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Of Arms and Arcane: Chapter 227
🕑 Added 2025-05-15 14:36:39 +0000 UTCWhen the chirps of alarm started, hippogriff chicks, that were the size of medium-sized dogs, all got to their feet and backed away from me, to the back of the nest. Most of them cowered behind the front row of their siblings, while eight of them stood in front of their siblings, chirped at me aggressively while puffing up their fluffy down feathers that covered their whole bodies, making them even more fluffy, flapping their underdeveloped wings, and performing mock pounces at me.
If I had to describe the scene… it was too cute, they looked like angry plushies… if not for their agitated state, I would have dived into the puddle of floofs and snuggled with them. But even with their relatively small size compared to their adult size, I was pretty sure that if I was not careful, these chicks were capable of snapping off a few fingers.
Eventually, Dad and the other knights came up to see what I was seeing. “I may not know much about hippogriffs, but does this not look like too many chicks for one nest? If this were how hippogriffs reproduced, they would be everywhere.” one of Dad’s knights commented.
“You are correct,” the voice of the mercenary scout sounded off beside that knight, giving the rest of us a small shock at his sudden and silent appearance. “This looks to be three to four clutches worth of hippogriff chicks. If you look around the cave, there are the discarded remains of other nests.”
“But why would they combine their nests?” Dad asked.
The scout shrugged, “Hard to say, all I know is that hippogriffs are social beasts and nest in groups, so the fact that all the chicks are gathered into one nest and there is only one adult left likely means that the rest of the adults for this cave are dead, and the adult you just killed was doing its best to provide for more mouths. The village was just too tempting a target when it had so many chicks to feed.”
There was silence for a moment while we all pondered what this meant. Was there some sort of disease that killed the adults? No, if the adults were diseased, the chicks would have most likely been more susceptible to it. What is more likely to be the case is that most of the adults died defending their nest, but there were no hippogriff-looking corpses at the bottom of the cliff face, only animal and human ones. Does that mean there is something around here that is capable of eating at least five hippogriffs without a trace? That is a frightening thought.
The silence was broken when another of Dad’s knights drew his sword. “No point putting off the distasteful work, let's get this done.” he said, and the other knights joined him in drawing their swords and stepping to ward the nest.
Wait, what?! They are going to kill the cute fluff balls?!
I quickly stepped up into the nest and faced Dad’s knights, “Wait! Why do we need to kill them? I’m sure there are better things we can do than kill them?” I said as one of those ungrateful ingrates nipped at my armored calf while another batted at my other calf with its relatively tiny talons.
The knights stopped their advance, and Dad gave me the look I have seen parents give their children when they bring home a stray animal and ask, “Can we keep it?”
“Luke, you know we can't. Besides, what are you going to do with hippogriff chicks? The best I can think of is selling them off as exotic pets.” Dad said.
“What… what if we raise them as mounts? I read that griffins are raised as war mounts, and hippogriffs to a lesser extent, but it is possible.” I suggested.
Dad shook his head, “We just can't. While it is possible to raise them, the food expenses to raise them are going to be high, they will be a danger to the surrounding people, and they will need to be professionally trained if we want them to serve as mounts. The only professional trainers in the kingdom are all already employed by and have their hands full with the royal army’s warbeasts.”
Crap… he got me. Come on, brain, THINK HARDER! I need a way to justify these floofs in my life. I could suggest selling these chicks to the royals to become part of the royal army’s warbeasts' strength, but aside from their current cute appearance, I can envision a future with aerial combat incorporated into our burgeoning army. Our only problem is the matter of time and resources these hippogriff chicks will consume before they yield a return on investment, and all that hinges on getting a professional trainer.
It took me a few seconds before I almost smacked my own head. I literally have a fucking elder dragon on speed dial who has connections with the rulers of the kingdom. What's the point of having contacts if you don't use them? “Hear me out, I have a plan.”
***
A week or so later, I was sitting at the private booth of my local tavern, and Santon, my manager from The Steward’s Guild, was sitting opposite me. “The services of a professional beast trainer, you say… not many of those around, and none who lack lucrative employment. Now, why would you want the services of one?” Santon said calmly, giving me the sense that he has what I am looking for, but it is going to cost me more than money to get what I want.
I looked at him for a moment, trying to find a tell on his face to see what he was planning, but got nothing. “In the recent inspection of my house’s newly acquired land, we… acquired… twenty-three hippogriff chicks, and I- we want to raise them as mounts.”
“So I’ve heard.” Santon said as he nodded.
‘Then why did you even ask?’ I shouted in my head.
When I contacted Professor Sageira via scale-call to ask if she could do me a solid, and ask the royals if they had a spare beast trainer lying around, she refused me. She told me that she did not want to ask anything of the royals because at their level, anything done outside of the contract she had with the kingdom could be counted as a favor, and the favor of an elder dragon was not one she could hand out willy-nilly.
Instead, she pointed out that I already had a contact who already had their fingers all up in people with power and connections to get goods and services that the average person was not able to get.
That brings me face to face with Santon after calling him with my membership card.
Santon leaned back in his chair while thinking. After a few seconds, he focused on me, “I can make it happen, but it is going to cost you.”
“How much?” I asked in trepidation for my and my family’s finances.
He gave me a smile that made me feel uncomfortable. “Oh, nothing much, just a favor.”
Comments
UnknownPineapple
Yes a favour.... the guild is too slimy for my liking, and Stanton rubs me the wrong way
