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» Candidate Lesson #1: Welcome to the Weyr
by Kestrana Wed Mar 16, 2022 9:56 pm

» Candidate Lesson #3: Hold and Weyr Relations
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» Check-in with Candidatemaster Lery
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» Candidate Lesson #2: Manners for the Mannerly
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» Chore Group A: Food Services (morning) -- Nium, Marrisha, Quarion, Shemov, Alyena
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» Boys' Bunkroom #5 - Liadon, Patelo, Learyam
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» 3941.03.20 10:30 - Aren, Erhom, Lorler, Tikal, Silvara
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Acknowledgements

All canon Pern content copyright to Anne McCaffrey. All non-canon Pern content copyright Kestrana. All draconic sprites/button images copyright to various artists (many images from Pern book covers; dragon sprite from "Dragonlady" fantasy portrait of Anne McCaffrey). All original characters copyright of their gamers.

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Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
Leena & Artie

The twins' parents had gone away for a day to some meeting and when they got back, they told Leena and Artie that there was a new project for their smithy to work on.  They wouldn't go into detail about what the project was, but given that there were reports of Threadfall coming down in other longitudes, they didn't really need to.  Every Apprentice was put to work building parts that the older smiths could weld together.  For Artie and Leena, that mean bending flat and round stock as needed to make chains and corner braces.  They were learning how to straighten stock, too, and because of this massive project, there were plenty of bent scraps coming in that needed straightened and, after being straightened, they were reforged by one of the older smiths; sometimes, those reforged bits would come back across their anvils, waiting to be bent into new, useful shapes.

During the work, Leena developed a knack for making chains.  Her parents quickly caught on and she and her mother teamed up: Leena bent and interlaced the links and her mother welded them.  Meanwhile, Artie worked with another Journeyman bending shutter frames.

Leena had no idea where all the materials were coming from, nor where all of their finished products were going to.  She saw tables and tools being being made, especially stonemason tools.  She was curious and regularly asked where the tools were being sent, but her father always shushed her.  Finally, she got Signy to follow one of the shipments; unfortunately, the distractable green fret got sidetracked halfway through the trip.  So she got Artie to convince Hagbard to follow it instead.  That's how the twins found out that they were being shipped to the volcanic atoll south of the island they lived on.

They confronted their parents with the information the next evening over dinner.  "We're fourteen, not eight!" Leena pointed out.  "We can keep a secret.  What is going on?"

"Leena, Artie, it's not a question of whether or not you can keep a secret.  There are people out there who can learn that secret without you actually telling them.  You know that from your Harper classes.  The fewer people who know what's going on, the better.  You need to keep what you've found to yourselves."  Their father was so livid that he'd been unable to speak and had to leave the room while their mother explained.

The twins were too old to be very frightened by their parents' statements, but it did impress on them the seriousness of the situation.  They sat quietly through the rest of dinner and considered what their mother said.  Finally, Artie asked, "Are we going to be moving there?"

Their parents looked at the two of them solemnly.  "I don't know," their father said, finally.  "Some people might.  I don't know if we will."

The twins went to bed that night, wondering what the next few months would bring.

#Site-Mini-Plot
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:37 pm; edited 2 times in total

2The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.12 Wed Aug 07, 2019 11:19 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
A few days after that fateful conversation, Lenora was summoned away to another secret meeting.  She looked both excited and worried when she returned, and instructed the children to pack their things.  "We're going on a boat trip tonight.  The timeline was just accelerated."

Teren looked alarmed.  "Wait, so we're going?  Just like that?!"

The twins grinned at each other and ran off to their rooms to, for once, do exactly as they'd been told without arguing at all.  Signy and Hagbard did loop-the-loops around their bedrooms, picking up on their owners' excitement.  They had no idea where they were going, but that didn't dampen their excitement one bit.

Just after civil twilight ended, there was a knock at the door.  Their parents ushered Leena and Artie outside with harshly whispered admonitions to stay quiet and to keep their frets quiet, too.  They were wearing long cloaks with the hoods up, rendering them practically unidentifiable.  They climbed into a coach, which drove away as soon as they were inside.

To Leena's confusion, the coach headed away from the shipyard.  She turned to ask her parents, and they shushed her before she had so much as opened her mouth.  Several minutes and a dozen turns later, they pulled into a warehouse.  Even knowing her way around the Hold as well as she did, Leena was thoroughly lost.

Inside the warehouse, the family was given new cloaks.  Artie was given a navy blue cloak, while Leena and her parents received green ones.  A gravely voice greeted their mother - a man wearing a blue cloak that matched Artie's.  Teren turned to them, "Artie, you're going to go with Harper Benimin.  You're a Harper's Apprentice tonight.  Do exactly what Beni tells you without question, do you understand?"  The fear in their father's voice silenced the children's protests.  "We'll see you soon."

Shortly afterward, the two Harpers slipped out a side door.  After what seemed like half the night, though Timor had barely risen a fingerlength above where it had been when they entered the warehouse, Lenora, Teren, and Leena slipped out another side door.  At the back of the warehouse, they collected a cart, which Teren yoked himself to and began to pull, with Leena and her mother pushing or dragging to keep the movement even on slopes.  No one stopped them, but they kept an urgency about them, as though they were worried they wouldn't make it to the dockside warehouses before the morning tide, when the ships left.  Their progress was slow, and it pained Leena to creep along so.

They finally arrived at the docks, Teren making a show of being relieved to have made it before dawn, though there were still several hours to go.  They pushed the cart inside one of the warehouses.  Then they were told to lie down in some crates, which were closed up with the people inside.  Leena's heart raced, and Signy started to fuss.  "If you can't keep her quiet, send her off somewhere," someone hissed.  Afraid to be separated from her fret at this juncture, Leena succeeded in calming the little green.  The boxes were stacked on a cart that was then rolled out to the ship.  Through one of the cracks in her crate, Leena saw three people wearing their now-discarded green cloaks heading back into town with the empty cart.  She wondered how many more times that ruse would be used.  Their crates were carefully carried up into the cargo hold amidst many admonitions about being careful from a woman wearing a white belt that marked her as a Glassmith.

Once safely inside the cargo hold of the ship, the crate lids were removed and their occupants allowed out.  Artie was already there and flung himself into their arms.  Now the real waiting began: every new voice on the docks set the adults on edge, every inch that the morning shadows moved made them fidget.  Finally, the doors closed and the shouts of sailors casting off their lines filled the air outside the muffled hold.  Moments later, the ship slid into motion, glided out of the harbor, and leaped into motion as the sails unfurled and snapped full of a brisk breeze.

Leena desperately wanted to go topside.  Artie and the Harper had a cabin above, as passengers, as did a few others, but most of the people were stuffed in the cargo hold - and had to stay there, to avoid the prying eyes of spies.  One day, she tied her hair up tight and Artie switched cloaks with her so she could get some fresh air; although their parents frowned, they weren't the only family members making such switches when it seemed safe enough to do so.

The autumn storms were starting, and their second night out was unpleasant.  Many people got seasick, and the cargo hold reeked.  Around noon the next day, the ship made a sudden turn, and at dusk, the anchor was lowered in a sheltered cove.  Under the cover of darkness, people were ferried to a seaside cave entrance in longboats, and they followed the twisting tunnel into a huge caldera: a dead volcano.  Leena and Artie gawked, and even their parents weren't immune from the desire to stare.  When everyone had disembarked the ship and arrived in the caldera, someone shouted, "Welcome to Exile Weyr!  Down that tunnel is the Great Hall, and you can all sleep there tonight.  Tomorrow, we'll figure out the living situations for everyone!  Get some sleep, we've got a lot of work to do over the next few days!"
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

3The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.13 Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:49 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
Leena and Artie, as well as every other immigrant under the age of 20, would really rather have gone exploring than settle down in the Great Hall to sleep.  People were taken by groups to another chamber where there was water - including thermal springs for hot water! - where they could wash up.  By the time they bathed, removing the stink of three days' ocean travel trapped in the cargo hold, even the most exuberant holdling child was ready for a night of sound sleep on solid ground.

In this era of electricity, it wasn't unusual for adults to rise early or stay up late.  So when Teren and Lenora woke the next morning, they expected to find lights in the various caverns.  After all, although the original exiles didn't have those technologies when they were first forced out of the Weyrs, Holds, and Halls of old, bits and pieces had been smuggled in and reproduced, and Exile Hold was nearly as technologically advanced as any mainland Hold - the main difference was how they chose to use it.  While the mainlanders liked to flaunt their wealth by displaying as many technological marvels as they could obtain, the exiles kept to those that were functional and efficient, and one could frequently find a Technician poring over design schematics, looking for ways to improve the devices or processes.  A reverence for the dragonfolk persisted in the Isles, and it underscored their deep appreciation for quality craftsmanship, which had prevented the loss of so many techniques that plagued the mainland products.

So the adults were surprised that no electric lights shone into the darkness: hurricane lantern-style terrariums, a modern improvement on old-fashioned glow-baskets, pulsed with the natural luminescence of that fungoid.  Unlike the old glows, which had to be replaced on a regular basis, these terrariums provided what the polyps needed to self-replenish and reproduce, producing an ever-lasting glow.  Shutters were closed over the lanterns to conceal the light when needed.

Teren stopped someone whose shoulderknot indicated they'd been living here.  "Why no electric lights?" he asked curiously.  He figured that they just hadn't gotten around to installing them, or perhaps the materials for constructing them hadn't yet arrived.

"Learyam was insistent that we not include electric lights in most of the living spaces.  Some areas have them, like the Infirmary, the conference rooms, and the craft shops, but the living areas almost exclusively use the glows."

Teren looked surprised.  "Why?"

The man shrugged.  "Something about renewable versus non-renewable resources, I don't remember the exact explanation.  I'm just glad I have an electric headlamp for what I work on!"  He hefted a handheld sledge and spike - masonry tools for carving rock walls - and bid the adults farewell as he headed onward to whatever room he was working in that day.

Lenora and Teren shared a puzzled look.  As Smiths, they were aware of the limited quantities of raw materials on Pern.  AIVAS had explained that one of the main reasons why the colonists had been allowed to settle on Pern was because of its dearth of commercially-desirable materials - development companies had other, much richer planets that could be pillaged for their resources with less expense and trouble than Pern.  But the exiles were accustomed to a circular economy: nothing was thrown away until it had worn to the point where it could no longer be reused or repaired, and even then, the individual components were often melted down for re-use in something totally new (at least in the case of the plastic, metal, and paper products).  They had heard that on the mainland, some products, like paper, had become so easy to manufacture as "virgin" products that no one even bothered to save the used products for re-use, or to repair them when they broken, they just bought new ones, creating a linear economy.  Where the old ones ended up was anyone's guess - although at least some of them got shipped off to the islands for disposal (where the exiles often collected them and gave them new life).

The bustle of life in what was set to become a dragon Weyr was starting to rouse the children, and it wasn't long before someone wearing a red shoulderknot, along with Master Harper Benimin, started getting the attention of the adults.

"My name is Kanorl, and I'm in charge of getting everyone situated! We want to divide you all up into smaller groups.  Throughout the day, you'll get tours of our facilities and have a chance to select quarters.  On the wall behind me, you'll see there's a map of the different levels of the Weyr," a gasp and mutters rippled through the audience, interspersed with squeals of excitement from some of the younger members.  Leena and Artie tugged at Lenora's sleeve and looked at her hopefully - they were too polite to speak up and interrupt the speaker, but the silent question was etched as clear as Threadscore on their faces.  Lenora smiled tightly and squeezed their hands, but also didn't say anything; it still didn't seem possible, or real, but Learyam had been adamant that he'd heard from the dragonriders who were coming forward through time to save them.  She still wasn't quite sure she believed it, but AIVAS records were clear that it was possible, and she had no reason to doubt the Journeyman Harper.

The speaker smiled the same, "I can't quite believe it's real," smile that Lenora had and waited for the hubbub to die down.  "You can look at the map and see if any of the vacant quarters catch you eye.  I'd recommend picking out two or three possibilities in case someone else beats you to it.  Each family will get a smaller map, so you can mark on your map which ones you're interested in when you're touring.  After all the groups have seen all the facilities, we'll collect your maps and try to come up with something that satisfies everyone.  We have pins that will be put into the big maps here so you can see where your quarters are once those decisions are made, and if and when you have friends or family who arrive later, they'll be able to find you!  Please, if you are single or a couple with no children, we ask that you consider the smaller quarters initially and let those with larger families have first claim to the larger quarters!  Changes can be made later."

While Kanorl spoke, Benimin and a couple of others wearing Harper blue were handing out packets of papers.  On the top-most paper was printed a list of names (the family members), an oversized-print letter U, and a list of documents included in the packet.  There were two copies of the map in the packet that Benimin handed to Teren with a smile, one for them to mark their preferred living quarters on and one to keep.  There was a list of supplies that each family could requisition from Stores, if they didn't have any in their packs; the instructions said they were to bring their packs down to the Storerooms for inventory, to make sure no one took something they already had, or had too many of something.  Many of the adults who had come on the ship looked mildly offended at the implied accusation of hoarding, but no one really seemed upset about it.  Most of them may not have realized it, but they had been thoroughly screened before being allowed to come to the island, specifically for this reason.  Until the Weyr was able to provide for itself or started receiving tithes, their system had to be strictly regulated, and those who passed the screening included frugal mindsets and a willingness to share.

There were six groups, designated by the letter on their packet.  In addition, there were six "tasks" to complete: visiting Stores; touring living quarters; touring the rest of the facilities; receiving Craft studio space and requisitioning materials; duty roster sign-up; and mealtimes.  As soon as packets had been handed out to everyone, Group A was hustled off to the kitchens to get some breakfast - because they had all slept in the Great Hall, there was no room to eat, so each group would not only eat in the kitchens, but they would serve themselves and help with cleanup, too.  Group E gathered near a table to one side of the Great Hall to complete their duty roster sign-up.  Group I was told to get their belongings and they headed for the Stores for inventory.  Group O were guided to the crafthall area of the Weyr where they would either meet with whatever members of their Craft already resided here to receive their studio assignments and start setting up their individual spaces, or gathered as a group to parcel out studio space and supplies.  Group U left to tour the available living quarters, while Group Y followed a guide outside for a longer tour of the Weyr.  Throughout the day, the groups rotated through each of the tasks, so that they were all finished in time for a late lunch - which they could eat in the Great Hall, since everyone's belongings had been put away!

Group A consists of Bakers, Vintners, Farmers, and Herders. Group E consists of Sailors, Carpenters, and Glassmiths.  Group I consists of Harpers, Healers, and Dolphineers.  Group O consists of Technicians, Computerers, Papermakers, Printers, and Plastic-makers.  Group U consists of Masons, Miners, and Smiths.  Group Y consists of Tanners, Tailors, and Weavers.

Group A:

  1. Breakfast (30 minutes)
  2. Living quarters (30 minutes)
  3. Weyr tour (2.5 hours)
  4. Inventory at Stores (1 hour)
  5. Craft studio space (1 hour)
  6. Duty roster (30 minutes)


Group E:

  1. Duty roster (30 minutes)
  2. Breakfast (30 minutes)
  3. Living quarters (30 minutes)
  4. Weyr tour (2.5 hours)
  5. Craft studio space (1 hour)
  6. Inventory at Stores (1 hour)


Group I:

  1. Inventory at Stores (1 hour)
  2. Breakfast (30 minutes)
  3. Living quarters (30 minutes)
  4. Weyr tour (2.5 hours)
  5. Duty roster (30 minutes)
  6. Craft studio space (1 hour)


Group O:

  1. Craft studio space (1 hour)
  2. Duty roster (30 minutes)
  3. Breakfast (30 minutes)
  4. Inventory at Stores (1 hour)
  5. Weyr tour (2.5 hours)
  6. Living quarters (30 minutes)


Group U:

  1. Living quarters (30 minutes)
  2. Craft studio space (1 hour)
  3. Duty roster (30 minutes)
  4. Breakfast (30 minutes)
  5. Inventory at Stores (1 hour)
  6. Weyr tour (2.5 hours)


Group Y:

  1. Weyr tour (2.5 hours)
  2. Breakfast (30 minutes)
  3. Living quarters (30 minutes)
  4. Duty roster (30 minutes)
  5. Inventory at Stores (1 hour)
  6. Craft studio space (1 hour)

http://reverie.rpg-board.net



Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:34 pm; edited 3 times in total

4The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.13 Mon Aug 19, 2019 5:12 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
Leena and Artie were a little disappointed to not be in the group that was going on the Weyr tour first thing.  Or in the group that got to eat first.  Either of those would have been good.  On the flip side, though, they got to be the first ones to look at the living quarters, which in their minds, meant first choice of apartments (even though, in reality, they would be democratically decided later in the day).

If they were expecting grandiose quarters, though, the twins were destined to be disappointed.  Most of the apartments consisted of only roughed-out caverns, where the greatest attention had been paid to the floors and to the height of the ceilings, and not much to anything else.  Only a few of the ground-level apartments opened to the outside; most of the places with openings to the outside were reserved for dragonriders.  Compared to what the children were used to, the available living quarters were claustrophobic and gloomy.  Most of them only had one glow-lantern to start with - that would be one of the items they could requisition from Stores later - and none of them had any furniture.

There were only a dozen or so options that had three smaller rooms that could be used as bedrooms, with a larger outer room for living space.  Because the twins weren't the same gender, Teren and Lenora were told they'd get priority consideration for one of those suites, if that's what they wanted; there were a couple of larger suites being built, but none of them were ready for habitation yet.  The whole family felt the pressure of the constraints in the Weyr; they were accustomed to being able to spread their belongings out, and if they needed more space, why, they just built an addition to their home!  They weren't the only ones who felt uncomfortable in the enclosed surroundings.  The children were the most vocal about it, but the pinched faces around them hinted at the adults' discomfort as well.

It didn't take long for the Crafters in their group to start talking about how to build out from the volcanic walls, using stone being removed from interior corridors and creating steel shutters for windows.  One of the long-time residents overheard them talking among themselves.  "If you can do it, everyone would love it.  That hasn't been a priority for us; it's easier to open up the caverns than to build exterior structures, especially now that Thread has returned.  The focus has been on making sure everyone has shelter safely inside the volcano's walls.  The children have it the worst, so if you decide to do that, one of the ground-level, exterior locations has been being used for a creche, and expanding that with windows would make life more bearable for them!"  That sparked another round of debate among the adults, to which the more astute apprentices listened carefully.

Eventually, Teren and Lenora marked two of the three-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom suite that was on an outer wall; the latter could be expanded outside using stone and steel eventually.  There was already a great deal of bartering starting up between the Masons, Miners, and Smiths for work - the Miners could excavate stone from corridors and interior rooms, the Masons could construct exterior structures, and the Smiths could provide beams to support steel or slate roofs and metal shutters for windows.  It was expected that the Glassmiths, when they learned of the situation, would barter window glass in exchange for having their own quarters enlarged.

As things stood at that moment, Leena and Artie would have preferred one of the larger apartments.  However, they'd caught glimpses of the rest of the Weyr as they'd traversed the living quarters areas, so having the smaller apartment and adding to it could give them quite a nice view...
http://reverie.rpg-board.net



Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:32 pm; edited 2 times in total

5The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.13 Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:03 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
After they selected the apartments they were interested in, Group U was led to the Crafting caverns: a massive, five-story space full of house-sized alcoves.  The space had been loosely divided up by Craft.  The group was awed by the amount of space designated for their use; growing up on the Eastern Isles had resulted in most of them sharing cramped spaces with others of their Craft, or even related disciplines, and often led to conflict among individuals.  It had also led to a general segregation of the Crafts.

"Everyone needs protection from Thread, and since we're building something new from scratch and won't have the support of the Mainland Holds, we needed to make sure we had enough space for everyone.  Space is something we're not in short supply of.  I'm afraid materials are a different story, though..." their guide explained.

The smithing family selected a studio suite on the west side of the pillar in the Smithcraft area.  Their guide put a sign on the entryway post and said that their equipment, which had been shipped in with them, would be delivered to this space and they'd have time in the next few days to unpack it.  They'd also be able to place orders for custom furniture to fit the space, such as racks to hold their tools.

The group's children were starting to grumble about being hungry, but there was one more stop to make: the Duty Roster sign-up.  They were being asked to help out on other tasks around the Weyr, and the tasks were broken out by age as much as by Craft.

For the children under the age of 10 and older than 6, the largest list was for moving rock that was being chipped out of the assorted chambers.  Next was spreading sand in the Hatching Grounds: a hot, sweaty, unpleasant task, but one of the most crucial.  They were also responsible for moving the smaller requisitioned products, like blankets and glow-lanterns, to the locations where they'd been requested.

Youngsters between the ages of 10 and 16 were still asked to help with those tasks, but they were also being asked to help with rubble removal from the lakes and main caldera floor, installing fencing for the livestock, and smoothing and leveling the tunnel floors coming up from the Harbor.  They also took care of the larger requisitioned items.  If they had a particular talent in their Craft, they could also sign up to do that work.

Those older than 16 were primarily expected to help the Journeymen and Masters in their Crafts.  If they didn't have a Craft, they were assigned to the various housekeeping tasks around the Weyr: hanging glow-lanterns and assembling tables and furniture in the public areas, chopping food or washing dishes in the kitchens, sweeping floors, and white-washing walls to lighten the otherwise gloomy atmosphere.

The 14-year-old Leena and Artie were torn: Leena had proven that she was very skilled at making chains and could request to stay in the family smithy, but they could spend more time in other places around the Weyr if they signed up for other duties!  Artie didn't have any specialty in Smithing the way his sister did, so he was signing up to spend time spreading sand in the Hatching Grounds - having grown up in a smithy, he would be both more tolerant of the heat and more attentive to his hydration needs.  Teren and Lenora told Leena to make her own decision: she's 14 and capable of making this decision on her own.  Finally, she decided to stay in the smithy; there was a need for metalwork around the Weyr, and she could contribute.

At long last, they got to eat.  The group was shepherded into the main cafeteria.  Breakfast was a simple affair: hardtack biscuits with gravy that tasted of more sausage than it had in it, some fruit, and an "omelet" of eggs, mushrooms, and cheese.  After they ate, everyone chipped in to wash the dishes they'd use and the communal dishes from which breakfast had been served.

To the kids' disappointment, they STILL didn't get to go on the Weyr tour!  Now they picked up their packs of personal belongings and headed for Stores.  Each person opened their pack at a table and emptied it.  Belongings were inventoried.  Most of the people had only brought what they actually needed.  A few of the children had brought extra toys and were asked to donate some to the creche.  Extra clothes went into a donation pile.  "The dragonriders couldn't bring much with them," someone said.  No one knew how accurate that statement was, since none of them had actually seen the dragonriders, nor did they have any first-hand knowledge.

In addition to inventorying the supplies they'd brought with them, they were able to requisition items for their apartments.  Even though they didn't know which living quarters they'd receive, there were certain things they could request regardless: beds, pillows, blankets, a limited number of glow-lanterns, feminine products for the women, and so on.  The list was filled out with their names and personnel started putting together the items; later in the day, when the apartments were assigned, the packs would be taken up to the apartments.  Their personal packs were added to the piles for each family and would be delivered as well.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:32 pm; edited 1 time in total

6The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.13 Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:27 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
Finally, the part of their day that the twins had been dying for all morning - the tour!

Naturally, since they were in the Great Hall and kitchens, that's where the tour started.  They spent a little time examining the three levels of food storage off those two spaces, although that was mostly a, "Here's what we're planning to do, but we don't have need for it or the Crafters to make it work yet," examination.  They had also gotten a pretty thorough tour of the Living Quarters and Crafting Caverns areas already.  So they exited the Great Hall through the front entrance.  This was their first chance to get a really good look at the Weyrbowl.

It was only mid-morning when they stepped outside.  The far wall of the Weyrbowl was still in shadow and they were facing into the sun, but for all of them, who had spent three days locked up in a ship's hold and the last several hours underground, it felt fantastic!  After their eyes adjusted, Leena saw what a lot of her chains had been being used for: fencing around the area they were standing in.

"This will be the Gather Grounds.  It's reasonably flat already, making it ideal for setting up tables and booths for Gathers, but there's a 50-foot drop-off over there, which is why we have the fencing!  Come this way and we'll walk across the Weyrbowl," their guide intoned before leading them to the southern end of the fenced space.  The slope beyond the gate in the fence gradually dipped toward the floor of the caldera.  A ramp about halfway between the Gather Grounds and the main lake - Caldera Lake, they were told - led down into the bottom of the Weyrbowl.  It was about a half mile hike across the Bowl to the caverns that were being enlarged and modified to serve as barracks for the weyrlings.  Every youngster those caverns excitedly, and many of the adults trailed along wistfully.

Although they didn't walk there, their guide pointed out the long, flat area along the northern end of the Bowl.  "That's where we expect most of the weyrlings to train.  There's a good spot for them to practice flying and things like that.  The livestock have mostly free rein of the Bowl, where they can get water."

They meandered around to the south, following the wall of the caldera, and encountered several caverns.  Their guide explained that these were weyrs for injured dragons.  There was some concern over whether or not there were enough weyrs for the dragons, but no one really knew how common injuries were, and the mainland Weyrs didn't have much more space, so far as they could tell.  In about the middle of the infirmary weyrs was another entrance to the Lower Caverns.  "The only problem with this design is that we may have difficulty getting the livestock inside during Fall, especially if there are dragons in the weyrs.  We'll have to see how that works..."

There were a number of alcoves being chipped in the volcano's walls.  Most of them were being reached by ladders, although some of the lower levels were getting ramps or staircases smoothed into the cliff face.  "We've identified spaces for almost 400 dragons.  But we're going to need the dragons' help to get to some of them!"

Back underground, the new arrivals observed stalls being constructed inside the shelter, to hold the livestock.  Water trickled down through cracks in the rock from one of the lakes above them, providing a ready source of liquid for the animals.  Someone yelped in surprise when a cart laden with lumber rumbled around a corner, being drawn by a pair of watchwhers in harness.  The whers stopped, uncertain about the number of people and wary of the light streaming in behind them, until reassured by their handler, who rewarded the two for their labor with affectionate caresses on their eyeridges, drawing a gravelly purr from the warped creatures.  Although those in the Isles had carefully preserved the documents describing the dragons and showing their images, after 1,200 years, those documents were deteriorating, and the Mainland's prevalent portrayal of dragons as oversized watchwhers had been slowly creeping into the Isles' culture, despite the diligence of their Harpers.  It was somewhat unsettling for some of the members of the group.  Their guide explained that the whers were used to haul most of the loads of goods throughout the Weyr because the horses wouldn't readily tolerate the dark, enclosed spaces.  They would trade harnesses for loads that needed to go into lighter areas because of the whers' photosensitivity.

They had already been to the Stores earlier that day, although now they got some idea of how large they actually were.  Of course, much of it was empty and neglected for now - the storerooms, bins, and racks that would be needed to hold their goods would be built and modified as they became necessary.

Instead of going further to the left and deeper into Stores, their guide led them to the right, through the more conventional Infirmary.  These halls and rooms were lit with electric lights and seemed very bright to the people who were rapidly becoming accustomed to the shadows of the Lower Caverns.  A left-hand turn just beyond the Infirmary led to the bathing areas.  The upper level was reserved for the Healers and the Infirmary and was lit accordingly.  The second level was divided by gender and served as washrooms for the residents of the Lower Caverns.  Most of the individual weyrs would eventually have their own private bathing rooms, and there was hope that the same could be done for most of the apartments, but for now, they had to share.  The third level was used by the housekeeping staff for laundry.  There were an abundance of hot springs, so no one would want for a hot bath.

And with that, they were back in the Living Quarters area.  It was slightly past midday and several of the other groups had already eaten lunch.  Their group mingled with the others in the Great Hall, going to the Kitchens or Main Cafeteria to eat when they felt hungry.  The last groups joined them shortly thereafter.  After an hour or so had passed, giving everyone ample time to eat lunch, Steward Kanorl, Master Benimin, and a woman whose name they didn't catch quietly converged on the map and began placing pins on it.  After several minutes, their activity was noticed by others and people began crowding around the map, looking for their names on the pins, to find out which apartment they would be getting.  To the twins' mixed excitement and disappointment, their family got the 2-bedroom overlooking Caldera Lake.  They would have to wait to get the expansion outside of the natural walls until more important tasks had been completed, but their firelizards would have easy access to come and go as they pleased (as if they really needed that, with their ability to go between).  By the time the family made their way back through the twisting tunnels, their packs and most of their requisitioned items had been delivered.  The afternoon was spent assembling the beds and unpacking.  They had no cabinets, shelves, or closets at this point - carpentry was one of the tasks that was in high demand - but they had plenty of rope and pitons to sink into the stone to create some semblance of privacy and to allow them to hang up their clothes.

It was evening by the time they were satisfied with how they'd set up what they had.  They took the outside route, past the creche, to return to the Great Hall for dinner, enjoying the evening walk outside.  Many parents were collecting their toddlers from the creche and before long, a large group of people were following the smithing family toward the entrance.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

7The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.13 Wed Sep 18, 2019 12:04 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
Supper was a fish stew (a longer-term resident was overheard muttering "again") that was self-served, as well as a heavy bread and a selection of fresh fruit.  Despite the grumbling from the more senior residents, the stew wasn't that bad.  Certainly not as salty as fish stews were normally reputed to be, nor as fishy-flavored; someone praised a woman wearing a silver shoulderknot for the fresh fish - apparently, there were dolphins helping provide food for the Weyrfolk!

There was a fair amount of hubbub as the new arrivals reunited with friends or family and met others.  They hadn't had much chance to mingle with others earlier in the day.  There was a certain amount of segregation among the residents, mostly by craft; due to the nature of living on the islands, most crafters of a given craft knew each other, but were strangers to other crafts.  There was some crossover when a family member had chosen a different craft, but it was surprising to the Harpers to realize just how familial the crafts had become.  It was expected that the children would follow in their parents' footsteps, not branch out to find their own niches.  Those with psionic Gifts seemed to be the only ones that had diversified, and the Harpers were the only craft that seemed to have members that originated from every corner of the islands.  As a result, several of the senior Harpers converged on Master Benimin to discuss ways to encourage diversification: the Weyr needed people who were not only competent at their jobs, but enjoyed them and the challenges that were looming, not crafters who trudged through the day-to-day activities that were expected of them because of their heritage.  Beni acknowledged the concerns and said they could discuss it more once the rest of the immigrating Weyrfolk arrived.

Leena, Artie, Teren, and Lenora greeted the handful of other smithing families they knew.  There were surprisingly few of them, considering the fledgling Weyr's needs and the space that had been designated for the smithies.  Lenora seemed to know something about that, but didn't say anything, at least not in earshot of Leena and Artie.  The twins were left somewhat to their own devices: none of the other smithing families had children their age.

Leena wasn't normally shy, but she had been feeling very small all day, and the feeling had just intensified when everyone converged on the Great Hall for dinner.  Despite the fact that everyone was in the Hall at the same time, the cavern felt empty: their current 800 or so residents only really filled up the cafeteria - the Great Hall was nearly five times that size!  After eating a healthy bowl of stew, a thick slice of bread, and a piece of fruit, Leena went to the kitchens to clean up and then slipped away to the weyrbowl entrance.  She wandered out to the edge of the Gather area, to the chain fence, and spent a bit of time inspecting the workmanship.  Signy joined her and enjoyed swooping along the cliff face below the Gather Grounds.  Leena slowly ambled north along the fence, eventually reaching a gate.  There was no lock, and no one around to tell her otherwise, so she let herself through the gate.  The ledge narrowed a bit before widening and she found a steep, but navigable slope up to the next level.  She scrambled up the slope onto a broad plateau-like area.  There were alcoves in the cliff face overlooking the space that were clearly being turned into weyrs for dragons.  A couple of them were at ground level, and Leena decided to explore one of them.

The plateau was wider than it looked, and it took the teenage girl nearly five minutes to reach her target.  As she approached, she realized that the "alcoves" were much bigger than she thought, which had compounded the deceptively short distance across the plateau.  Why, the one she had chosen was as tall as a three-story house, and over three times as wide as it was tall!  (32 feet tall by 107 feet wide)  Awed by the sheer size of the opening, she crept inside, gawking at the massive cavern, which was twice as wide as the entrance and descended into the cliff face by more than half that distance (120 feet deep).  Were dragons really that big?  In the waning light of evening, she saw a small opening near the rear of the cavern and nervously skittered across the floor toward it, trying to imagine Signy being so large as to fill the outer chamber.  Her little green fret settled on her shoulder, picking up her mistress' anxiety.

The opening, which seemed small compared to the dragon's sleeping chamber, and yet was wide enough for five people to walk abreast and twice as tall as the tallest person she knew, led to a much more normal-sized set of rooms.  The outer room was clearly a living space; while the Weyrfolks' spaces were not furnished yet, some effort had been made to put at least a cabinet, a dresser, and a small table and chair in this space.  She tiptoed into the rear room - it was too dark for her to make anything out clearly, but as she moved into the room, she stubbed her toe on a piece of furniture.  Reaching down, she found it was a bed, complete with mattress.  A gurgle of water deeper into the gloom indicated that there was a bathing chamber there as well.

Signy squeaked unhappily and Leena gratefully took that as an excuse to scurry back outside.  Having looked inside one of the weyrs now, she couldn't help but gawk at the other openings.  If they were all as large as this one...she couldn't wrap her head around the sheer amount of space the dragons would take be taking up, or the amount of rock that was being removed to make room for them.  She remembered someone had said something about "400 dragons."

Before she could make the decision on her own to return to the Lower Caverns, Hagbard materialized in front of her and twittered in annoyance.  Signy chirped back with equal asperity and sent Leena an image of her parents and brother looking for her.  The girl sighed and turned back toward the Lower Caverns entrance, prepared to tromp across the autumn-withered grass, and Signy took to the air with her brown brother.  As Leena started to step out of the shelter of the cliffside weyr, however, both frets' demeanor abruptly changed.  They dove back toward her and grasped at her hair and shirt and started tugging her back toward the cavern, frantically squawking.  "I thought you wanted me to go back to the Lower Caverns, you pests," she complained loudly.  Shouts from the far end of the Bowl drew her attention briefly as people came pouring out of the Caverns and started herding the livestock toward that entrance.  She couldn't hear what was being said, but the tone of panic was clear; but what were they doing?  Was it normal to take the livestock inside at night?  That wouldn't explain the panic, though.  Then she realized that - now that she had stepped back under the shelter of the weyr's overhang, and SHE was INSIDE - both fire-dragonets had disappeared.

Moments later, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, up near the lip of the caldera.  Had the dragons arrived, is that why they were moving the livestock inside, so they wouldn't panic when the dragons appeared?  The movement increased, but although serpentine in nature, it was certainly nothing like Signy's graceful movements, or even the whers they'd seen earlier.  She was too far away to make out individual movements, there was just a general sense of slithery motion.  A pained bellow from one of the herdbeasts drew Leena's attention away from the silvery ripples; she thought she saw the beast for a moment, but she thought her sight must be obscured by mist because the creature disappeared after a couple of seconds.  Human screams echoed the herdbeast's final shriek.  Some instinct kept her rooted in place, prevented her from running for the Lower Caverns entrance as she would have done for a rainstorm.

In less than a minute, she had the answer to all of her questions: why her parents had been so frantic to find her, why the frets had forced her back under the overhang, why people had been trying to get the livestock inside, and why she knew in her gut that this was no rainstorm.  A long, sterling rope plopped onto the desiccated grasses outside the weyr, just a few yards from her, quickly followed by several others.  The strand began to swell grotesquely and its coloration changed from a putrid gray to a pulsing, sickly rainbow of colors as it gorged itself on the plant matter it had found.  One end of the strand flopped around, searching for more organic food, while the other began to burrow into the soil, following the roots of the greenery it had already consumed.  Gagging, Leena stumbled back, deeper into the weyr and away from the sight.  Some part of her mind noted that, peculiarly, no odor accompanied the organisms, although she was left feeling slightly light-headed.  She blundered back into the private chambers and smashed her shin into the footboard of the bed.  Away from the grotesque display, the teenager curled up on the mattress.

It seemed like hours, but it was really only about 20 minutes later when the twitter of her and her brother's fire dragonets filtered in from the outer chamber.  A chorus of voices echoed, mostly unintelligible orders.  Leena cautiously stepped out into the dragon weyr, eyeing the ground with each step as though she expected it to open up to disgorge one of the parasites at her feet.  The Weyrbowl was deeply shadowed now, as the sun had nearly set, but there were people with electric flashlights outside.  Just beyond the threshold of the weyr she'd hidden in, Leena saw two people digging a hole while two others stood next to tanks, holding wands out in front of them and intently watching the ground where the shovels turned soil.  Abruptly, the ground collapsed and the diggers leaped back and the wand-holders engaged the triggers.  Hissing and a putrid orange smoke emanated from the hole, soon forcing the tank carriers to step back.  Only then did one of them notice the girl standing in the hole in the cliff wall.

One of the diggers stepped away from the group and pulled down the bandanna he'd tied around his face.  "What are you doing here, girl?" his voice was harsh.  With the makeshift mask removed, Leena recognized him as Kanorl, and she felt her face flush with embarrassment.

"I went for a walk after dinner and was here when...when..."  She felt a little nauseous as she looked toward the hole, which had stopped sputtering now.

The man frowned.  "You're one of the new ones that just arrived yesterday, aren't you?  Well, you're sharding lucky you were near a ground-level weyr when Fall hit.  We're still trying to map out Fall patterns.  We knew there'd be a Fall near here within the next couple of days, but we weren't sure exactly where or when.  Didn't you see the board in the Cafeteria warning everyone to stay inside after supper tonight?"

Leena shook her head and lowered her gaze.  If she thought she couldn't feel worse, that was proven wrong a few moments later when her parents and brother rushed up.  They had clearly been frantic with worry for the last little while.  Artie commented, "See?  I told you she was alright.  Signy would have let us know if something was wrong."  Leena shot him a small, grateful smile and pounced on the statement.

"Signy and Hagbard made me go back inside the weyr.  I think they knew before the people--" she stopped, her eyes wide and looked toward the far end of the Weyr, even though she couldn't see much not that night was falling.  She turned toward Kanorl.  "Was someone hurt down by the..." she had to pause for a second to try to think of what was down there and gestured with her hands vigorously for a moment, "...the Infirmary and the...uh...the stables?  I thought I heard someone scream after they'd all run out to try to get the herdbeasts inside, but I was inside by then and couldn't see what was going on."

Kanorl frowned.  "I'm not sure.  Once we knew Thread was Falling, I was busy organizing ground crews, so I'm not sure what went on elsewhere.  It's possible, and I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

Someone else piped up, "I heard the firelizards and frets got excited a couple minutes before anyone knew what was happening, and that some of them tried to start herding the herdbeasts inside."  The adults all looked at Hagbard and Signy, who looked more tired than it seemed like they should have.  It was then that the twins realized that both frets had a sulfuric odor about them that was unusual.

Lenora spoke softly.  "I'd heard that the frets could flame like the dragons, and that's what inspired the creation of the dragons.  But I never really believed it until now."  Signy chirped inquiringly, wondering why everyone was staring at her.

A shout from another ground crew broke the spell that seemed to have fallen over the group.  "We'll have to investigate that later.  Right now, we need to root out all these burrows.  You folks get back inside," Kanorl ordered.  The family turned and hurried back toward the Lower Caverns.

Once they were back in their quarters, Teren turned on Leena.  "Are you out of your mind?  You could have been killed tonight!  You need to tell us where you're going from now on.  No more running off on your own.  This is a new place, and there's a lot of construction going on.  Even if it hadn't been Thread, there are a hundred ways you could get hurt or killed in the Weyr right now."

Leena wanted to say, well, if it's so dangerous, why did you bring me and Artie here in the first place?  But she knew better than to argue with her father on the rare occasions when he became upset enough to actually yell.  "Yes, Pa," she said contritely.  The man's eyes narrowed suspiciously at her quiet acquiescence, as though he couldn't quite believe that she wasn't putting up a fight.  Lenora laid her hand on her husband's arm before he could say anything more, and Artie dragged Leena off to their bedroom - shared, for the time being.

Her brother wanted to know what it had looked like, but Leena didn't want to talk about it.  So instead, they treated the two frets to a bath, a good oiling, and a few extra treats before going to bed.
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8The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.14-15 Wed Sep 18, 2019 3:01 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
The next morning came too soon for the twins.  Leena had been plagued by nightmares about the rope-like Thread, and her tossing and turning had wakened Artie throughout the night as well.

After breakfast in the Cafeteria, there were several announcements.  First, no one but ground crews were allowed to go outside until further notice.  Ground crews were trying to locate and destroy all the Thread burrows and seed the areas with grubs, but they had precious few of the grubs to go around.  They had a terrarium in the Farm craft area where they were trying to induce population growth in order to protect the whole island, but for now, there weren't enough.  One of the Herders stood up and asked about the firelizards: could they be more help next time, had they really been flaming Thread, and did anyone know of any nests or eggs?  Benimin responded that they were looking into all of those possibilities.

Secondly, a Herder apprentice had been injured in the previous evening's Fall and everyone was asked to stay out of the Infirmary except for serious injuries so the Healers could focus on him and try to prevent any infection from setting in.  Leena looked at her hands when they made that announcement, remembering the screams she'd heard.

And finally, everyone who was able was being asked to help spread sand on the Hatching Grounds.  Apparently, the dragonriders would be arriving soon with the dragon eggs and they needed the Sands to be ready!  That got nearly everyone excited.  Leena felt a brief thrill at the idea, until she remembered the way Thread looked as it devoured the grass outside the weyr.  She never wanted to see it again - on a dragon or otherwise!  But she did still want to see dragons.  "So much for the duty roster!" someone said with a laugh.

The family spent the morning working in the Hatching Grounds with shovels and broad wooden rakes, spreading the sand that was being carted in from somewhere.  Most of the wagons that rumbled into the humongous cavern were filled with common brown sand, but now and then, a load of black or white sand was delivered to them.  Someone commented that the black sand had to have come from Ista, because it was the only one with black sand, but no one either confirmed or argued.  Leena wondered if the ship they'd rode in on had carried any of the sand they were using.

At lunchtime, everyone working in the Hatching Grounds was ordered to the Great Hall.  The space seemed less cavernous, but chilly after the morning in the thermally-heated home for the eggs.  Nium, the kitchen Steward, personally checked on each member of the crew and made sure that they consumed large quantities of water and fresh fruit.  After lunch, they were all instructed to "do something else" - the heat in the Hatching Grounds was intense and the Healers were insistent that no one spend more than half a day at a time in it.

So the smithing family went to the studio space they'd selected and found that, sure enough, all of their tools had been delivered.  They set about organizing their space, taking frequent rests when they began to feel lightheaded.  By dinnertime, they had the studio set up the way they wanted it, at least for the time being, and had requisitioned materials in order to begin smithing the next day.



The next day followed much the same pattern, except that in the afternoon, the family began working in their smithy.  Chains were still in high demand, so that was what Lenora and Leena worked on.  The other items that were needed varied wildly, from pitons for securing glow-lanterns to window and door shutters, from small hand tools to repairs on some of the larger equipment that was wearing out from all the use it was getting.  The most notable of these were the bearings for the wagons that were hauling the sand to the Hatching Grounds, and were handled by the most senior Journeyman smith in the Weyr (they had no Master Smith).

Artie and Teren worked on whatever projects came in, mostly in the order that they arrived, unless something urgent came in.  Between other projects, they worked on shutters for windows for the buildings that had already been proposed (including their own living quarters expansion).

At dinner that evening, there were tense murmurs about a ship being late.  It should have been visible from the rim of the Weyr that evening, but the lookout had reported that there was no sign of it.  The only thing that they could confirm had not happened to it was Thread hitting it - Threadfall traversed a straight line and would have Fallen well to the southwest of the ship.  There had been a line of autumn squalls moving through, but that wasn't unusual this time of year and any ships should have been prepared for it.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:17 pm; edited 2 times in total

9The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.16 Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:10 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
In the wee hours of the morning, the alarm went out: all able-bodied people were needed to help on a rescue.  Lenora and Teren woke the twins.  "You're staying here.  Do whatever you can to help.  Master Shyen is in charge of organizing the people who are staying here, go check in with her as soon as you've gotten something to eat."

What they gleaned from listening to the chatter while they scarfed down some breakfast was that the dolphineers had sent dolphins in search of the missing ship when it hadn't shown up by six hours after its appointed arrival.  They'd found the ship's wreckage, where it had apparently broken apart in a storm.  As of when one of the dolphins left to bring the news back to the Weyr, there were survivors, but it was very cold and the dolphin wasn't sure the humans had been able to last the night.

Most of the younger adults were going out on one of the ships that had been going to leave this morning anyway, in an attempt to rescue anyone they could.  The older adults and children were left to organize the smaller boats to shepherd survivors from the ship to the shore, wagons and gurneys to carry those who were injured up to the Infirmary or any salvaged goods to the Stores, medical supplies, hot meals and drinks, and living quarters.  With the entire Weyr pulling together, those tasks took surprisingly little time - it was just past dawn when all of the organization the remaining adults could think of was complete, and the rescue ship was only two hours out.  The waiting became an aggravation.

Eventually, many of those who were left at the Weyr returned to their regular Duty Roster activities, or to the Hatching Grounds, in search of something to keep their hands busy while they waited for word from the rescue ship.  Those with firelizards or frets were being watched - most of them had sent their pets along with the rescue ship in order to convey messages as needed, including Leena and Artie.

It was just after lunchtime and many of the Weyrfolk had stepped out in the Gather Grounds to get some fresh air and sun while they waited for news.  Unexpectedly, shadows suddenly covered the sun and a powerful downdraft of bitterly cold air washed over the bystanders.  A chorus of yelps rippled through the crowd as people grabbed after hats and napkins that fluttered away on the wind.  Then someone pointed skyward and shouted something unintelligible (truthfully, the speaker probably couldn't form words at that moment) and everyone looked up - into the whirling blue-green eyes of half a dozen dragons!

The smallest children shrieked in fear and clutched at their parents, while some turned and fled for the Lower Caverns.  Even most of the adults took a generous step or three backwards, mostly out of surprise, but there was no small amount of trepidation on their faces.  The group that seemed least affected was the teenagers: old enough not to be terrified by stories of dragons eating disobedient children, but young enough to still romanticize the ballads of mythical draconic heroics that their Harpers had preserved.

Gazing on the glowing bronze, brown, blue, and green hides of the dragons, Leena reconsidered her decision to never look upon Thread again, if only to partner with one of the great beasts.  The only color missing was gold - why, she wondered.  Then she could have smacked herself - of course, the golds would be either tending their eggs, or waiting to be sure the Hatching Grounds were ready for them!  She could barely make out the people sitting on the backs of the dragons, but she saw one of them move and point toward the plateau where she'd been three nights earlier when Thread fell, and the dragons tilted their wings and, as one, glided toward it.    They stayed in formation during the entire maneuver, a triangle: a bronze on the forward point, two browns behind him, two greens on the other points, and a blue between them.  When they reached the edge of the plateau, the bronze tilted on his wingtip and spun, with the five others maintaining their positions behind him as the entire formation spun to face down the length of the Bowl, a spectacular display of aerial coordination that left the watching humans breathless, and, in perfect synchronicity, backwinged to land on the plateau.  After a moment's awed reverence, the crowd burst into applause and admiring whoops.

Nearly everyone broke into a run for the northern gate at the edge of the Gather Grounds, eager to get a closer look at the magnificent creatures.  Leena wasn't quite as anxious to get up close with them: she could see now that the bronze would fit in the weyr that she had examined the other evening and had some idea of just how big they were.  She wanted to admire them before getting too close.  She jumped sideways as a cluster of adults started to job past her, the looks on their faces solemn and not as full of wonder as those surrounding them.

She caught up with the other gawkers in time to overhear one of the adults speaking to the man who stood next to the bronze.  "We were expecting a ship last night, and got word early this morning that they were scuttled by a storm.  We sent our other ship out to try to rescue any survivors, but they haven't reached the wreck yet."

The man - he had to be the bronze dragon's rider - frowned.  It was apparent to onlookers that he hadn't been expecting to be requested to go on a rescue mission before they'd even had a chance for introductions.  Leena wondered if the man would refuse; after all, even the stories described bronzeriders as arrogant, and that arrogance had been capitalized upon by the propaganda machines and inflated to preposterous proportions.  Another man ducked under the bronze dragon's head - it was longer than his rider was tall! - and said something quietly to the bronzerider, who muttered something back, and then shrugged.  "If you can help us unburden our dragons, get us some ropes and blankets, and get us a visual coordinate of the location, I can take three of our riders and see what aid we can render.  Weyrlingmaster H'lee," he gestured to the man who'd spoken with him, who was hobbling over to the blue dragon, "and Assistant Weyrlingmaster Z'vier will stay here to relay information and give you dragons to gawk at."  He finished his statement with an amused and indulgent smile at the gathering.

It was then that Leena realized that there had been other passengers aboard the dragons; she wasn't yet familiar with all of the faces in the Weyr, but their clothing set them apart.  In particular, she noticed one young man, about her age, standing next to one of the brown dragons, looking distinctly uncomfortable.  Most of the dragons were now swarming with people trying to unload the oversized (oversized? that was an understatement!) saddlebags, but the boy's demeanor was off-putting.  The man with the limp shortly appeared beside the boy and said something, and the kid flushed with embarrassment and started to unhook the packs.  They didn't seem to be in as much of a hurry as the other brown, the bronze, or the greens - but that made sense, since they weren't participating in the rescue mission.

Leena wandered past the bronze, wanting to get a look at him before he left, ogling the dragon's sheer size.  Even seeing the weyr hadn't fully prepared her for such massive creatures.  She wondered how, by the Shell, a rider reached his dragon's back!  Moments after she started trying to determine that, the dragon and rider demonstrated: the dragon crouched, scattering the people who had been standing near his head, and slanted one foreleg out; the rider ran up the dragon's leg and vaulted into the saddle that nestled between the ridges on his dragon's neck.  Only after he was seated and had clipped his riding straps did she realize the other three riders had done something similar.

"You all might want to back up a bit!" the bronzerider bellowed down as the dragons shifted positions back on their haunches.  People scrambled left and right to get out of the great beasts' way as they stretched their wings to give everyone some idea of just how far back they needed to go.  Then, in a maneuver that looked painful to Leena, the four dragons launched skyward and, after half a dozen powerful strokes of their wings that created dust devils and whipped clothing and saddlebags about, blinked out of existence!  Just like the frets, she thought.  She suddenly wondered where they'd gotten the destination image they needed, but she wasn't the only one in the Weyr who had a firelizard or a fret.

Then she turned to look at the two dragons who had remained behind.  Only then did she notice the milky-grey mottled scars on the brown's left side.  She stared - what else was she going to do?  After a long moment, she looked for his rider, the one who had been limping: and sure enough, she could tell it was his left leg that he limped on.  She cautiously approached the pair, who were still being given a respectful berth by the gathered people.  She turned toward a ruckus on her right, and nearly fell over her own feet with a squawk when she found herself face-to-face, or perhaps face-to-eyeball was more accurate, with the blue dragon.  "Ospererth!  That's rude!" a scolding tenor voice came from somewhere behind the great blue head that was nearly half again as long as Leena was tall.  The dragon...well, there was no other word for it...whuffled at her, the yellow-green eyes spinning so rapidly that the girl was nearly hypnotized by it.  A man, presumably Z'vier, appeared next to her and gave the blue jowls an affectionate, but firm shove.  "Sorry about that, he's a Search dragon and he's not had much opportunity to Search the last few years.  He really likes to meet new people," the man excused himself as the blue turned his nose toward them, allowing Leena to see part of both of his eyes.

She started to reach out to touch him, then drew her hand back and looked apologetic.  "Go ahead, you can touch him.  He likes to have his eyeridges rubbed right here," the rider demonstrated.  The blue's eyes slowed their mesmerizing whirling and the inner lids started to close.  Hesitantly, Leena reached out to mimic the caress on the other eyeridge, a smile spreading slowly over her face as the dragon's eyes closed, their darker blue-green color still apparent and much calmer than the earlier color.

"Just like my fret's," she laughed.

The rider frowned in confusion and the dragon's eye opened and he tilted his head to look at her face.  "I'm sorry, what is a fret?" the man asked.

"Oh, my fire dragonet.  The Harpers say that they're the original creature that the colonists found here, and that the firelizards were modified from them, and later, the dragons.  We call them 'frets' for short now.  Some people call the firelizards 'flitters' instead," Leena explained.

Understanding suffused the bluerider's face and he nodded.  "Ahhh.  So you have one, then?"

"Yes, a green named Signy.  She's with my parents on the rescue ship right now."

The bluerider nodded and studied her for a bit as she resumed scratching Ospererth's eyeridge and the blue rumbled contentedly.  "I'm sorry, where are my manners?  I'm Z'vier, and this is Ospererth," he held out one hand for her to grasp over the blue's nose.

"Oh, I'm Leena.  My twin brother Artie is around somewhere.  And our parents went out with the rescue ship.  We're all Smiths," she responded, shaking the man's hand.  The dragon's eye opened again and began to whirl faster and lighten in color as he lifted his head.  "Oh, did I do something wrong?" she exclaimed.

"Uh, no, you didn't.  You say you have a twin brother?  Oftentimes, with twins, both are Searched.  Ospererth would very much like if you could find your brother..." the bluerider coughed as he trailed off.

"Um, sure.  Let me see--" she looked around and saw Artie hefting a box onto a wagon that someone had brought out.  "ARTIE!" she shouted when he'd gotten the box situated.  Her twin turned around and looked for her, and she waved.  "Come meet Ospererth!" she grinned.  Artie shot her a disapproving frown, but jogged over, slowing his stride as he approached.  She turned back to Z'vier.  "You keep saying something about being Searched.  What is that?"

Before Z'vier could overcome his shock, Ospererth lowered his head to be level with the approaching boy, and huffed at Artie.  Artie was startled by the movement and slowed his advance further, approaching with respect and caution.  Leena jumped when a thump sounded from behind her and the ground vibrated.  Ospererth turned to look at his rider before retracting his head and placing his eyeridge near Leena's hand, clearly demanding further attention.  Grinning, Leena was more than happy to oblige.

She saw the consternation on the bluerider's face.  "What is it?" she asked, worried that they had done something wrong or offensive.

The rider shook his head.  "I guess it's to be expected that some terminology that's specific to the Weyrs wouldn't survive.  I think I'd better let H'lee explain, though..." he trailed off.  The brown dragon turned his head, startling the runnerbeasts that were harnessed to the wagon and causing a ruckus, but shortly the brownrider came limping over.

"What is it, Z'vier?" H'lee asked the bluerider as he approached.

"Seems Ospererth is more than eager to start Searching again, and these two qualify.  But apparently, the stories of dragons on Search haven't survived the rhetoric, and I thought you might have some input on how to explain it."

The brownrider sighed heavily.  Well, better complete ignorance of Search than the outlandish tales that lad had told him last night about kidnappings, pedophilia, and Weyr-wide orgies.  "I think this is going to be an ongoing issue," he told the other rider.  Turning toward the two teenagers, H'lee frowned in concentration.  "Not just any person can Impress a dragon.  It takes a certain caliber of individual to bond with a dragon.  It's not like the bond between a person and a firelizard or firedragonet, it's much more powerful.  Not everyone can handle that.  People who are born and raised in the Weyr are more likely to be able to Impress a dragon, but it's not a guarantee; likewise, people who are not born in the Weyr are less likely to be able to Impress a dragon, but that doesn't mean they can't.  When there are a large number of eggs on the Sands, dragonriders go on Search - they go to the Holds and Halls and look for people who are likely to be able to Impress a dragon.  Blue dragons, for some reason, are particularly sensitive to the type of people we want, so a Search party always includes at least one blue.

"So, in short, if Ospererth 'Searched' you, then that means you have certain qualities that could make you a dragonrider.  It's not a guarantee that you'll Impress!"
he admonished the twins as they grinned at each other.  "But it does make it more likely."  The Weyrlingmaster looked at Z'vier and raised an eyebrow.  The bluerider nodded - he'd been paying careful attention to what H'lee said so that he could not only use it as an answer to future inquiries, but so he could pass it on to other riders, ensuring that they'd all present consistent answers when the question arose.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:16 pm; edited 1 time in total

10The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.16 - T'lon Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:55 am

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
Learyam's Reese had been able to give the dragons coordinates to the new Weyr.  After a discussion with H'lee and Silvara, they had decided to send a handful of dragonriders to the Weyr to check that everything was suitable for the dragons, particularly the Hatching Grounds.  Silvara was still exhausted from the encounter with the Lord Holders and the sheer number of people who had been in the Hold that night, and H'lee was adamant that she stay in Benden Weyr and rest.  They had other dragonriders with Gifts who could help root out any spies in the Weyr, they didn't need her to do all that work!

The only argument that could be made was that they didn't have any other riders with Gifts as strong as Silvara's, or in the same combinations.  They settled on Aqayla, who was a level 7 telepath, and Z'vier, who was a level 6 truth-reader.  Master Healer Tikal volunteered to go as a level 4 empath and level 5 healer when Learyam mentioned that Thread was supposed to Fall at or near the Weyr sometime during that week.  Among the three communications Gifts, they could do all the same things Silvara could - perhaps not as efficiently, but they would still be effective.

T'lon was more worried about how his long-time friend, H'lee, would handle being separated from his cousin.  Both he and Learyam were insistent that he be in the group going to the Weyr: the latter because H'lee was "known" to the leaders who had located the caldera and started construction of the Weyr in hopes of the dragonriders coming forward, the former because he knew best the kind of conditions the Hatching Grounds would need to support the eggs until Hatching, as well as what facilities the new weyrlings would need.

In addition to the bronzerider, the Weyrlingmaster, and the Gifted green- and bluerider, another brownrider (S'ine) and another greenrider (T'han) were assigned to go.

Learyam rode with T'lon, as did Tikal.  Lery and Lerane rode with H'lee - Alina was staying with Silvara.  Master Harper Timiny volunteered to come to consult with Master Harper Benimin and start sussing out historical events and making any curricula changes that would be needed to get the Weyrfolk up to speed on living with dragons and dragonriders, as well as start interviewing potential Candidates (as had been his job at Benden Weyr); he rode with Z'vier, the bluerider teasing the Harper that it was vanity leading him to ride the only blue dragon assigned to the mission.  Learyam informed them that they had been focusing on bringing crafters to the Weyr in order to complete construction, so the other seven passengers were generalists - mostly drudges.  Alina had grumbled good-naturedly about Leri taking the best drudges, to which the older woman pertly responded that Alina still had nearly eighty sets of hands at her beck and call while Leri would be walking into who-knew-what kind of mess with one-tenth that number, leading H'lee to sigh and look put upon and T'lon to laugh at his friend's expense.

When the riders had gathered to get their dragons ready for the trip, T'lon had shared with him his plan for a formation and a demonstration of unity and synchronicity.  H'lee rolled his eyes at the bronzerider's extravagance, but didn't argue with the idea.  T'lon was a bit worried that they wouldn't be able to pull it off - after all, they were all from different Weyrs and had never flown a formation together - but by the Shell, he was going to try!

The sun was only just coming up when the dragons and their passengers assembled in Benden's Weyrbowl.  Learyam had to think for a bit, but concluded that it should be about noon at the new Weyr.  "I'm used to thinking in terms of Fort Hold versus the Weyr, and the time difference is greater.  Besides, we haven't had a method of travel where the time zones made that much of a difference!"

The group launched from the ground, and T'lon was pleased to see, as he looked over his shoulder, that the five dragons were roughly where they should have been.  He gave them a moment to perfect their formation before giving Roth the visualization that Reese had provided.  The bronze conveyed the image to the other dragons, and the flight went between.

They materialized a little lower in elevation than T'lon was comfortable with, but that had been a recurring theme during the last couple of weeks' worth of travels, trying to stay hidden.  Shouts went up from the ground, and Roth turned his head toward the herdbeasts' bellows.  The dragons weren't starving, but they hadn't had as large a meal as they'd like for some time.  The bronzerider thumped his dragon's side to bring his attention back to what they were doing.

Learyam was breathless from the trip.  He'd gone between with them to Benden Weyr after the meeting with the Lord Holders, but that one trip still wasn't enough to prepare him for the next trip.  It was going to take him a while to get used to that...  The dragons seemed to pose for the folk on the ground below them, and Learyam tried not to look down too steeply.  He tapped T'lon's shoulder and pointed toward the plateau that had been designated for the weyrlings - he didn't know if the livestock had been fenced in at the far end yet and didn't want the dragons setting down in the middle of the Weyrbowl until they knew.

T'lon gave him a thumbs-up and made a gesture to the other riders, and the wedge of dragons dipped their wings to glide toward the spot Learyam had indicated.  Just above the point where the ledge dropped off toward where all the onlookers were gathered, he made another gesture and tapped Roth's shoulder.

Learyam made a strangled noise as the dragon seemed to tip completely sideways to turn on his wingtip, and grabbed at the rider's belt and clamped his legs as tight as he could.  Logically, he knew he had "riding straps" on that would keep him from falling, but it was a long way down the length of a bronze dragon's wing.  Before his stomach settled and he was able to unscrew his eyes, they dropped and, with a jolt, made ground contact.

T'lon patiently waited for his novice passenger to relax his grip on the rider's belt before unbuckling their riding straps.  He shared an amused smile with Tikal, sitting behind the Harper, as they dismounted.  The young man staggered a bit when he hit the ground, but quickly recovered his aplomb in time to intercept the cluster of elders approaching them at a jog.  Roth rumbled, eyeing the herdbeasts that were milling around at the far end of the Weyrbowl.  They look healthy.  Better than the ones at home, he informed his rider.

T'lon thumped him again.  Patience, you.  The folk here will think you're all nothing but giant stomachs!

Meesha and Reese appeared shortly, each gravitating to their own masters.  Meesha's head bobbed up and down as she examined the Weyr from her diminutive perspective, and eyed the approaching humans a little nervously.  That drew T'lon's attention, and he realized, with a jolt of concern, that all of the people seemed to be either under the age of about 16, or over the age of about 50.  Just then, Learyam brought over the group of adults who appeared to be in charge.

"This is Master Weaver Shyen, Master Harper Benimin, and Steward Nium," the Harper introduced quickly.

Shyen stepped forward and met T'lon's gaze frankly and unafraid, despite the massive dragon looming over them.  She spoke calmly, but rapidly.  "We were expecting a ship last night, and got word early this morning that they were scuttled by a storm. We sent our other ship out to try to rescue any survivors, but they haven't reached the wreck yet."

It was clear to T'lon what the request was, and he frowned.  He knew the dragons were hungry, but they weren't starving.  They would be after a rescue mission, though.  H'lee, who had been checking with Z'vier, Aqayla, and Tikal to start assessing the crowd of people, overheard the comment from Roth's far side, where he'd been talking with Tikal.  He ducked under Roth's neck.  "Go ahead, T'lon.  Take Aqayla with you, she'll be able to help you find survivors, and the other dragons have the stamina to help.  Seeth won't be much help with that.  Tikal and Z'vier can handle this crowd until you return, and Ospererth can back up Z'vier."

"That only leaves you with two dragons," T'lon muttered back, a little worried.

H'lee gestured at the crowd.  "Judging from these reactions, I think if anyone tried to hurt the dragons, they'd be taken care of before we could go between," the brownrider seemed amused.

T'lon shrugged.  "If you're sure."  His friend punched his shoulder and limped off.  T'lon turned back toward the representatives before him, who were starting to look a little troubled.  "If you can help us unburden our dragons, get us some ropes and blankets, and get us a visual coordinate of the location, I can take three of our riders and see what aid we can render. Weyrlingmaster H'lee and Assistant Weyrlingmaster Z'vier will stay here to relay information and give you dragons to gawk at."  His lips quirked into a smile as he noticed that the dragons were surrounded by spectators, most hovering at a respectful distance from the massive creatures, but some of the youngsters were boldly approaching them with the riders' encouragement.

The adults looked relieved and Benimin turned to Learyam.  They held a quick conference and Learyam sent Reese off, presumably to get coordinates for the dragons.  She returned a few minutes later as the riders and the gathered fledgling Weyrfolk unloaded the bundles of goods procured from Benden Weyr and the raider's camp, and Roth obtained the coordinates from her while waiting for them to be ready to leave again.  As soon as the four "rescue" dragons were unloaded, T'lon gave the signal to their riders to mount up and Roth obligingly stretched out a forearm.  The bronzerider took a couple running strides and launched himself up onto his dragon's back, drawing gasps of astonishment from the onlookers.  He smirked to himself, now too far elevated for most of the viewers to see it.

The four dragons settled back on their haunches as their riders strapped themselves in, stretching their wings in preparation for a launch.  T'lon briefly lamented that there wasn't enough of a drop-off for them to take the more casual and less strenuous method of take-off, but noted that the height that was there was perfect for weyrlings.  He briefly wondered if that had been intentional before shouting down to those on the ground, "You all might want to back up a bit!"  His verbal cue sent the less experienced humans scattering, and his somatic gesture sent the dragons skyward in a neck-snapping lunge.  Six wingbeats and several hundred feet of altitude and Roth sent the coordinates to the diamond formation, and they went between.

They materialized over a ship, causing more than a small stir on the decks.  Learyam had wanted to come along to act as liaison, but T'lon had firmly denied the request - the had no good method for transferring a human from a dragon's back to a ship on the water, and they were already going to be handling enough chilled people if they found any survivors.  Aqayla and Kimith, being the smallest of the group and the only rider in the flight with telepathy, glided down alongside the ship.  The green dragon made a skilled water landing, something Istan dragons were known for, barely sloshing any water over her dorsal side as she settled in the water and matched speed with the ship.  Every sailor and passenger except the captain and the lookout scrambled to the railing to gape at the dragon.  Aqayla perched on her saddle and shouted introductions across - T'lon and the others were too high to hear clearly.

The water around the green suddenly roiled as the dragon rumbled a greeting to the dolphins that swarmed her.  Roth grumbled jealously.  Hush.  You'll get your chance later, hopefully somewhere where you don't have to heave your wet self out of the water by sheer wingpower.  The image T'lon sent to his dragon quieted the dragon - he was tired, and trying to lumber out of the water using nothing but his wings wasn't an appealing thought.

A few moments later, Roth sent to his rider, Kimith says the dolphins have located the shipwreck.  It is twenty minute's fast swim in the direction the ship is going.  I can fly faster than any fish can swim!  T'lon chuckled and patted Roth's neck affectionately.  Aqayla shouted something more to the ship and then Kimith slowed her swim to let the ship drift past before starting the awkward thrash to lift herself clear of the clinging liquid and rejoin the others in the sky.  As soon as she was clear of the water, the four dragons began driving themselves forward with powerful sweeps of their wings.  Roth, being the largest, soon outpaced the others, and Kimith, being the smallest, fell behind - but they all knew where they were going.  They quickly left the ship behind, and even the dolphins that tried to race them.

In minutes, Roth spotted flotsam bobbing in the water slightly to starboard of their flight path and angled his wings to take them closer, dropping down to skim the water.  This first piece was just a log, maybe it had once been part of a mast, but there was no reason to stop.  The dragon slowed significantly now and rose a bit above the water again and started hovering.  The other three caught up and T'lon gave the signal for a lateral line formation, creating a sort of grid search pattern.  S'ine and Aqayla were more knowledgeable and skilled at water rescues - it was something the Istan riders trained for that many of the other Weyrs didn't, simply because of their proximity to the ocean.  Through Roth, T'lon instructed them to take point and supervise any activities as needed, deferring to their greater experience.

The riders began to feel dejected: so far, all they'd found was waterlogged wooden debris, there had been no sign of any survivors.  Then T'lon heard a whoop from his right - T'han had spotted someone!  S'ine, who was positioned between T'lon and T'han, signaled that he'd assist, and the bronzerider returned his attention to the water ahead of him.  A few minutes later, Aqayla whistled shrilly, and pointed toward what appeared to be a large mass floating in the water.  T'lon waved and sent Roth gliding toward it, keeping the bronze's speed down so that he could scan the intervening waters for any survivors.

As they approached, movement indicated survivors, and T'lon shortly discerned the shape of a longboat beneath the crowd of people sitting inside and clinging to the gunwales.  As they soared closer, Aqayla gestured for them to pull up and hover to one side, where the downbeats of Roth's large wings wouldn't upset the small craft or batter the survivors.  She leaned forward over the side of Kimith's neck as they hovered, the people below beseeching them for help by gesture and wail.  Kimith says to come around to the front of the boat and tie a rope to my riding straps.  She is not strong enough to tow the boat.  Zaveroth is setting up a rendezvous area and we should tow them to it.  Kimith and her rider will keep looking for others.

"All right, big guy.  Do you know if she told the people what we're going to do?  The ones who aren't in the boat are going to have a hard time holding on with you pulling it."

There was silence as Roth conveyed his rider's question to Kimith.  Aqayla gave T'lon a thumbs-up and carefully lowered some of her ropes to the boat, shouting down to them what the plan was.  Several people looked fearfully toward the huge bronze, who was easily six times the length of their little skiff.  Those in the water quickly began to tie themselves together with the ropes that the greenrider had dropped down, and tied that off to the boat.

Kimith says to go slowly so we do not drown any of them, the bronze snorted, as though he would knowingly ever harm another human being.  T'lon smiled, but knew that Aqayla's warning was well-placed.  Zaveroth says the dolphins have arrived at the rendezvous.  Some of them are coming to us to help the people in the water.

"Good.  If the dolphins have caught up, the ship can't be too far behind.  Alright.  I want you to glide in from behind the boat, low and slow, so that you don't have to flap your wings while you're over the boat.  It's one thing to toss a weighted bag around, but dropping a tow rope to them with your wings creating drafts will be nearly impossible.  Hopefully they'll be able to tie it to the boat before we run out of rope..."

It took three tries, but they finally got the rope hooked to the front of the boat.  The lifeboat lurched into motion, drawing screams from its passengers.  "Easy does it, Roth.  Let's try not to do that too much."  He peered down and noticed that the front-most passengers clinging to the sides of the boat were having trouble with spray in their faces.  "Slow down a bit, fella.  Let's get a little higher, too, so we're lifting the front of the boat a bit more."  The bronze growled.  T'lon chuckled.  "I know you're not a herdbeast.  I'll make sure you get a nice, fat one when we get back."

Sath was in the water at the rendezvous point.  T'han waved to the bronzerider, gesturing for the man to lower a set of riding straps to him.  Once they'd slowed the boat near Sath's head, T'lon did so, worrying that something had gone wrong.  After hoisting the other rider up, T'han eased his wingleader's concern.  "The fellow we found was half-drowned, we had to land to get him.  Rather than possibly having to do multiple water launches, Sath's going to stay here and help the people in the water.  Then we only have to launch once.  S'ine said if we have two riders per dragon, though, we can avoid having to do landings again if I can drop down on the riding straps and pull people up - or hand off ropes like you had to do for the boat."

"Got it.  Good plan.  How's Sath?"

"Tired, but she's enjoying being in the water.  The dolphins came by to say hello, she really enjoyed that."  Roth huffed, and both riders laughed.

The bronze- and greenrider did not find any more survivors, but they did find a cargo net full of barrels that were just barely floating.  Not sure what was in them, the trio towed them back to the rendezvous, arriving shortly after the rescue ship did.  S'ine and Aqayla had found a couple of other stragglers, but all told, they only rescued 50 people, out of the 250 who had been on board the ship.  The strain showed on everyone's faces, even the riders', who didn't know any of these people.

One thing that they hadn't advertised: Aqayla was a crack shot with a crossbow.  As they hauled the survivors aboard, Roth suddenly side-slipped, nearly dumping T'lon and T'han from their seats.  The greenrider screamed in fear as the change of position brought into view a man leaping toward his dragon with a knife drawn.  T'lon grabbed the other rider's belt as he tried to fling himself from Roth's back - and the attacking man spun in the air, a crossbow bolt piercing his hip.  Roaring angrily, the brown and bronze dragons swooped around, threatening to capsize the ship, despite its size, and Sath lunged away from the man who was now thrashing the water and appeared to have dropped his knife.  Her vulnerable wingsails out of his reach, the green snaked her head around and grabbed the man, ready to wring the life from him, an action fully condoned by her rider.  "Roth!" T'lon bellowed, verbally and mentally.

The bronze dragon stopped the dragon from obliterating the man, giving Aqayla the chance to probe his mind to find out if anyone else among the survivors or on the rescue ship were AWs.  Meanwhile, the bronze and brown hovered dangerously close to the ship's masts, where they could easily cripple it.  All the dragons growled menacingly, leaving the humans on board cowering in fear.  T'lon hated to scare everyone so, especially the children he could see, but they could not tolerate anyone revealing their presence to those who would see them all dead.

For half an hour, they held that tableau, other than Sath releasing the man and one of the dolphins dragging him to the ship.  He was hoisted on board and bound and drugged so that, if he had any psionic abilities, he would be unable to use them for the time being.  Meanwhile, Aqayla scrutinized every man, woman, and child on board the ship for any further treachery.  Finding none, she relaxed, and Kimith conveyed the news to the other dragons.  The great beasts stopped snarling and drifted away from the ship.  T'lon lowered T'han back to his beloved dragon, and the pair lumbered into the air.  Before they took to the air, the greenrider informed the ship's captain that they would see them back at the Weyr.  Aqayla suggested that the AW be turned over to the dragonriders - she had noticed the animosity that those on the ship were directing toward the man and suspected that, if the riders left him in their custody, he wouldn't return to the Weyr.  The ship's captain had also noticed the rancor among his crew and passengers and gladly obliged.  They bundled the man heavily in blankets and tied him to the riding straps that T'lon lowered; the bronzerider heaved upward until Roth could grab the man in his foreclaws, and the four dragons formed up to return to the Weyr.

Due to being wet, the traitor came out of between with frostbite on his cheeks, ears, fingers, and toes - but no one, except maybe the Healers, felt very sorry about that.  Aqayla and Z'vier settled in to interrogate the man while the dragons feasted on the fattest herdbeasts as a reward for their hard work.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

11The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.16 Fri Sep 20, 2019 12:54 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
While their four companions left to rescue anyone that could be found from the scuttled ship, H'lee was trying to keep his temper under control.  There were some things that he could tolerate: the curiosity and the general ignorance about dragons.  After all, many Hold-born candidates arrived in the Weyr with as little knowledge and as much inquisitiveness as these folks demonstrated.  And unlike the Holdfolk they'd met the night before, the number of misconceptions about dragons and riders was minimal - the exiled Harpers had done a fine job of combating the nastiest of the stories the AWs had concocted, at least among their fellow exiles, many of whom were descended from dragonriders.

The hero worship, however...that rankled.  There was a part of H'lee that wanted to strut about and preen and accept the attention, and under other circumstances and if he had been younger, the brownrider might have given in to that temptation.  He'd been a role model for young weyrlings for so long, however, that he'd pretty well tamed that side of his personality.  And role models didn't rest on their laurels!

But that seemed to be what the people here thought he should be doing: that because the dragons would fight Thread, they should have no other responsibilities and their riders should want for nothing else.  Logically, H'lee knew that eventually, that would be the case: the old maps that Timiny had found for them in the archives and that they'd brought forward with them showed that, at the peak of a Pass, Fall struck somewhere on Pern's landmass every 16-18 hours.  At that frequency, the dragons and their riders would be too busy and too exhausted to do much more than fight Thread.  And H'lee had to remind himself that their paltry 32...no, 31...dragons (he cringed inwardly, remembering that loss), there was absolutely no way they could fight Thread that frequently.  Sacrifices would have to be made, somewhere, somehow.  And to do that, the riders needed modern maps, and modern information, about what landlocked facilities were most important and most likely to be damaged or destroyed by Threadfall.

One of the folk who had been on the ground crews during Threadfall a few nights before asked H'lee to look at what they'd done and showed them the holes.  Of course, over 200 years had passed between the end of the Ninth Pass and H'lee's birth, but his historian nature had led him, when he was younger, to look at the images recorded in the archives.  And it wouldn't do to look unnerved or uncertain right now, despite the churning in his gut!  He asked for a shovel to dig out one of the burrows to see how far it had progressed and how thoroughly the acid had decimated the organism.  He nearly snarled when the young man took delivery of the shovel and started digging - he wasn't THAT crippled.  But he bit his lip, closed his eyes, and counted to ten instead of yelling at the fellow.  Instead, he found a stick and began poking around in the soil that the other man turned over.  The noisome orange sludge left behind by the reaction made both men curl their lips in disgust, but there was no sign that any part of the parasitic organism had escaped the acid bath.  H'lee nodded approvingly and asked to see their flamethrowers, "or whatever they were called these days."

The contraptions were clearly hodge-podge, with no one device constructed quite the same as the others.  H'lee cursed himself for not thinking to bring any of theirs forward through time with him - he had erroneously assumed that the basic manufacture wouldn't have changed.  He wondered if Timiny the blueprints of one with him, with the maps and everything else he'd dredged out of the Harper Hall archives.  "We couldn't find accurate blueprints in any of the archives, so we had to build them based off the images from some of the tapestries and records Learyam had," his guide lamented.  "We tried different designs to see if any worked better than others, but we were so worried about getting to the burrows that I don't think anyone really tracked how effective their machine was."  H'lee bit his tongue and reminded himself that Lessa had been forced to recreate the flamethrowers from scratch in her time, so they could do it again now.

Just then, Seeth and Ospererth loosed angry bellows.  The sheer rage boiling up from his dragon sent the Weyrlingmaster plunging outside, searching frantically for the source of the dragons' ire.  Both dragons had reared up and flared their wings, sending the people who had been fawning over them scattering every which way in fear.  The great beasts nearly leaped to the sky to go between to aid their brethren before the two riders clamped down on that instinct.  Meesha, who had stayed with H'lee while T'lon and the others had gone on the sea rescue, took to the air, shrieking her own outrage, which was rapidly picked up by the other flitters and frets in the Weyr, and the air exploded with sparks of color as the dragons' small cousins skipped between and echoed their large brethren's ire.  H'lee, who had always prided himself on his and Seeth's close bond, found himself in a constant battle of wills with the brown, unable for the moment to comprehend what it was that had instigated the outburst.  He staggered to a stop, all his energy focused on keeping Seeth from taking to the air.

A few moments later, the two dragons settled somewhat and stopped fighting their riders' wills, but they remained upright, crimson-hued eyes whirling rapidly, and a constant low growl emanating from their chests.  Someone finally commented on the fact that there were more firelizards and firedragonets flitting about the Weyr than were possessed by all of the humans, and no few people stopped to watch the colorful acrobatic display, which soon concentrated near the dragons.  With the decline in Seeth's emotional outburst, H'lee was finally able to obtain a mental image of what had upset the dragons - and he nearly caused another frenzy with his own fury, only pulling himself up short when Seeth roared again.  After a moment, Seeth conveyed to him, in clipped tones, Roth says under control.  No more danger.  Hunting for more.  It was unusual for the brown to use such short language, and it was good he included mental images because H'lee wouldn't have been sure of the meaning otherwise.

H'lee finally came back to himself and realized that there were several dozen people standing nearby, waiting for answers.  Somehow, they'd known not to touch him or try to get his attention while he'd been so focused on Seeth - then he saw Tikal standing nearby.  The Healer looked a bit dazed, and H'lee suspected the empath had picked up on the wrath that was swirling through the dragons and their miniatures.  Taking a shaky breath, the Weyrlingmaster addressed the crowd.  "Someone attacked Sath, one of the green dragons who went to help with the ship rescue."  The outcry from the people around him confirmed his earlier conclusion that if someone had attempted to harm him, Z'vier, or the dragons, they'd have been torn apart.  He saw the worry in Tikal's gaze.  "She's fine, but as you can see, the dragons are more than a little upset.  They're checking the other survivors for any other traitors.  It's why we sent Aqayla with them, because she can examine the people in a way that they can't hide their intentions from her."  He was a bit surprised by the nods from those around him; no one seemed to question her ability.

It seemed like forever before T'lon and the other three returned, but it wasn't very long.  Roth set down delicately, holding a bundle in his claws.  Tikal and Z'vier stepped forward, and Aqayla joined them quickly as they hustled the man who had attacked Sath to the Infirmary.  Seeth had passed along that the four dragons were famished, and H'lee had made sure that half a dozen herdbeasts were separated from the rest of the herds before they returned.  Each of the dragons got one of the bovines and greedily consumed them.  While the dragons feasted, H'lee met with T'lon and S'ine to find out more about what happened.  Seeth was relaying to Warrelith and Silvara, who had wanted to come down - along with every other dragon and rider - to interrogate the man themselves.

Kimith was also relaying the information Aqayla retrieved from the anti-Weyr sympathizer.  A few hours later, the rescue ship arrived, and the trio of Gifted met first with the handful of crew members from the sunken ship.  They quickly confirmed most of the prisoner's story: he'd been hired on at the last minute during their stop in Tillek Hold, and was vouched for by another ship's captain.  He was a weak telepath, according to Aqayla - enough to conceal his intentions from a casual inspection by another psi with a communications Gift.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 2:01 pm; edited 2 times in total

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
After he'd left Z'vier with the twins and Ospererth, H'lee had informed Lery of the fact that the two had been Searched.  She glared at him.  "H'lee, I love you, but couldn't you have waited until I'd had a chance to assess the Lower Caverns situation before dropping Candidates on me?"  Then she sighed and shooed her mate off to do whatever else he was needing to do.

"Lerane!" she shouted, looking around for her son.  The almost-teenager materialized at her side.

"Yes, mom?"

"Z'vier's Ospererth is already identifying Candidates.  No one else here knows what to do with them, and I've got my hands full trying to understand what they've been doing here.  It's not bad, but it's not what I'm used to.  Your father says they don't know what being a Candidate means.  Could you go help Z'vier?"

Lerane rolled his eyes.  "Okay.  Are there Candidate living quarters yet?"

Lery grunted and frowned.  Looking around, she spotted Shyen and waved to the older woman.  "Shyen, I heard something about barracks for the weyrlings, do you have anything like that for the Candidates?"

The weaver looked at her.  "Who are Candidates?"

Lery stared at her for a moment.  "Crackdust!" she finally cursed.  Shyen looked confused.  "Are there any chambers suitable to barracks?  Like what you've got for the weyrlings, but without the dragon couches.  We find that it's prudent to separate the folks who have been identified as possible dragonriders from the general population.  A lot of these people will be spending every waking minute together after they Impress, and housing them together in situations that will be similar to their time in the weyrling barracks helps us identify any potential problems early on.  As you probably know, any time people live together, conflicts inevitably arise, and the sooner we can spot them and head them off, the better."

Shyen frowned, thinking.  "The best place I can think of would be the second floor of the living quarters area.  Most of the first floor has been converted into apartments for families and individuals already.  This way..."  The Master strode off toward the far side of the Great Hall.  Lery pointed Lerane out toward the Bowl to find Z'vier and Ospererth before following the other woman.

Down a side hall from the Great Hall, they came on a spiral staircase.  Shyen hiked her skirts and started down the steps, not realizing it caused Lery to roll her eyes.  The trouser-clad woman followed behind, frowning a bit at the lack of lighting.  But she reminded herself that they hadn't needed to move very many people down to the next level yet, so there was no need for lighting for the time being.  At the landing for the second floor, Shyen paused, waving a finger at each of the five exits out of the stair tube and muttering something about someone needing to put signs up before heading leading Lery through the second tunnel to the left.  After passing through another vertical lava tube, they came out into a large chamber, about the same size as the Cafeteria.

To the right was another alcove, similar to the staircase tunnel; there was the sound of running water echoing up through a hole in the floor.  "That's a hot spring down there.  It's too hot to use for much of anything right now, I think they were talking about using it for a laundry."

Lery spotted a stack of lumber and grabbed a length of wood off the top.  Edging into the room, she tapped the floor, then smacked it harder.  Until she was within about three feet of the hole in the floor, the stone floor thudded deadly; once she was closer, it began to sound hollow.  Shyen watched curiously.  Once Lery found one hollow spot, she started tapping each way, testing all the way around the hole.  She was able to navigate all the way around the tube and inspect each offshoot.  "I think we could pump that water up here, and turn this into a bathing and laundry room for the Candidates," she concluded confidently.

She strode out of the alcove and examined the cavern.  Pointing back toward the staircase where they'd entered, she continued, "That will make a suitable classroom and social area, and we can divide the rest up for housing.  This will do.  But we're going to need to get it ready quickly - Ospererth is already Searching Candidates out of the folks here!"

Shyen sputtered.  "Searching?  I don't understand."

Lery sighed, and nodded.  "I'm pretty sure H'lee's planning to ask for everyone to gather tonight after the rescue ship returns so he can answer all those questions."  It was clear she wasn't going to explain any further.  "Are there any carpenters here right now, or are they all on the rescue ship?"

"I think there are a couple of the younger Journeymen, but yes, the more experienced ones are probably on the ship."

Lery bit back her sigh this time.  As Headwoman, she was accustomed to knowing all the names and ranks of everyone living in the Weyr.  It went against the grain to be talking to someone who had no idea.  "Do you have any kind of roster or list of everyone living here, what their ranks are, and so on?  I'll be better able to organize things if I know who to ask for and where they might be found."

"We have the living quarters map, and the Craft studios map, they're up in the Great Hall.  That's the best I can give you.  Kanorl might have more, but he's on the ship."

"Show me.  Right now, getting these quarters situated is my number one priority, so the sooner I can find people who know how to do the work, the faster we can get that taken care of."

The two women went back up the stairs to the Great Hall.  Shyen led her to the east side, where there was a dais with boards on it, that had maps.  There were a few lists, showing residents by family association and Craft rank, if any.  Nothing about ages, though.  Well, that could be remedied easily enough!  Shyen had left her to peruse the maps and lists, but had left her nine-year-old grandson Shaine with Lery to run errands.  "Shaine, I need some more paper about this big," she said, giving the lad a sheet of the size she wanted, "and a straight-edge big enough for the paper.  I also need some graphite to write with, one in as many colors as they have.  Can you run to Stores and get them for me?"  The boy nodded solemnly and took off at a run, and Lery smiled.  "Kids that age are the same, no matter when they were born," she chuckled to herself.

The boy returned about an hour later, with an adult in tow.  Lery was trying not to get annoyed.  She knew the Weyr was large and 9-year-old boys can only go so fast!  But the Headwoman had gotten used to being able to send a firelizard for her errands.  She didn't have one handy at the moment; she should have asked H'lee to leave Meesha with her.  Oh, well.

"Shaine said you need a bunch of paper and colored graphite sticks.  May I ask what for?"  The man eyed the strange woman suspiciously, holding a pack.

Lery cleared her throat and came around the table, extending a hand in greeting.  "I don't believe we've met.  I'm Lery, I came with the dragonriders.  I was the Headwoman of Benden Weyr, and will be Headwoman here.  I need the paper and colored graphite sticks for trying to organize things in my mind.  I know your supplies are limited.  I'd use a sand table if you had one..." she trailed off suggestively.

The man returned her handshake.  "Taysen.  I'm Assistant Steward of Stores.  Garis is Steward, but he's on the rescue ship."  He listened politely to the rest of Lery's explanation, then slung the pack he carried onto the table with a snort.  "Sand table, riiiiight.  Such an antiquated tool!"

Lery frowned.  "It may be antiquated, but it's effective."

Learyam was happening by and caught Lery's last statement.  "What's antiquated but effective?" the Harper asked eagerly.  Taysen rolled his eyes, and Lery glowered reproachfully at the Assistant Steward.

"A sand table.  It's particularly useful for avoiding waste, by letting people draw things out before committing them to paper or hide."  Lery held up an open palm toward the blue-clad Journeyman.  "I will give you specs later.  Right now, I need to get to work!"

Before Learyam could argue, the Weyrbowl burst in furious draconic bellows, sending everyone hurtling for the doorway.  Lery stopped near the entrance and watched the dragons closely, eventually spotting H'lee down in the Bowl, surrounded by people, undoubtedly wanting an explanation.  When the dragons settled, a large number of people turned toward Lery, questioningly, including Learyam.  She shrugged.  "I'm not a dragonrider, and I can't read their minds.  Something's up.  I'm sure H'lee or T'lon will fill us in soon enough.  Whatever it is, there's nothing the rest of us can do about it.  For now, though, I have work to do," she finished with a raised eyebrow.  Chagrined looks were shared and about a third of the people shuffled back inside to resume whatever task they were engaged in when the clamor erupted, including Lery.

Shortly afterward, H'lee found Lery pouring over the lists.  Taysen had retreated to his precious Stores, and Shaine was absently stabbing the map board with one of the pins.  The brownrider filled her in quietly on what had happened, so Lery was unsurprised when a large number of Weyrfolk went outside upon the dragons' return.  She smiled and shooed Shaine outside to participate in the gawking at the dragons.

The trio of Gifted investigators came to the Great Hall to get something to eat after interrogating the man T'lon had brought back.  Lery flagged them down and asked them to bring their meal over to the dais with her (and suggested that she'd appreciate a platter of whatever was being served).  Lery asked how much they had gleaned from the anti-Weyr man, and whether they'd found anyone else as yet.  "I'm going to need to interview everyone in the next couple of days to fill out these sheets," she gestured to the charts she was making.  "I'd appreciate if one of you, maybe Z'vier, could help me with that."

Aqayla spoke up.  "We need to interview everyone, too, so I think we might as well kill two birds with one stone."

Lery frowned.  "I'm afraid all four of us at the same time might be a little much for these folk..."

Tikal interjected, "I think we can just set it up as a pair of interviews.  You talk to them first, and then we can talk to them after."  The other two nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then.  I want to get through a few of them this evening.  I need some carpenters and masons to get Candidate barracks ready, seeing as Ospererth is oh-so-enthusiastically exercising his Search talents," she pursed her lips at Z'vier in amusement, as the bluerider reddened a bit.  The others agreed, and then returned to the Infirmary to check the other rescued passengers.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:58 pm; edited 2 times in total

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
Now that they understood what "being Searched" meant, the twins had so many questions.  H'lee said something about having Candidate lessons (whatever those were) later and limped off, leaving Z'vier to answer their questions.  He did his best, wondering whether or not he was supposed to be doing something else.  Ospererth had asked Seeth, who didn't seem to get a useful answer back from H'lee, so Z'vier continued to speak with the two now-Candidate smiths.  He tried to steer their conversations to other people in the Weyr, using his truth-sensing Gift to assess their answers.  They were young and not very knowledgeable about the recent events or why their parents had brought them here.  Additionally, they had only been there a few days, so they hadn't gotten to know very many people yet.

Not long afterward, the young man that Leena had noticed earlier climbed the slope to where the quintet were loitering.  "Mom sent me to help you out with questions about being a Candidate," he said to Z'vier.

The bluerider looked vaguely relieved.  "Ah, Lery is always so thoughtful and attentive!  Leena, Artie, this is Lerane.  He's been a Candidate for a couple of years now, so he's much more current on what it means than I am!" he chuckled as Lerane made a face.

Leena got peculiarly quiet after Lerane joined them, and focused more on spoiling Ospererth than on the conversation.  Artie didn't seem to notice and bombarded the other young man with questions.  Z'vier, however, did notice.  His gut told him that she wasn't afraid of the other boy, and his own experience with her and observations showed she wasn't particularly shy around men.  He studied her as he applied a bit of oil to one of Ospererth's wing joints.  Then it finally clicked: Lerane was about the same age.

The twins had confessed to him about not having many other kids their age to socialize with, and they were all teenagers.  If the girl had only had her brother around, she probably didn't have much experience interacting with other boys her age, and she was just old enough to be starting to notice them.  And, the bluerider's lips quirked, Lerane certainly followed in his father's footsteps, appearance-wise.  He made a note to let Lery know; he definitely wouldn't say anything to H'lee about it!  Let Lerane's mother tell his father and handle the inevitable upset.

Abruptly, Ospererth reared up on his haunches and bugled a challenge to the entire Weyr, in synchronicity with Seeth.  His sudden lunge overbalanced both Z'vier and Leena, causing them to land in the dust with yelps, and sent the boys diving out of the way of a flared wing.  Shocked at the fury in his dragon's mind, Z'vier mentally grabbed hold as hard as he could to keep the blue from taking to the air.  After a moment's battle, the dragon suddenly turned protective, dropping to all fours and curling his tail around the three teenagers, drawing them in close to his body, and extending one wing over them.  His head swung side to side, mouth gaping in a snarl that rolled back and forth across the Weyrbowl.  Z'vier was at a bit of a loss: he'd never seen his dragon behave so defensively.  He tried to sooth his companion, but the blue was inconsolable.

Leena, Artie, and even Lerane were more than a little frightened when Ospererth suddenly trapped them.  When Leena tried to crawl over his tail, the dragon undulated the appendage and flipped her back into the blue-lit "room" he had created.  She collided with Lerane, and quickly scrambled to her feet.  "Z'vier, what's going on?" she shouted, her voice shaking.

"I'm not sure.  Just...stay put, I guess.  I've never seen him act like this..." came the less-than-reassuring answer.

Two puffs of cold and Signy and Hagbard appeared next to their respective masters, squeaking anxiously, picking up on the twins' fear.  After a moment, they started chattering at the blue, apparently trying to order him to let their humans go.  Ospererth ignored them, and they soon joined the carnival screeching their way around the Weyrbowl. Not long afterward, the dragon relaxed, although he continued to hover protectively over the three youngsters, and he didn't want to let them wander too far away until Z'vier had to go take the strange man into custody.  Once the man had been hustled off to the Infirmary, Ospererth relaxed, and "gently" (for a 100-foot-long dragon) nudged each of them, apparently apologizing for his behavior.  Leena caressed his eyeridge as they left.

Lerane suggested that they head for the Great Hall.  "My mom, Lery, she'll know what's going on."

Leena felt nervous about going with the other boy.  She wasn't sure how old he was, but he seemed older than her brother.  But Artie didn't seem to mind being around him, and she wanted to know what was going on as much as he did.  Their frets settled on their shoulders and they followed the other boy toward the Great Hall entrance.

Lerane quickly spotted his mother on the dais, listening to H'lee.  He beckoned for the other two to come with him and he headed for his parents.  Leri saw them approaching and jerked her head to indicate they could come up.  H'lee turned around and gave a quirky smile when he saw his son.  "Seeth told me that you had a little excitement with Ospererth," the Weyrlingmaster stated.

"Yeah, he acted like a gold with her first clutch!" Lerane laughed a little.  "It was a bit unnerving.  What happened?"  Where his father hadn't been one of the riders in danger, the boy was somewhat lackadaisical about the situation.

H'lee frowned and shook his head, and Lery rolled her eyes.  "Oh, for heaven's sake, H'lee, he's grown up with the threat of violence against us, it's not exactly shocking!"  The two adults shared exasperated looks.  "There was an AW among the people rescued.  He attacked Sath," she continued.  The teens had all seen the greens getting food and they didn't appear injured, but Lerane asked anyway.  "No, she wasn't hurt.  Except maybe her pride," his mother finished dryly, and Lerane laughed, while his father scowled.  "Has Ospereth Searched anyone besides these two?" she asked, changing the subject.

Lerane shook his head.  "Nah.  Did you find out about Candidate barracks?"

Now it was Lery's turn to scowl.  "I have to wait for the other adults to get back with the ship.  Most of the crafters are on board.  But we'll have something in a few days.  In the meantime, housing will be whatever they've had up to this point.  We'll figure out moving them to the barracks when they're ready."

"What?  We have to move?" Leena protested.  They'd just moved!

Lery sighed.  "It's protocol that Candidates move into a barracks together.  H'lee will explain more tonight, after supper."  H'lee sputtered.  "He's going to have a fair amount to explain anyway!" she overrode her spouse's protests, and the brownrider threw up his hands in annoyance.

Lerane turned to the twins.  "Hey, it was great meeting you guys.  I'll see you around, and we'll be housed together in the barracks when they're ready," he shook Artie's hand and pecked Leena on the cheek, making the young woman flush.  Lery seemed to be the only one who noticed, and Leena tried to pretend nothing had happened.  With that informal dismissal, she fled for their quarters to wait for their parents to return with the ship.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

14The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.16 Sun Sep 29, 2019 1:53 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
Lery watched Leena practically run out of the Great Hall after Lerane's farewell.  She pursed her lips and  looked at H'lee.  The brownrider nodded, having noticed the discomfort as well.  He also noticed Artie's suspicious scowl.  Lerane appeared to be oblivious.  Lery made a note to ask about modern greetings during the interview process.

It was late afternoon before the ship returned.  Tikal and Z'vier met the rescued passengers as they returned; since Aqayla had already evaluated them, they completed the overall assessment.  Meanwhile, Aqayla helped Lery fill out her charts of the different residents.  Lery made sure to put out the message that she wanted to see the carpenters and the masons, preferably before dinner.

Master Carpenter Joryldin and Master Mason Caslo, as well as Kanorl approached Lery not too long after the ship docked.  The blue-and-white clad Printer seemed a little upset at the way the Headwoman had swooped in and was taking over, and Lery realized she was going to have to deal with that situation before it got out of hand.  Asking the other two to give her a minute, she stepped deeper into the alcove with Kanorl.

"I have heard nothing but good things about you, Kanorl.  You have done a fantastic job given your available resources, and the information you had about Weyrs in general.  But I've run a Weyr, and you haven't.  Don't think I don't appreciate everything you have done.  I hope you'll stay on and continue to help."  Her speech appeared to mollify the man.  "The main thing I need right now is to know names, ages, genders, and Crafts, if they have one.  I don't plan to change things up, I just want to know who to ask for when we need something.  For example, right now, I need to talk to Joryldin and Caslo about getting Candidate barracks set up."

Kanorl looked a little blank.  "Candidate barracks?"  Lery found herself in the position of explaining it again.  Afterward, Kanorl looked frustrated.  "I didn't know.  There was nothing in the records that Learyam has."

Lery nodded.  "That's not your fault, or Learyam's.  By his however-many-times-great-grandfather's time, we had gotten lax about housing Candidates in barracks.  We mostly flew Candidates between the Weyrs, so they often stayed with their parents in guest rooms, and usually didn't stay at a Weyr more than a week.  The rest of the time, they'd be in their home Weyr, usually with their families.  The barracks allowed the Candidates to be more closely supervised, and let Candidates meet the others with whom they might be going through weyrlinghood, or at least attending multiple hatchings.  Without Threadfall, dragonriders could raise their children, so they could do the supervision, and most Candidates came from within the Weyrs, so they already knew each other.  With the return of Thread, we need to resurrect some of the older practices.  There are going to be Candidates coming in that none of your folks know, and the rules are going to be very different from what they're used to, but that's part of the reason for the Candidate barracks."

Kanorl made a face.  "New rules will go over well," he laughed.  "Actually, it's a good time to introduce those, we've been working on the rules for the Weyr for a while.  So additional new rules won't be as much of a shock."  He smiled tensely.  "I can print up some signs or posters if you can tell me what to put on them.

Lery smiled.  "Thank you, Kanorl.  I will definitely take you up on that once I've got a handle on what we need."  Leaving the printer with the lists of residents that she'd started, she took the carpenter and mason to the chamber that Shyen had shown her earlier and discussed with them what she wanted.  Before long, the two Masters were arguing about details that Lery didn't need to know, and she left them to their debate.  As she exited, they asked her to send their Journeymen down, so once she re-entered the Great Hall, she sent her little assistant Shaine to find them and send them down.
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Last edited by Kestrana on Fri Oct 04, 2019 12:58 pm; edited 1 time in total

15The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.16 - H'lee Wed Oct 02, 2019 6:03 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
The Weyrlingmaster was annoyed.  Somehow, he'd gotten roped into standing up in front of everyone in the Weyr and explaining most of the workings of the Weyr.  Lery would be there to fill in things about the Lower Caverns that he wasn't familiar with, but it was still going to mostly fall on him.  Not for the first time, he wished that they'd been able to keep at least one goldrider.  He knew that each time Silvara had to draw on the knowledge they'd left for her, it weakened her personality and strengthened the "invader" personalities, so he tried not to ask her to do that.

All 49 of those that had been rescued - well, 50 if you counted the AW that had tried to kill Sath - had been ensconced in the Infirmary, where the Healers were adamant that they'd remain until they recovered from their night at sea.  Most of the rescuees were women and children.  They'd managed to get the children into the boat that Roth had towed; their ages ranged from 5 to 16.  There had been two younger children in the boat; both had died from exposure.  Several of the children were now orphaned.  It was a good thing the Weyrs had always taken in orphaned or unwanted children, so the creche was well-documented in the papers that Learyam had inherited.

Meanwhile, the other 800 or so residents gathered in the Great Hall after dinner.  H'lee found himself sitting on the dais and lamenting the lack of music.  At home, after supper, anyone who could play an instrument passably well brought it out and there were impromptu performances.  Lery joined him shortly afterward, once she was satisfied that the Kitchens were closed down to her liking.  Learyam, Timiny, and Benimin invited themselves up, as did Kanorl and Shyen.  The three Harpers' arrival sparked a question in H'lee's mind.  Leaning forward, he addressed them quietly, "Do you have records of the old Teaching Ballads?  A lot of them fell out of use after AIVAS shut down."

The two modern Harpers shared a look of consternation.  "Well, with paper and other indelible methods of recording being made, who needs the old oral traditions?" Benimin finally replied.

H'lee scowled.  "A lot of those ballads are the only records we have of dragonrider duties.  It would be good to revive them here, in the Weyr.  Certainly, if the Harper Hall doesn't see the need for those that taught things like figuring and plant and animal identification, you'll get no objection from me.  But you need to remember: with Thread returned, paper is going to become a luxury.  That's why our ancestors resorted to oral methods in the first place."  The brownrider wasn't impressed - but he wasn't surprised, either - at the shocked look on the older crafters' faces.  Learyam and Timiny didn't seem to be particularly surprised, more chagrined and resigned.

"And that," Lery spoke up, "is why I want a sand table instead of just paper!  And yes, Learyam, we can discuss that now."  The younger Harper grinned; Lery rolled her eyes and beckoned the journeyman to one side, leaving H'lee with Timiny, Benimin, Kanorl, and Shyen.

"At any rate, many of the Weyrfolk we brought with us are passable instrumentalists and/or singers," H'lee continued, addressing Benimin.  "They can teach the ones they know.  I was hoping your Hall would have records of some of the others, though."

Benimin shrugged.  "I'll see what I can find, but I can't make any promises.  The Harper Hall was all but gutted when the Weyrs were destroyed.  Learyam's family was able to abscond with some of the documents, but as you've already noticed, many items are lacking.  There might be more items in Fort's Harper Hall, but as you might imagine, that would be difficult to access..."

H'lee smiled.  He could do something about that!  "T'lon!" he shouted to the bronzerider, who was enjoying some well-earned attention from some of the unattached female Weyrfolk.  T'lon pouted and excused himself, joining his friend on the dais.  H'lee scribbled a note.  "Can you send Meesha to Lady Holder Rodia with this message?  Lord Aleamor and Lady Rodia have proven to be friends of the Weyr," he explained to ease the alarmed looks the three crafters shot him.  "They should be able to search the Harper Hall without drawing much attention.  You might as well stay up here," he caught T'lon trying to slip off the dais.  "You can help me answer questions in a bit."  T'lon sighed.

It was a few more minutes yet before the last of the Weyrfolk trickled in.  H'lee made sure their mugs were refilled; giving talks was thirsty work!  The other riders joined them on the dais.  Finally, Kanorl signaled that the Hall was full, and H'lee rose from his chair.  The people nearest the dais saw the movement and fell silent, but others continued to converse with their neighbors.  But if there's one thing Weyrlingmasters are good at, it's getting attention.  Raising his voice and projecting strongly (to the Harpers' approval), H'lee started to address the crowd.

"Good evening!"  His voice boomed across the Hall, resulting in near-instantaneous silence.  "Most of you have met one or more of us today, some under less than ideal circumstances," he continued wryly.  There were nods and murmurs of agreement throughout the gathering.  "Things certainly didn't go the way we expected, so I hope you'll forgive us for being a bit less organized than we thought we would be."  He gestured for the other five riders to step up next to him.

"Quick introductions.  I'm Weyrlingmaster H'lee, my dragon is brown Seeth.  My primary responsibility is the safety and training of weyrlings - both the human riders and the dragons.  I'll get into more detail about that in a minute.  This is T'lon, he rides bronze Roth, and is acting Weyrleader for the next couple of years or so.  Wingthird S'ine rides brown Zaveroth.  Several of you met Z'vier and his blue dragon Ospererth earlier today, and many of you had an encounter with greenriders Aqayla and T'han, and their dragons Kimith and Sath, on the rescue ship."  A rumble rolled across the audience, a mixture of celebratory or congratulatory shouts and grumbling from somewhat harsh treatment they'd received after the AW had attacked Sath.  "And we brought a few Weyrfolk with us for the same reasons we came, except for different parts of the Weyr.  I may be espoused to the Headwoman, but sure as greens rise, I don't know what it takes to actually run a Weyr!"

"Sharding right you don't!" Lery shouted at him goodnaturedly, drawing laughter from the crowd.

H'lee bowed and made an extravagant introductory gesture.  "Headwoman Lery, ladies and gentlemen!  In the Weyr hierarchy, she is second only to the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader.  She does know what it takes to run a Weyr, and I gather she's already been letting some of you in on the 'secret.'"  He made air quotes with his fingers around the word "secret," earning him an affectionate cuff from his mate and more laughter from the gathered Weyrfolk.  "She is also the Candidatemaster, although she and I may be sharing that duty this time around."

H'lee continued with introductions.  "A lot of the younger crowd met Lerane today.  Lery and I are his parents, so if you catch him pilfering any sweetbreads..." he winked at his son, who was doing his best to ignore his father while a blush crept up his face.  "Master Harper Timiny has been in charge of education for Candidates and weyrlings at the Weyrs in our time, and volunteered to come forward with us.  All of you hopefuls who want to Stand at the Hatching will get to know him very well," the brownrider chuckled.  "Master Healer Tikal is not here this evening, as he is helping tend to the folks who were rescued, but I'm sure you'll all get to meet him at some point, sooner or later.

"I know there are a lot of questions, mostly revolving around Impressing dragons!"
 Excitement practically wafted off the teenagers and other youngsters, and no few of the adults.  "I'll give you a brief primer.  But let me emphasize: it's not all clear skies and sunshine.  It's hard work.  And I do mean, work.  I'm given to understand most of you have apprenticed in a Craft, so you know how much work you do as an Apprentice; Impressing a dragon takes about three times as much work."  There were skeptical looks shared between audience members, and many of them blanched when they realized the other riders on the dais were nodding in agreement.

"To start, I've heard a number of wild stories about how potential dragonriders are selected, so let's start there.  First off, we do not kidnap people.  We only accept those who are willing.  We do our level best to make sure you know what you're in for, so you can back out if you decide it's not for you.

"There are two ways to become a Candidate.  The most common method is to present yourself to the Candidatemaster.  The other way is to be Searched by a Search dragon, who is usually blue.  Ospererth is one such dragon, and I know he singled out a few people today.  If you are Searched, you can still choose to not become a Candidate, if you don't want to.  The one thing I will say about those who are Searched as opposed to those who present themselves: if a person who is Searched rejects Candidacy, but still attends the Hatching, there's a greater chance of him or her Impressing a dragon than someone who presented themselves as a Candidate and was not Searched.  Search dragons pick up on certain qualities that are desirable in a dragonrider, and it's not unusual for hopefuls who present themselves to have traits that are undesirable in a dragonrider.  This isn't to say that if you are Searched, you're guaranteed to Impress, nor that you're certain to not Impress if you weren't Searched; only half to two-thirds of dragonriders are Searched.

"Becoming a Candidate is somewhat becoming an Apprentice in a Craft.  You're going to have responsibilities and classes.  Until a few days before Hatching, though, they're not all-consuming the way Apprenticeship is.  Most of the classes last for half an hour to an hour, and we teach them on a rotating cycle, with one class held per day.  This way, as new potentials arrive, they can just jump into the class rotation without worrying about having missed anything.  The last three days before Hatching, however, we hold all of the classes every day; in part, this is because that's the time when the largest number of volunteer Candidates arrive, and we need to make sure they attend all of the classes, but it also serves as reinforcement for those who have already attended the classes earlier.  In addition, there is a special lesson held during this time, where Candidates get a chance to go out on the Sands, approach the eggs, and participate in rehearsals for the day of Hatching.

"Candidates are housed in the Candidate Barracks.  No exceptions!  This is going to be a change for us, as well as for you.  A Thread-fighting Wing needs absolute obedience and cohesiveness, and that's something that's extremely difficult when you start throwing dozens of people together: living together, eating together, training together, working together.  The Candidate Barracks allow us, as mature riders, Weyrlingmaster, and Candidatemaster, to identify personality conflicts - and there will be conflicts!  Identifying them allows us to find ways to mitigate the harm they might do.  Weyrlings are grouped together for training, so knowing, for example, that two Candidates don't get along with a third allows me to make sure that those three don't get grouped together.  We're not here to teach you conflict management; we're here to prevent conflict.  I know living in a shared living space is going to be difficult for some folks, especially those of you who may be married with children of your own, but we cannot make any exceptions to this rule.  If it's a problem for you, then you don't Stand at Hatching.

"To describe Hatching Day in one word: chaos."
 That drew chuckles from the other riders and an exasperated sigh from Lery.  "While we can usually predict the day that the eggs will hatch, the hour is an entirely different matter.  As much as possible, we try to keep it to business-as-usual around the Weyr, with a few exceptions: Candidates are expected to stay close to their Barracks so they can get changed and get out onto the Hatching Grounds in as efficient a manner as possible, and there may be guests arriving throughout the day who will need guest quarters to sleep in.  There probably won't be very many guests for this first Hatching, since we're trying to stay pretty low-key, but it is something to keep in mind for the future.

"You will all know, immediately, when Hatching is about to start.  I've seen several firelizards and firedragonets here today, so I'm sure most of you are aware of their penchant for births.  Dragons are no different.  They will all flock to the Hatching Grounds and will start humming.  Their hum will reverberate throughout the entire Weyr.  So don't worry about not knowing when it's starting!  Once the hum starts, there's usually a good half an hour before the first egg cracks, so you don't need to drop everything, unless you're a Candidate.

"There are no words I can use to describe Hatching.  You'll have to experience for yourselves.  The clinical explanation is that the eggs hatch, the dragons find and Impress to their riders, and the Weyrlingmasters get them off the Sands and get them fed and bathed as quickly as possible, with as few injuries as possible.  And yes, injuries do happen.  Most of the time, they're relatively minor: a broken arm, a gouge from a claw.  They can be serious, however.  There have been deaths.  For that reason, only Candidates and Weyrlingmasters are allowed on the Sands during Hatching - absolutely no parents or guests are allowed until after all of the weyrlings have exited the Hatching Grounds.  Candidates will get more information on how to behave and how to avoid injury during their lessons.

Most of you won't see much of me once the eggs hatch because I'll be busy.  Normally, a clutch is about 15 eggs, and any given Weyr only has half a dozen or eight clutches each year.  It takes about 18 months to complete weyrling training, so normally, we have about 100-150 weyrlings at any given time, in different stages of growth: normally, 15 or so weyrlings in any given class.  I'm going to have nearly 40 weyrlings in the same age group."
 That statement drew appreciating gasps from the older adults, especially among those who had reached Master level in their Craft and had to teach youngsters.

"What's more...we won't have any more Hatchings until after this group reaches maturity."  A confused mutter spread through the audience.  "We were unable to save any gold dragons.  There were just too few of them, and they were too well-known.  Trying to hide one of them would have utterly failed; those who were seeking to destroy us would have hunted her down."  This time, the mutter was angry.  "The good news is, we have three gold eggs waiting to hatch.  Whichever one of them rises first to mate will become Weyrwoman."  H'lee had to smile at the grins being shared among the girls and women that fell into the age bracket.

"Now, do you have any questions for me, or my fellow riders, before I turn this meeting over to Lery?"  There was a moment of silence, and then a clamor of questions were shouted at once.  Holding up his hands and laughing, H'lee begged for patience.  "Let me rephrase: do any of you have questions for us that do not relate to what it's like to be a dragonrider?  You'll have plenty of time in the next couple of weeks to ask those questions!"  That dampened most of the uproar.

"Where are the eggs?" someone shouted.

"Right now, the eggs are spread out among the Northern Weyrs, hidden as deeply in each Weyr's Hatching Grounds as we could manage.  Something very strange happened at Benden Weyr just before we got there, and we couldn't risk putting all of the eggs in one basket, so to speak.  As soon as I'm satisfied that the Hatching Grounds you all have been working on are ready, we'll bring the eggs here."

"Is it just the six of you?"

T'lon took that one.  "No, there are 25 other dragons.  Most of them are keeping watch over the eggs.  They'll start coming here before too long, but we need to make sure we have enough weyrs furnished for the dragons and their riders."

"Why did the dragons get so upset this afternoon?"  H'lee wondered when that would come up.  Before he could speak, and before the Weyrfolk who had been present for the event that instigated the behavior could get too uncomfortable, Aqayla stepped forward.

"Let me stop any rumors now.  There was a man, disguised as a sailor, who survived the shipwreck.  The ship's captain had hired him on at the last minute when one of his sailors failed to show up at muster time when they were stopped at Tillek Hold.  He was vouched for by another captain.  It seems likely that the missing sailor met an unpleasant end in order to make room, though this man has no first-hand or even second-hand knowledge of any such action.  It appears that he was sent to infiltrate the Islands and look for those who still held to the old ways and believed that dragons were beneficial to Pern instead of parasites, and that he had no knowledge of the Weyr or of our arrival.  He tried to take advantage of the situation to try to kill Sath, T'han's dragon.  The AWs - that's Anti-Weyr faction members - know that killing the dragon incapacitates the rider; they also know that the other dragons grieve the loss of one of their own.  This man believed that if he succeeded in killing Sath, it would incapacitate all of us and give him a chance to kill us all, as well as to get word out to the rest of the AWs."  She smiled coldly, and silence draped over the audience.  "He miscalculated."

S'ine nodded and took up the narrative.  "Aqayla learned that you're all pretty familiar with psionic abilities.  Many dragonriders have some sort of psi Gift of some sort, though it's by no means unique to us, nor necessary for becoming a dragonrider.  She has telepathy.  Z'vier is a truth-reader.  Master Healer Tikal has empathy.  When confronted with these three Gifts in conjunction, treachery doesn't stand a chance.  Most of you endured a probe from Aqayla after this man made his move, so we know you're trustworthy.  But that is why we brought all three of them with us now: so we can suss out anyone who might try to sabotage this endeavor."

T'lon held up his hands, stepping forward to assuage the growl that reverberated among the listeners.  "We know you have made a lot of effort to ensure that no one here would ever do such a thing.  We don't expect to find any traitors among you!  But we need to be certain.  This man could have gain entry by pretending to be one of the folks traveling here to become part of the Weyr.  This is not a reflection on you!  But we have been betrayed time and again.  You'll have to forgive us for being paranoid."

Lery stepped up next.  "I think that's as good a segue as we're going to get.  As Headwoman, I'm accustomed to knowing all of the Weyrfolk by sight and name, and, ideally, by Craft.  Over the next few days, I'd like to interview everyone: meet you, put names to faces and faces to the names on the maps that Kanorl, Shyen, and Benimin have provided me, and make any special requests we might need.  For example, I know that Candidate Barracks were not among the documents that Learyam's family saved, so that structure wasn't planned for.  I've spoken to a couple of the Master Masons and Carpenters to get that started, but there may be other items that we'll need sooner rather than later.  Aqayla, Z'vier, and Tikal will also want to meet with everyone briefly.  These interviews should not be invasive or uncomfortable for anyone.

"Something else that I think will be helpful: I'm going to start getting the Candidate lessons going as soon as possible - probably in the next day or two.  A lot of the content we cover in the classes is basic, generic information about how a Weyr is structured, how it works, and will help you understand the kinds of things that dragons and their riders are accustomed to.  I would like to invite all of you to participate in these lessons one time through.  It'll also give us a chance to answer questions or get out in front of any other misconceptions that might be out there.  I'll create a sign-up sheet and schedule.  We have about three weeks before things start getting intense, so that should be enough for four rounds of Candidate lessons.  I think we'll probably hold them in the Cafeteria for now, since to get all of you through those lessons in four rounds, we'll need to get about 250 of you in each lesson, as opposed to our usual 30 to 40."


The headwoman gestured to the map on the board behind her, and the table there. "For the time being, this will be my office. Eventually, I'll need my own office," she raised an eyebrow at the masons, smiths, and carpenters and smiled. "But that's comparatively low on the priority list. Anyone who wants to present themselves as a Candidate can come see me starting tomorrow morning."

A few other questions were asked and answered before Kanorl announced that the meeting was over. The riders were generally mobbed by the curious folk, mostly the younger generation. Master Computerer Garis introduced himself to Lery and the pair fell into a discussion about the procedures for requisitioning supplies, and Learyam joined them soon after.

H'lee detached himself from a gaggle of youngsters and made his way to the cluster of masons and carpenters. "Do you have a map or diagram showing which of the weyrs are ready, or nearly ready, for habitation? We usually try to let riders choose whatever weyrs they prefer, but I need to have a ground-level weyr near the Weyrling Barracks, or at least a weyr that can be reached on foot. Hatchling dragons can't fly for several months, and I need to be accessible to their riders."

Master Caslo nodded shortly, frowning. "I don't know if we've got a map yet...we could draw something up tomorrow. But there aren't any weyrs except the Infirmary weyrs that are at the same level. The best we could do, I think, would be one of the weyrs that's on the level above the Barracks. You can get there on foot, it's just not a straight line. You have to walk over by where the water from the Bathing Pools comes down and then double back."

H'lee acknowledged the mason's statement. "I'll take a look at that tomorrow when it's daylight out. Some Weyrs have used ladders for that purpose, maybe we can do that. I'll come find you after breakfast tomorrow and we can start figuring that out."
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16The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.17 Tue Oct 08, 2019 6:03 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
H'lee
The next morning, H'lee rolled out of bed with a groan.  Most of them had slept on the guest cots, like the newcomers to the Weyr had done a few nights earlier.  The cots did the job, but they were not comfortable, especially for someone with a crippled leg.  The blankets that the Weyr had were all woven fabric, and didn't retain heat well.  He would need some furs soon, especially since it was going on winter here, not summer.  He had one large one that he'd left at Benden; it was awkward and bulky and a pain to move, so he'd opted to leave it behind until they were ready to move here permanently.  He was regretting that decision now.  Maybe he should have slept with Seeth; it would have been warmer.  He started stretching and rubbing that leg.

He was used to being watched while he went through his morning calisthenics routine.  When you're a dragonrider, you get accustomed to not having privacy during your exercise routine, because starting at weyrlinghood, you're exercising in groups with your wingmates, and that continues up through adulthood.  And being Weyrlingmaster, this was even more true - because he was in charge of putting the weyrlings through their exercises every morning, and there were always weyrlings!  So he didn't notice the pitying expressions on the faces of some of those watching him.  With his leg as warmed up as it was going to get, he rose to start doing his other exercises, and it wasn't long before T'lon joined him.

The other riders watched the pair from Benden for a bit before S'ine approached them.  "What are you guys doing?" he asked.  "Besides the obvious, that is."

T'lon straightened up from a stretch.  "The weyrlings need conditioning to become riders.  We can't very well get them into shape if we're not in shape.  And all the dragonriders are going to need to get into shape if we're going to fight Thread," he finished with a pointed look at the paunch that jutted over the brownrider's belt.  "The dragons may be doing most of the actual work, but we need to be able to throw and catch bags of firestone, help with injuries, assist ground crews..."

S'ine held up his hands and laughed in surrender.  Having overheard, the other riders joined them in the remainder of the workout, as did Lerane.  The group drew the attention of many of the Weyrfolk passing through the Great Hall on their way to the Cafeteria for breakfast.  What drew more attention was when T'lon led the group - sans H'lee - on a run through the Weyr.  While the more able riders took off, shouting bets at each other about who would complete the run or give up first, H'lee settled into as brisk a pace as he could manage, limping along the outer wall of the Great Hall and heading for the Infirmary.  After looping through the Infirmary, the Beastcraft Hall, the Tanner Hall (where he stopped to see what kind of setups there were - and there weren't many), the Weaver Hall, the Farm Hall, and the Healer Hall, he descended the ramp to the resident bathing chambers, finding a large, unoccupied room with a dozen baths.

Not long afterward, S'ine staggered past the entrance to the room and H'lee shouted for his attention.  Pulling up short, the other brownrider squinted through the steam to make out the Weyrlingmaster's form in one of the troughs.  After a moment, he stumbled in and stripped, sinking gratefully into one of the empty tubs.  "I knew I wasn't in the same shape I was when I graduated weyrlinghood, but I didn't know I was that out of shape," he panted.

H'lee chuckled.  "You should have seen me after Tikal gave me the okay to resume morning exercises with the weyrlings after my injury.  You're doing better than I was!"

Several minutes later, the other five runners found them.  T'lon and Lerane were the least winded of the bunch.  Disregarding gender, Aqayla peeled her clothing off, garnering jibes and wolf-whistles from the male riders who weren't busy shedding their own clothes.  She posed provocatively and winked at T'han.  The other greenrider laughed.  "Nice try, Aqayla, but you know Lerane's more my type!"  Lerane turned a bright red.  H'lee let out a mock growl in defense of his son, and T'han bowed with mock sincerity.  "Apologies, oh Great Weyrlingmaster.  It's only that your offspring are so attractive."  The other riders roared with laughter as H'lee muttered something unflattering.

Z'vier wrinkled his nose in distaste at the sweat stains on his shirt.  "Wish I'd known T'lon was going to take us on a speed tour of the Weyr, I'd have worn yesterday's clothing!"

The bronzerider smirked.  "Better get used to it!  I can't believe I got saddled with TWO clotheshorses!"

"Two? Who's the other one?"

"I am," H'lee said at the same time as T'lon replied, "H'lee is!"  "At least I left MOST of my clothing behind!" the brownrider argued defensively.

T'lon snorted.  "Yeah, and you were eyeing the Tailors stalls at Fort Hold just two days ago!  Don't think I didn't notice!"

"And who was it that wanted to ask every Farmer where he got his seed from, how long it took to grow, and what the ideal growing conditions were?" H'lee retorted.

"Knowledge is infinitely more portable than clothes!"

"Not when it's written down in hidebound books instead of just stashed away in your brain!  At least clothing doesn't weigh as much," the lone woman countered as she slid down into an empty bath.  H'lee shouted in agreement.

The chatter died away for a few minutes as the remaining riders dropped into their baths and exhaled in relief as the heat immediately drained away the tension that had started to build in muscles that had become unaccustomed to so much labor.

H'lee sighed.  "Until someone can figure out how to pipe hot water to all of out weyrs, we probably ought to designate one or two of the larger bathing chambers for our use.  We're going to have a huge number of exhausted weyrlings who are all going to want to bathe at the same time, and their Barracks don't have their own bathing chambers."

"I wonder what it would take to put bathing chambers in their Barracks..." the other brownrider mused somewhat sleepily.

The Weyrlingmaster shook his head.  "No.  We tried that at Northern.  It led to riders neglecting their dragons because they wanted a hot bath of their own, especially among the younger weyrlings.  More hassle than it's worth.  Making them use a more public bathing area forces them to take care of their dragons first."  T'lon nodded, having been privy to some of the neglect.  The other riders looked appalled, and Lerane looked confused.  "We usually caught it before it got too bad, but some were repeat offenders.  And after the first time they're caught, the dragons don't want to tell us because they don't want their riders to get in trouble."

"But the Candidates are getting their own bathing chambers, aren't they?" Lerane spoke up.  "I thought I heard Mom--"

"That's because the Candidates aren't all on the same schedule, the way a cohort of weyrlings is.  They have their other responsibilities and might come in at odd hours.  It also helps us identify if there are any creeps in the Candidate groups, or if anyone is going to bully others because of physical traits," T'lon explained, and Lerane sat back to consider his answer.

After a bit longer, H'lee hoisted himself upright and out of the water.  A soft gasp from near the doorway brought all the riders alert, and then made them laugh a bit at themselves as they realized the sound had originated from a group of youngsters who had apparently been eavesdropping on the group from the doorway.  The Weyrlingmaster initially felt a bit self-conscious, but then realized that these children probably hadn't seen much of the results of the violence and acrimony that had been directed at the Weyrs over a thousand years before they'd been born.  Which reminded him...he and the other riders needed a primer on the events of the last 1,100-odd years...  He forced himself to move normally to towel himself off.  He hadn't thought to bring a change of clothes to the bathing chamber, but then, nor had any of the others.  He smiled suddenly, with an idea.  He found a loose thirty-second mark in his pants and limped to the door.  Several of the children took off, but a few boldly stood their ground.  He held up the small denomination of coinage: "Which one of you will run to the Great Hall and bring all of our packs back so we have a clean change of clothes?"  A chorus of "me"'s answered his question.  H'lee pretended to be uncertain.  "I don't know...our packs are pretty heavy..."  The kids protested that they were plenty strong enough.  "Well...if you think you can.  This is your reward when you get back!" he brandished the thirty-second, and the kids took off at a run.  The riders waited until they were out of earshot before they chuckled.

Some time later, a ruckus in the hallway drew their attention as they finished toweling off, and four kids tumbled in in pairs, each pair carrying a pole with three packs strung on it.  H'lee guffawed.  "Alright, which clever fellow came up with that idea?"  Three of the children pointed at the fourth, who shrugged shyly.  What's your name, lad?"

"Dryden," the boy replied timidly.

"His grammum's Master Weaver Shyen.  I'm Ceraven.  Is it true that 14-year-olds can be Candidates?  We just turned 14..." spoke up one of the other boys.

H'lee smiled encouragingly.  "It is.  Are you all at least 14?"  Three of the four nodded, the fourth looked forlorn.  "How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Well, that's alright, then.  You'll be turning of age to Impress about the time we'll have our next clutch!"  That proclamation seemed to cheer the boy up a bit.  "Alright, as promised!"  He handed three of the boys each a thirty-second mark, and slipped Dryden an extra for his initiative and creativity.  "Well, if you haven't gone to talk to Headwoman Lery about the Hatching, you better get on with it!" he shooed them out.

Dryden hesitated at the door.  Now that the other riders were out of their baths, there were more scars on display.  "What is it, lad?" the female greenrider asked.  She was already covered, so it was apparent to her that it wan't just juvenile male curiosity.  Unless the boy was homosexual, of course, but his behavior thus far didn't make that seem too likely.

The teenager winced.  "I'm sorry.  Da always tells us not to stare.  Was that...was that from Thread?" he gestured vaguely at H'lee's crippled leg.

That drew harsh barks of laughter and sad smiles from the riders.  "If only that were the case," H'lee said softly.  "No, Dryden.  Nothing so natural as that.  That was an acid grenade, thrown by an anti-Weyr zealot.  They killed my daughter's parents, I got this while trying to rescue them.  Seeth's injuries are from the same grenade."  The room got deathly quiet.  Except for T'lon, none of the other riders in the room knew the story.

Dryden was obviously wrestling with the idea that a human being would do that sort of harm to another.  He had seen the other scars on the other riders, but now he realized they weren't just innocuous injuries from accidents or Crafthall hazards, like most of the scars he'd seen in his life.  These were maliciously inflicted injuries that left an indelible mark on the Weyr and its folk.  Suddenly, between these and the AW that had been brought in from the shipwreck the previous day, the AWs weren't just a remote threat, distant in time and space; they were a very real threat, doing very real damage.  The boy's hands slowly balled into fists.

H'lee stepped up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder, drawing his eyes upward to meet the Weyrlingmaster's.  "Anger is okay, lad.  Don't let it turn to hate, though, for that brings you to their level.  We're dragonriders and Weyrfolk, and we should strive to be above such petty grievances.  The ones who did this to me are long dead, but my daughter is still alive."  The brownrider saw the flicker of confusion that his words sparked in the boy's angry eyes, and knew that he'd heard the words, even if he didn't quite understand them yet.  "Now, off with you!  Make sure you talk to Lery about attending Candidate lessons!"  He gave Dryden a gentle shove toward the door, and after a moment, the teenager walked off.

T'lon chuckled.  "And that, my friend, is why you are Weyrlingmaster, and I'm only an Assistant!"  The other riders nodded respectfully.  H'lee drew his son into a quick embrace, reminding himself of the words he'd just said to the Candidate.  Sometimes, it was easy to forget how much he still had, even though he'd been unable to save Nylee's parents, and to give into the grief-fueled hate that their loss still drove him toward when he let his guard down.

The riders' mood was somber as they made their way back to the Cafeteria for breakfast.  Many of the Weyrfolk eyed the newcomers uncertainly, and no few gazes were tinged with disbelief.  By now, word of the crazy people running through the entire length and width of the Weyr had spread.  As they passed the Kitchens, H'lee glimpsed Lery poring over some documents with someone...he thought the man's name was Nim or Num or Nom or...oh, whatever, he'd figure it out later.  Probably looking at some sort of inventory sheet, anyway.  Lery spotted them walking past and he saw her amused smile and knew that she'd been hearing the tales of the strange early-morning habits of dragonriders.  Well, hopefully word got around among the Candidate-hopefuls and weeded out those who weren't willing to put in that kind of work, because that was one of the things that the weyrlings would be doing if they Impressed!  (Candidates would be encouraged to participate, but it wasn't mandatory the way it was for the weyrlings.)

The group found themselves somewhat ostracized: the young folk who had been so eager to speak with them the previous evening either hadn't yet made it down to breakfast or were unnerved by the workout they'd witnessed or heard stories of; most of the older folk had already eaten and were hard at work at whatever tasks they had for the day.  The result, in the Cafeteria, was a ring of youngsters sitting a respectful distance from the table the riders chose to sit at, with a smattering of tables beyond them occupied by those who were not likely to Stand for the Hatching.

Breakfast was similar to what had been served a few days before to the new arrivals: biscuits with gravy, eggs scrambled with vegetables, and fresh fruit.  However, there was also a large platter of ham, and H'lee detected Lery's hand in the production of that item.  The six riders and Lerane served up hearty portions for themselves, drawing startled and concerned looks from some of the veteran residents.  H'lee detected the looks and made a note to talk to Lery about it.  It seemed likely that the residents had been making do with smaller portions of poorer quality food.  That simply wouldn't do; dragonriders especially couldn't afford to be short-changed on rations too often or by too much, not if they were going to fight Thread.  But the dragonriders couldn't be seen taking the lion's share of the resources and leaving the rest of the Weyrfolk to suffer with small rations.  The Weyrlingmaster sighed, remembering all too well the accusations that the dragonriders took the best of everything and left the rest of the Pernese to fight over what remained.  After they ate, drawing incredulous looks from a few who had seen how much food their plates had held before they started eating, the riders split up to their various tasks for the day.

Lerane's primary reason for being with the group was to be accessible to those of Candidate age.  Lery would be much too busy for the next few days to handle that.  He alternated between sitting in the Great Hall and entertaining with tales about riding dragons, and tending to the dragons while their riders handled their other responsibilities.

Aqayla and Z'vier retired to the dais where they met with Lery and Tikal to interview the Weyrfolk.

S'ine and T'han made their way to the Crafthalls to see what, if anything, they could do to help.  S'ine was quickly recruited to help put together furniture for weyrs and Lower Caverns apartments, since the more skilled carpenters had been shanghaied into working on the Candidate Barracks.  T'han mostly helped other Craftfolk organize their spaces and took note of items that were in high demand and low supply.

T'lon met with Caslo and Learyam briefly, soon settling down to work with the latter to work sketching a map of the location and elevations of the various weyrs, starting with those that were move-in ready, while the former returned to working on the Candidate Barracks.

Meanwhile, H'lee and Seeth headed for the Hatching Grounds.  He hadn't had a chance the previous day to take a look, and he was a little worried about what he was going to find.  He needn't have.  The chamber was enormous, easily eight or ten times the size of a weyr, providing ample room for multiple queens to clutch without squabbles.  It was comfortably warm; perhaps not quite as hot as he was accustomed to, owing to the cavernous ceiling, but the sand that the Weyrfolk had been diligently spreading was adequately heated to support the eggs.  It was also a more attractive sand than most of the other Weyrs.  Ista was the only other Weyr with black sand; the rest had the usual bleached and tan sand that was more prevalent on Pern.  But it appeared that these folk had scrounged sand from wherever they could, including Ista's beaches!  Bands and swirls of white, brown, tan, and black criss-crossed the Grounds.  H'lee wasn't much of an artist, but he lamented the fact that, over time, the different colors would eventually blend and the distinct sources would fade into history.  But then again, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing to build a new Weyr on...

The entire cavern wasn't yet covered with sand - only about 2/3 of it was complete.  Apparently, the ship that had wrecked two nights earlier had been carrying more to be added.  Since they had no queen dragons, there wouldn't be quite as much concern as there would normally be.  However, the Weyrlingmaster knew that his sister and her dragon had been as protective as any gold (okay, as any three golds!) and had pretty firmly insisted that each clutch have its own space.  It was prudent to keep a certain amount of separation between the clutches, as well, because Reesteth's would hatch before Saraidth's and Selianth's, and they didn't want her clutch's hatchlings to accidentally damage the eggs from the other clutches.

Looking over the available space, H'lee decided that Saraidth's and Selianth's clutches would go in the rear corners, farthest from the main entrance, and Reesteths' would go on the near end.  That would allow the spectators to stand on the unsanded portion of the floor to observe the Hatching, since it appeared that the Stands weren't constructed yet, although he could see the space that had been designated for them.  They'd wait to finish filling in sand until after the Hatching.  Satisfied that he knew where they'd go, and hoping that Silvara and Warrelith wouldn't be adamant about changing his decisions, he turned to his dragon.  Seeth, send Warrelith this image, would you?  The brownrider focused on putting as much detail as possible into the image so that the blue dragon would be able to understand the layout that H'lee wanted.  With that, H'lee hobbled toward the Stands, where he could see a tunnel entrance.  He'd want to make sure no one entered the Hatching Grounds until the eggs were settled.  Absently, he hoped that none of the eggs had been harmed with all the transporting they'd been put through; he'd never been able to prove it, but he believed that if the eggs were turned topsy-turvy in a certain way, it would kill the hatchling inside.  Seeth moved to block the main entrance.

Some minutes later, the first dragons appeared, hovering over the Sands with their precious cargo.  H'lee trusted them to know where they were supposed to go: Warrelith and Silvara were very detail-oriented when it came to that.  He was a little surprised that she hadn't shown up with the first group, then realized she was probably savoring the reduction in people that sending the eggs away was resulting in.  Each of the dragons was also carrying two passengers along with their rider.  As each dragon settled carefully on their designated landing spot on the Sands, the passengers slid off and minced across toward where H'lee stood guard.  He asked them to wait in the Stands with him; he didn't really want them all to descend en masse on the Great Hall, but he knew that Lery, Tikal, Aqayla, and Z'vier were still interviewing people, and trying to find housing for people half a dozen at a time would be distracting. When they arrived, Allie and Nylee ran up and hugged H'lee, happy to see their father. Alina followed at a more sedate pace, but was just as enthusiastic in her embrace as the girls.

Through his dragon, the Weyrlingmaster proposed an idea to T'lon: that after the eggs were quietly transferred, the remaining 24 dragons - all of them except Silvara and Warrelith - should arrive at the Weyrbowl in formation.  Silvara and Warrelith could stay in the Hatching Grounds, as far away from the other people as possible while still being inside the Weyr, until she felt up to dealing with them.  T'lon approved and the order was relayed among the dragons.  Because there were no wagons of sand remaining to be emptied in the Hatching Grounds, no one would be coming down unless they had some other reason; with the masons, miners, and carpenters busy in the Candidate Barracks, that wasn't likely.  It took not quite half an hour to transfer all of the eggs and get them arranged to Silv's liking.  Then the two dozen riders returned to Benden Weyr to get into formation to make their grand entrance.

H'lee asked the Weyrfolk to wait in the Hatching Grounds until the dragons appeared in a few minutes. Most of them headed for the main entryway, where they would undoubtedly mingle with the throng of people that would be spilling out of the Lower Caverns soon. Meanwhile, H'lee headed for the Great Hall to announce that the Hatching Grounds were suitable and that the rest of the dragons would be arriving shortly. The news stirred up the residents who, as H'lee predicted, boiled out of every entrance to see the Wing's appearance. H'lee waited long enough for everyone to join them, but not so long as to let them start getting restless, before he issued the command through Seeth.

Ten seconds later, Kimith - who was acting as Watchdragon - bugled a greeting to the arrivals, who bellowed back, making the Weyrbowl echo with happy draconic roars. People clamped their hands over their ears, but despite the aural assault, the folk cheered the magical arrival and ooh'ed and aah'ed over the formation and the colors. H'lee heard a few mutters about the lack of a gold, and wondering what they looked like, but he had explained the previous evening that they did not have any golds, so it wasn't unexpected. The Weyrlingmaster smiled to himself, wondering how these folk would react when they finally met Silvara and Warrelith.

For the older adults, some of the novelty had worn off, and most of them returned to whatever tasks they had been performing before the performance. Those of Candidate age took longer to return to their posts, but no one would begrudge them that. The new Weyrfolk checked in with Lery and got room assignments, while the dragonriders checked with T'lon on weyr options. H'lee mounted Seeth and they glided over to the Weyrling Barracks. Caslo was right: there were no good options for a weyr for himself that would be on the same level as the weyrlings. There was one with a good ledge, though, where Seeth would have plenty of room to land and sun himself, and gave the Weyrlingmaster a good vantage point for the entire Weyr. The good news: there was enough room to cut a staircase in to access that weyr. It would be a while before that got prioritized, though.
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17The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.17 Sun May 03, 2020 11:54 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
H'lee directed Seeth toward the third weyr to the right of the waterfall.  The ledge in front of it was the largest in that grouping of weyrs, and it was centered over the two weyrling barracks.  He smiled at that thought.  The waterfall was a bit distracting, noisy, though...it'd make it more difficult to hear anything going on below.  Seeth, who had been following his rider's thoughts, snorted derisively.  The day I can't hear what weyrlings are up to a dragonlength away, even over the sound of running water, is the day we retire.  H'lee laughed and thumped the brown affectionately.

Seeth dropped onto the ledge, a bit heavily.  Tired, old man? H'lee asked with just a hint of anxiety.

The brown rumbled softly.  A bit.  It has been very busy.

H'lee's laugh this time was tinged with just a hint of hysteria.  You can say that again.  I'm glad they brought our blankets, I was cold last night.  Do you like this weyr?

The pair tottered into the weyr in question to take a look around.  Seeth lurched up onto the couch and proceeded to try different positions, rolling about like an adolescent feline and bringing a fond grin to his rider's face.  Leaving his dragon to his antics, H'lee limped his way to the rider's living space in the rear.

He was surprised to see that the living quarters were a split level, and appeared quite spacious.  What he saw at first appeared to be a public room, like a parlor.  There was a door near the rear which, when he looked inside, he discovered led to a bathing chamber.  The tub was only slightly roughed out, not enough yet to actually soak in, but enough to identify it for what it was.  Opposite of the tub, there was another space that looked similar, but it only had a short wall around it, maybe two or three inches tall, with a drain in the center.  H'lee couldn't imagine what it was for.  Next to it was a dual basin that he recognized as a water closet setup: the upper basin was for washing one's hands or face, and the waste water was used to wash other wastes down the drain of the lower basin.  There was a large tank in the center of the wall opposite the door, raised off the floor.  It took H'lee a minute to discern its use: it was a heating tank for hot water.  There wasn't any plumbing leading into or out of the tank yet, but the stopcock on the water closet basins showed that cold water was running to that, at least.  "Not totally uncivilized, at least," he muttered to himself.

He exited the bathing room and looked around.  The parlor area was pretty barren, which, he decided, probably led to it seeming larger than it actually was.  To his right, as he faced the exit, there was a staircase; it was quite rough, and the steps uneven, and H'lee grimaced.  He had a hard enough time with steps that were the same height and depth.  He took his time and made his way carefully up the steps to see what was on the upper level.  It was as empty as the lower level, but he found a window that opened into the dragon chamber - Seeth also found it and stuck his head in to look around curiously - and H'lee concluded it was intended to be a sleeping room.  He just needed a bed.  And his heavy fur, which Silvara probably had in her packs.

Well, big fella, what do you think?  Do you like this one, or do you want to try out some of the others?

Seeth purred.  This one is nice.  You like it.  Let us get someone to fix the stairs for you.

H'lee laughed.  "That will be a while, the Masons are more urgently needed elsewhere.  I can get by for now.  I do need a bed, though.  We should get my belongings from Silv, and see if we can find a bed."  He hobbled back down the stairs and met his dragon on the ledge outside, where Seeth was peering over the edge to look at the Barracks doorways below.  After he mounted up, the brown lunged upward off the ledge and, with a couple of strong wingbeats, gained enough altitude to allow them to glide across the Bowl to the entrance to the Hatching Grounds.  Seeth landed outside, but staunchly refused to enter the chamber, something about Warrelith being testy.

H'lee grumbled about the vagaries of dragons as he made his way in on foot and peered around the chamber.  He didn't see Silvara, although he caught a flash of blue back in one of the corners; he did, however, spot the piles of belongings that had been brought by the Weyrfolk while the eggs had been being transferred.  He made his way to the pile and began sorting through them.  He found Alina's, Allie's, Nylee's, Lery's, and Lerane's packs, as well as his own.  He wasn't sure what the women and children were planning to do, but he separated them from the rest and started toward the door with them.  Seeth carefully scooped up the packs after H'lee remounted and lurched airborne again, this time landing outside the Great Hall entrance.  H'lee made his way inside, spotting Lerane and waving him over to help with the packs.

"Do you know where I might find a Carpenter about a bed?  Seeth and I picked out a weyr."

Lerane shrugged.  "You'd have to ask Mom.  Or Alina.  They're pretty well taking over."  This last statement was accompanied by a grin, which H'lee returned.  "They were in the Kitchens, the last time I saw."

H'lee headed for the Kitchens, spotting Alina poring over something on a table.  With a smirk, he walked up behind her and swatted her behind with one hand and was rewarded with an outraged yelp.  Glaring at her spouse, Alina sputtered, "You're just lucky I wasn't holding anything I could hit you with!"

He grinned irreverently and replied, "I always make sure you aren't before I do something like that."  He was rewarded with a narrow-eyed, suspicious look.  "Do you know if there are any Carpenters at loose ends who could patch together a bed frame for my new weyr?"

Alina shook her head.  "I doubt there are any Carpenters to spare, but I've heard that you can requisition a bed frame and mattress from Stores.  Lery's down there right now doing some inventory.  Have T'lon send Meesha down.  He's been avoiding any real work since they made their dramatic entrance earlier."  The Assistant Headwoman scowled.

H'lee hid his amusement and retreated from his spouse's domain before she turned her tongue on him.  Seeth, can you have Roth bring T'lon down to the Lower Caverns entrance near the Infirmary? he asked as he, once again, hauled himself aboard his dragon.  He saw a bronze high up on the wall of the Bowl stir and drop down.

A few minutes later, a disgruntled-looking T'lon joined him outside the Lower Caverns entrance.  "What now?" he asked, clearly feeling irritable.

H'lee frowned at his friend, noting the dark circles under the man's eyes and the slightly grayish tinge to Roth's hide.  "T'lon, when was the last time Roth ate?  For that matter, when was the last time you slept?  You looked much better this morning."  He had assumed that T'lon had slept the previous night, but he hadn't actually witnessed any such thing.

T'lon gave him a blank look for a moment, then looked more closely at Roth, looking surprised at the condition of his dragon.  Big guy, why didn't you say anything?

We have been busy.  You needed me.  Being food-heavy would be bad right now.

Well, after we see what we're doing, if I don't need you, go find something to eat, would you?

The bronze rumbled an assent, nudging his rider gently enough to stagger the man.  "Sorry, H'lee.  We've been so busy, and he thought I needed him more than he needed food right now.  What do you need, and should I send him to get something to eat now, or after...whatever it is?"

"I need a bed frame and mattress hauled to the weyr Seeth and I picked out; Alina said we should be able to requisition one from Stores.  If we can, it would be easier to move everything with two dragons.  And Seeth can go with Roth afterward to eat, while you and I figure out how to put things together."  H'lee understood the way dragons would always put their riders first, and how easy it was in urgent situations to miss the signs of a dragon's needs, particularly if the dragon was trying to conceal it.  Seeth huffed at his rider.

The two men made their way through the beastholds to Stores, with Meesha flitting along ahead of them.  When they reached the Stores, they found Lery giving the gold firelizard a good ridge-scratching.  She smiled at her spouse, her expression turning speculative as she looked at the bronzerider.  T'lon winced, knowing that look of old.  H'lee knew he'd better step in, or she'd have his friend running some sort of errand, when he clearly needed some rest.  He stepped in close and kissed her, much to Meesha's discomfiture.

"We've picked out weyrs and Alina said that we could request beds from down here.  We'd like to get them set up."

The Headwoman looked a little suspicious, but she'd seen how stiffly H'lee had moved that morning after a night on the cots.  "Did you find your pack, and your big fur?"

H'lee nodded.  "Yes, and your packs as well.  Lerane has them in the Great Hall, I wasn't sure what sort of sleeping arrangements you were going to make for now."

Lery relaxed a bit and looked satisfied.  "Let's see what we can find, then.  Taysen!" she called.  A moment later, a young man popped around a corner.  "Taysen, where could we find a couple of bedframes and mattresses?  These riders have picked out weyrs, and it'd be nice to get them moved in so they aren't sleeping in the Great Hall."

Several minutes later, H'lee and T'lon were mounted on their dragons and toting two bedframes and two mattresses up to the ledge in front of H'lee's weyr.  There was a sufficient ledge along the wall for them to carry T'lon's to whichever weyr he chose - H'lee strongly suggested the one closest to the waterfall.  Roth looked at that one while they lugged H'lee's mattress up the stairs and informed his rider that it was satisfactory to him.  Then the pair of dragons took to the air, and then the sea; the herdbeasts were scarce enough yet that they weren't allowed to eat any of them for the time being, so it was fish or wherries for them.  As it turned out, the dolphins were more than happy to "herd" fish to the hungry dragons, making eating less of an ordeal than it would otherwise be.

Meanwhile, the two men assembled the bedframes and situated the mattresses in their respective weyrs.  As it turned out, there was a wooden walkway that spanned across the waterfall, which meant that someone could walk across; of course, the bronzerider didn't walk across himself to get his pack, he used Meesha to get some of the teenagers who had been doting on the dragonriders to fetch his packs (after Meesha identified them, of course) - as well as some dinner for the pair.  H'lee left his friend making his bed, and went back to his own weyr just as their dragons returned and settled on the ledge together.  Roth looked substantially improved, but both definitely needed an oiling soon.  It was early evening, and the stew was getting cold, which did not enhance its flavor favorably.  He choked it down and headed into his living quarters; Taysen had sent them with glow baskets - there hadn't been any before - so he wasn't blind as he made his way up the uneven steps.  The bed, with its thick sheepskin and llama-wool blankets, looked marvelously inviting, and he didn't waste any time falling into it and, shortly thereafter, falling asleep.
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18The Secret Project - 3941.03.07 - Exile Hold Empty 3941.03.18 Mon May 04, 2020 10:20 pm

Kestrana

Kestrana
Admin / Weyrlingmaster
T'lon

T'lon woke with the dawn.  That wasn't really his normal, unless there were weyrlings to whip into shape; he preferred to wait until the sun was solidly above the horizon before stirring out of his quarters.  H'lee was the one who was usually up at that unholy hour, so the bronzerider was surprised to see that Seeth was not up on the Rim yet.  He ambled over to the weyr the Weyrlingmaster had chosen and peered inside, to see Seeth's blue-green eyes staring back at him.

Seeth says he needs sleep and to please leave, Roth said, his mindvoice tinged with surprise.  T'lon chortled softly and left the brown to his guard duty, instead meeting Roth on the ledge and getting their bathing supplies together.  The bronze lofted them to the uppermost lake, which was obscured with thick, odoriferous fog from the hot springs that filled the basin.

T'lon tested the water with a hand and was a bit shocked at just how hot it was.  "Roth, buddy, this is too hot for me.  Is there a cooler spot?"

The dragon huffed and Sent an image of the northern edge, where this smaller lake joined a larger one that had cold-water springs mingling with the hot.  This image was followed by another, showing the bronze swimming across the hotter lake while his rider walked along the shore.  T'lon laughed and slapped the dragon's arm, then reached up to remove the riding straps.  Slinging the straps over one shoulder, the man proceeded to walk the couple of dragonlengths to the cooler lake while Roth cavorted in the hot springs.  Letting his dragon play a bit longer, T'lon checked along the shore to find an area where the water was comfortably hot; stripping down and diving in confirmed the condition, and he summoned Roth.

As he bathed his lifelong companion, T'lon expressed sorrow and remorse for the stresses he'd put his dragon through over the last couple of weeks.  For his part, Roth had already forgiven his rider.  After the bath, the pair found that the rim was a bit chilly for drying out and made their way to a hillock just below the Rim where they were somewhat sheltered from the breeze.  Once dry, T'lon oiled Roth and counted his blessings that neither of them had been injured in the various scuffles that had occurred.

Personal hygiene completed, the pair spiraled down, stopping by their weyr briefly for T'lon to get a change of clothes and leave the brushes and oils behind.  Roth dropped him at the Great Hall entrance before lurching upward to find a sunny perch somewhere on the Rim.  By now, several other dragons had partaken in bathing rituals that suited them, whether in the cooler waters below or the warmer ones above, and their riders had already descended upon the Kitchens or were coming in about the same time as T'lon.

Unlike the previous day, there were more and better selections of food, and it was clear that none of the Weyr inhabitants were to be stinted on food from now on, though how Lery planned to maintain that level of consumption, T'lon couldn't guess.  At least...he couldn't guess until he glimpsed Lery bearing down on him as he took his seat with a plateful of biscuits and gravy, eggs, and slices of wherry.  Then it occurred to him that, with suitable safety precautions, the riders could pilfer from the Holds and Weyrs, and could transport large quantities of food from places like Fort and Ruatha Holds.  And as Lery started to question him about the condition of the dragons and their riders, he confirmed that was exactly what she had in mind: particularly when it came to retrieving all of the things they'd left behind in Benden Weyr.  After assuring her that he'd take care of it, he rounded up all of the riders and assessed their conditions.

They needed someone in the group going to Benden to make sure that the Weyr remained empty.  Aqayla and Z'vier were still engaged with interviewing the folk here; a young greenrider named Alexa had a passable ability for telepathy, so he assigned her to the retrieval team.  With her, he sent bronzerider T'zal, brownriders F'xal and R'yur, blueriders G'rav and S'nom, and greenriders Laeri and Laysa.  He wanted to bring as many of the live herdbeasts as they could back with them; it was a tricky proposition, but the dragons needed something more than fish.  He left them with orders to requisition any tools they thought they'd need to accomplish that task, and if anyone gave them trouble, to bring it to himself or Lery to be taken care of.

Then he considered foraging groups.  There were plenty of uninhabited islands in the area where vegetation could be gleaned with little to no risk to the riders.  He considered those left, then selected greenriders Vila and Bierte, blueriders K'let and Z'nir, and brownrider B'nin to lead those parties; they could take a few of the Weyrfolk with them to help gather the plants.  And last, he charged greenriders Arisa, Tyaena, and Ashendel along with bronzerider D'ver to locate and hunt wild wherry flocks.

All of them were to take whatever they managed to bring in to the Lower Caverns entrance near the Infirmary.  He gave his rosters to Lery so that she would know who was out, and who was in; she had somehow managed to retain a small army of firelizards and firedragonets, and after making two copies of his rosters, she sent them off to Garis and Taysen.  There was at least one rider in each of the groups who had a flit or a fret with them, so Roth conveyed to the dragons to send the little cousins to find Garis or Taysen when they were ready to bring goods back so that manpower could be mustered to take whatever they were bringing into storage quickly.

That left the in-Weyr roster: T'lon; H'lee; brownriders S'ine and L'nex; blueriders N'kos, X'lel, X'kim, Z'vier, N'sir; and greenriders Aqayla, P'ler, Vila, L'mas, and T'han.  With the exceptions of T'lon, H'lee, Z'vier, Aqayla, and L'mas, all of these riders were Carpenters, Miners, Smiths, Masons, Glassmiths, or Technicians, skills much more suited for use around the Weyr for the time being than out foraging.  Aqayla and Z'vier were busy working on interviews.  T'lon assigned L'mas, as a Harper apprentice, to assist Lery - having a dragonrider at her disposal would help to ensure that she could reach any of the dragonriders at any time for any reason.  The remaining riders, he instructed to find whoever the local Masters in their Crafts were and offer their Craft skills.

With that admonition, he sought out the local Farmer.  It was late in the year to start growing anything here, but he had seen no obvious plans for the following spring, and there were certain plants that could be grown in cooler temperatures in glasshouses that would keep them in fresh greens until spring.  And they had electric lights, perhaps they could find a warm chamber to grow things in pots inside.

He found the ranking Farmer - a senior journeywoman named Nadra - working in Stores, trying to help sort out the supplies that had been brought by the previous ship.  She was muttering to herself and making notes on a sheaf of papers.  T'lon frowned, watching for a bit before clearing his throat to get her attention.  "Excuse me if I'm speaking out-of-turn, but shouldn't you be working on Farm-related inventory?" he asked.

The woman yelped and jumped, somehow turning while in the air and alighting to face the intruder, a wild look in her eyes.  She just stared at him for a long moment while T'lon wondered if she was always this jumpy or if she'd really been that engrossed in her task.  The shock faded from her features after a moment.  "I'm sorry, you startled me.  Ah...I would be if anyone had any idea where anything was!"  Her face warped into an irritable scowl.  "I don't like being underground, but it's too late in the year to grow anything, and the Plastic-makers are all too blamed busy to get me the materials for hoophouses!"

T'lon frowned.  He had heard of people doing "hoophouses" in warmer climates, where they could provide limited protection from cool temperatures, acting to extend the season, or in temperate climates to create a tropical environment for growing specialties.  But the materials only lasted a season or two, depending on the weather and the surroundings (for example, they couldn't be used near trees because even small twigs blown about by a stiff breeze would puncture the plastic film used to cover such structures).  "Have you spoken to the Carpenters or the Glassmiths?  Glasshouses are much better structures for overwintering crops or growing hardy ones."

Nadra gaped at him.  "Are you joking?  I don't even have a chair for my apartment yet, let alone glass for the one window I'm allowed to have!"

Now it was T'lon's turn to scowl.  Well, he had assigned his Crafters to "do whatever was needed," he could reassign them.  Roth!  I need N'sir, S'ine, X'kim, and X'lel to meet me in the Bowl, below the Gather Grounds, near the Great Hall entrance!  They're being reassigned.  He turned to Nadra.  "Well, that just won't do.  We don't have the manpower to forage produce all winter, we need to get something growing.  I've a few riders who should be able to help get us what we need without interfering with what the rest are doing; in fact, some of what they'll be doing, the discards can be used by the others.  We need something to write on and with, however..."

Nadra looked confused.  "But...who will...?" she gestured at the piles of materials she'd been sifting through.

"Leave it.  Leave your notes, unless there are any blanks.  We'll just have to tell Garis or Taysen that they'll need someone else to finish this, while I get writing materials from them."

Garis was furious that T'lon dared to reassign one of his workers.  T'lon put a stop to the man's tirade about having too much to do and not enough hands to do it by pointing out that he had sent P'ler to help them with the electronic cataloging system and then asking, sweetly, how much fresh produce they had in Stores.  The older man sputtered, but had to admit that they did not have enough produce put away for the winter.  "Nadra should be focused on how we're going to provide produce through the winter, not inventorying the excess supplies brought in by people who don't know what actually is needed.  We have other agronomics Crafters among the dragonriders, it's true, but right now, they're all out foraging for what should already be in our Stores!  So for now, Nadra and I will be focusing on getting farms set up."  The man stammered something about winter coming on, which T'lon waved away, scooping up the stack of oversized drawing paper and sketch pencils Taysen warily set on the counter and leaving without explaining why that wouldn't be a problem.

Nadra followed along in T'lon's wake, a little overwhelmed by the man's confidence.  Farmers were known for being stubborn, but not particularly loud, and T'lon was wrecking all of her previous mental images of them...although, he certainly comported himself like a dragonrider!  When they stepped out of the Lower Caverns, Roth was waiting for them.  She gasped; she hadn't taken an opportunity to get very close to any of the dragons, so she wasn't prepared for the sight of him so close.  T'lon wasted no time in making a running leap to the dragon's elbow, where he paused to fetch down a belt and with a pair of straps.  He turned to toss it to her, then realized that she'd frozen too far away to reach.

"Oy!  Nadra, haven't you been close to one of the dragons yet?"

The woman shook her head, her eyes so round it was a miracle they didn't just fall out of her face and roll away.  Grumbling under his breath, he unhooked the extra strap length and jumped down.  "Well, don't just stand there.  He doesn't eat people, you know!"  He took her arm and propelled her forward to stand next to Roth's foot.  The movement seemed to break her stupor somewhat, and she was able to put the belt on, though her hands shook.  He boosted her up onto Roth's forearm before hoisting himself up next to her, and then again heaved her onto the dragon's back.  He knew he should put his own straps on, but they were already later than he'd planned and he could see the riders he'd called for standing where he'd requested; so he flung himself up behind the Farmer and wrapped his arms around her to hold the riding straps.  Roth sprang upward with a wrench, gaining just enough altitude to glide across the Bowl.  Once there, T'lon quickly dislodged his passenger, whose eyes remained clenched shut until both feet were firmly on the ground again.  S'ine raised an eyebrow at the bronzerider's lack of riding straps for himself, but said nothing.

T'lon quickly explained the problem, and the solution that had led him to summon these four other riders.  While X'kim and N'sir didn't seem troubled by the solution he had presented, S'ine and X'lel had other concerns.  "T'lon, we just don't have the raw materials to build that kind of a frame," the brownrider opined.  X'lel nodded in agreement.

The bronzerider stared at the two and Nadra threw up her hands as though to say, I told you so.  "Then we need to find some!  We need fresh produce for the winter, and we can't support the Weyr on whatever we can pilfer from Northern Holds or forage off the other islands."  The other riders looked helpless.

Through Roth, to Kelath and L'mas, T'lon requested that Learyam join them.  A few minutes later, the Harper jogged out, and looked down the 50-foot drop at the riders.  "What do you need?" he shouted.

"Can one of the Holds supporting us provide us with lumber, a lot of it?" T'lon shouted back up, annoyed that the man was making him holler.

Learyam looked thoughtful.  "Can you get me a list of how much and what sizes?  Aleamor or Elden might be able to help us.  I can't promise anything, but I can send Reese to ask."

T'lon sighed resignedly and gave the Harper a thumbs-up.  N'sir excused himself, explaining that he was going to go get started working on the glass panes.  T'lon mentioned the idea of "donating" flawed panes to the other Glassmiths for whatever uses they could put them to, such as windows for those apartments that were lucky enough to have windows.  The bluerider grinned.  "I'll have to work up to the sizes you need, so there should be plenty for that.  It'll keep Master Nymos off my back, too, for flaking out on him this morning!"

X'kim, meanwhile, went in search of some stakes, a mallet, and stringline so that he could start measuring and marking the foundations for the glasshouses.  T'lon, Nadra, X'lel, and S'ine figured out how much lumber and iron they would need, compiling a succinct list that T'lon sent to Learyam by way of Meesha.  That taken care of, X'lel and S'ine excused themselves to return to the tasks they had left, until they received an answer.

For a short while, Nadra and T'lon helped X'kim.  They laid out two sets of glasshouses, one on the western side of the Bowl, where they'd met, which would get morning and midday sun, and one opposite, on the eastern side, which would receive midday and afternoon sun.  They also marked out trenches that would be required to take water from the stream that crossed the Bowl to the new glasshouses.  After finishing the first set, T'lon noticed that Seeth was no longer on his ledge.

H'lee was no longer asleep, according to Roth.  T'lon spotted the brown's hide at the Bathing Pools, and he nodded, satisfied that his friend was not ill, just tired.  He excused himself from Nadra's and X'kim's company and started making his way on foot up to the Great Hall.  Ask Seeth to bring H'lee to the Great Hall when they're finished, would you? he asked his dragon.  They had decisions to make with regards to weyrling training...



H'lee

H'lee hadn't intended to sleep in.  He'd planned to get up at his usual time, and engage in his usual early-morning exercises.  But the comfortable mattress, warm furs, unusually dark bedroom, and general exhaustion had other ideas.  It was late morning before he woke, and at first, he didn't realize how late it was.  He stretched and took a leisurely moment to enjoy waking up in a real, warm bed.

He rose, less stiffly than the previous morning, and rummaged out a clean set of clothes from his pack.  He'd need a wardrobe at some point.  Then he limped carefully down the staircase and into the bathing room.  The cold water in the basin was a shock, but a welcome one; he wouldn't take a full bath until after his morning exercises, and since there was no hot water here, it would be in one of the communal bathing rooms in the Lower Caverns.  He was slightly surprised when his stomach growled; dinner hadn't been all that tasty, but it had been filling.

When he finally made his way out through Seeth's chamber and realized the dragon was outside, in a sunny patch...on the west-facing side of the Weyr...then he realized how late it was.  He stepped out, feeling the warmth radiating off his dragon's hide.  He blinked down at the Weyrbowl, seeing dragonriders and others, he presumed potential Candidates, tending their dragons.  Seeth, why didn't you wake me?  Why didn't T'lon wake me?

Seeth turned his head to look squarely at his rider.  You were very tired.  You needed sleep.  I said so.  He snuffled at H'lee for a moment.  You are better now.  H'lee chuckled and rubbed an eyeridge.  When his hand slid over the rearmost edge, he felt minuscule bits of hide flake off under his fingers.  He frowned, remembering his thought last night that both Seeth and Roth needed some oiling.

H'lee sighed; bathing Seeth was a pain, especially when there was only cold water.  Seeth nudged his hand.  The bathing pools are warm.  You do not need to get cold to bathe me.  H'lee looked at his dragon in surprise; he hadn't realized there were warm-water springs.  He wasn't even sure where they were at.  Get the oil from your pack, and a brush, then I'll fly you up.  It would be a very long walk.  H'lee smiled and patted his dragon's nose, then went to the pack he'd left next to the dragon couch to get the stiff-bristled brush and the jar of hide oil from in it.

Seeth labored upward to the Bathing Pools; as they ascended, H'lee could see that the pools were accessible by foot, although it was a steep climb.  He estimated the elevation to be about five dragonlengths above the floor of the Bowl, and a hike of about fifty dragonlengths on foot.  That was a long haul.  He hadn't crossed through the waterfall, so he wasn't sure how warm the water there was; he wondered how warm it was by the time it reached the pool at the bottom.  He also wondered why they weren't piping hot water to the individual weyrs from whatever hot springs obviously existed; perhaps they could pipe some hot water down to the base of the waterfall to ensure that it was warm enough for the youngest hatchlings.

The brown dragon targeted the eastern-most end, where a cascade of sulphurous water chuckled its way down from the next lake up.  H'lee briefly considered suggesting that they go on upward, until he realized that the quantity of steam rising from that lake meant it was much hotter.  Although he didn't want to give Seeth a cold bath, the dragon didn't need a hot soak, not since he had been sunning himself.  The brown settled on a low rise on the southern edge of the lake and waited for his rider to remove the riding straps - the pair were perfectly capable of completing this sort of flight without straps, but as Weyrlingmaster, he had to set an example for all of the other riders.  Freed of the leathers, Seeth slithered into the water and rumbled his pleasure at the warmth.  H'lee chuckled and removed his tunic and trews before wading in after his dragon, echoing the beast's exclamation for the water's temperature.

After a moment's enjoyment, he set to scrubbing the vast quantity of brown hide that Seeth presented to him.  The silence was deceptive, and the Weyrlingmaster found himself in a position he had long been unaccustomed to: time to simply enjoy his dragon's company.  Normally, he had other things on his mind, from mulling over the strengths and weaknesses of the current crop of weyrlings, to worrying about his adoptive mother and sister, to wondering when and where the next AW attack was going to take place.  Not to say he had ever neglected Seeth's needs, but it had been a long time since the pair could simply bask in each other's presence.  They had snatched moments of such feeling during Hatchings, but it couldn't last long, not when they had to escort the youngsters off for their first lesson in care.

Having completed the cleaning portion of their bath, the duo scrambled up onto the grassy hill overlooking the pools and stretched out in the autumn sun to dry.  After a short doze, H'lee rose and started working hide oil into Seeth's hide, starting with the driest and itchiest spots.  They were nearly finished when Roth contacted Seeth.  Both dragon and rider sighed and wrapped up their self-care routine.  The brown deposited his rider at the edge of the Gather Grounds before returning to his weyr ledge while his rider made his way into the Great Hall.

He entered the Great Hall and spotted T'lon making his way toward the dias the riders and Lery had been using as "offices" with a pair of heavily-laden platters of food.  The bronzerider didn't see him come in, but H'lee turned his steps in the same direction, catching up to T'lon shortly after he deposited the trays on the table and was rummaging around for a sheaf of papers and charcoal to write with.

H'lee plopped down in one of the chairs and reached greedily for one of the platters while T'lon's back was turned.  When the bronzerider rotated back to the table, he grinned.  "Get enough sleep last night?" he asked teasingly.  "You'd think you and I swapped sleep schedules, I was the one who was up with the dawn this morning!"

H'lee grunted through a mouthful of bread and stew.  "Seeth said I needed it.  Can't say he was wrong."  He watched his friend thumbing through some papers on the desk while he ate another few bites.  "You know Lery's going to smack you for disrupting her organization, right?"  T'lon gave him an incredulous look, and gestured at the seemingly haphazard clutter of materials and papers on the table.  H'lee snorted.  "I'm mated to her, remember?  Trust me, you and I may not be able to see it, but she's got some sort of organization here. Mess it up at your own peril, I'll make sure to tell her that I wasn't involved, and that I gave you fair warning!"  He shook a slice of bread at the erstwhile Weyrleader.  "What are you looking for, anyway?"

T'lon's face had taken on a wary look as he eyed the stacks of papers.  "Uh, somewhere, I think Lery has a list of residents broken out by age and gender.  I wanted to go over our options for Candidates among those already here.  If there are enough, then perhaps we won't need to try to Search out possibilities in the Holds, a prospect I think you'll agree is risky at best."

H'lee sighed.  "You're right about that.  I'm just not sure there are enough suitable options.  Certainly there are some; Ospereth Searched those Smith twins.  But what do you propose to do, parade all the age-eligible in front of him like horses before a horse-trader?"  The brownrider chuckled at the mental image his statement created.

T'lon smirked.  "Why not?"

H'lee shook his head, still grinning.  "I wonder if Lord Aleamor's family could help us.  They're sending that ship with Alyena and Polran in it down from Fort Sea Hold, past Southern Boll, and around to Tillek.  They could pick up some additional passengers, if they can think of anyone of age who might be suitable."

T'lon's humor faded.  "I don't know.  I know you and Silv trust those we met that night, but what about the other people around them?  Their average, everyday Holdfolk may not be as trustworthy."

"That's true enough, but we really should try to diversify.  I know we managed to bring a few Candidates forward from the Holds, but we couldn't bring a lot without drawing unwanted attention."

"But aren't all the people who built this already descended most likely descended from dragonriders already, across most if not all of the Weyrs?"

H'lee laughed.  "That may be true, but remember, that was something like 15 generations ago.  It's unlikely that any of them identify much with their original Weyrs.  The Harpers or Healers probably have some sort of genealogy that could tell us who came from where, but they've likely intermixed so much that it wouldn't mean much.  And clearly, the Holds spent time advancing the psionic gifts, apparently more than the Exiles did, which would be extremely useful to us.  Not that I would say the things I've heard about them doing to make those advances were good, but at this point, we might as well take advantage of the results."

T'lon scowled.  "That seems...wrong...somehow."

"It does," the Weyrlingmaster nodded.  "But it doesn't change the state of affairs today.  Don't those people have as much right as anyone to have a chance to become dragonriders?  Perhaps even more right, since their gifts were cultivated in the Weyrs originally, and may have even originated in the Weyrs, so shouldn't they be able to take pride in that heritage, be able to take back some of the power that we used to hold?"

The two men sat quietly for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.  H'lee finally snorted.  "How about we find out how many possibles we have now, before we go borrowing trouble from the Holds?  There are, what, 850 people here?  So there should be 100 kids of appropriate age, plus the ones we brought forward with us, and the couple that we picked up in Benden and Fort.  If we do have that many, then we don't need to bring any from the Holds.  Of course, just because they're the right age doesn't mean they're dragonrider material.  Even in our day, only about one percent of the population became dragonriders.  I know part of that is because there weren't that many dragons, but it's partly because many people don't have the constitution and morals to be dragonriders.  I would feel better if we could only present those who were Searched.
Maybe displaying them in like debutantes at a ball for the blues isn't such a bad idea..."


That set the two of them off in a most unseemly fit of giggling.  Every time they'd start to get their expressions under control, one of them would propose something ridiculous - like dressing the Candidates up in their finest Gather-wear for their presentation to the blues, or having a rider of the potential's sexual preference escort them - and they'd be off again.  Several minutes into this, Lery showed up and gave the two of them a very suspicious look, and snatched H'lee's goblet to give it a wiff - just water.  "Have you two been rummaging in my papers?" she asked, a bit waspishly, when she noticed one of the stacks appeared to be in disarray.

That stopped the laughter quickly.  H'lee put his hands up defensively, and one turned to point at T'lon.  "Not I!  He was the one looking for a list of the residents by age and gender!  Before I even got here!"

"Hey!" the bronzerider yelped, as Lery took a good-natured swipe at him with a wooden spoon from her apron.  She glowered at him.

"If you haven't completely disrupted everything, it should be in that stack, near the bottom," she pointed at a pile of papers, third one from the corner, right in front of H'lee.  The brownrider cautiously lifted up the corners of the stack and shortly located the list he wanted.  "Just make sure you put it back when you're done!"  Both riders just nodded obediently.  She gave them another suspicious look and tugged out a couple sheafs of paper from another pile before sweeping back off to whatever she was doing.  The two riders shared a look and nearly collapsed in another spate of laughter once she was out of earshot.

They were able to confirm that there were only 53 potential Candidates among those who had immigrated to the Weyr.  Upon further investigation, the pair of riders figured out that the first couple of ships that had come had only contained adults with no families, or at least no children; it was only the later ships that had families, including children, which reduced the number of age-eligible Weyrfolk.  The good news was that they were relatively evenly balanced between boys and girls.  Then there were the 9 they'd brought forward (well, 10, if they counted Lerane - he was technically younger than they usually allowed to Stand, but they'd been planning to let him before they timed it forward due to the lack of available Candidates, so he couldn't very well back out now).  There were 3 other 13-year-olds in the immigrated residents; and 6 21-year-olds, who were also a bit older than the usual, but might be worth putting on the Sands for this massive first hatching.  There was the gifted girl that Silvara had rescued, and two others that had turned up in Benden Weyr - one part of a group investigating why the Weyr had been out of contact, and one part of a group emigrating to the Weyr.  And finally, Alyena and Polran, who would shortly be leaving on the Jonbee.  That made for 77 possibilities.  It wasn't quite as many as they'd been hoping for, but it was more than enough to mean they didn't need to try going on Search.

H'lee scribbled down all the names, ages, genders, and crafts of the possibles.  T'lon looked at the list and sighed.  "Your handwriting still hasn't improved," he complained.

"I can read it," H'lee rolled his eyes.  "Lery, Timiny, and I will need to do interviews.  You know.  In all our spare time."  The two men chuckled, and H'lee slipped the original list back into the stack where he'd gotten it from.  "Do you suppose they've gotten a conference room or any offices ready yet that I could use for that?"

The Weyrleader shrugged.  "You'd have to ask Lery.  Or Alina.  Or...what was that one Harper's name...Kanorl?"
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