A promotion...
You go to the Dolphincraft Office.
Dolphincraft Office
As you enter this room, your eyes are drawn to a seal that hangs prominantly on the back wall, directly behind an old wooden desk. The hand carved seal has been painted azure and features two dolphins swimming side by side. Bookshelves filled near to capacity with books and hides line both of the office's sidewalls. Numerous rugs adorn the floor, while several chairs are placed in front of the desk. A long table behind the desk rests against the wall. A detailed map of Pern is pinned in place on it. Different areas of the coastlines, as well as parts of the ocean, are color coded. A key is roughly drawn at the bottom. Various objects of antiquity rests on shelves near the door. A charcoal... [look closer]
Gliding above is a brown firelizard.
Sarin is here.
Obvious exits:
Private Chambers Corridor
From outside something smacks into the door and the doorframe. The impact causes the door to open and the cause of it is revealed... it's Jessa, the twirling apprentice, who just twirled right into the door frame. Ouch, that must have hurt.
Sarin is seated at her desk, by all appearances filling out some sort of form. She adds a signiture, then puts the hide away and looks up just in time to see Jessa's collision. "Ouch. Are you all right, dear? And actually, that twirling's just what I wanted to speak to you about..."
Jessa wrinkles her nose, rubs her head, and rubs a shoulder. Then Jess jumps to her feet and beams. "I'm just fine." Of course she is. Young folk are durable and solid. And they bounce. "What about the twirling?" Uh oh, is Srin going to forbid it or something? That would be sad, although Jess can always gain a bit of common sense and contain it to outside and away from furniture and door frames.
Sarin lets out a prolonged sigh. "It has come to my attention that there is an apprentice in the Southern hall, quite probably a copy-cat, who is /also/ prone to twirling. And I'm afraid we simply cannot have /two/ twirling apprentices. It just wouldn't be right." She pulls open a drawer and sticks her hand inside. "However, I have come up with a way to remedy the situation."
Jessa wrinkles her nose. "A copy-cat?!" Oh no! Someone is copying Jess. That just can't be done. Maybe Jess can become the klah drinking twirling apprentice, or maybe the scuttling and twirling apprentice. Or maybe the higherups can just forbid the other apprentice to twirl, since it was obviously the Jess' idea.
Sarin nods slowly and withdraws her hand from the drawer. "That's right. And while there isn't a whole lot I can do about that one, Southern being outside my jurisdiction, I /can/ remedy the problem of two twirling apprentices." Her hand snakes out and deposits a silver charm on the desk. "You're now the twirling /senior/ apprentice."
Jessa looks from the charm on the desk to the crafthead and gapes. "Wha--?" Intelligent response, no? Interesting remedy that was, indeed. Perhaps Jess is startled, or maybe the knock against the door frame caused her to loose her power of speech.
Sarin grins broadly. "Take it and stick it on your bracelet, dear. And give the old one here, so we can use it for someone new. Congratulations! You've been doing wonderfully with your classes, and made it clear that you know your stuff, so this was the obvious solution." Sage nod.
Jessa gapes a moment longer and then blinks. Can't let her eyes dry out, now can she? And speaking of drying out, she'd better close her mouth 'fore her tongue dries out. Jess' look of surprise turns into a grin. "Uh, thank you!" With usual animated bouncy steps she approaches the desk and picks up the charm, pausing a moment to examine it closely. The old charm, which is shamefully dirty, is removed and put on the desk.
Sarin takes the apprentice charm and drops it into a drawer with no regard for its state of cleanliness. Or lack thereof. "You're welcome. You deserve it. What do you say to a celebration in the flying mug? Or did you have other plans?" Srin pushes back her chair and gets to her feet.
Jessa never did get around to cleaning her bracelet or charms. Oh well. Someone else can do it. Like a new apprentice. Jess beams. "Sure." Actually she had a few plans, like twirling and scuttling. But they can be practiced some other time. And hey, maybe at the mug they can discuss the prospect of collecting wood and building new furniture.
Sarin heads for the door. "Great. Let's go, then."
You open a door labelled The Flying Mug and pass through.
The Flying Mug
A few shades too bright for the lighting to ever be called quite dim, the interior of the Flying Mug reveals upon closer inspection the marks of a much-frequented bar. Although the tables all match and the chairs are of a set, one or seven chairs have a wobbly leg, a few tabletops have big gashes across them, and each surface has an intricate pattern of turn-old mug rings. A well stocked, well polished and well maintained bar stretches across the expanse of the wall, facing the series of shuttered windows looking out on the courtyard. The bar stools are better maintained than the chairs, with low backs. And they spin, too! An intricate 'mural' covers the ceiling and there's a 'note' on... [look closer]
High in the rafters are twenty-seven firelizards.
You see Bartender Lem here.
Sarin is here.
Obvious exits:
Dining Hall Great Hall
You stand in the rather rambunctious Flying Mug.
Jessa skips in while glowing with the happiness of her promotion. A good day today was. She had a rather fun, albeit strenuous, lesson with Ol' Ironsides. And then the Jess had some time to practice scuttling and twirling, followed by getting plenty of bubblies and meatrolls to eat. And then... promotion! Days don't get much better than this.
Sarin strides up to the bar, earning a somewhat surprised glance from a drudge accustomed to seeing her wet. "Would you like anything, Jessa? On me." She greets the bartender and orders a glass of juice and a bubbly for herself, then turns to Jessa.
Sefina walks with a bouncing stride in from the great hall.
Jessa rocks on the balls of her feet. Did Srin just offer to feed Jess? That's a dangerous thing. Really. Considering the mass amounts of food she has a tendency to consume. Jess gleams and peers with interest at the counter. Fooood. She nods to Srin and then places an order with the bartender for a nearly obscene amount of food, consisting most of meatrolls and bubblies, with a few tubers thrown in.
Sarin listens to Jessa order, slightly wide-eyed and slightly amused. Ah, well, Srin has not purchased much recently, she can afford it. Spotting another dolphincrafter, she waves. "Hello there! Jessa's a senior apprentice now, so we're celebrating!"
And where has the Srin been around that she doesn't know about Jess' ravenous appetite. Surely someone must have commented on it. Jess also spots 'Fina and waves to the girl, grinning broadly, 'cause promotions are a happy thing. Really.
Sefina brightens and immediately quickens her steps, shaking any excess water from her hair outside the door. "Oh, happy days!" she laughs as she nears the other craftmembers. "That's so excting, Jess. You deserve it." Her head moves in an earnest nod before she hops onto a nearby chair.
The drudge that didn't get to glare at Sarin instead glares at Sefina. Or, rather, Sefina's back. With a muted mutter, she moves away. The bartender hands Sarin her drink and bubbly, then motions to the drudge to help carry Jessa's order.
Sarin accepts the drink and has a sip. "Mm, good." She nods to Sefina, "Happy days indeed! You've been doing well too, then? She does deserve it. I'm terribly proud of you, Jessa."
Jessa grins and hops over to her own seat too. She beams at Srin. Awww. "Thanks." Strange, Jess never really thought anyone would be proud of her. Back at Keroon where she spent most of her Turns most of the folks were yelling at her or chasing her, not to mention saying she'd amount to nothing. But here she's accepted and praised. Fun fun.
Sefina is glad she didn't catch the glare, or else her grin would dissolve into a confused stare. She hates to think people glare at her behind her back, for she can be a perfectly cheerful girl under good circumstances. "I've been doing well, though not as well as Jessa here. I don't believe a promotion is in line for me anytime soon. I've still a bit of work to do," she chuckles, shifting on her seat so she's facing both of them. "Apparently Jess is more than good, but how are you?" Her gaze indicates that it's Sarin she directs her question to.
All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are © Anne McCaffrey 1967, 2000, all rights
reserved, and used by permission of the author.
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