"Mm mm!" They nod in agreement. "Those runes are neat. I want to draw one."

"Oooh, yes. I want to too. Maybe we can draw runes on each other."

"Wait until you're older, children," says their mother, looking over her shoulder back at them.

"Okay." Back to examining everything. Do all her siblings have the same rune? How far up the tower have they gotten?

Seems like, yep.

They're about thee-fourths of the way up.

Can she see what's at the very top? And what's off in the distance? She can see so far from up here. She cranes her neck around trying to take it all in.

At the very top is a huge mess of magic, flaring off into the sky. As far as she can tell, it's not actually doing anything in particular. In the distance, there's a ring of mountains, and beyond that, a shimmering blue ocean.

The broodmother pauses her upwards flight and hovers in place. "This is the Nexus, the pride of our flight. We gather leyline energy from all over Northrend and see it returned to the wider ecosystem. We also use it to power our containment systems for the collection of dangerous artifacts inside. We are blue dragons, and our charge is the magic of this world. We manage its use, we see that it is conserved, and we handle its dangers."

She has so many questions it takes a bit to decide what to ask first. "What are the dangers?" She pipes up.

"Magic is a tool of great power. Like any tool, the dangers it carries are of two broad kinds. First, that the one who seeks to wield the tool lacks the ability to control it and it turns in their hands, damaging the wielder and others. Second, that the one who uses it subverts its purpose and turns it to evil ends, harming both others and themselves."

Woah, this magic stuff is serious business.

She stares at the mountains and the ocean and the mana flaring off the tower. Maybe that's what 'returning it to the wider ecosystem' means? She'll ask, once her siblings have had a turn to ask their questions.

Her siblings want to know about people who use magic! Her mother talks about the great elven mages, the nightborne and the highborne, who raised great citadels and towers in time before the Sundering. The Moonguard, the Shen'dralar, the Duskwatch, the Tirisgarde. In modern times, the most notable group of magic users in the Kirin Tor, largely composed of humans and a spiritual successor to the Tirisgarde, based in their home city of Dalaran.

Now she wants to know about humans and elves, and what the Sundering was, and whether there are other kinds of people besides dragons and elves and humans! 

The tour moves on from the tower to the rest of the landscape, mostly snow and frosty ground, plains and hills. There's a small lake on the northern part of the island and a stand of trees. Various small wildlife lurks in various spots.

Long ago, the land of the world was all one big continent. The first sapient race to appear after the dragons were called the trolls. They had green or blue skin and long tusks, and were deeply connected to the land and nature. They were spread into many tribes that eventually organized into a series of empires. Following the breakup of one such empire, a significant group of trolls became involved in studying a great wellspring of magic called the Well of Eternity, which had been around since the Titans shaped the world. Close exposure to the magic gradually changed the trolls, softening their features and shortening their teeth until they became recognizable as a different species entirely, and these were called elves. The elves built a great civilization, but became arrogant and stopped heeding the advice of the dragons. Their foolishness brought to Azeroth an otherworldly invasion bent on destruction. A great war was fought to drive off the invaders, and in the process, the Well of Eternity was damaged. The release of energy this caused blasted the great continent into pieces which spread across the world. That was the Sundering, an event which changed the face of the world forever, driven by the foolishness of mortals.

Humans are descended from the vrykul, which themselves are remnants of the Titans' servants. Humans are presently the most numerous race on Azeroth, occupying much of the continents they call Lordaeron and Khaz Modan. Also present in those regions are the dwarves and the gnomes, diminutive races who care more for craft than magic.

That's a whole bunch of kinds of people to meet! And her mother is such a good teacher.

The broodmother points out a sinuous pink shape winding its way over the ground below. That's what a manawrym looks like, she explains, and they should make sure to stay away from them until they're older. They feed on magic, and will suck a whelp dry given the chance.

"Can manawyrms fly, or is flying away a good way to escape them?"

They can. Not very high or very fast, so you can still get away, but you do need to be alert enough to see them coming.

She's already paying as much attention as possible to everything within the range of her senses, on account of how all of it is new and most of it is fascinating, but she'll do her best there.

The next stop is at the base of the tower, with a large dragonkin. He has four legs, two arms, two wings, and carries a long pike. He introduces himself as Malec, the captain of the guard at the Nexus. He is in charge of security and patrols, and if they ever have any problems or see something odd, they can come to him.

The next dragonkin they meet is named Kharmeena, and she's assigned to be their tutor. Everything they need to know about magic, history, and the world, she can teach them.

The existence of tutors as a type of person is possibly the best thing in this whole amazing world. Magic! History! Information in general! Maragosa is a little blue sponge.

But first, food. Eventually the whelps will be able to hunt for themselves, but for now they can share the meals the dragonkin cook. A whole roasted goat is set aside for them.

Om nom goat! What's hunting like? What are goats like when they're not being eaten?

Hunting is about getting to the prey before the prey can get away. Either through stealth, speed, or numerical superiority.

Goats are hoofed animals that are sometimes kept as livestock for their fur, milk, and meat. They are hardy creatures and tolerate the harsh climate well. Some species are adept mountain climbers and can scale very steep cliffs.

Going up very steep cliffs is not hard, but doing it without wings is pretty impressive. Is it time to learn more about magic yet, she hopes it is.

Yes, it is!

The first lesson is about the schools of magic. There are six, three major schools and three minor schools. A school is a broad category of similar ways to work with mana. By dividing the study of magic into schools, one is able to focus their efforts on a particular method of manipulation and refine their approach without becoming overwhelmed. The three major schools are light, shadow, and arcane. The minor schools are frost, fire, and nature. Blue dragons tend to have an affinity for the schools of arcane and frost.