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8/16/2002
09:00 PM
Logfile from G'deon.
Pens (#6132)
Freshened breezes from the lake to the south mingle with the stronger scents
of herdbeast, wherry, dust and dung, that fill this elliptical enclosure, a
faint odor wafting over now and then from the tannery on the far eastern side
of the pens. A sturdy fence winds out towards the central bowl, captures an
outlet of clear blue lake, and grows into a stout wind-shelter replete with
hay and feeding troughs as it meets the bowl wall. Not too far above, a claw-marked
series of feeding ledges lie, decorated by a few discarded and bleached-out
bones. A few clusters of green sprout, downtrodden, in the hard ground, tracked
over by the stampeding of the herds.
It is a winter noon. The air is cold, and light, as the sun breaks through the
clouds to shine off the snow that covers the ground. A light breeze from the
west brings chill air.
To the southwest, you see fourteen dragons.
To the south, you see a blue dragon.
Squabbling over leftovers are two firelizards.
You see Hanabi's Uncreatively Titled Wagon here.
Pyrene, Laytai, and Siannen are here.
Obvious exits:
Tannery --- Stables --- Barn --- Training Grounds --- Central Bowl --- Beach
Nylanth stealthily saunters in from the Central Bowl.
R'nald, a rather tall, lanky rider with big-ish feet and a curly mop of red hair on his head, sits atop his bronzen mount Mcdonalth, who is about to swoop down to the pens and let his rider off so he can have a snack... yet, with the mudslide occurring at the moment, this is not the case. "What the shards...?" he almost stammers as he sees the chaos below. Mcdonalth calmly lands, but a snort emanates from the bronze as he feels his feet getting dirty. Eeeew.
Pyrene leads her little troop of rescue rangers across the shallow lake that is the High Reaches Weyr Bowl. "Mudslide," she yells briefly to R'nald. "Anybody know what we're doing with the herd?"
Cadgwith crashes resplendently in from the Central Bowl.
G'deon appears from around Nylanth's haunches, soaked from the waist down, and pretty damn higher up as well. His lifemate's eyes swirl in almost violent shades of glowing amber as G'deon tries to work with some of the local herders to get the herds into position for easy transport.
Olia comes trotting in. Well, maybe not trotting. Cold snowy muddy water doesn't lend itself to a trot. She, too, is pretty heavily soaked through, especially from her knees down. "Need any help?" she says through short breaths. Apparently she missed the major shindig in the caverns, and is only now catching up with the chaos.
Nylanth is restless. Very much so. He's trying to remain quiet and still to keep the herds from being any more nervous than they already are, but let's face it, he's big and hard to miss.
Cadgwith churns easily through the water, which doesn't even cover her toes. She's even bigger and harder to miss than Nylanth, so she ducks behind the bronze as best she can, awaiting directions. "What're we doing?" Pyrene repeats, to G'deon this time. She's avoided him for the better part of three turns now, but there is always the odd occasion when immediate circumstances distract her from the fact that Pidgery is his child.
Never fear! H'erbal and his blue, Essencth are here! Though two the pair's dismay, their once, beautiful and good smelling weyr now smells, and looks, like that of a latrine. "Mudslide did you say?" The bluerider remarks. "Well, me and my blue comapnion are here to help, anyway we can." Even if it means the two will no longer smell like a flowery field on a spring morning.
It may be well into winter, but G'deon has worked himself into a muddy, hot mess, his coat barely hanging from his shoulders as he flails about trying to contain the herdbeasts, llamas and runners. Pyrene's voice distracts him momentarily, however, as he heads over. "We've set up a make-shift area up in the meadows for the beasts we can move..." causing his gaze to shift to the dragons present. "Well, as many as possible, anyway. There's no time to walk them up there, we're running out of room," as he points to the still-rising water.
Enter brown Underth and his rider, W'ear, here to assist in the evacution of the beasts. W'ear promptly slides down from Underth's neck. "Hullo, what can I do you for today?" is questioned as the darkened brown warbles.
Siannen squawks as the water is.. more than she was expecting. Shardit! Pyrene is trudged twards, however, the little nanny keeping her mouth shut after the initial exclamation of surprise. "What.. d'you need me to do, Gid.. ?" She blinks up at the 'rider, squinting slightly.
Olia turns her attention promptly to G'deon, eyeing his muddy state with dismay. Will this mean that soon /her/ clothes will look like this? She sighs with the air of someone about to make a great sacrifice and echos after Siannen: "Yes, what do you need? Roherith and I can help."
Roherith ambles rather gracefully for a dragon in from the Central Bowl.
Pyrene eyes the treacherous paths, slick with mud and slush. "I wouldn't trust anything to walk in this!" she agrees. "Well, here we go!" She nods to Cadge who hunches down, letting the blues and greens go first. Meanwhile, the rider pulls herself up onto the fence, momentarily out of the water and scanning for stragglers, signs of a stampede...
"Apparently, I think we're supposed to be getting these beasties out," R'nald hazards, dismounting Mcdonalth with a *plop* into the muck. "Mick can take the heavier adults, if you need him." Which they most likely will.
W'ear nods slightly. "Aye, Underth can be of assistance to, he's no bronze, but he can attend to the heavier ones if need be," is noted by the rider.
G'deon nods quickly to the newcomers, giving them a flash of a grin in thanks for their help. "The dragons need to take... /gently/," he adds, repeating a word given him by his lifemate, "gently take the beasts to the meadows. They should be able to see it from the air. We'll need to be quick, and those of us on the ground will need to try to keep these silly things from breaking their necks. They're already scared enough, the dragons will only add to it."
H'erbal has a grim look as he watches the mud around his legs rise. "Hope we can get most of 'em. Gonna hurt 'emselves in this mess." The 'rider shakes his head, looking to the others. "My Essencth can catch the faster, younger ones. Really quick, my blue boy is."
"And no snacking!" Pyrene adds firmly, glaring at McDonalth. "Let's go!" Grabbing a stick to use as prod if need be, she stands ready, while Cadgwith takes to the skies, trying unsuccessfully to look unmonstrous.
Nylanth flies high into the air like he would any other time of the Turn, scouting out a likely victim... though a victim of a different sort this time. He swoops down to 'rescue' a large bull, talons as gentle as can be before he begins to rise, flying in the direction of the meadows.
Underth follows suit and picks up one of the larger animals and heads off after Nylanth to deliver it to the meadows.
G'deon watches a moment as Nylanth takes off with the buck, but it doesn't take long before he's back over the fence into the pens, trying to keep the llamas at bay.
W'ear grins as Underth returns, having delivered the beast to safety. The brown then picks up another one, and so continues the process.
"Go get'em Essencth!" H'erbal says, lifting his arms up to cue his dragon to help the others. The blue leaps into the air and hovers but a moment, leaving the bigger beasts in the herds to those whom are bigger. Swirling eyes search until they find a runner kicking up it's backlegs and galloping about. With grace that was gifted him upon his hatching, Essencth quickly dives down and plucks said runner up, bringing him to safety in the meadow.
Slider blinks in from ::between::!
Tiler walks in from the Central Bowl.
Dragons begin appearing in the skies in a steady stream as they work with gentle diligence to ferry the soon to be drowning herds to the safe, dry (if snowy) meadows.
Sinead stands to the side as she watches the dragons ferry the beasts off to a 'safe haven' or so it could be called.
Laytai leans over the fence and watches the display of dragons and the herd. "Getting them all really quick." She gives a small grin. "Maybe we will be able to save 'em all." Bottem lip is chewed on as she keeps her eyes on the scene before her and not at the rising muck below her.
Tiler arrives on the sceen and wonders what's going on. Walking over to his friend Lay, and joins her in the leaning? "Hey What's going on here." He asks in a quizical tone?
Enter Underth again, gently catching another beast he disappears again. Well, not really disappears, but, just heads back towards the meadows.
"'cause of the mudslide, we have to move the herd." Laytai says to Tiler, as she points to the dragons. "We are transporting them to makeshift pens in the meadow. If they stay here any longer, they could easily slip and hurt themselves or possible drowd." All of this is said in one quick breath.
G'deon is in the act of trying to turn a panicked herdbeast back into the group when Nylanth's return causes him to look up just a wee bit too soon, and *splat!* Down he goes into the muck. This would, of course, account for most of the mud and water already clinging to him. "Shard it all," he mutters under his breath, taking hold of a bit of fence to try to wring out some of the now ice cold water. "No, you're doing a great job, Nyls. Very efficient," he add,s not able to keep from smiling at his lifemate who seems quite happy about the job at hand as he takes off to snatch another would-be victim.
Tiler releases Maverick, who launches into the air.
Essencth hovers above the pens once more, after depositing another 'beast in the meadow. What fun the blue dragon is having! "Not supposed to be fun, Essy!" H'erbal says, shaking a finger at his flying dragon. "Serious, it is!" But the blue does not give a wit as he hovers lower and lower till he snags a llama in his talons, then sets back to the meadows, his blue head full of dragonic pride.
G'deon begins to shiver ever so slightly, now that he's finally stopped moving so much. Waterlogged gloves aren't much protection from the Reaches' winter winds. Luckily, there is obvious progress being made as more and more dragons join the cause, the dwindling herds needing less and less supervision as they're easier to snag by the would-be-winged-heroes.
Underth continues his lugging of beasts, chortling happily... evidently he's having far too much fun.
Tiler throws his brown flit up into the air to join the bronze that had arrived a little earlier and who is now sitting on the fence watching the show contently. Tiler strides up behind his two flits and runs a caring hand down the ridges of their backs. "Well this is quite a show isn't it guys. Too bad you can't help huh?" He is distracted once again as a dragon darts down and swoops up another beast.
Laytai lifts one foot up, and then the other, nose wrinkled at the sloshy sounds they make. "Water is coming in.." So much for waterproof boots. "How much of the herd is left?" She inquires as she stands up, setting her feet on the fence and hoisting herself up. "Ooo, only a few left!" She practically dances on the fencing. Laytai is extremely anxious to go check on the messenger barracks and the stables, knowing full well that the two places couldn't have came out unscathed.
G'deon lifts himself out of the rising water to sit exhausted on the fence. "Yes, just a few... and shard it all," he grumbles, obviously tired by his very language. "The animals were taken from the stables first... easiest y'see, but that place will stink to the heavens when this is over." No matter how well you clean a stable or barn, add water and stench will be atrocious.
Essencth is, indeed, a hero. He came, he caught, he deposited. And without faltering a bit. But the blue was slowly getting tired, having not as much stamina as others. Though he would not give up yet, not until each animal was safe and all were smelling good once more! With confidence given from rider, Essencth once more goes to the pens and captures another 'beast in the folds of his claws. Giving the thing a little shake to calm it down from kicking about, the blue flys over and drops it in the temporary pens.
Nylanth slowly glides down from high above, his large eyes returning to a somewhat yellow=ringed royal blue as he surveys the now empty pens. Well, almost empty. We won't mention the poor beastly souls who took a wrong step here and there. The bronze lands carefully in the watery muck as G'deon hops down from the fence. "Thank you, everyone," he calls out to both humans and dragons alike. "You've done a fantastic job! The herders can handle it from here," the rider adds, glancing at said herders for reassurance. "By Faranth, I need klah." And with that, both bronze rider and dragon begin to trudge through the mud towards the central bowl.
Undearth also returns to the ground, and is given a prompt pat on the hide by W'ear.
Following the others, Essencth lands to the ground and gets 'ridgescratch from his rider. "Glad to 'ave helped." H'erbal said. "Just hope the smell goes away soon. Gonna miss the crisp smell of snow." And that of flowers of whatnot. "Need to be clean. Come on Essy, let's go home." With a salute to his fellow riders, H'erbal leaps onto the blue's back and the two take off to their weyr.
Laytai smiles as they have all done a good job, but the smile turns into a frown as the messenger girl makes a horrific sound. "Veritas! I forgot about him!" Without even a nod or wave to the others, the girl runs for the bowl, praying her feline had the sense to move to higher ground.
[End of log]