There is little I can say to start such a tale other than introducing the facts and going from there. 
We are thus currently set in the mythical kingdom of France under the present reign of the supreme leader, king Macronus the first. As you assuredly know, there is a plague of international scale currently. Said plague has been affecting everyone in a variety of ways but the main effect was to cause a plague level outbreak of depression. Yes, you read that right, one plague causing another, just goes to show that bad things never come alone right?
All that being said, we are starting this adventure in the month of November under a grey Norman sky and it all starts with a simple magical letter. Said magical letter, after being delivered through the alchemy portal known as "computer", was opened and, in all its glory, a singly line stood out; this line simply said "It's time to pack adventurer, you have been invited to teach at the young adventurers' academy."

Oh the joy such a sentence can bring! Of all responses it was the least expected one of the all that ended up happening. This meant a few things for our young graduated mage: he would have to get all the authorisation forms from the various kingdoms in which he lived, he would need to pack his trunks so as to board the steel dragon with all that he needed, but most of all, this meant that he would finally be able to see his dame again. The hardships of getting the requested and needed parchments was nothing to tarnish the unbearable joy he felt knowing he would see his loved one again. 

The young magician was thus preparing himself for this new adventure in the best way he could: learning about the local language and culture, making sure to have adapted clothing and more specifically, making sure that, no matter what, he was mentally ready for the task of teaching his art to younglings. There was, underlying all of this, the fear of mounting a steel dragon again and his fear was not unfounded as you will learn later. 
throughout his time of preparation, our young mage was at a loss to advance his knowledge of the local magic, it required learning a new script, this much he managed, but the spells were beyond him. 

The simplest of spells, know as the "introduce y'a self dimwit" required him to make sounds with his mouth that he didn't even know he could make. That being said, once he finally got that much right, things started looking brighter until the next hurdle. You see, the tome explaining the local script was barely a few pages in length, the one for vocabulary, well let's just say it's an entire shelf. 

Back to the progression of events, we have now arrived in the month of December and, finally, the young magus has applied for the last slip of parchment he would need, in tune with his royal authorisation from the kingdom beyond the channel, to cross borders and specifically to mount the steel dragon. With that last process sent off and in the hands of the ambassadorial representatives, he had but one last task : packing and getting mentally ready for the new adventure and the new role it would include. 

In parallel to these events, and due to the plague, the mage had to get a probe from the Hippocrates mages to make sure said plague had not infected him. You see, beyond all the protective measures enforced in the land, the subjects of kind Macronus the first still managed to spread the plague far and wide. Due to this, many measures had to be taken and they were a true hinderance to the life of the people.

Now, skipping ahead to when there was actual good news and interesting event, the actual departure. Considering the distance of nigh on 73 leagues between the mage's home base and the steel dragon harbour near the capital, he first had to take other means of transport to get there. In this endeavour he was accompanied by his younger brother as they traveled. First by magically propelled chariot and then, from the ancient city of Bayeux, by land-snake. Oh how he loved the land-snake! Although not always the most stable method of transport, there was no denying that it was the smoothest of the entire journey.

From the land-snake he took two smaller ones in the city of Paris and finally arrived at the Steel Dragon harbour names after one of the commanders of yore "Charles of Gaule". What an honour it is within the kingdom to have such a place named after oneself. That all being said, it was now time to pass the legal formalities and await the dragon's take off.

See, the thing with these steel dragons, they are very complexe creatures and in this specific occurence, someone hurt it. This caused nearly 3 hours of delay on departure though departed they did. The earth's pull as strong as ever, it struggled slightly to get into the air yet, somehow, got up to altitude and from there was on its way, our mage safely tucked into its belly. 

{End of part 1}