The Dragonriders of PernŽ is a trademark, Registered U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, of Anne McCaffrey. This is a recorded session, generated by Harper's Tale MOO on Tuesday, November 16th, for the benefit of members unable to attend. Logged by Pyrene.
Raiding your own Room
Candidate Barracks
Serviceable, this low-ceiling'd room runs right and left from the heavy canvas curtains that function as a door: relatively bare of ornamentation, tidy glows light the few worn tapestries that adorn the walls and depict a variety of dragons in flight or at rest. But it is the cots, lots and lots of cots, that distinguish this room from the others, their blue or black coverlets tucked neatly over relatively fresh rushes.
Candidate's haven, this is their escape from the bustling world of chores and Weyr; visitors are welcome if invited.
Resting atop the doorframe are Selkie, Cornflower, Lox, Dana, Cray, Felician, Pix, Tremayne, Pyk, Tango, Litza, RazorThorn, Aria Moon, Windu, Kageen, Larson, Vedra, Orya, and Raksha.
You see Name Board, Tiri's Cot, Mharida's Cot, Auri's Cot, Sena's Cot, Tya's cot, Pyrene's Cot, Lylia's Cot, Maurin's Cot, Khayet's Cot, Gekoki's Cot, Liseria's Super Tent, Quedista's Cot, Quara's Cot, and Saera's Cot here.
Pyrene yawns on her cot, idly bopping Tremayne on his bronzen nose with her stuffed bronze dragon. "See? Isn't this fun?" she asks him idly, before turning to look around at the rest of the dorms... Tyara and Liseria... she knows them. And Gekoki... candidate not brat, so that's OK. "Anybody hungry?" she suddenly wonders.
Tyara looks at Pyrene. She just came in, but.. "Hmm, I could go for something," she nods, smiling to Lis and Geko as well.
Liseria rolls over in her cot with a choking snort. "Hng?" is asked of Pyrene before the girl's awake enough to try again. "Hungry? Sure...." Lis sits up, stomach rumbling in resounding agreement with her statment.
Gekoki rolls over onto her back, her head hanging off of the foot of her bed. In a slightly breathy voice - breathy because it's hard to get enough air in that position - she says, "Hungry? You bet!"
Pyrene nods, a slight smirk settling over her features. "Well, it's just that I've still got that jar of sweetsticks in my room, but I don't need it for the brats right now... and I don't trust them to stay out of my room until after the hatching soo..." She stands and glances around at the others, "Anybody want to go and rescue it?"
Rescuing sweesticks... In the guise of helping a noble cause, Lis perks up with barely-contained alacrity. "'Course. Can't trust kidlets, now can we?" she asks, swinging feet back and forth over the edge of her cot like someone half her turn. And Pyrene was worried about the /werybrats/.
Tyara chuckles, then grimaces. "I would Py, but I don't think I could get in unnoticed either," she groans. Afterall, the brats do remember her..
Pyrene shrugs. "So we go for speed rather than disguise then... We're faster than them... at least I am... What about the rest of you? CAn you outrun a sugar-crazed child?"
Gekoki wriggles about so that Pyrene's right-side up again, "Sweetsticks? Oh, nonono! We can't trust little kids not to eat 'em all up." Of course not!
Liseria bobs sweater-clad shoulders indifferently, wobbling both the stuffed form of Garth and the 'lizard form of Kythe with the movement. "Doesn't sound too hard... Even a sugar-crazed child can't got /that/ fast, right?" The candidate peers at Pyrene warily for some confirmation of such.
Gekoki looks a little worried... She's been around sugar-crazed children. She's been among suger-crazed children. But then, she's had training running as well, "I bet I could run faster that a silly little kid, even if he is sugar-crazed. Or she..."
Pyrene spreads her hands vaguely, "Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine then... remember go for their eyes--it's a vulnerable spot." With a face that straight, she /must/ be joking. At any rate, she slips out to the caverns then. Follow if you dare...
Back out into the bustling world of the caverns you go.
Inner Caverns
Ancient caverns unfold in an endless maze of tunnels and stairs, the Weyr's cavities a labyrinth to the uninitiated. Here, trimmed by the last of the stone cutters, arched walls and vaulted ceilings retain the soapy smoothness of well-worn stone, as do the endless tunnel floors kept clear and tidy. Shadows creep and flicker across these glowlit mountain walls, creatures of non-light wending their way east to the main caverns and bowl, or branching out in a web of caves to the Weyr's living spaces.
Shadowed on stone-smooth ledge are Iniquity, Sisal, Phyar, Tirone, and Taybi.
Leya is here.
Obvious exits:
Living Caverns Hallway Dorms Barracks Baths Brat Cave Infirmary Guests' Quarters
Pyrene presses a little closer to the wall of the corridors than perhaps is strictly necessary as she leads the way through the caverns until finally they reach the dread portal of the Brat Cave. Surprisingly, it doesn't have "Abandon Hope all ye who enter here" written above it, just a gaily coloured curtain separating weyr from riderspawn. "Everybody still here?" Pyrene calls darkly back to the candidates.
Liseria gives Pyrene an eager head-nodding with a 'Yep!' tied onto the end of it, cautiously tailing the former nanny as they near her area of expertise.
Gekoki looks puzzled, as if to wonder why Pyrene's being so melodramatic about this. But maybe Pyrene's not being melodramatic. That's a scary thought. She squeaks in response, "I'm here!"
Tyara smirks and nods in Pyrene's direction. She's still here, waiting to be attacked by brats any time..
Pyrene nods and pushes aside the curtain... then looks at Tyara. "You first."
Tyara sighs and eyes Pyrene. "Why m... oh, ok then.."
Tyara walks briskly to the Brat Cave.
Gekoki steps quietly to the Brat Cave.
Liseria follows quickly after Tyara, not wanting to be last among their brigade.
Liseria walks quietly, skirt swirling about her ankles, to the Brat Cave.
Pyrene grins wickedly and ducks after.... almost as dangerous being last...
You go to the Brat Cave.
Brat Cave
Extremely large room is aglow with brilliant glowbaskets lighting up the room, positioned above grasping fingers carefully in corners as to provide the best possible illumination. Cavernous walls shine, dabb'd hither and thither with bright shades of fingerpaint, as are the pots lying scattered all over sturdy kid-size tables huddled in bunches in corners. Rugs scatter the floor to protect small feet also, perhaps a bit smudged here and there from little accidents, embroidered by the nannies in their spare time, almost seeming to cover a dip in the floor and topped with plush chairs all comfortably positioned in a loose ring about a comfortably warm fireplace flickering cheerfully for storytelling.
Sweet and yummy, scents of cookies and candy waft about the room.
Poking through the paint pots is Gunwalloe.
You see Toy Box, Mud Colors, Aurae, and Atai here.
You notice Kalla asleep here.
Tyara, Gekoki, and Liseria are here.
Obvious exits:
Sleeping Quarters Inner Caverns Rooms
Tyara puts a finger over her lips. The little monsters are sleeping, and it's /so/ easy to wake them..
Pyrene doesn't waste time in the actual nurseries, hastening through the door on the
east side of the cave, barely looking to see if anybody's following.
Through the curtain you duck! Watch your head!
Pyrene's Refuge
Chaos reigns, typical of Pyrene's room. Although a larger space than most girls her age might be able to expect, her mess expands nicely to cover the available area. Toys confiscated from the nursery litter the shelves, while the floor is carpeted with assorted clothes eventually bound for the laundry. Her desk overflows with sundry scraps of paper: duty rosters; punishment lists--plus the infamous jar of sweetsticks. Trespassers had best not be greedy though, among the pillows and blankets that protect her cot from 'Reaches cold, there's usually a fire lizard or two on guard. Only the tiny fireplace escapes the oblivion of untidiness. Even Pyrene has more sense than to let her mess spill over into the hearth. The room may not scream organisation, but many a young person will assure you that it's the only foolproof filing system: only the person resident here could possibly find anything.
To the west, you see three people.
Obvious exits:
Out
Tyara walks briskly in from the Brat Cave.
Gekoki steps quietly in from the Brat Cave.
Liseria walks quietly, skirt swirling about her ankles, in from the Brat Cave.
Pyrene breaks into a delighted smile as she looks around her room. "Oh, I've missed this!" Completely unashamed of the mess, she scoops up the jar on her desk and looks at the others crowding inside. "Is the coast clear to go back out?"
Gekoki peeks outside the door, the pokes her head back in, "I think that a few of them are getting restless in their sleep..."
Liseria peers 'round, aghast at all the clutter just one girl could create. "Shells, Pyrene, is this all /your/ mess?"
Tyara sticks a head outside and peeks at the cave. "No! Kolen's passing through," she hisses.
Gekoki meeps, drawing away from the door, nearly tripping over the mess. She whispers, "Who's Kolen? Do I want to know?"
Pyrene clutches the sweetsticks protectively to her and winces. "/Kolen/??" Liseria just gets an innocent blink, "Well... yes? Why?"
Tyara sends Gekoki a dark stare. "I don't think you do," she answers sincerely. "He's the worst brat we've ever had.." Oh there, she told it anyway..
Pyrene would like to claim the worst brat trophy for herself, but Tyara's probably right... Kolen takes some beating. "Is he still there?" she hisses over to those by the door. "Can we get out?"
Liseria's eyes gaze 'round and 'round the room again. "I dunno... It was never this messy in the dorms where I used to live, and there were a whole bunch of us..."
"Oh, now he's gon... that..!" Tyara almost jumps out the door. "He went into my room! That little..."
Gekoki makes frantic little 'shh'ing sounds, just in case Tyara really is thinking about going and hurting the brat. She hops over an inordinately large pile of junk, and keeps staying away from the door. Those worst brats ever can be pretty awful...
Pyrene winks at Liseria, "Well, this is my own room and this is how I like it." She chuckles unsympathetically at Tyara's words. "Well, if he's busy in there, then we can escape... C'mon!" And she prods them al out ahead of her. She's got the sticks see, she's the one who needs protecting.
Tyara walks briskly to the Out.
Gekoki is prodded. Out.
Liseria walks quietly, skirt swirling about her ankles, to the Out.
You go to the Brat Cave.
Brat Cave
Extremely large room is aglow with brilliant glowbaskets lighting up the room, positioned above grasping fingers carefully in corners as to provide the best possible illumination. Cavernous walls shine, dabb'd hither and thither with bright shades of fingerpaint, as are the pots lying scattered all over sturdy kid-size tables huddled in bunches in corners. Rugs scatter the floor to protect small feet also, perhaps a bit smudged here and there from little accidents, embroidered by the nannies in their spare time, almost seeming to cover a dip in the floor and topped with plush chairs all comfortably positioned in a loose ring about a comfortably warm fireplace flickering cheerfully for storytelling.
Sweet and yummy, scents of cookies and candy waft about the room.
Poking through the paint pots is Gunwalloe.
You see Toy Box, Mud Colors, Aurae, and Atai here.
You notice Kalla asleep here.
Tyara and Liseria are here.
Obvious exits:
Sleeping Quarters Inner Caverns Rooms
Gekoki steps quietly in from the Pyrene's Refuge.
Pyrene hovers behind the others, out of view of any brats she hopes and slinks hastily for the door that leads out and to safety...
Gekoki heads back out towards the caverns.
Tyara heads back out towards the caverns.
Back out you go! Mind the kiddie's artwork.
Inner Caverns
Ancient caverns unfold in an endless maze of tunnels and stairs, the Weyr's cavities a labyrinth to the uninitiated. Here, trimmed by the last of the stone cutters, arched walls and vaulted ceilings retain the soapy smoothness of well-worn stone, as do the endless tunnel floors kept clear and tidy. Shadows creep and flicker across these glowlit mountain walls, creatures of non-light wending their way east to the main caverns and bowl, or branching out in a web of caves to the Weyr's living spaces.
Shadowed on stone-smooth ledge are Iniquity, Sisal, Phyar, Tirone, and Taybi.
Gekoki and Tyara are here.
Obvious exits:
Living Caverns Hallway Dorms Barracks Baths Brat Cave Infirmary Guests' Quarters
Liseria walks quietly, skirt swirling about her ankles, in from the Brat Cave.
Gekoki let's out a huge breath, the one she's been holding since Pyrene's room. "Did we all get out okay? Pyrene? Did the sweetsticks make it?"
Tyara looks back, half-expecting to see Pyrene's clothes in scattered pieces from the brats' attack.
Pyrene grins exultantly, waving the sweetsticks over her head. "We did! They're ours now! We just got to find a safe place to eat them!" Somewhere safe from candie chores and rowdy brats.
Quara slips the relative safety of the Candidates' barracks.
Tyara opts for the white-washed entrances to the Candidates' barracks.
Safe? Certainly not in the barracks, nono. Certainly not. "Well, if I wasn't so sure that our heads would get snapped off by Chayath, I'd say the Sands. No one would be there... But," she shrugs. It's not a viable option...
[Gekoki]
"How 'bout..." Get ready for something out landish, since it's coming from Liseria. "How 'bout the galleries? No one would /ever/ look there, for Candidates. They'd expect us... well, somewhere else!" she adds with an emphatic head-nodding.
Quara peeks out, then slips outside. "Whatcha doin'?" she inquires curiously, and with altogether too much enthusiasm. "C'n I join?" One little nap after those chores and you miss out on /everything/.
Pyrene peers at Liseria and snorts. "The galleries? Erm..." well she can't think of a better suggestion... "OK then... And Chayath can't reach our heads up there." she assures Gekoki. Quara gets the large jar of sweetsticks waved in her face. "Yep, you can help us eat... c'mon."
Quara snags several, smirking. "Ayup, that I can." Munching contentedly, she tags along behind
Pyrene, as docile as a herdbeast.
Galleries
Row upon row of stone benching rises above the Hatching Grounds, seats for those who come to watch the incredible experience that is a hatching. Each individual seat is embellished with a worn cushion, the only concession to comfort in a place that traps heat, holding it within so that those who watch are inflicted with its intensity, though on a milder level than those who must stand and face the dragonets. The expanse of sand that is the hatching grounds spreads out in front of the benches, a huge stage for a spectacular show.
Type 'help here' for info on how to view objects on the sands.
Settled along stone are Eldi, Schuyler, Marya, Mallorn, Zory, Hobbes , Iwatabem, Klahbie, Llyy, and Tryvor.
Obvious exits:
Dragon Ledges Bowl
Gekoki comes up the stairs.
Quara comes up the stairs.
Liseria comes up the stairs.
Pyrene drops contentedly into a seat in the front row, feet go up to cross at the ankles on the rail before them and the jar rests on her stomach for people to snag sticks at will. "There... I always knew candidacy wasn't as bad as everybody made out," the former nanny sighs contentedly.
Gekoki crawls over seats to snatch a stick or two (or three, or four) from the jar. She hitches herself up onto the back of her seat and looks down over the sands, sucking contemplatively over the contents.
Liseria plops down next to Pyrene in another chair, feet propping themselves up on the rail as well, but only by the toes, as Lis wants her boots to stay in the Galleries. "What could be better?" she asks with a sigh. "A view of the sands, no chores, and
sweetsticks."
Quara giggles cheerfully, grabbing another handful of the sweetsticks before she settles into a seat one row above Pyrene, a *plop* announcing that fact that she's now quite comfortable. Avidly crunching her way through stick after stick, she leans back and relaxes. "'Specially the sweetsticks," she seconds, waving one in the air.
Llyy suddenly disappears ::between::!
Quara
Soft vermilion, tinged with hints of saffron, curls delicately around a heart-shaped face. Brilliant celadon eyes glitter like gems, rimmed with a rich jade that stands out next to her creamy, soft skin. A snubbed nose, slightly turned up, hosts a spill of freckles, which haphazardly brush her cheeks. This unique face sits atop a far more common body, one muscled from work, yet still vibrant with a youth that flees so quickly. Slightly under average height, her full, curvaceous frame boasts a rich, powerful alto with a slight rasp able to undercut a crowd, one that might, perhaps, still even the rowdiest of festivalgoers.
She is dressed in a simple traveling outfit that nonetheless appears stunning on her vaguely petite frame. A simply cut cotton shirt has been dyed a vivid emerald tone, and is covered by a wherhide vest in a deeper forest shade. Her pants are of cotton as well, loosely cut to allow for plenty of movement, but well-kept all the same. They are of a faded charcoal color, and are held up by a wide belt in the same shade of brilliant gemstone green as her shirt. Her shoes, ankle-high leather, are well-fitted but rather scuffed and worn, their original deep leafy tone much faded from constant wear. Settled on Quara's shoulder, his tail wrapped around her arm, is Gavin.
Silver Ring rests quietly on Quara's finger... for now.
A single white cord, somewhat dingy and threadworn, loops in a simple loop. That bland patterning designates her a Candidate at High Reaches.
She is awake and looks alert.
Carrying:
Silver Ring Gavin
Quara is 18 Turns, 7 months, and 20 days old.
Pyrene stares over the sands herself, sweetstick near dangling from her lips as she peers at the eggs. "Erph, I forgot we were standing for /those/.... I mean /we/ are." This, one would presume, was what Search had meant.
Gekoki
A growing child, shooting up, though she still only reaches to the shoulder of most children her age and retains her slender stature. Her eyes are wintry gray-blue, radiating golden flecks that seem to brighten when she's happy and fade to match the silver shade of her eyes when she's mad. Her long hair is the color of rich soil, a deep brown, usually caught up in utilarian braids pinned in a spiral around her head, though a few strands wisp around her ears. She is tanned healthily and only shows a trace of freckles on her nose. She moves with the style of a dancer.
She's wearing clothing suitable for the weather outside. In other words, she's bundled up so much that it's impossible to tell her from an amorphous pile of furs. She has on a large coat of tanned leather that would be baggy on her if not for the sweaters beneath that add bulk. A cheery red scarf twines around her neck, hiding the green piece of yarn that runs through her sleeves to connect to her mittens of the same vibrant color on either side. Her head is left bare, though a woolen muffler hangs loose about her neck, and her coat's hood flops on her back. She's pretty well overheated unless she's anywhere but outside. Hunched on her left shoulder is Fiannan.
The Keroonian knot put by for a while, Geko now displays a new knot on her shoulder. White twines around white twines around white. Very pretty, no? But it signifies Geko's ex-messenger-trainee-for-now status as a Candidate for Chayath and Tyrodinth's clutch.
She is awake, but has been staring off into space for 6 minutes.
Carrying:
Fiannan Stuffed Brown Dragon
Gekoki is 13 Turns, 1 month, and 23 days old.
Liseria
Peeking out behind a dingy offwhite kerchief is Lis' warm gilded gaze, passing itself off as a pair of bronzen eyes (currently underscored with the pits of many sleepless nights) between which lies a vauge, shapeless blob of a nose - end upturned in a desparate grasp at cuteness. Her lips are flushed to a deeper hue thats stands out red against her sun-tainted skin; usually pinching the tip of a furry flaxen wave of brassy blond hair between themselves.
Liseria currently has the fat-wherry look of Too Many Layers: long necks and long sleeves can be seen poking out of the edges of her favorite gray sweater, a myraid of color blocks that vary from mustard to lavender. Peeking out of neck of the topmost layer is the stuffed head of blue dragon toy, beady black eyes peering 'round interestedly. Forest green leggings now attract her skirt with a static vengance, the tent-like mass clinging to her legs with every step of her now-booted feet -- Istan sandles have been traded in for sturdier, High Reaches stock. Tucked into Liseria's outermost shirt - next to that adorable blue thingy - is Kythe.
Red and silver are now blue and black, a handsome white-twined candidate's knot that seems fairly fairly new - save a large klah stain spreading from the upper corners.
She is awake, but has been staring off into space for 6 minutes.
Carrying:
Liseria's DistanceViewer Stuffed Blue Dragon
Summery Sunset Anklet Kythe
Liseria is 19 Turns, 3 months, and 1 day old.
Gekoki crunches on the last of her handful of sweetsticks - for a resolve to savor each one slowly, they sure have disappeared quickly. She reaches back absently for just a few more (few is such a relative word), listening, head half-cocked, to Pyrene and the others, "I know what you mean... When Nuff'n'Tai came to Keroon, the first thing I asked them about wasd the eggs. And then I forgot about them..."
Quara snatches more sticks unabashedly, her sweet tooth running rampant. "Oh, aye. Been so much tuber peelin', an' table scrubbin', an' other chores, there's no time t'think o' why ye're here." She grins, looking out with interest at the eggs.
Pyrene nods absently to Gekoki, legs swinging down and back straightening up so that she can stare at the eggs to greater purpose. Sweetsticks are largely forgotten, abandoned at her side to Quara and Gekoki's tender mercies. "And we'll be /out there/ when they hatch..." she mutters, swallowing suddenly.
Gekoki certainly takes advantage of the unguarded sweetsticks, taking a good double handful to join it's fellows. But Pyrene's mood is infectious, and the sweetsticks lie, for the most part forgotten, in her laps as she leans over further to get the nuisancy rail out of her vision. "Uh huh. Kinda scary, when you think about it... I mean, what if we don't Impress? What if we /do/ Impress?"
Oren moves heavily in from ::between::, silver claws gleaming!
"The you've got one big lump of hide to look after," Lis states in a dry sort of tone. All the talk about the Hatching hasn't made too much of a dent in her state of mind - she's done it before. "And if not, we'll just go back to where we came from, I guess. Or stay here," she adds, illustrating her speech with the sweetstick she purloined from the bunch.
Pyrene shrugs at that, suddenly brisk again now that she can air her own (indisputably accurate) views on the subject. "Oh, well, if we don't Impress we just go back and do whatever we were doing before... no change, easy. If we /do/ impress..." and that dreamy, starry-eyed utterly impractical look returns to her face, "Then we have /nothing/ to worry about..."
Quara nods, her attention drawn to the eggs, glancing from one to the next, with only slight pauses on a few. She continues munching distractedly, but her focus is on the Sands and their contents. "Just imagine one o'us with a big brown feller like that!" She giggles slightly, waving to Tyrodinth with one hand. "If I donna Impress, I'll be a Hostess again. An' if I do... 'Twill be a truly wonderful day."
Pyrene smiles fondly down at Tyrodinth. "Browns are /beautiful! Best colour you know..." Don't get her started.
Gekoki interjects, in a pessimistic sort of mood, "Except feedings and washings and Threadfighting..." She glances back down again. They look so, well, soft and wet. They're supposed to harden into something like the ones she saw at Ista, she's sure. "I guess you're right, all of you. It's kind of hard to think that far ahead. And no matter how hard anyone worries, it's not going to increase the chances of a dragon liking you on the Sands. She peers down at Tyrodinth, "Well, browns are nice. But so are greens and blues... I like blues." Well, she likes blue firelizards, so wouldn't that have something to do with liking blue dragons?
Quara looks vaguely dubious as she reaches up to scratch her beloved blue. "I like th' blues, too. An' browns're nice. I dinna mean a thing 'gainst browns. But they seem a bit... big, is all." Well, he is rather imposing. "Not that I dinna like bronze an' gold an' green. But I couldna Impress a bronze, an' there willna be a gold this clutch."
"If we're discussing /dragons/," Starcrafter Candidate begins in a heavy tone, sweetstick removed from her mouth to illustrate. "I like queens. They're gold, after all. And look at all, the, uh, fun of having eggs..." Lower lip is bitten slightly - so maybe it isn't that fun. "'T'won't be any in this clutch, right. And of course, greens are pretty, like golds are elegant. And blues are strong."
Pyrene sighs at Gekoki and seems on the verge of launching into a full scale lecture on blues when she gets a panicked wave from the edge of the sands. It's a nanny--one of the remaining ones. Pyrene sighs darkly, "Knew the nurseries would fall apart without me... She's probably just lot the duty roster or something silly... I'll see you lot later..." And she goes, leaving the sweetsticks behind for the others.
