a bright blue and glowed softly.

“Behold! The gristlehorn’s power contained and ready for use in any number of instruments. Now, everyone take an uncharged crystal and line up by the gate. We will practice approaching the gristlehorns one by one, and if they take to you, you may attempt to charge a crystal. Remember to move slowly and watch their body language. If you see flattened ears, back away!”

He opened the gate for the first student.

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Artist’s rendition of a Snapping Gristlehorn, c. 287
Editor’s note: artist deceased following complications of severe electrocution

 

[Feä Mindalië]

Feä had on her schedule of study for this season a sweeping array of subjects. Introductory courses, short but standard for all who were of the first year, provided the main body of her schedule, yet they were not all. Of her own choosing Feä had enrolled into Martial Pursuit and Magical Application, for such was her signature magic—and such was her innate interest—to augment her fighting ability, not only to cast spells from afar; as well she had enrolled in General Histories, for personal reasons of which she spoke not a whit to anyone.

And there was this class today, taught by the Little Maester Kikwi. Feä cared not if in truth Kikwi was Maester or no, for she deemed him on sight and by his bearing alone to be quite knowledgeable; and though it might be strange to say as much aloud, to fellow students or Stars Forbid to Maester Kikwi himself, Feä found herself enamored of his small stature, his unique race, and his large eyes. Plainly said, she found him to be cute.

But now Feä realized, as she stood in the line with her fellow students, the true subject matter of the course. Feä had not occasioned to encounter the word "husbandry" before, and therefore knew not what half of the course's title meant. She had thought in her error that it would be much like General Histories: a review, in this case, of Arcane Beasts in a classroom setting.

She thought not that they would engage directly with the Arcane Beasts of the course's name. A fool of an elf, she was!

With many thanks, however, the arrangement of the line foisted another student, Padillis, to the honor of first within the paddock. He was a rather heavy-set human young man with curly hair that swept his shoulders as he walked, but he had an infectiously affable nature about him, if but a little awkward here and there, and seemed a good student.

"He's gonna fumble it," whispered a student somewhere behind Feä.

"Got a zoldo on Paddy being lucky," whispered another.

"You really are crazy," said a third.

"A zoldo? A wager's a wager, I'll take it," said the first, and it would seem that the deal was done.

Ill luck did afflict poor Padillis. The young man seemed, at first, to be according himself well, but then the gristlehorn sneezed, and this in its turn frightened Padillis, and he made a few unwise motions, which then incensed the gristlehorn, and its ears flattened, and Padillis had to scamper away as Kikwi had instructed, and he came tumbling out of the paddock, having vaulted over it in desperation, and landing on his posterior outside. A few laughs and giggles made for a chorus in the line, but "Paddy" himself took his own folly in good spirit, smiling with big rosy cheeks and sharing in the laughter himself.

Feä glanced to a fellow student in line, and she remarked with a tinge of humor in keeping with the rest of the class, "Mayhap ill luck has departed, satisfied thus with Paddy's woe. He has done us all a service."

Kikwi