(121-03-18) To Hatch a Dragon
To Hatch a Dragon
Summary: Visenya meets with Archmaester Thane at the Dragon Door Manse to seek his assistance in hatching her dragon eggs. Thane has his own questions he wants answered, and bring along Novice Bryn to expand his education.
Date: 121-03-18
Related:
Players:
Visenya..Thane..Bryn..

A letter would arrive at the Citadel for Thane. An invitation to come speak with Lady Visenya Targaryen at his leisure. When he arrives he will be lead into one of the drawing rooms. Visenya does not keep him waiting for very long, however. Soon enough the Targaryen maid sweeps into the room, followed by a servant carrying a medium sized trunk.

"Archmaester. It is lovely to make your acquaintance." She curtseys shallowly to the newly appointed Valyrian Steel Archmaester. She does not wait for him to make a similar greeting. Instead, she will walk towards the chest that the servant sits down on a table, and unlock it with a key around her neck. Inside are two dragon's eggs, one mustard yellow with gold and brown swirls, and the other steel blue with silver swirls.

Ever since his recent appointment, Archmaester Thane has made few public appearances, instead spending most of his time in the Umbral Tower, deep in research. But even sequestered away, news of the return of the dragon had reached him. Of course, getting an opportunity to speak with the daring woman that came back with the beast was another matter — especially if he wanted to it without drawing too much attention. So an invitation from the woman herself came as a very welcome surprise.

With Visenya's arrival, Thane rises with the aid of his weirwood staff. As he approaches, the young boy hidden from view behind him is revealed. "Lady Visenya," he says in greeting, looking on curiously as she opens the chest. "This is Bryn, a gifted Novice." His lips part in muted wonder at the sight of the eggs. "Remarkable," he breathes. "How? How is it you came away with these…alive?"

Bryn stands up quickly, too. To Visenya, he says, "Hello, m'lady." His own violet eyes, however, almost instantly lock on the eggs as they're revealed, widening a little in a look of awe and curiosity. He keeps his mouth shut for the moment, however, not wanting to interrupt the Archmaester's questions.

"The dragon tolerated my presence in it's lair." Visenya tells Thane as she picks up the steel blue and silver egg. "But these were left alone in a corner. It had cleared everything out except for this, but it paid no attention to these after that. I simply took them right in front of it." She shrugs softly, "Perhaps it wanted me to have them? I know not. But I made a sling out of my robe, and put both of them in it, and climbed onto the dragon's back. It cared not that I had it's eggs."

Thane steps nearer, his eyes locked upon the egg in her hands. A thousand questions whirl about in his head, fighting to reach his tongue. But first one must oblige one's hostess. "Your invitation was most appreciated. What is it that you hope I can help you with?"

Bryn glances up to Visenya as she says she just took the eggs right in front of the dragon, apparently impressed. He keeps quiet for the moment, though, and while Thane and Visenya focus on the blue and silver egg, he's looking at the yellow one.

"I want to hatch the both of them." Visenya tells Thane. "This is, from what I understand, a rather complicated process. You may hold it if you'd like." She offers the steel blue to Thane.

Then she notices Bryn. She eyes the boy with amethyst orbs shrewdly before holding out her hand. "Come cousin. All who are blood of the dragon must see one once."

Thane dips his head reverently as he takes the egg from Visenya. He lifts it up to examine it with visible wonder. His eyes dart briefly to Bryn when Visenya addresses him. "So you think I can help you hatch these eggs? First we should try to ascertain if they are viable or not. That the dragon let you take them has me wondering if they are sterile."

Bryn gives Visenya a smile and steps forward, eyes going back to the dragon egg as he gets close. He starts to lift a hand, then pauses, "May I touch it? I'll be gentle."

"I had not thought of them being sterile." Visenya admits with a slight frown. "How will we tell?" To Bryn she gives a gentle nod, but steps forward to help the boy with the egg. They are heavy like stone.

"That will be a matter for me to research. I am no expert in dragon lore, and information on dragons is difficult to come by. It is your family that has the majority of that knowledge," Thane admits. "But the Citadel is not without its resources. Assuming you are successful in hatching them, will you attempt to care for them yourself? Or will you turn them over to the king? Once they reach a certain size, there will be a basic problem of providing for them."

Bryn doesn't try to lift it, perhaps worried about dropping it, but he reaches up to touch the yellow egg in the case, running his fingers along it ever-so-gently. If he's paying any attention to the other side of the conversation, it's hard to see, he's so in awe of getting to touch a dragon's egg.

"I will raise one as my mount." Visenya says to Thane. "The other I have not decided. Perhaps I will pledge it in service to the king?" She shrugs lightly. "Or I will use it for part of my dowry if my future husband is blood of the dragon." She admits, "There are no dragon riders amongst my father's children, and my father and mother are not riders, so I only observed cousins doing the actual upbringing on Dragonstone."

"You've set a mighty task for yourself. I'm certainly intrigued and would like to help." Thane sets the blue egg gently back into the chest. "Will you tell me how you found Veraxion's lair?" he asks, using High Valyrian that could roughly translate to 'Gold Wing'. "Forgive my presumption in naming the dragon, but I refuse to call such a majestic creature by that abysmal epithet, 'Whoremaster'."

Bryn glances back up to Thane at the alternative name he's using, and says, "That name does sound better. More.. proper." He looks back to the gold egg for a few more moments, then looks back up to Visenya again. "Thank you."

"Veraxion is a fine name, archmaester. And much more fitting." Visenya closes the trunk up when both are finished looking over the eggs, and locks it with her key. "I called for the beast, and I could…ah, I could feel it. I don't know how to explain it."

Thane scratches his scruffy chin and his brow creases curiously. "Is that so? The blood of the dragon, perhaps. Did you ever dream of it? Anything that you might consider a 'vision', so to speak?"

Bryn steps back once again, out of the way but paying full attention to the conversation now. He looks very curious as Visenya mentions feeling the dragon when she called to it, but he says nothing, just glancing up to Thane.

"No." Visenya says with a shake of her head. "My twin brother Daevon is the one who dreams. I can just…well, I could control it a bit by thinking about it hard. For example, if it became unruly I could think about compelling it to behave, and it would…well, it wouldn't behave, but it would stop looking as if it were about to murder me."

"Fascinating. Perhaps Veraxion simply recognized you as kin of some kind, and responded to your cues," Thane muses. "Did you prompt it to return to Oldtown?"

Bryn nods a little then to what Visenya says, "I know what you mean. When it came the first time, I yelled at it, told it to land. It didn't land, but it looked to me. It noticed me. Then it turned and flew off."

Visenya shakes her head. "No. It did not want me on it's back, and it did not want to follow my instruction." She nods to Bryn, "It understands us, but it does not need follow our commands."

Thane nods to Bryn's admission. "I couldn't be certain. But it did seem to respond to the lad. So tell me, Lady Visenya, do you know why it came back here? And how did you mount it for that voyage?"

"To get rid of me without killing me?" Visenya says with a faint shrug. "Otherwise, no. I don't know."

Visenya adds, "I just climbed on top of it."

"So it knew you were from here," Thane nods, stroking his cheek thoughtfully. "It didn't want you to ride it, but it let you mount nonetheless. It's an interesting dynamic. Lady Visenya, is there anything else you can tell me? Do you have any idea why it came to Oldtown in the first place? Did you see anything at all that…that might suggest Veraxion answers to another?"

"It became enraged when I tried to use the whip on it." Visenya mentioned. "This makes me wonder if it did not at one time have a rider."

Thane nods. "What I am trying to ascertain is why it came here. Why it devoured the whore, Silken. In my opinion, she was targeted. The way it came after her, ignoring the rest of us…it struck me as a deliberate attack."

"Perhaps it thought she was blood of the dragon, and when she wasn't…well…" Visenya trails off with a grim little look. "Who would care enough to kill a whore in such an elaborate fashion?"

Bryn looks up to Thane and says, "I don't think so, Archmaester. Well, I think she was targetted, but because she and Commodore Yacio were easy to grab. They were together, and she was loud and she'd fallen, Yacio stopped to help her up. I think it just picked an easy meal."

"Somebody trying to make a statement," Thane says grimly. "For instance, somebody offended at the rumor that she had the blood of the dragon. Or, somebody trying to cover a mistake if she did have the blood. Though I find the former suggestion more likely." He looks down to Bryn, pinching his lips. "If Veraxion were simply there to feast, it could have scooped up the lot of us, or burned us all together and had its pick. A dragon of that size could devour an entire aurochs. Probably of a herd of them. It would not consider one skinny woman even a morsel."

"If it were a Targaryen they would want everyone to know that they had killed her." Visenya notes softly. "There are many who are dragonseed, and some are whores. Now, if there'd been a rash of whores eaten for their Valyrianish looks…"

Bryn still doesn't look too sure, but nods to Thane. Then, after a moment he says, "Maybe he wasn't after her. Maybe he was after the Commodore. Commodore Yacio found that boat from Braavos, the one that was empty, the plague ship. He's keeping it under the water."

Thane smiles at Bryn…a rarely seen expression. "Perhaps, though if that were the case, I doubt Yacio would still be alive." He arches an eyebrow at Visenya, "I take it, then, that you saw no evidence to support any of these theories? You said that Veraxion had cleared everything from its lair but the eggs. What did you mean by that?"

"There were no rocks. No debris." Visenya tells Thane. "Most caves, well, they would have junk in them, would they not? This one the dragon had made comfortable for itself."

Bryn smiles a bit back to Thane, but then looks back to Visenya again, listening and quiet once more, just looking between Targaryen and Archmaester.

Thane considers for a moment. "I don't know about debris, but the lack of loose stones might mean something. It depends upon the composition of the cave. How long did you spend there, Lady Visenya?"

"A day, a night, and another day." Visenya says to Thane. A servant emerges from one of the side doors leading into the drawing room, and warily approaches Visenya to whisper in her ear. "He is /what/?" The Targaryen Lady's hands clench into fists, "Have my horse saddled." She gives Thane an apologetic look, "Archmaester..do forgive me. I must retrieve my brother."

Bryn looks curious again at whatever it is that Visenya's reacting to, but he's smart enough not to ask. He glances up to Thane, then to Visenya.

Thane dips his head respectfully. "Of course, Lady Visenya. We shall speak again soon, after I have had an opportunity to look into the matter of dragon eggs. Bryn and I can show ourselves out. Bryn, come along."

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