Albion for a friend to be.

In Drachenwald the Albion is one of the most prestigious awards in our Kingdom. It is usually given for "untiring service, courtesy and devotion to the needs of others". It is only given once a reign so it makes the number of people who hold it quite small. To be exact according to the OP there are 44 members in total because a couple of kings gave out more than one. The Albion is special and I mean really special. It comes usually at the end of court and it's given out usually with the telling of the Story of Albion.   
It's almost always a big surprise who will be awarded it and usually one that is rewarded with a huge cheer from the populace. If you've been awarded the Albion it means something huge.

This was the first time I was asked to do a BIG scroll for an award going out, not a backlog and I was excited. Signe was still signet clerk and I was still a novice scribe. This was being awarded to Countess Cecelia and at the time I didn't really know her but we'd met at least once before at Matthewe and Alienor's coronation in Naples.

I decided to show the 4 gifts of Albion because although the story itself revolves around Yustav ( who I think needs a good swift kick up the arse for being a selfish git) the actual story is about Albion the selfless black dragon. It's about giving without thioughtof reward, it's about doing without thought of recognition and it's about love for the whole of the kingdom rather than love of self and it is about being kind even if the person you are being kind to is a git.

This is water colour and gouache done on bristol board with gold leaf, oak gall black ink and probably Windsor & Newton red (though I would not quote me on that last bit)  There are two miniatures, one of Cecelia with baby black dragons because why not? And one of her best friends. The image was painted from a photograph taken at coronation in Naples.

It's a simple scroll really, probably with too much white space but it earned me a "well done" from Master Etienne and that was a pretty big deal for me. I never really got a ton of feedback for the work I was doing so when it happened it was big and I remember everyone who helped make me a better scribe or just said thank you for doing the work. This particular lesson has stuck around, words mean business so be careful how you use them, especially if you are a peer ( more on that in another post I think)

As pieces go, even though it is far from perfect in so many ways,  it's still one of my favourites and interestingly enough nearly 10 years later the recipient of this scroll and I have become best friends making it even more special that I got to do this for her then.