#and Aylin throws her head back to laugh and reminds him 'dearest sir I wield a sword taller than your venerable self'

[slverblood]

It's also like . . . Erlona was entrustedwith Aylin's upbringing, so of course she saw herself in more the teacher sort of role. Like she was a headmistress at a boarding school Aylin was sent to. It wasn't entirely wrong; it just wasn't entirely right either. What that approach failed to take into account is that "school" was never out for Aylin; she was never going "home" to her mother. Not for a long time, anyway. The only family she could have possibly had would've been those entrusted with her upbringing: Erlona, Meadowlin, and the Moonhaven community.

Meadowlin understood that, likely due to his background. Erlona was raised in a monastery, and Moonhaven was a famously Selûnite town that grew up around the temple. Meadowlin, however, wasn't always a paladin, wasn't especially religious before the werebear experience, and wasn't really raised religious either. (His family undoubtedly favored the halfling pantheon anyway.) So he was able to look at the matter from a different perspective. He instead approached Aylin's upbringing like they were fostering her — which is honestly the more accurate take on the situation. He not only felt more comfortable slipping into a paternal role but felt like he should, like that's what he signed up for in taking responsibility for Aylin. He trained her, yes, but also tried to generally guide and impart life wisdom to her as a father might.