A visit to the Consortium of Ancient Studies

                  Jonas gathered a few items and made his way out the door. It would be a quick trip to the Consortium by a flight carriage, but the day looked pleasant enough for a walk and Jonas had a lot to think about. Opening the door, he entered the busy streets of Hallador.

                  Hallador buzzed with energy and life. The combined efforts of dragons and humans created a city with shared intelligence, scientific study, and endless inventions. The city and civilization became the pinnacle of brilliance, education, logic, and creativity throughout the land.

                  On his walks through town, Jonas enjoys watching and observing the people and dragons around him. The chaos creates a soothing effect, with bustling shops and children running back and forth mixed with the energy of commerce as shopkeepers push their wares. Today, he could only think about the strange book they found. As exciting as it seemed, something didn’t feel right.

                  After traversing the streets and hills of Hallador, Jonas found himself at the Consortium of Ancient Studies. Since little is known about their ancient origins, the government of Hallador organized the Consortium to collect brilliant minds and historians in one effort to further their understanding of the ancient world. The organization also served as an enforcement agency in the surge of the black-market trade of ancient relics and treasures. Something as important as their origins did not belong in the hands of thieves. Unfortunately, the battle against historical hoarders gave those at the Consortium a superiority complex in the intellectual world. The scholars, though brilliant, were a tad bit elitist. Their intellect far outweighing their ability to show common social skills. Jonas enjoyed the thrill of history but hated interacting with the scholars.

                  Nevertheless, Jonas pushed past his discomfort and opened the large worn wooden door with a loud creaking noise as if the doors themselves disagreed with a visit from the outside. The dull candlelight crept around the door, as the musty smell of old dragon escaped the enclosed room. Jonas entered a confined room with few windows, or much of any connection to the real world. The cluttered walls were made of shelves filled with the writings of the scholars. They shared their writings and books with the public, though their building lacked a solid organized way of maintaining those writings, an element that added to the discomfort of the ever-organized Jonas.

                  Jonas crept through the network of their disorganization, making his way to an old, overweight dragon working on something more important than the need for a salutation.

                  The physical appearance of the dragon reflected the centuries of age, with old broken scales, drooping skin from years of exposure, and aging skin cells. The dragon’s scales had a sheen from the years of exposure to the elements, giving the odd appearance of a sweating reptile. His face looked like a history book itself, with an occasional scar and marks from the hundreds of years he roamed through life.

                  “Excuse me,” no response. Jonas cleared his throat for added attention. “Excuse me!” The old dragon looked up, a thick seeing glass still attached to his eye. The Dragon avoided a salutation and stared at Jonas. Jonas, catching onto the lack of social graces, asked his question. “Yes, I’m interested in checking out some books.”

                  “B-b-b-ba-books, for wha-what purpose did you have in mind? W-What for. The Books?” The dragon’s stutter always surprised Jonas. He had read this dragon’s writings often, and the dragon crafted the most elegant writing voice. Jonas forgot the dragon dealt with a speech impediment. The dragon’s logical writing and analytical thought process easily compensated for his lack of public speaking.

                   “Ancient human writings and language, — I’m interested in them,” Jonas said very un-eloquently, realizing he should have planned his approach with a bit more thought. Though not as awkward as Rasmus, his personality did not align with warping an honest perspective. He had to work at it.

                  “Ah yes yes yes, writings of the g-g-gummundir. Fascinating topic, yes fascinating.” The overweight dragon climbed down from his perch on a working bench and led Jonas through the maze of shelves and collected writings. As he pulled one book from one location, he continued walking and pulled a secondary book from a different location. Jonas couldn’t help but wince, questioning their form of organization. The dragon continued to look around, tapping his head with one of his claws as if trying to remember something.

                  “Gumtal texts, yes?” the dragon looked at Jonas to confirm he understood correctly.

                  “Yes, that is correct,” Jonas responded.

                  The old dragon’s eyes scoured the shelves when he handed the two books over to Jonas, “I know there is another b-b-b-book, another one, where-where-where did we put it?” the old dragon spoke out loud thinking to himself. After a moment he continued, “n-n-no need. Those are good, basic books of the, you know, the basics of the language, the ancient language. Why-why-why the sudden interest?”

                  Jonas worried. Did the dragon know what Rasmus found? The dragon asked a normal question. Especially since artifacts from the ancient world have come through the city archives before. For years there had been an ongoing debate on whether ancient artifacts belong within the Archives or the Consortium. Jonas felt a twinge of guilt knowing he bent the truth. But Jonas wasn’t ready to give in. Not yet. Flipping through the books the dragon handed him, he responded, “I’ve been thinking about pursuing the Ancient Studies track of certification and wanted to brush up.”

                  The old dragon snorted a soft nasal laugh to himself, “yes, yes, well b-b-b-best of luck in your, in your studies.” The dragon said as he gathered the paperwork to sign out the book to Jonas.

                  Elitism ran through the dragon scholars with a constant drive to outshine the humans. Dragons rose high in the intellectual circles as their lifespans exceeded that of humans, allowing them to build a deeper well of intellectual knowledge. Plenty of human scholars rose through the ranks of intellectualism, although the Ancient Studies certification required extensive knowledge and memory skills, eliminating nearly all humans that hoped to be certified.

                  Jonas smiled, slightly annoyed, fostering his own elitism. He felt happy that he did not share the information about his newfound evidence. A secret he now enjoyed harboring so he can know more than the elitist overweight dragon. He signed the papers, exited the Consortium, and began his walk back to the city archives.