29 Hobbiton in Sight

Rode a grey-robed old man with a white-haired handsome youth, who wore a black cloak and comfortable clothes with a sword by his side, on a carriage towards the hills. The youth seemed heroic despite his carefree aura, on his face lied an appreciative smile as he gazed at the woods and the azure sky filled with puffy clouds in various shapes. The sun's light shone on the land and on them which was why they were sweating slightly.

The trees had a magical harmony to them as the wind gently blew the leaves and made them dance in the air. The breeze gently caressed their faces and gave them a pleasant and refreshed feeling. The road stretched deep in the woods, the only sound was of their carriage and horses moving and occasionally birds singing.

The old man who had a pointy hat held the reigns of the horses that moved the carriage and huffed with annoyance, "Take the reigns and let an old man rest...". The youth merely glanced at the old man with risen eyebrows, his tone suggestive and slightly sarcastic, "Gandalf, you have gotten quite overbearing, ordering a king... Why not take the reigns of my kingdom like you have taken the reigns of this carriage from me and complain then... What a sight that will be!".

Gandalf snorted, "Arthas, perhaps If you had not crashed the previous carriage, I wouldn't have had to; You rode too fast then but since we are out of the rocky plain, I think it is fine if you take the reigns... Don't try to drag me into your kingdom...".

Arthas chuckled, "You always dodge so swiftly; 'sigh' Live a little, if not for me we wouldn't have arrived till tomorrow!". Gandalf continued his sentence, "And we wouldn't have had to buy another carriage.".

Arthas, who laid comfortably on the carriage, sat a little straighter. "It's not like you paid for it; I did." Gandalf merely glanced at him as if he was an idiot, "You broke it, so of course you paid for it.". Arthas's face grew slightly exasperated, "Then why do you complain?".

Gandalf took a defensive tone, "Excuse me if my heart skipped a beat when we suddenly crashed and fell down.". Arthas sighed, "Whatever... we are here so it doesn't matter I guess.".

Gandalf ignored Arthas as if he was an idiot and mumbled to himself, "How is he ruling a kingdom?".

Arthas heard him and turned to look at him with a sunny smile, "Magnificently, thanks for asking.". Gandalf chuckled, "That, I can't argue my friend... Especially, The system you placed to teach the young ones, it is very good indeed.".

Arthas became interested, "And what do you know?". Gandalf glanced at him and turned back looking at the road, his tone calm but approval could be heard albeit concealed deeply, "I know that you placed a system to teach the young ones of ages 8 to 15 the ways of the world, reading and writing and many more... but, unfortunately, I never had the time to inspect it deeply. The idea is quite a marvel, to have a literate and knowledgeable population is very beneficial to the good of all.".

Arthas nodded and a confident smile appeared on his face, "Well, if you want I can dwell deep in it for you! We have time on our hands anyway, we won't reach in an hour or two.". His smile turned to a smirk, "Besides it is an honor to hear it from me, the king who created it no?".

Gandalf didn't respond, he only briefly glanced at Arthas and nodded albeit mockingly; Arthas noticed it but ignored him and continued, his tone took a turn and became as if that of a scholar, "Hmm let's see..."

"When I first decided to place an education system, it was the year 17 of Eron calendar, a few years after the battle of the Dammned in the north. Also, education means teaching... Anyway, The Dwarfs of Ironforge made me the steam engine but I realized no one knew how to use it and I figure out that I needed people to be taught a basic level of knowledge so that they could use such tools."

He took a gulp from a bottle nearby and continued...

"I decided to create and implement the system but I had to design it first, so I invited the wisest elves, Dwarfs, and men in the kingdom; I also sent a letter to you but you seem to have never received it; in any case, the wisest gathered and I laid the blueprints in front of them with my idea. We argued and designed the system after much time. The system was as such:

There were 4 things taught in the schools, free for all:

1. Children would enter schools to be taught about traditions and ways of men, Dwarf, and elves. The children would learn of all three and either choose or build a way of life for themselves after learning the three. This was meant to help them accept each other and destroy discrimination, It was also meant to open their eyes to the different ways of the world. There is no absolute right and I hoped they would also realize that and grow up with open minds.

2. They would be taught of battle, fighting with the sword and the bow; The importance of body and its condition. To have a healthy mind, they needed to have a healthy body. Also, they needed to realize the world is a dark place and they needed to learn how to protect themselves and their loved ones no matter if they joined the army or not.

3. They were to be taught the importance of control; This is still debated to this day but I put this matter there; I decided to teach them, instead of avoiding the darkness in their being and rushing away from the sins, they should embrace it and learn to overcome it. I had this realization that suppressed Darkness and hidden evil will eventually erupt and corrupt them as they grew older so I saw the best way to stop it is to embrace the darkness and control it for their own gain, using it as a force to achieve great willpower; for Dark emotions such as hatred and rage grant great conviction. Those who can't master their emotions, let their emotions control them.

4. Finally, they were to be taught of important knowledge, of how the world worked and how the economy worked; Of how Lordaeron became what it was and how I built the kingdom, of rules and laws of the world whether the world of men or Nature or ancient myths; Of lore for it is a great tragedy to be forgotten; Of deep meaning and thoughts regarding life and death, the world and its origin, of the way life should be lived. I encouraged open thinking for it is the origin of growth and evolution. I made sure they were to be taught of all knowledge and wisdom that would help them live and survive.

The children were taught not in bulk and classes as suggested by many but in the form of master and disciples. For classes and bulk creates peer pressure and thus leads to unhealthy competition that eventually creates conflict and births Darkness within people and it is especially potent as children. There was no scoring and ranking system, the knowledge was to be imparted from master to disciple, and the responsibility of learning it lied with the disciple, it was up to him whether to absorb or discard it; There lie no tests to create pressure. If you have looked at the society of Lordaeron, I have always prioritized Freedom and banned any form of restrictions bar the general law to stop Chaos.

Most masters who teach are elves since they greatly enjoy it.

The students learn all these 4 but they are not forced to do so, they can choose to find especial masters that teach special things such as wood making or even magical research. They get to decide what they want to learn and master, these 4 are recommended to all. After all, the path of a warrior is different than that of a scholar or a merchant so it is useless for all of them to learn the same things. I encourage them to learn what they are passionate about and pursue it until the very end. Excluding the general skills, Learning how to manage gold and strike a deal is useless for a farmer as is complex math, the farmer needs to learn how to harvest crops and how to farm! Since most are not mature, they constantly jump from one topic to another but that is good because not only they gain a basic understanding of everything, they also get closer to what they are passionate about.

As for matters of puberty, I have allowed individuals to choose a person they like at the age of 15 as their fiance if the person in question also likes them. keep in mind, only one person; They are free to make this decision themselves and learn of matters regarding love and sex with open minds and seek help from their Masters/teachers if they need it. At the age of 18, they can either separate from each other or marry one another for good unless they have children, in which case they must stay married till the child is 15, they need to learn responsibility. Repressing such things will only lead to problems such as obsession, an unhealthy interest, or even worse...

From the years 15-18, the now young men are completely free to pursue whatever they may desire, they can travel the world and find their passion and reason for living, with their friends or sometimes teacher/master. Without hardships and adventure to see the vaster world, they would never realize what they truly want like frogs in a well. At last, when they turn 18 and are recognized as adults by the kingdom, they can begin to truly chase what they want, whether its gold or power or influence or family or etc.

I have created a cost for everything to balance the resources of the kingdom, for example, A person with power and influence that enjoys a noble status will be extremely busy with hard work and managing some part of the kingdom and if they fail twice they will lose their power. Or another example is for those who pursue wealth, I have created a system that keeps the treasury of the kingdom always empty and instead of hoarding gold in the palace, the gold circulates in the society and thus loses its worth; I have made abundance in the society to make wealth lose its importance to people so that they prioritize chasing what they want; Those who seek wealth usually do it because they dream big things. These costs and conditions to fame and higher status will stop many from going up and creates balance, most want a happy, safe and easy life with their loved ones in abundance and that is what they get if they so desire; Farmers and small jobs are like that, not hard and well paying.

The students that graduate will have to have seen these things and realized them, that the Society is individual-oriented not whole. It is important what happens to the whole but Society was meant to keep individuals happy, so I created it in a way that it be as such. Not individuals giving up their happiness for Society.

There are many more matters that, hand to hand, make the kingdom function, I can dwell into in details but my throat is sore due to talking so much so maybe another time?" Said Arthas and took a long sip of his bottle and returned to watching the passing scenery, his thoughts unknown.

Gandalf nodded and remained silent but his expression was that of contemplation and focus.

His thoughts broke when a Hobbit suddenly appeared and said, "You are late.".

Gandalf stopped the carriage and turned to look at the Hobbit solemnly, "A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.".

Silence reigned as the two looked at each other. Arthas was calmly observing but inside he was laughing. The duo broke out in laughter and the Hobbit jumped and hugged Gandalf, "Its Wonderful to see you Gandalf!".

'The legendary moment...' Arthas thought and smiled. Gandalf continued, "You didn't think I would miss your uncle bilbo's birthday?".

The Hobbit smiled in good nature and turned to look at Arthas, "And who is your friend?".