Xanadu Weyr - Caverns
A massive cavern in it's own right, this one has been skillfully adapted for human habitation. The high ceilings have been painted a light, soft ivory, as are the walls where numerous tapestries hang to provide brilliant color and insulation from the stone. The floor has been left in its natural state, pale pink granite speckled through with glittering mica and dark flecks of basalt, leveled carefully but kept sufficiently rough to avoid slips.
The cavern itself is loosely divided into areas, each one set up to be suitable for some segment of the Weyr's population. The most frequently occupied area, however, is the one near the Kitchens where tables of varying sizes provide a place to sit down and eat or chat and a buffet of consumables is almost always kept stocked. Its plain that on most days, this area wouldn't accommodate anywhere near the full population of the Weyr and equally plain that on such occasions when a formal meal is laid out, tables are appropriated from all the other areas.
A big fireplace is set into the wall near the Kitchens as well, several comfortable chairs nearby providing haunts for elderly residents or riders who like a good view of all that happens. Rugs cover the floor in strategic spots, all of them abstract or geometric in design and most in the softly neutral colors of undyed wool.
Exits lead off in all directions, a big archway the largest and that leading outside. Shallow stairs to the west lead to the offices and administration area while tunnels to the east lead to the infirmary, kitchen and resident's quarters. Southwards, a sloping tunnel leads down to the hot springs.
With one last task that needs to be doing, well sorta, she still has a couple extra laps to be walked while escorting Moncerath to feed. Making sure her dragonmate is scrubbed, oiled and curled up in the sun, Kera makes quick steps towards the living cavern and the food within, it is nearing midday meal afteral. Minimur zips ahead, joining the lizard perches and mingling with the smaller winged residents of Xanadu. The greenling herself has a few manuals tucked under her arm as her feet go straight to the food. Saluting and murmuring greeting occassionally, the hungry weyrling piles a plate, balances it on her books and grabs some juice. It's then she finds an out of the way table with a few emtpy seats among the crowd, so she plops down and starts spreading her books out.
Johhny briskly walks in over towards the the serving counter, and grabs a cup of Klah and a small bit of meat for Belevro. Walking over to the chair across from the weyrling, he sits down with a quiet greeting and begins feeding his blue fire lizard. Belevro quickly devours the meat and hops back up onto Johhnys shoulder. Then, now that his fire lizard is content, he begins speaking to the Weyrling. " Hello. Lots of studying eh? "
Midday means break time! Even if it's unofficial, as Weyrsecond, Kiena can (sometimes) make her own rules! And her rule today is… that she's hungry and wants food now. All that paperwork can wait. Her mood isn't right for work right now anyways. The bluerider is grouchy, fidgety and restless. Signs that she's been cooped up for too long and that NEVER leads to good results. Off to the serving tables she goes and then with a plate laden with food and a tall cool drink she plops down at the nearest table. One that just conveniently has Kera and Johhny already seated at it. "Afternoon!" she mumbles hurriedly to both before tucking into her food with a voracious appetite. FOOD!
Kera flips though some pages, finding where she left off at. Picking from her plate as she starts scanning the page, nibbles are taken and she starts getting absorbed in her reading before the new voice draws her attention upwards. Flicking a gaze upwards to look the young man over quickly, she gives him a polite nod "Um, yea, always something I need to study.." Canting her head a bit, still not recognizing the nam "M'name's Kera." The Weyrsecond's arrival is greeted with a quick smile and salute "G'afternoon Ma'am." She reaches and gathers her manuals closer to take up less table space, and gestures to both Kiena and the stranger to have a seat.
Johhny begins taking a long sip of Klah, but is interrupted by Kera's response, nods, and sets down his cup. " Well you aren't the only one studying. Im here to work on my smithing but I decided to try to stay here. " The response from Kera to the woman prompts to him that she is someone important. " Hey. I haven't seen you here before, are you the… Weyrsecond? " Johhny he says as he furrows his brow in confusement.
Kiena continues to eat like a starved person and maybe not that far off the mark. She could have skipped breakfast! Which may explain why there is a prolonged silence while the Weyrsecond finishes chewing and swallows before answering Kera. An apologetic look is cast to the weyrling when she notices the books and manuals being gathered. Oops? "Not interrupting your studies, am I?" she drawls, settling comfortably now into her seat since Kera isn't chasing her off. Johhny is given a curious look and then Kiena is tilting her head to see if her knot is pinned to her shoulder. Yep! It is. She didn't forget it… again. "Mhm, I am. And if I heard right, you're sayin' you're new to the Weyr too? And a Smith?" Now that has her attention! "I was… or am a Senior Apprentice myself. Where you from?"
From the clearing, Ka'el arrives, looking windswept beneath his riding gear. A gloved hand is pushed back through his disheveled hair just as his arrival is announced by the bronze firelizard that swoops in behind him. Raar! Screech! Chaaaar!! Ka'el sighs. "Not. Necessary. Never has been, and never will be!" He glares at the lizard, who swoops up high and lands upon a rafter, looking smug and proud. Ignoring him, the young man moves further in, sniffing around. Smells like… lunch! "Aw, I've missed breakfast?" said to no one in particular, though he does spot the faces of friends in the crowd, and so he heads towards their table.
Kera shakes her head quickly to Kiena "Oh no, just tryin to catch up while eating." Gesturing to the seats again, she plucks another bite from her plate and looks between her table companions. "So you're being posted to Xanadu from you Hall?" She flashes a grin and glances around while recalling the memory "I remember when I was posted to Xanadu..wow over three turns back now." Kera, Kiena and the yet unnamed Johhny are seated not far from the food tables and there are a couple empty chairs still. Ka'el is spotted and sent a quick wave before peering back to her table companions.
Johhny nods. " Yeah. When I go back I'll see if I can get permanently posted here. " Noticing that he has not been addressed by his name he corrects himself. " Agh, sorry. My name is Johhny. " Aware of the new arrival he waves with a smile and greets him. " Hello. Another rider? Humph. " Quickly after finishing his greeting his returns to his hot Klah.
"So if you're trying to catch up while eating and here I am crashin' your table… Wouldn't that be interrupting?" Kiena teases Kera with a light grin before reaching for her drink and knocking some of it back. Her glass is lifted then in a laid-back toast to Johhny. "Well met then and welcome to Xanadu! So you're not certain yet if you're to be posted to the Weyr?" she asks curiously before drifting into her own greeting. "I'm Kiena, Weyrsecond and rider of blue Ujinath. And I never went to the Hall myself, only briefly. Was posted to Western Weyr right from the start." Shrugging her shoulders, she sets her drink back to the table and Ka'el is spotted thanks to Kera's quick wave. She'll do the same, but add in a little half-salute to the Weyrleader. "Afternoon, Sir!" she calls, giving Johhny a pointed look and trying so hard not to snicker. Just another rider? Not quite!
Eltanin arrives kinda quickly and keeps the same pace as he crosses the cavern. He waves at all the different faces he recognizes but doesn't slow down. All the important persons get a nod and Kera a smile. "Catch you later…." he calls, adding a wave to Johhny.
Ka'el get near enough just in time to hear Johhny's name, the only unfamiliar face at the table. The other two are given a grin as he pulls off his riding gloves, but his eyes soon return to Johhny. 'Another rider?' Complete with a sigh? "Don't sound so disappointed," he says with a vague smirk. "You'll meet more riders than anything else around here, be forewarned. I guess we are a tiresome lot, aren't we Kiena?" he says to the Weyrsecond, heaving a sigh. "So and so, rider of so and soth. Day in and day out." A smirk. "Well, to not to break tradition.. I'm Ka'el, rider of bronze Kanekith, Weyrleader of Xanadu. .. Well met." He looks to the table as a whole. "May I join you all?"
Kera chuckles as Kiena and shrugs "Not really since I pretty much always have a manual or two of sometype with me, even at the beach." A grin flashes before Ka'el is given a salute. So much saltuing a weyrling does in a day. After introductions are made, she tips her head to Johhny "Nice to meet ya Johhny. As I mentioned, I'm Kera. Moncerath's apprentice healer." giggling over that Eltanin is spotted and nodded to as he darts by. Sending a wave her friends way. Kera peers up towards the lizard perches briefly then to Ka'el "Did I hear you arguing with your lizard sir?" She's sooo /not/ smirking. Really.
Johhny leans back into the chair, finished with his Klah he sets it down. " Oh you are a healer? I thought you were a dragonrider. " Belevro chirps then decides to leap from Johhnys shoulder and Betweens somewhere. " Well there he goes again. " he mumbles. " So. " he says, attempting to change the subject. " Anyone go on any interesting trips recently? "
Kiena snorts to Ka'el, grinning lopsidedly. "Tiresome? I'd not say tiresome, though we're certainly a'plenty in the Weyr. And as you said, it's tradition!" she muses and then boldly pats the seat next to her. "Don't mind at all, sir." Her grouchy mood has been replaced by a mischievous one. Which is no better, given the blue rider's reputation! "How're you?" Kiena asks him, before her attention drifts back to Kera. "Good point." she remarks, only to add to Johhny. "We can be both. Some dragonriders hold on to their Crafts. Are you from a Hold?" It's a gently asked question, curious more than anything. As for trips, she only laughs. "I wish! Alas, there is not much time between duties to the Weyr and my own personal life to afford such a luxury."
Ka'el gives Johhny a quizzical look, his head canting vaguely to one side. But he merely sits alongside Kiena at her invitation, his grin intact. At the question of his firelizard, he snickers in Kera's direction. "When am I not?" he answers, amused. He glances up and points in the general direction in which his bronze can be found lounging above. "He believes it necessary to carry on whenever I enter a place." He's like a firelizard trumpet! "Between him and Kanekith, one would think I'm the most arrogant, self-centered rider there ever was." He chuckles, looking to Johhny. "Just flew back from Hannista, though it was more for business rather than pleasure."
Kera cants a perplexed look to Johhny, unsure how to answer his question and shrugs "Well, technically, I'm not a dragonrider like them. Moncerath's still a baby." An eighteen meter long baby with an even wider wingspan that is. "Moncerath hasn't learned to fly yet. But even when we do eventually fly together, I'll still be a healer." She add and trails off as others add to the conversation. Grinning up to the lizard perches where her Minimur is adding his voice to their lizardy chat, Kera smirks across to Ka'el. "Ah, perhaps they just don't want anyone to miss that their fearless Weyrleader has arrived to save the day." If not the drained hot springs.
Johhny soon after Kera finishes her sentence about Moncerath, Belevro bursts into the room with a blast of chilled air that rapidly turns to fog. Johhny yelps in surprise. " Your firelizards a trumpet. Mines a flying glacier. Brr. " he says. Turning his head towards Kiena he proudly says. " I was born in Telgar hold. "
"Wait, you mean you're not the stereotypical bronzerider?" Kiena drawls teasingly to Ka'el, even going as far to boldly wink at the Weyrleader before looking back to Kera, giving the weyrling a curious look. "Are you guys almost to that time in training already? Shells, but the time goes fast. So you're considering being a Craftrider, then?" Can't hurt to plan ahead, right? To Johhny, the Weyrsecond chuckles at the proud boast. "You're a far way from Telgar Hold! How'd you manage to snare a posting here? Or did you just accept what the Master's at the Hall threw at ya?" she asks and then leans forwards to pick a little more food from her plate. "Mhm. Business alright in Hannista?" Kiena asks Ka'el, this time her tone sobered and lowered as well. No trouble?
Woah, arctic blast! Ka'el winces as Johhny's firelizard Betweens, bringing with it a burst of chill from….wherever it was that he came from! He smirks a little, then outright laughs in response to Kiena. "Stereotypical? Me?" He grins, leaning closer to her. "Only when need be," he teases before he flags someone down, asking politely for a drink of klah. And bacon, if there was any leftover from breakfast. Please and thank you! "First flight. That's always exciting," he says to Kera. "Kanekith nearly ruined his. A bit too eager. Almost crashed into everyone." He shakes his head at the memory. His eyes flit to Kiena, and he nods to her. "Well enough. Word got round about the Gather … eh, incident. They were interested in sending miners to investigate the site, but," he shakes his head, "wasn't necessary. Plus, it gave me an excuse to visit their lord holder. Been meaning to."
Kera laughs as Kiena joins in teasing their friend, even if he is a Weyrleader now. A quick shake of her head to the others "Not yet. She's just learned to hunt a couple days ago. Now it's all I can do to keep her from mimicing the bigger dragons when they take off. But soon though." An amused roll of her eyes over her dragonmate's antics before Johhny's blue lizard makes a foggy arrival "Okie, that was cool." Pun intended. Watching the lizards a few seconds, Kera turns her attention back to her plate, listening to the huge Weyrknots discuss the explosion that got them kicked out of the weyrling barracks. After a short time she pipes in again "Does anyone know what happen yet? What actually caused the explosion at ground zero?"
Johhny" Ah, you impressed in the recent hatching? Good for you! I had a dream as a child to ride a dragon, and that clearly didnt happen. " He says with a long sigh. And regarding Kienas question… " The Master just threw Xanadu at me. I had just returned from Eastern weyr. " Intruiged by the conversation about the explosion he speaks up. " Was that firestone stuff stored where this ground zero is? In the sevenday I as actually at the hall before sent here I heard that Firestone explodes on contact with water. Atleast I think I heard that. "
Kiena tilts her head as Ka'el leans closer and then laughs in return for his teasing. "Uh huh. Somehow I don't believe you!" she quips back and then leaves him to ordering his meal. She's already chowed down on enough to probably easily feed two people! Listening to the Weyrleader recount Kanekith's first flight to Kera, the Weyrsecond only chuckles under her breath. "At least you won't be cutting up meat any longer. I remember being relieved when that task was done." she admits with a slight wrinkle of her nose. "Soon! Best of luck to you and Moncerath when the time comes, though I'm sure you'll both do just fine with first flight!" No worries there! "So how'd you travel then, Johhny? By land and ship?" Kiena asks and then focuses on the conversation when it shifts to the explosion. She gives Ka'el a long, lingering look. "No miners?" Can that mean… but Kera beats her to plying the Weyrleader with the question and she only smirks, quirking a brow. Well? Is there news?
"Xanadu's a good place to be thrown in," Ka'el remarks to Johhny. "I started my apprenticeship here. Smithing. Don't think I'd've gotten a better education anywhere else … other than the Hall itself," he grins a bit, nodding when his klah comes, and woohoo! There's even bacon to go with it. He's one happy Weyrleader and begins to eat, chomping away. And..huh what? Theywant to know about the explosion? He looks from Kera, to Johnny, to Kera. "Probably," he answers. Yes, somebody probably knows. He grins, then looks to Johhny. "No, not firestone. The important thing is that it was a fluke. Not a thing that's likely to be repeated, and not some natural danger to the Weyr, either. You'll all be back in the barracks soon enough," he says to Kera, "if you haven't moved back in already."
Kera nods to Johhny "Yes, well, for Luraoth's last clutch that is. Thanks, feels like I'm sorta floundering around, but I'm managing to not disappoint Moncerath." Hopefully. Turning her attention to learning about Xanadu's newest crafter. Then Ka'el's reponse of 'probably' doesn't fill her with confidance. But she nods at the assurance the Weyrling areas will be opened back up soon. "Hopefully."
Johhny looks towards Kiena and laughs in regards to the travel to Eastern/Xanadu. " I managed to convince a rider to take me to Eastern. It took quite a while of pleading and bribing but eventually it worked. But going between that one time.. Worst feeling I have ever felt, the cold, nothingness. " Belevro leaps off of Johhnys shoulder , flys a few times around, then hovers in place chirping, as if in beckoning. " Oh dear. I have to go. Belevro wants to go sun on the beach with me for some reason. Nice time with you guys. Have a nice day Ma'm. " he says, clumsily running out of the caverns to keep up with his lizard.
"You'll find your pace," Kiena reassures Kera, only to quirk a brow again to Johhny and this time she does laugh. Not unkindly, but it cannot be helped. "Shards, man. You were talking to the wrong rider then." she teases him lightly, only to fire off a little wave as he clumsily runs from the caverns. "Strange fellow, but nice. Though now I am concerned that there is a rider about who's bribable." Who isn't? The Weyrsecond shrugs her shoulders and drains the last of her drink before pushing back her chair. "What kind of 'fluke' causes an explosion though, Ka'el?" she asks, giving him another sidelong look. Is this a conversation for another time? Perhaps. She rolls her shoulders a bit and then sighs. "I should be getting back to the office." She doesn't want too. A quick glimpse to the outdoors has the bluerider feeling rebellious.
"We'll talk, Kiena," Ka'el assures before picking up a slice of bacon. "On the clock, in the office, when I have to talk about it. Thea'll have more to say about it than myself, anyway." In fact, it's likely that she's already had quite a few words to say about the explosion … with a certain junior Weyrwoman! He smirks before crunching down on his bacon, nodding as she speaks of getting back to the office. He should too. Write up his report on Hannista … but. There's bacon to be eaten. And klah to be sipped. And he doesn't feel like getting back to work right now! In fact, he might not. It's nice out. "I'll be there in a bit, if anyone asks for me," he says to Kiena with a grin.
Kera can only nod agreeably to Kiena encouragement that things will get easier with her lessons. Finishing her meal while listening to the conversation, her eyes slip from one face to another til Johhny leaps p and heads off to sun with his lizard. Sending the man a wave "Nice to meetcha." After a few seconds, it seems the big knots wanna talk with weyrling, or any other, ears around concerning the explosion. Gathering up her manuals, and plate. "No need to wait. I've things to do. Wanted to check in at the infirmary before heading back to the barracks." Wiggling her fingers, then sending a quick salute, "G'afternoon, sir, ma'am." Kera starts off to deposit her dirty dishes. Calling out to her lizard, the pair head off towards the infirmary entrance.
Kiena is certainly curious now but has no more answers to her questions than she did before. Almost pouting, the Weyrsecond sighs and then turns her attention away from Ka'el to nod to Kera as the Weyrling excuses herself. "Clear skies, Kera. Was nice to see you again!" There's a return half-wave and salute before she's pushing to her feet as well. "I'll hold you to that," Kiena mutters to Ka'el, smirking crookedly. She does want to talk! But first… work. Stupid paperwork. Another glance is given to the sunny outdoors, but the bluerider resolves herself to return to the office. Like a 'good' Weyrsecond! We'll see how long it lasts before she's plotting another escape. "I'll provide sufficient cover story for your absence," she drawls again to Ka'el as she steps away. "Enjoy your late breakfast!" she calls before striding off. Time for work!