Priya
kyber child
THE MONMOUTH SCHOOL OF AVIATION
Set in the picturesque landscape of America's New England, the Monmouth School of Aviation is by far the most elite and prestigious dragon-keeping academy on the globe. Of course, what is prestige without wealth? Only society's highest and most well-off members are able to settle the small issue of tuition.
But no matter; the school speaks for itself. With over 100 acres of fields dedicated to all kinds of training, the world's largest dragon hatchery, a state-of-the-art gear-building shop, and luxurious stables, Monmouth has earned its reputation.
The school itself is a massive, antebellum-style manor with many interconnecting buildings and pathways, so that each wing may specialize in its own field of dragon-keeping. Dorms are located on campus as well, situated comfortably across a small stream and pastoral field from the main school manor. On the other side of the manor lies the stables, with the hatchery underground beneath them. The gear-building shop is yet another field across from the stables, and behind that; the training grounds.
Students generally live on-campus year-round in order to care for their dragons, although there is plenty of staff on hand acting as caretakers in case of an absence. A well-trained staff also runs the hatchery and the gear shop, insuring that no aspect of the academy goes neglected if students are unable to fulfill their duties.
After filling out an application and being accepted, first-year students move in the first of September and will live on campus for the remainder of their education. Two weeks after the start of classes, most of the year's eggs will begin to hatch. Every first-year student (unless they intend to be a gear-builder) must attend every dragon hatching in the hopes of being the first one to mount the hatchling and ride it into the air. When a student is successful, they have found their dragon, and it will be given a name and moved to the stables. This is a tradition unique to Monmouth, and continues until every student is matched with a hatchling. This way, both dragon and keeper may complete their training together as a team.
The practice of training a dragon rider pair is complicated, and corners must not be cut. Many consider the bond between dragon and rider to be sacred, and it must be nurtured with care and wisdom. For this reason, each class at Monmouth is very small, consisting of only five or six rider and dragon pairs. Each class is assigned an instructor to begin the year. At the end of their first semester/term of basic dragon-keeping education, each student must select a field to enter. Sport pairs head to the North Wing, combat pairs to the South Wing, and labor/courier pairs to the East. The West Wing is reserved for gear-building students who do not have dragons, as it is the furthest from the stables and closest to the gear shop.
From then on, only the field instructors know what training consists of until graduation. Due to the special circumstances of the school and of dragon-keeping in general, the head instructor of each field is given complete control of schedules, training regimens, classes, requirements, etc. The board at Monmouth believes in immersive training for dragon and rider, and leaving it up to the experts has been an effective and long-standing method of training.
That being said, Monmouth is extremely competitive. Only ten pairs from each field are permitted to graduate each year, and making the top ten is no easy feat. Pairs that do not make the cut are transferred to Monmouth's various sister schools to complete their education.
Welcome to The Monmouth School of Aviation. Best of luck and fair flying to all.
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