ORIGIN

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Normally, Zoey would be anxious to hear her name while standing (or squatting, as the case was) in Draco, with Master Vargas nearby-- it was a secret, it was not her name yet, but that didn't matter now. All of that was forgotten in the giddy excitement of two school girls sharing notes and giggling in class.

"I'm doing well," she replied with a chittering click of her jaws. "It's good to see you." I missed you, three words she couldn't quite say, I missed you. As Pollen chattered away warmly about her gift, Zoey watched with quiet awe towards her friend's kind words. "It's my magic," she confirmed, "a piece of me. So I'll always be with you."

Maybe that was a bit too much. But Pollen's laugh was soft, and sweet, and for once she was too dazed to flinch away as Pollen's nose booped into the blunt end of her closed mandibles. There was a shutter down her quills, though, rattling with surprise, and she shuffled in place to settle herself once more.

"Whenever," she said. "You can always visit." Six golden eyes blinked back down at the parchment with curiosity, listening to Pollen explain about... charcoal, and drawing.

See, her friend had small, delicate digits that could curl gently around a piece of chalk or charcoal. Zoey, on the other hand... Well, she had talons for grasping. Two fingers facing foward with long claws, and two shorter fingers facing backward the same. Perfect for grasping at uneven terrain or clutching on to smaller creatures.

A small piece of charcoal? Well...

Zoey reached forward with one limb, grateful that she had five others to keep her steady as she worked. Her body was naturally accustomed toward looking downward, so reading wasn't a problem, nor was watching what she was doing.

The issue stemmed from her, lets say, technique. Like a claw machine she reached down and snatched up the charcoal, her claws tight around it... and... She could pick it up, even manage to slightly turn to maybe get the tip of the charcoal back down on paper, but before she got that far, CRACK the piece shattered in her grip, pieces fracturing free from her grip.

"... I might need help," she admitted, letting the remaining shards go. This wasn't going to be easy to figure out.

@Pollen

Hunter had come in with his family, of course. Hunter didn't know the first thing about reading, or writing, but if his family was coming, cool, he'd come and see what was going on. Besides, he liked learning. How to fight, hunt, even making stuff with his hands was fun in its own challenging way.

This looked like more of the making stuff, stuff. No problem, he could do that. Hunter settled in, grabbed some chalk (easy, just hold it like... a needle or something, cool--) and a slate to scrawl on, and... Promptly started zoning out.

Look, okay, he got it. There were letters. A, B, C, D, E... They all kind of blurred together, but individually, sure. When pressed, he could draw the letter "A" no problem. But when they all were stuck together to form a word, they kind of... swam. How anyone was supposed to follow this, Hunter didn't really know. What was even the point? He managed to sit still for the lesson, at least until Astraea started to go around the room to see how everyone was doing.

At that point he was looking for a way out of the whole thing, and that was when he spotted a familiar face.

Which... was both a relief to see, and also...

Well, Hunter nearly got the guy killed. He figured he should at least apologize, right? Hunter slipped to his feet, bringing with him his chalk and slate (with the neat little "A" scrawled on it with all the fancy looping shape of a teenage girl). He shuffled over, and gave a little wave to get the Labradorite's attention.

"Hey, uh, it's good to see you! Alive, I mean. Is this where all you guys live? Pretty cool, yeah..." Hunter was not exactly breaking the ice with a nice clean cut, more stomping on it to make a dozen little cracks, but he gave a big, bright grin. "Mind if I hang out with you? This book stuff is, err... It's not really my thing."

@V-Labradorite-One

"What is wrong with this place?"

"Nothin'. What's wrong with you?" Pelly playfully cuffed the back of their brother's head, ruffling it just a tad in the hopes of gently disrupting the orderly peace Cas had painstakingly attempted to create. Getting on Cas's fragile nerves already brought a smile to their eyes, but the sight of so many people — people of all kinds! — really threatened to bring Ampelio's smile to their lips.

Pelly felt Cas's presence press closer, and as they looked around at the stranger members of the crowd, they could begin to understand why. Some of these people looked downright unfriendly, but! Being the most terrifying member of this pair themself, Pelly figured they had no right nor reason to judge others based on appearances. "Let's just find somewhere to sit." "'kay," was their single, somewhat foreboding response before meandering towards some spot that was moderately close to the group and clear enough to avoid threatening Casimir's grooming efforts. Pelly knew they couldn't just plop down next to a big monster-y type and convince Cas not to judge big toothy books by their covers, but they could, perhaps, coax their brother into warmer waters by way of masterful compromise.

As the lesson began, Pelly hoped that Casimir would find the learning environment more comfortable than the party environment. Getting their beloved hermit out of the house or the garden and talking to some other sentient organisms without feeling anxious or upset was something of a task, but it wasn't impossible! Pelly might have the faintest hint of sadism in them, but mostly their intentions were of good will! Cas deserved to be comfortable in some public situation, and perhaps even to have friends. Nerds like him. Pelly would help him find them, and yes, there was no stopping that!

Three tracks went on in Pelly's mind at once:

1.) Scanning the perimeter. Looking at faces, analyzing semblances of potential. See all those people who didn't look so scary? Like the adorable little puppy baby, or that handsome fox, or that awesome dragon, or those several awesome dragons actually— oh! and that giant snail, or the green biped hanging out by the quilly centipede person, or that purple guy who looked like the blue person but way shorter, or that Lizard—

2.) Banana snack. Pelly attempted to conjure some, and succeeded! "Want one?" Naturally, they would invite their brother to a little communion. Banana snack was good for the brain.

3.) Actual learning. The "alphabet"? "Ay, bee, cea, deie.." The letters drifted slowly, unconsciously from Pelly's mouth as they munched on a delightful banana snack. They made a low effort attempt to work out the shapes and memorize the feelings of each letter in their mouth. The banana mush was kind of distracting and unhelpful, but deliciously so. They would not yet try to write, opting to watch Cas try instead. They had pretty dexterous paws, so it shouldn't be a problem. Pelly would try it themself soon enough, but nutrition and mild entertainment value came first.

@Casimir

Kaimana had caught word of the lessons. It seemed many had. She sauntered over and plunked herself down in a comfortable spot that seemed befitting of her, prepared to whisk away the day, minding her own business and learning this lesson, but then — a sneeze! Kaimana's gaze flickered to the puff of dust rising from the cartoonish scene: a lengthy string of a being, interested in some rectangular, leather-bound object. A dusty artifact with an evident age. Something about the string being's face, the plethora of feathers, the wings... despite the odd shape, some colors and features looked familiar. Call that familial resemblance, perhaps?

Kaimana decided she was interested — intrigued by the creature and the activity in which they partook. So, she stalked over in a path that resembled a curveball's: winding and unpredictable, perhaps even intimidating. She deftly swiped one of the tomes for herself (a clever disguise) and plonked herself down a respectable distance from none other than Ashtoreth.

She flipped open a page and recoiled at the dust that sputtered out in response. Her eyes flicked again to this character of interest. "Hello," she offered, with an unassuming smile. Just friendliness — no, just politeness was all. Certainly not nosiness, or even a hint of suspect. Her gaze fell back on the pages to prove this point.

Upon the beginning of the lesson, Kaimana's attention was fully, genuinely arrested by the introduction of letters, sounds, and slates upon which to write. She would do her best to commit to memory these... rather difficult and arbitrary-seeming rules, and, once tasked to write, would attempt to slot the piece of chalk in her mouth and gently tug it into shapes and letters.

She found finger painting was a little easier, but that was only to be expected, considering how freeform the realm of art was. This was language. This was different! She stared for a moment at her work as if she expected something to come from it, and then, after a certain time staring, her attention shifted back to the string being. "Please forgive the interruption," she began, hoping for a successfully tactful approach, "but I'm finding that I may need another pair of eyes." She twisted her slate towards the string being, so that they might be able to read what she had written:

K - A - I - m - A - n - A

In bold, utilitarian letters. Purely functional, hopefully legible to eyes other than her own. First time learning didn't leave much opportunity for dramatic flair. "Is this readable?" She hoped the string being would be able to help her out with determining legibility, at the very least. At the very most, they will take the bait.

@Ashtoreth

Khavur came at the speed of a very determined flying lizard. Having heard about the reading lesson, all that was on his mind was the conversation he had had with Master Vargas upon returning to the Forge. Well, that wasn't all there was. There was also a person on his mind, at all times really. A person he searched for absentmindedly in the crowd. Maximus. They were... nowhere in sight.

Resigning himself quickly for the sake of maintaining focus and composure (although his heads would not stop swiveling and scenting the air out of habit), Khavur would listen to the lesson in "English" from Master Astraea. Blessed with a set of grasping hands, Khavur's only challenge in writing would be the writing itself, rather than the method by which one was to write. It was... interesting, most certainly, that a master with hooves would be telling them how to write with mobile digits. Luckily, Khavur was not always the best with humor, and thus he would not be killed for catching the hilarity of the situation.

Instead, he would busy himself with his first attempt to using chalk. Like all new things, the feeling of this small object in his grasp would take some getting used to. His unfamiliarity showed as, unlike his Master, he only just barely managed to scribble out his own name, featuring several misspellings.

It was no matter, Khavur decided, although the mild frustration lapped at his heels. He got up to investigate the books instead, lorded over by a beast of a size Khavur could throw with one arm like a catapult. Khavur wasn't going to do that. His interest in the figure, or the pile of books in its vicinity, was apparent. His ram-horned head leaned perhaps a bit too close to the little creature as he inquired: "Do any of these regard... philosophy?" He would need an answer before swiping one at random.

@Menkheperre

The catawampus is also here! Because clownery and tomfoolery is an unending business and I am always on the grind. Gliding in fashionably late, the catawampus moves towards no one and nothing besides the chalkboards. There are many shiny things to be had here, but artistry and writing is the shiniest thing of all. Although it probably doesn't know what either of those things mean. Regardless, the catawampus does seem to retain a monumental amount of focus on exactly half of what Master Astraea talks about, and does indeed reach for a chalkboard AND chalk! Upon which to write, right—?

Oh dear. Oh no. That does not look like writing. The catawampus places the chalk in its mouth, draws back its head, and its entire upper body to boot, and attempts to slam its head down into the chalkboard with all the aggression of a boulder falling from a cliff.

It misses completely somehow, instead hitting the ground with a very deeply unpleasant thunk! It reels back up slowly and steadily, seeming to not have experienced any emotional damage from the act. The physical damage is... um, probably not something you need to worry about? I'm not sure! A moment later, the catawampus notices the chalk has flown out of its jaws, and after a moment of unsuccessful search, it gets up and demands another one. Which it receives. Why on earth do we hand the biggest weapons to the biggest idiots in these caves?

Distribution work done—everyone supplied with a writing implement and the appropriate medium of slate—Menkheperre had gone back to his reading, making only slightly better sense of the words with added context from Astraea. At least the momentum of reading just this language, and not at least five others, at a time carried him aloft. He paused less often to sound out words in his head, puzzle out what they might stand for. It was this tongue that seemed most familiar to him, even as he read a simplified tale of a magic mirror and poisoned apples.

The first interruption was in the form of Dread, performing a wing-walk of shame with a dipped head and a contradictory low voice (... as much as the dragon seemed capable of.) Menkheperre blinked away from his book with little but a polite nod and chirping "Oh!" He stood up from his book, scuttling off toward the bag of supplies. "Would... a bigger one help? I wasn't paying much attention when handing them out." Ah-hah! There was a piece, about as long as his own hand—which wasn't to say very, but it was at least a little thicker, like the sort you'd use on a sidewalk. A little easier for such large claws to handle, perhaps?

... maybe the library should invest in a different writing medium for practice. Perhaps an ink that could be erased after it dried...

He held out the fresh chalk offering, clutching at just the end of it so that Dread wouldn't come close to nibbling or tearing off his fingers as he took it. In theory. "You can do it! Just hold it gently. A gentle touch is all you need with this chalk. It makes the lines when you press just a little."

As for the second interruption: he was made suddenly aware of his surroundings by the intrusion of a head nearly the size of himself; or, rather, the heady, hot breath flaring over his body as said face began to spit out a query.

Much to his own credit, the young Hound hardly flinched. Sure, his heart jumped in his chest, but there was really nothing to worry about! Crimson gaze flicked upward, blinking, jarred loose from his imagining what snow might be. It then shifted back down to the pile of books. And up. And down. Rinse and repeat, until he at last tried: "um, no... ? That'd be a little advanced for the starter class. Astraea said to bring simple stuff, that wouldn't be too much. Why do you ask?"

Wait... Rigid brows pinched upward. In a childishly conspiratorial murmur, he leaned closer to Khavur's face: "do you want to read them? They're... um, really hard and in... uh, different letters and sounds like what he's teaching, so I'd maybe have to make them in other letters for you or me, but..." His tail lashed, excited, wings flaring in lieu of a toothy grin. "You do wish to read them? Reading philosophy?"

Uh oh. You've activated him, Reaver of the Dark Above.

@Dread @Khavur

Look at them go off to the races!

Gembound and Valkhound alike scribbling away at their slates and comparing notes, some reciting the alphabet to themselves—one was managing the task with nearly an entire banana stuck in their mouth. More simply drew one another, or were not quite engaged with it at all. Success was met with great enthusiasm (the pup barking in his delight, having indeed "done it") and failure was... with mixed results. Astraea thought better of acknowledging the enormous... leather-winged ape attempting to break the slate with its forehead and immediately asking for a new chalk to repeat the action. Hadn't someone once written about the definition of insanity... ?

Ruby eyes went half-lidded trying to suppress his worried sigh. He'd not worry himself too much about what portents that held for this Cave. Best to trot around and inspect the handiwork of the more mentally there. Each glance over a shoulder—furred or feathered or scaled—was met with an appraising nod, a careful nudge in any direction; and, of course, no advice about how best to hold any sort of writing implement. Let him reserve a little bit of smug superiority in that regard, too. (Not even the narrative could know his methods. Hah!) Also, it was quite hilarious to watch them fumble with paws and claws and mouths; the latter of which was his favorite purely for the reaction of tasting chalk on their tongue. Spitting and licking air, like that'd dispel the horribleness.

That superiority was key to maintaining his good mood as the once-Overseer, with his perfect memory and execution in all things, presented a slate to him. With the gall to wink, too, at his clever little joke. It was nice to see that he'd traded -seer for -achiever in his Extragenesis, and that he really was just Chaos's perfect little monster. If he still had his hands, Astraea thought, he'd take the lesson a little further, see how well his fellow Master handled cursive, calligraphy, old scripts—merely for curiosity's sake. It'd be a fun experiment while those present ran through the entire chalk supply with their apparent brute strength grips.

Instead, he smiled pleasantly, dipping his head. "Indeed. Are you sure you didn't already know how to write... ?" A lighthearted jab with none of the expected suspicion.

Giggle distracted him from the experimental fantasy, sitting with great pride in front of what seemed to be a pile of inane scribbles. If he squinted, perhaps, there might be the facsimile of an I in there—or was it an L? "I see a passing resemblance to your name, but it is a good first attempt." (It wasn't, but it was amusing to look at, like a child's crayon drawing pinned to the fridge.) "We'll work on it with time. I am certain you know where to find me for more lessons." And this was genuine, as she was one of so few that'd managed to squirm into his good graces for her usefulness. If learning this was what she desired, then this was the bare minimum he could offer in return for her defense against Order (as if living without Its influence or serving their Creator wasn't enough.)

"Now," the stag called, hooves clattering to bring himself away from the crowd after about thirty or forty minutes spent drifting from cluster to cluster, "feel free to practice what you've learned here today at your leisure, rudimentary as it may seem. It would behoove you—all of you—to know these sounds well when our next lesson begins. These..." Astraea paused to regard the stack of placards, the upper and lowercase Z staring up at him from the top, searching for a name for them. "These study cards, as we'll call them, will be here for you to peruse at any time; and I may return for more practice sessions. Bring your questions, and I will answer them."

Scraping a hoof on the ground, he continued. "If you're able to carry them and wish to, you're free to take your materials home. That is, the chalk and the slate. I would urge you to bring them back for the next session, which shall be forming and reading sentences. Master Vargas will inform you of when that will come to pass." A few weeks or a cycle from now, perhaps...

His gaze swept over the gathering. "I'll offer my congratulations. You have all taken the first step toward literacy today." A cordial dip of an antlered crown was offered. "May it serve you well."

... a little dramatic? Yes, but sue him for being a little excited to see where this dramatic step went. Perhaps the Gembound would try to ravage Cepheus, desperate for things to read. Maybe they would write love letters to one another via a newly-established messaging system, carried by Hallowed Callers and Carollers. It'd be cute. A pleasant distraction for them, so that they didn't have time or thought think up a name to call their potential revolution.

Before he went, Astraea asked what any good teacher would: "any questions or concerns?"

The First Lessons are now complete. As Astraea has stated, the Gembound are free to study the alphabet and phonetics in their free time (and off-screen!) with or without him. He will have visited Draco at least once a week to help reinforce the lesson, answer questions, offer alternative learning methods. (Characters that weren't in this thread are free to attend these additional lessons off-screen or GM tag for Astraea!)

Coming Soon^TM will be the next step: reading and writing sentences! The exact start date of this thread has yet to be decided, but I'm shooting for within the next few weeks.

Astraea will still be around for further interactions, such as answer questions, and may be GM tagged for as necessary. Otherwise, characters are free to hang around or exit! Thank you all so much for your patience with the delayed posting, and I hope that it was (or will be) worth the wait. <3

@Vargas (Bentley, Dread, Giggle) @Menkheperre @Garnet-Epsilon @Forgraves @Aethril @Pollen (Attikias, Deep Dark, Vander, Cerilaine) @Oka @Sharp (Zookeeper) @V-Zoisite-One (Cain, Casimir, Ashtoreth) @Ampelio (Kaimana, Khavur, Catawampus) @Soh-ling (V-Labradorite-One)

The lack of visible response to Khavur's slight invasiveness gave no hint to the Reaver that it was, perhaps, invasive. Perhaps the little dragon did not care at all for the proximity — it only moved closer, as if to conspire. That leaning made Khavur slightly withdraw. Wouldn't want to bonk the little guy with these big, thick ram horns, that could be bad. Khavur didn't move out of hearing range, however. He heard and registered each word, initially with disappointment, and then with a mild, confused hope.

The wiggling and the vague offer of the little guy... It felt endearing to Khavur. He watched with his own sidebar curiosity, tilting one head to the side, a light flutter of familiarity settling in his chest. In his mind, there were notes: Small. ~~Throwable~~. Knows about the letters and sounds, and the books. Seems to also take interest in philosophy. Can... I do not know what that means. There was clearly no other choice but to learn more. So he dropped his voice to mimic the conspiratorial whisper, despite not knowing... why that was necessary: "I do wish, yes. The topic intrigues me." No need to say why. "What do you mean by 'different letters and sounds'? How do you change them?" Oh, Reaver... you just keep pushing buttons, don't you?

However far the creature had gotten in explaining, it would have to pause once Master Astraea began to speak to the crowd. Khavur swiftly spun the ram-horned head to watch, leaving a brief "One moment," in his wake for the small Valkhound to pick up. Hopefully all things would put aside excitement and fervor to tune into the announcement, whatever it was. Ah, merely the closing of the lesson. Khavur would take the materials "home", back to Draco, but what felt more urgent at the moment was less his handwriting and more his ability to read. The little noodlehound appeared to be something of a ticket to that. The ram-horned head swiveled back over to see if the creature was still there. If it was, Khavur would simply provide the awaiting silence that implied: "Continue, if you will."

@Menkheperre

OH! OH-HOH! Something to share with! Someone to share with! "What do you mean by 'different letters and sounds'?" Oh, well, of course little Menkheperre had an answer for that: "Well, there seems to be a lot of different kinds of letters in the Library at home! They look a lot different from the ones he's teaching, and... something in me tells me that they make different sounds too. Some of them are kind of similar, like they came from each other or something, but— there's some totally new ones!" He glanced down at the book between his feet, spinning it around for Khavur to look at. "See how these ones go from left to right?" (Bold assumption to make about something that'd just learned what an alphabet was.) "Some of them go from the right to the left! Or top to bottom! I saw one that was in circles and another one that was triangles—" Menkheperre hastily drew such a geometric figure in the air.

Oh, but the original question: "But, um, there's a really long word for changing them—transliberation and translaytion or something like that—so that it's in a different set of letters! Because they sound different. I don't think you'd understand if I started reading out what's written down on the paper, since you probably don't know? That's what Isra says, anyways. There's a lot of different letters in the Library at home, even for me to handle. I like to rewrite them in different ways so I can read them better. Or just to study! It helps a lot and—"

"One moment." Right, right, there were other people here to pay attention to. Menkheperre held onto his rambling cavalcade of thoughts, only half-listening to Astraea at this point, so that he could jump right back in as soon as he was given the green light.

Which he was, and met with great enthusiasm.

"Hey, if everybody's learning this bunch of letters, though, I should be rewriting all of the books in that too, so that you can all read them like that too! I haven't really gotten into the philosophy part of the Library, but I've read a lot of... Jee-om-e-tree and stuff, though! That's shapes and how they can be measured. It's really cool, but not... philosophy. I'd have to have a little bit to really read up on it all so I know what to rewrite, but... I could do it if you're serious!" Crimson eyes positively twinkled. A new subject matter to research and a buddy for it! A two-for-one deal! It'd take a lot of time, but Menkheperre got the idea that he had plenty of it. "I can come get you when I'm done, or you can come to Cepheus in a while? What kind of philosophy are you interested in? Or, um, what do you think about a lot? The inevitability of death for all living things?"

(This was said with only a child's deathless perspective on life.)

@Khavur

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Zoey

Hunter

Ampelio

Manna

Khavur

Catawampus

Menkheperre

Game Master Bunny

Khavur

Menkheperre