The Dark Crystal: Dragon Riders of Thra
Chapter 2: Warrior Princess
Ha'rar
High in the northern Skarith, facing the Silver Seas, there lies the city of Ha'rar, home to the Vapra Gelfling.
Upon the time when the Skeksis took power during the Age of Division, as well as part of the Alliance of the Crystal, SkekSo and the other Skeksis formalized the already existing clans, setting the Vapra as the highest rank of the Gelfing, making them the dominant group and prime beneficiary of Skeksis patronage.
Like the other Gelfling clans, the Vapra were ruled by a Maudra, though the highest of them was the All-Maudra, who, while acting as Maudra of her own clan, also doubled as the ruler of all Gelfling.
The All-Maudra, the latest ruler gone by the name of Marydya, ruled over the seven clans, and had four daughters, the youngest was Princess Em, which was short for emerald due to her near-emerald coloured eyes, and had a curious mind, giving her access to the Vapran library. Then there was Princess Nira, who was one of the middle daughters, and while she was Princess, she was also made a Paladin as well. This left with the two older sisters, the first was Princess Astrid, who was the 2nd middle sister, but also one of the oldest who, like Nira, was training as a Paladin, and the last was Silviana, the oldest of the siblings.
There had been talks about who would be crowned the next Maudra in case of Marydya's passing, while it seemed like Silviana would be the one to take the throne, it was discovered that Astrid would be the chosen daughter to take over, much to Silviana's jealousy and disappointment.
The city itself is made as an important port city, having been near the Silver Seas, exporting foodstuffs like Nibrie eggs and sourloaf to the Sifa Clan.
Because of the privilege of being the highest rank, the Vapra would have the honor of being the first clan to pay tributes to the Skeksis during their annual tithing ceremonies.
The Vapra were renowned for their elegant appearance, with elaborate clothing, jewels and hairstyles being common even among laborers. These luxuries were in large part thanks to their political proximity to the Skeksis, which they would emphasize in order to display their special status. The Vapra's manner of speaking Modern Gelfling also bore similarities to the accent used by some of the Skeksis when not speaking their own language. Because of their high literacy rate, most Vapra were more knowledgeable than the average Gelfling in regards to history and lore.
The Vapra would even at times look down at the other Gelfling clans, even display xenophobic tendancies, even up to the point of disapproving of mixed-clan couplings.
Because of their connection to the Skeksis and the constant flow of merchants travelling along the Black River, the Vapra lived a relatively leisurely life which gave them more opportunities to indulge in intellectual pursuits. This clan also boasted a larger number of artisans than others, famous throughout Skarith for their metalwork and colored glass products. The extent of Vapran labor specializations further differentiated them from other clans through the absence of communal work, with each individual having their own schedule.
Vapran Library
One of the most known locations in Ha'rar was the Vapran library, and if you went inside, you would see that it was filled with tons of books.
Run by the Librarian Boocmar, along with his assistant/protege, Fishlegs, any Gelfling who would wish to find out about their history and learn about the rest of the lore of Thra would come to be helped by the librarian and his protege.
It is also here where Princess Em would come and spend hours reading books, and most times, she would write down and draw what she has read in her notebooks, as a way to treasure and remember what she had read and learnt.
"How is your knowledge search, Princess Em?" Fishlegs asked, as he approached the young Gelfling.
Em turned to Fishlegs and smiled, "Oh, very well, thank you, Fishlegs."
Fishlegs looked over Em's shoulder, as she was doing a bit of drawing in her notebook, and instantly spotted what she was drawing, "Is that…?"
"Mother Aughra." Em answered, as she showed him the drawing of Mother Aughra, who was once a protector of Thra before handing over the responsibilities to the Skeksis, when Fishlegs saw the drawing, it was a completely perfect likeness.
"Nice drawing, Princess Em." Fishlegs complimented.
Soon, Boocmar approached them, laying down several books and scrolls by Fishlegs and Em's side.
"Here are the rest of the materials you requested, Princess." Boocmar said.
"Thank you." Em smiled, as she left her seat for the moment and looked at the stuff the Librarian had brought her.
After checking at the pile, she turned and asked, "Did you find 'Grillo's Lexicon of Lesser Astrography'?"
The librarian looked to Em for a few seconds, before letting out a small sigh as he said, "I shall return."
As Princess Em let out a small chuckle, Fishlegs spoke up as he said, "'Age of Harmony would be on the 2nd floor, last selfs on the right."
Boocmar looked Fishlegs, and then let out a sighing chuckle as he said, "Oh, Fishlegs, it seems to me all my years of teaching you have finally paid off."
"Thank you, Boocmar." Fishlegs replied.
"Keep this up, and in a few years, you might be doing my job 10 fold." Boocmar said, as he started his ruote to find volumes that Em requested, only to discover and try to stop a few Pluff'm from nibbling on several scrolls or pages of books and knocking over a pile of books or two.
Soon, the library door opened, and Princess Nira appeared, dressed up well in her Paladin uniform, and approached her young sister and Fishlegs, whom the later saw coming towards them.
"Oh, Princess Nira," Fishlegs said, as he bowed before her, while this got Em's attention as she saw her sister, "see nice to see you."
"Hello there, Fishlegs," Nira greeted the librarian's protege, "how goes the lessons?"
"Oh fine, thank you for asking." Fishlegs smiled.
"Hi there, Nira," Em said, before gesturing to her sister to come over to her, "take a look at this."
Nira soon came up to Em, and looked over to what the young princess wanted to show her, "It's Mother Aughra." Em said, as she pointed to the picture that she showed to Fishlegs.
"That is such a remarkable drawing." Nira complemented.
"Thanks," Em said, "and, just letting you know, Mister Fishlegs told me an interesting fact about swamp roots! You're gonna love this, did you know that tug root causes explosive belching?"
"That bit of extraordinary info can be found in one of the books about flora of Thra." Fishlegs said proudly.
Nira giggled at that, before saying, "That's… quite an odd, yet interesting discovery. Though sister, I have big news."
"What's that?" Em asked.
"I've convinced mother to let you attend the upcoming Tithing Ceremony." Nira said with a smile.
Em was surprised at this, as her older sisters have always gone to the Tithing Ceremony with their mother every year while she stayed with Fishlegs for lessons, then had a intrigued grin as she said, "You're having fun with me."
"You know I never have fun." Nira smiled, finally allowing Em to know that it was real big news.
"Oh, this is fantastic!" Em cried, as she hugged her big sister, "Thank you so much, Nira!"
"Congratulations, Em!" Fishlegs proudly spoke, "This is quite an opportunity to meet the Lords of the Crystal themselves!"
"I know!" Em said, cheerfully, before looking to her sister and asked, "Will I get to talk to the Skeksis? I have so many questions that I want to ask them."
"Oh, Em," Nira said with a sigh as she kept on her smile, "you do know that the Lords don't like questions."
"Oh! Why don't they like questions? How else will we learn?" Em stated, before playfully sulked as she added, "Now I have more questions…"
"Just try not to embarrass us, okay?" Nira stated.
"Okay…" Em replied, though looked at her older sister when she saw he chuckle a little.
"You have ink all over your face." Nira pointed out.
Em realized what she meant, and then began to clean up her face to get rid of the ink.
"Come now, sister," Nira then said, "we need to find Astrid. She's needed at the citadel."
"What for?" Em asked.
"You'll see." Nira replied.
Em picked up her book and started to leave, before waving goodbye to Fishlegs, "Bye, Fishlegs! See you tomorrow!"
"Goodbye, Em!" Fishlegs waved back, as he watched the two princesses leave the library.
"Oh, uh… goodbye, princesses!" Boocmar called out, as he was sorting out some of the book piles that fell over, only for one pile he was sorting out to fall over again, much to his annoyance.
If Astrid would be anywhere, then she would no doubt be in the training field.
In her 20s, and while she was a beautiful and quite petite Gelfling girl for a Vapran Princess, this also gave her the advantage of agility in Paladin Training with waist-length hair that she left down with a single long braid in the back with long fringes swept to the left.
While she can handle a sword like other Paladins, she was more useful with an axe, as she used her skills, agility and flight of her beautiful wings in combat.
She was currently fighting off several trainers with her in combat, only for her to come up top over all of them, as she then also faced several training dummies of dragons and arathim spitters for target practice.
Another combat training soon tried to fight her and strike her down with a sword, only for her counter strike with her axe, knocking the sword out of his hand and send it flying passed two guards that stood by, barely missing them (as one guard on the left then non-discreetly placed a small handful of coins into the hand of the other guard on the right, who wore a smug grin).
Soon, Princess Em and Nira arrived, just as they saw their older sister taking down the last combat trainer and completed her training.
"Astrid!" Em said with a smile, getting Astrid's attention as she turned saw her sisters arrive, and let out a smile.
"Em. Nira." Astrid happily greeted them, as she gave her youngest sister a hug.
"How goes the training, sister?" Nira asked.
"Oh, you know," Astrid said with a grin, picking up her axe and swung it around a little, "training, taking on competition, winning. That sort of thing."
"That is good to hear," Nira replied, before saying, "mother needs you at the citadel. She says it's important."
Astrid looked at her sisters for a moment, and then nodded and said, "Okay."
As Nira guided Astrid and Em to the palace, Astrid turned to her younger sister and asked, "So how are things going with Fishlegs' lessons?"
"Oh, they're going great." Em replied, "I even learned a lot about swamp roots today. Would you like to hear?"
"Maybe later…" Astrid chuckled.
"Another bit of news," Em then added, "I'm finally going to take part in the Tithing Ceremony!"
Astrid looked to Em with surprise when she heard that, "The Tithing Ceremony?"
"That's right," Em smiled, "I can finally be able to meet the Skeksis up close and everything."
"That's… great…" Astrid said, as she let out a smile, which looked a little uneasy.
Em noticed this and asked, "Is something wrong, Astrid?"
"It's just…" Astrid was about to say, but stopped and then said, feeling a little uneasy, "I want to let you know that I've been to the Tithing Ceremony a few times and… I just want you to be prepared for what might happen during the event…"
Em looked a little uneasy when she heard this, but nodded anyway to Astrid's words as they continued on their way.
Later…
The tree sisters arrived at the citadel, and were taken to the throne room, where the All-Maudra was awaiting them.
The Citadel was the capital building of Ha'rar. A sweeping, elegant building made of glass and silver, the Citadel housed the All-Maudra's throne room and the personal apartments of the Gelfling royal family. The Citadel was where the All-Maudra met with citizens and the Skeksis, held court, and hosted the tithing ceremonies.
Arriving at the throne room, there, sitting on her throne, was their mother, the All-Maudra, herself.
Marydya, the current All-Maudra and the mother to Astrid, Em and Nira, looked as she saw her daughters arrive to gret her, while their sister, Silviana, stood by her side, a small frown on her face to see them.
"We're here," Astrid spoke for her sisters, "you summoned for us, mother?"
"Indeed I have, Astrid." Marydya said, as she got out of her throne and approached Astrid.
"How goes your training?" she asked.
"It's very good, thank you mother." Astrid replied, as she saw her mother with a keen smile on her face that meant she was planning something.
"That is good to hear," Marydya replied, "for I have received word from the Castle of the Crystal. From the Lords themselves."
"The Skeksis?" Astrid asked, the other sisters listening with curiosity.
"That's right," the All-Maudra stated, as she explained, "the Skeksis are calling forth each of the Gelfling clans across Thra, they are in need of new recruits to take part in Dragon Training, and in turn, needed as Crystal Guards at the Castle."
She then turned to Astrid and said, "And they need you, my child."
Astrid was quite stunned by hearing this, as were the other sisters, with the exception of Silviana, who frowned hard.
"They need me?" Astrid asked, still surprised.
"Indeed, my dear." Marydya said, as she approached Astrid and placed her hand on her shoulders, "Astrid, I have seen you grow into a beautiful, strong and determined young woman. Knowing that nothing would stand in your way, and you do whatever it takes to protect those you care about."
Astrid smiled on hearing this, as her mother continued, "Which is why you will be joined in Dragon Training first thing tomorrow."
Em and Nira were proud and overjoyed on hearing this, though their oldest sister was not happy on hearing this, still thinking about why Astrid would be the one for everything. All-Maudra. Dragon Trainer. It was like she was born to get everything.
"Thank you, mom," Astrid said, before bowing her head as the All-Maudra stepped back a bit, "I won't let you down."
"I know you won't," Marydya smiled, "now, go get your things, you'll need to be ready for your first day of Dragon Training."
"As you wish," Astrid said, before bowing and added, "All-Maudra."
Astrid then left the throne room, seeing the smiling faces of her youngest sisters, as it was a way of saying 'congratulations' to her.
"Are you a little jealous about Astrid seeing the Castle?" Nira asked Em.
"Maybe a little," replied Em, "but still, this is a fantastic time for all of us!"
"Most of us, anyways…" Silviana mumbled to herself, as she watched Astrid leave.
Back with Astrid, she returned to her chambers, as she started getting ready to leave for the Castle of the Crystal, where the Skeksis Lords would be waiting for her, along with the Crystal of Truth.
She looked out her window, seeing the three suns glistering in the proud sky, and thought of looking forward to what tomorrow will bring on her first day of Dragon Training.
Author's Notes:
And now we got introduced to Astrid as a Vapra Gelfling, along with our good knowledgeable Fishlegs!
Next time, Dragon Training begins!
Until next time, True Believers!
Excelsior!