Dragons Beneath My Feet

Lesson 001 Outline

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Title:

Dragons beneath my feet.

Summary:

Story about a beloved dragon.

Plot:

Compare the experiences of keeping two Pet Dragons at two different points of life of a Rider / Keeper.
To the uninitiated keeper, Pet Dragons are Pet Dragons. They have teeth, require training, and are dangerous to turn on their keepers.
To the seasoned keeper, Pet Dragons have personalities as diverse and unique as any human. No two are alike. And they can worm their way into a Rider’s heart before he realizes that they are more than just creatures that the privileged class keep about their territories.

Starting Point:

Undecided.
Burying a Pet Dragon named Ugor. Named after one of the most popular charms / talismans created by the legendary mages of the Fantasy Realm. A young man recalls poignant memories of the first dragon that he bonded with.

Ending Point:

Undecided.
Gets a new Pet Dragon, Keeri

Significant Event 001:

Adventurous, Spirited Ugor loves to travel. Begs to take his Rider to the skies whenever possible.
They are unwelcome in some territories. Often they are No Drop Zones. Ugor loves to drop piles on what he considers Inferior Creatures.
Rider doesn’t enjoy trespassing. However, Rider does let Ugor explore the Neutral Fringes between territories. Occasionally Ugor is allowed to hunt in Neutral Fields.

Significant Event 002:

Rider is constantly restraining Ugor from turning his neighbors pets into chew toys. Always reprimands and chases his Pet Dragon through the neighborhood. Some neighbors put up with it. Others don’t care. Some actually hope Ugor eats their pet.

Significant Event 003:

Ugor is sneaky and manipulative. He tests his Rider regularly and deeply to find his limits. Not a malicious creature but rather a trickster type. He plays fearful of his master / owner. Once he determines his master is a harmless softy, he drops the fearful act and stops responding to threats that once worked.

Significant Event 004:

Ugor is mad at Rider for grounding him for longer and longer periods of time. Rider’s life burdens grow, taking away the free time he used to devote to Ugor. One day, Ugor expresses his anger by flying in and out of his permitted range to rattle his Rider. Rider feels awful about his neglect.

Significant Event 005:

Ugor whimpers. For a ferocious looking dragon, his whimper is so pathetic and wimpy that the sound embarrasses his Rider who prefers a more ferocious roar. Ugor whimpers all the time, possibly because his Rider is susseptible to the sound and gives in to more of its demands. A manipulative tactic.

Significant Event 005:

Ugor gets sick. One of the last places they travel to, Ugor picks up a viral infection that goes unrecognized and untreated and ignored until the finals stages reveal themselves. Ugor dies quickly, away from home. His Rider is racked with grief.

Significant Event 006:

Mang 2, a neighboring Pet Dragon dies of mysterious causes. Rider gets a dream premonition days before Mang’s death. Mang’s acrimonious neighbor makes fun of Mang’s Riders collecting Pet Dragons in Urns on the Mantel.

Significant Event 007:

After Ugor dies, Ugor’s Riders decide to spread Ugor’s ashes. Ugor is their second Pet Dragon and they don’t want to start a trend of collecting Pet Dragons in Urns on their Mantel. They spread his ashes over one of his favorite hunting grounds.

Significant Event 008:

Rider’s Brother wants a Pet Dragon. Despite the family swearing off Pet Dragons after the Eldest Brother abandoned his responsibilities as a Dragon Keeper, Middle Brother brings home a Pet Dragon from a Dragon Rescue Camp. Rider helps steer the selection to a very cooperative, gentle Pet Dragon.

Significant Event 009:

Middle Brother doesn’t do much with Ugor. Plays with Ugor occasionally. Father is too old and weak to keep a Pet Dragon. Rider feels compelled to help and is angry that he has to keep a Pet Dragon that his Middle Brother brought home. The family won’t spare any coin to pay for lessons in Dragonkeeping so Rider comes up with creative methods.

Significant Event 010:

Ugor shows his trickster side at the magical fountain and the local Dragon Campgrounds. Everytime he licks the fountain, his Rider turns on the water. Takes a few moments to realize Ugor isn’t drinking.

Significant Event 011:

Ugor shows his trickster side again. Old and frail, Father takes a long time to walk through the house. The halls are barely wide enough to allow two men to walk beside each other. Ugor, coming from a different part of the house, decides to lie down in the hall, spreading out wall to wall, effectively preventing Father from walking around him.

Significant Event 012:

Ugor learns to torment his catches for pleasure when his Rider inadvertantly reveals that catches last longer if they aren’t killed immediately.

Significant Event 013:

Rider realizes Keeri isn’t Ugor when she tunes him out during a lecture. She looks left, then right, then starts scratching herself, completely oblivious to the Rider chastising her.

Significant Event 014:

Ugor gets jealous of Rider’s nephews. Toddlers, they hold onto Rider’s hands during playtime. Ugor tries to get Rider to let go of their hands by gently nibbling his fingers, and gets chastised instead.

Significant Event 015:

Keeri loves Father but doesn’t realize she’s hurting the old man. She tries to pull him by grabbing his hand with her teeth and ends up cutting up his hands during play. Rider tries to help his Father by beating Keeri off with a stick. Keeri eventually learns to stop biting after the old man leaves for business reasons.

Significant Event 016:

Ugor loves to eat live game and road kill. Hates eating butchered meat. Often refuses to eat and vomits from fasting. Often sticks his snout into the food on serving trays and platters to indicate that he’s hungry for a delicious meal, just not that type of meal.

Significant Event 017:

Keeri eats everything in the house. Leather, wood, metal, glass, piles, talismans and charms. Nothing is safe from her maw. Rider and his family wonders how the Pet Dragon can eat the stuff and still live.

Significant Event 018:

Rider mourns the loss of his Pet Dragon Ugor. He doesn’t want another Pet Dragon in the house but Middle Brother thinks they’ll feel better by rescuing another Pet Dragon. Once more, they bring home a new Pet Dragon.

Significant Event 019:

Rider doesn’t like their new selection. The family falls in love with Keeri and bring her home despite Rider’s warnings and begin a whole new adventure of keeping a Pet Dragon Pup. Piles at home. Chews up furnishings and leashes. Eats any food that’s outside of locked storage. Loves to nap and nestle in the pantry.

Significant Event 020:

Middle Brother tries to make a point how Pet Dragons are protective of their Riders. He pretends to attack Rider to provoke Ugor to come to Rider’s defence. Ugor looks completely confused and unprovoked.

Significant Event 021:

Ugor ended up in the Dragon Rescue Camp. Territory Owner trapped and turned over the Pet Dragon to the Rescue Camp. It failed to escape into the airs because the canopy was too thick for it to spread his wings.

Significant Event 022:

The Dragon Specialist can’t determine or pinpoint Ugor’s true age. Bad teeth indicated a dragon that’s centuries old. However, the energy levels indicated a young dragon, possibly a decade old.

Significant Event 023:

Baby Pet Dragons look a lot like Bats.

Significant Event 024:

Seeing how plump Ugor looks, an interested breeder wants an Ugor Pup and the secret to fattening up Ugor.

Significant Event 025:

Someone loves the way Keeri’s presence is so soothing. Offers a sizeable amount of coin to buy her.

Significant Event 026:

Rider doesn’t want to be the only one to fly Ugor. Middle Brother refuses to help out because he doesn’t have Dragon Sight. It is unusual for anyone to be unable to have Dragon Sight since many talismans, charms, and potions provide the sight. Dragon Sight allows a rider to control the flight path and direction of a flying Pet Dragon. It allows the Rider to guide a Pet Dragon through terrain obstacles and is quite useful in unfamiliar territory with lots of hidden obstacles. Very necessary because Pet Dragons are naturally light but their weight is thrown off by the addition of a Rider.

Significant Event 027:

After a long period of neglectful grounding, Rider surprises Ugor with a trip to a special farway Dragon Sea Camp. Ugor has never been so happy and wears a goofy looking smile that is reflected in the faces of other frolicking Pet Dragons.

Significant Event 028:

Ugor spies Unicorns and despite their size and fearless rise to his challenge, he tries to fight with them. Rider is happy the Unicorn keeper doesn’t mind Ugor’s aggravatingly loud roars. Rider is allowed to visit as long as he doesn’t feed the Unicorns.

Significant Event 029:

Rider notices that Ugor has a cruel side. Ugor loves to pull pranks on the family and other people but he loves to torment creatures that don’t belong to the Dragon or Human Race. He’d destroy their nesting sites and literally lay waste. Lots and lots of piles. Daily.