Nice to see that Gawain's gotten some of the pissy pride knocked out of him.

"It was all swamp gas and weather balloons! The sun was in your eyes! You ate those damned mushrooms again!"

Yep. Definitely the mushrooms.

It is always either the Swamp Gas or the Mushrooms.... perish the thought that it could be anything else.

It could be . . . . (drops voice to a conspiratorial whisper) Them.

(GRAMS: Dramatic organ sting)

Mushrooms? What mushrooms?

As much as Gawain has been the foolish and arrogant fur his father has described him as, you still have to feel for him. To have had the chance to meet and fall for someone like Aroglau, who in turn was so much like his own mother, and then to lose her in such tragic and treacherous circumstances would be heart rending.... but to also know that this ultimately was caused by your own self-important arrogance and disdain for those who both knew better and advised you of your folly, this would be near soul-crushing. The fact that you are now only alive is due to the bravery and loyalty of someone you have shown complete disdain for would just add salt to the wound... and then to add to that, this same fur is the only reason you had the chance to say a last goodbye to your love...

Arrogance and bigotry may help you deflect the blame, but if you truly have found soul searching introspection.... words to describe this fail me...

Heh. I'm starting to wonder if they're going to believe WW about the wyverns. Or perhaps he's going to keep it secret, but I can't see him doing that.

One hopes that Osric gets his badge by combat approval. Boy's a typical ADHD - smart, but keeping him engaged in a classroom setting is a fool's errand. Put him in combat, though, and he tracks -everything-. It's a known advantage for fighter pilots, the trick is getting them through ground school.

You will find the answer to that question in the very last episode, which will be posted Monday 4/6, if I'm on schedule.

That matches the count, yes. Fantastic stuff, these stories.

I'm wondering if Gawain was disturbed by his "Lacktail" blood….or he knew all along his capabilities? Then again, I may be misinterpreting his subdued behavior due to his betrayal, capture, torture and the loss of Aroglau.

This was a very well-constructed episode.

Perhaps it could be said that upon arriving home after this, WW5 should find a tome recording the same poem in three columns: Elfheimian, High-Elvish, and Draconion. The script, a bit jagged as if to evoke lightning, and in the Draconic column, double lined with Elfheimian runes elucidating Draconic runes. After all, the elements ( as I would see them ) may not be capable of deception but they are ( especially those of the air ) tremendous gossips.

"Well, one of the things I'm trying to figure out -- and that's where the L&H comes in handy -- is whether or not Draconic IS a written language, or purely oral. I have a suspicion, at least with regard to wyverns, that that may not be the case. Hard to hold a stylus."

"You mean to say that the wind...might have seen...heard...oh, my life!"

eh, styluses in the claw ar a tricky bit, but then there's clawing glyphs into rock, or magicing them on to a page for smaller races

And yep, the spirits of the winds would've, and told the spirits of fire and water as well. Earth spirits and others would've been there t' see it as well but earth spirits spread a story slower than the trees.