Mid-morning Snack
feedgrounds.jpg

Xanadu Weyr - Feeding Grounds

A large portion of the eastern edge of the meadow has been fenced off, the corralling on three sides is located on the rolling meadow, while the fourth is located a short way up on the eastern hills. Within the large corral are a variety of beasts - ovines, bovines, and wherries - milling around, though the appearance of a dragon may send them one way or the other to try and escape. A small pond is set near one corner of the enclosure, and at times it reflects the low, bordering mountains.


X'hil is here in the late morning, on the inside of the pen and leaning back against the fence as he watches Kinseth hunt. The bronze only takes down the largest of beasts, and takes his time to savour his first. "I never tire of watching that." the man notes aloud, though he means more the hunt than the eating evidently, as he's soon looking away, frowning absently at his hands for some reason. One of them does have a bite-mark, but still, they're not /that/ fascinating.

Seryth ambles out from under the cover of the Forest, speeding up her stride as the wind brings a whiff of fresh-kill her way. She gives an awkward leap and half-flaps over the fence with a cheerful whistle towards Kinseth and begins stalking one of the beasts crowding the far end of the pen. Thea emerges a few steps behind the young queen, combing her still-damp hair, gives X'hil a wave and climbs the fence nearby to sit on the top rail. "Wouldn't wait…" She grumbles, eyeing the prowling gold.

Kinseth bugles a greeting at Seryth, just so long as she stays away from /his/ beast. That he's eating. Half finished, really. X'hil chuckles a little at the bronze, then tilts his head at Thea, giving her a little wave in response. "Well, she's eating for… Who knows how many." he notes idly, with a grin. Oh yes, Kinseth's pride is contagious. "So. Seryth's looking well." he says, then grimaces at himself. Not the most engaging conversation starter. But hey, compliments are nice? Or, something.

From the direction of the stables, Rogawani walks along the edge of the fence, a bag slung over his shoulder. For a moment, he seems intent on a slip of hide in one hand, but movement from the forest catches his eyes. Looking up, the boy tucks the scrap into his pocket and watches as the gold dragon takes flight. His eyes flicker towards the bronze, but then away again, not caring to see the beast get ripped appart by the dragon. As his path takes him closer to the riders, he hazards a wave of greeting. "G'day riders. Got any packages or letters for the hold?" It's a common question for him as he makes his rounds.

Seryth is focused on that beast, who has noticed he's been singled out and is nervously bawling and trying to regain anonymity by wriggling its way back into the herd. The herd is having none of that, however, so the poor beast is left to shift this way and that along the fence. Seryth just creeps, her belly lower to the ground and stares terror into the bawling animal. Thea half-grins her own pride about the eggs growing inside of the queen, "From the way she's eating, I'm guessing quite a few." She notes the teeth-marks on X'hil's hand and teasingly points at it, "What tried to eat you?" Rogawani's question has her shaking her head, "Not today I don't but Cenlia might." Seeing the girl has been getting so many shipments lately.

X'hil isn't particularly interested in seeing dragons eat either. He isn't really squeamish, he just prefers not to watch that. Still, could be worse, Kinseth could be eating ovine. He turns around a bit as he catches Rogawani's question, offering a bit of a wave. "Actually, not /on/ me, but I've got a letter for my aunt." The only blood-relative he's really on good speaking
terms with. "I was hoping to head out there with Kinseth, but he's been particularly stubborn." the man notes, with a glance to Seryth. His hand is held up for examining briefly, and he shrugs. "Nosken's idea of a prank. Switched out some firelizard eggs with tunnelsnake eggs. It's just a little bite, the thing'd just hatched, it'll be fine." he dismisses it with a shrug. Kinseth launches up and circles above the herd once he's done with the first beast, X'hil's firelizards - and a few wild ones - swarming over the carcass to pick it clean. He watches Seryth hunt for the moment, occasionally eyeing choice morsels in the herd, waiting for one of them to split off.

Shrugging his back further up onto one shoulder, Rogawani nods and gives a bit of a grin towards the weyrwoman. "I'll stop over in the gardens, then. I'm surprised that rider friend of hers hasn't brought me more wine to deliver, but… then again that Benden one was a pretty good vintage, probably cost a bit." He comments, just making polite conversation, turning
towards X'hil and giving a dutiful nod. "Well, I've got more deliveries to make before my evening run. So I should be around to pick it up." Business set aside, his eyes look to the queen dragon taking her kill. "So… when do you think she'll clutch?" He asks not-so-subtlely, as if trying to sniff out inside information for one of the wagers going around the weyr relating to
the two egg-laiden queens.

Seryth has now cornered the animal, who makes a dash for the herd and actually manages to reach the bunch. Now it's every bovine for himself as they scatter in all directions. Seryth has not lost sight of her prey, however and lunges to snap at it as it goes by, latching onto the…tail. She raises her head and the poor critter swings from it, legs scrabbling uselessly in the air as the dragon turns towards Thea with a happy warble and a head-tilt to help it swing in a bit of a circle. Swing-swing. "Stop playing with your food," the weyrwoman says mildly in the direction of the grounds with a roll of her eyes. She raises an eyebrow at X'hil asking with a twinkle, "Did you manage to Impress it?" Her green eyes turn back towards Seryth's belly at Rogawani's question, then shift back to the young man and she shrugs ruefully, "I'm clueless. Her first time, Y'know." She pauses, "The dragonhealers say in a sevenday or so, maybe?"

X'hil snickers at Rogawani's not-so-subtle question, and considers his answer carefully. When the eggs are done? Half past three in the afternoon? After the flight, but before the hatching? So /many/ answers… None at all helpful to wagering, of course, but still. "She'll clutch when she's ready." he decides on, for his answer, then has to admit, "Kinseth and I are
fairly new to this too, he missed his first clutch's clutching, and no idea /where/ the second is." The man frowns a little, then shakes it off. There is a slight scowl at the talk of /impressing/ the tunnelsnake, but he actually takes the question semi-seriously, judging by his answer. "No. Nosken seemed quite taken with it though, he's gone and named it Ol' Bitey, and he carries it /everywhere/." Ugh. "Sharding /pests/." Wait, Nosken or the snake? Or both?

Holding in a bit of a laugh, Rogawani doesn't comment on the tunnelsnake incident, although apparently the idea of impressing one is amusing to him. Clearing his throat, he nods a little bit, not having expected much of an answer really. "Black Rock has high bets on five eggs." He reports, "But one of the far holders put a wager on ten." His eyebrows lift as if he found such a wager to be a bit excessive for a first time clutch in a time with no thread. "The weyr has best odds on six eggs, though. I get to hear all about it because half the time people get me to place their bets for them so their spouces don't find out."

Thea notes the scowl, but doesn't say anything to the missing clutch comment, although her face takes on a worried look, which she covers by snickering, "Reminds me of Delgin and his carton of tunnelsnake babies." Seryth, meanwhile, flips the hapless captive up in the air and crunches as it comes back down. She finally settles down with the carcass to feed,
growling a juicy delight. Thea listens to Rogawani with a glimmer of amusement, "That's a lot of power for a guy your age." Meaning secrets, of course. She resumes combing her fast-drying hair, musing, "Could send Noskin in to do Feeding Grounds cleanup, maybe?"

X'hil raises an eyebrow at the bet listing, and peers over at Kinseth, smirking, at the bronze's response most likely. "Kinseth says put marks on 11, but, I think, adjusting for ego, carrying the one… That works out closer to six, probably." he grins, even laughing at Kinseth's irritated bugle. He said /11/! The bronze finally singles out a beast, and swoops down on it a little more savagely than the first, clearly not impressed with his rider's opinion of /his/ upcoming clutch. "Fine. Fine. /11/. You want me to lose marks on that too?" he asks of the bronze, with a snort. As Kinseth is making more of a mess with this one, the man smirks at Thea's suggestion. "Shards, Nosken would /hate/ that, wouldn't he?" he asks, tone tinged with what may actually be glee.

"I don't even have marks to bet if I wanted to." Rogawani chuckles, watching the interaction between the bronze and his rider, even if he misses out on the draconic side of things. "But I make a few here and there by running the wagers from the hold." He pats the strap of the bag slung over his shoulder, "You guys make good marks for me. I'm hoping by the time the eggs start hatching that I might have enough for some new tack for my runner." Seeming bemused, the boy doesn't even give a thought to the missing gold rider and the clutch that is probably off somewhere in the wilds. Talk of Nosken causes him to take a step back, shaking his head. "I'm going to stay out of that one. Last thing I need is a black eye for annoying Nosken. You two have fun with that." Rumaging in his pocket, Ro' pulls out the scrap of hide again, double checking where some of the packages on his back have to go.

Thea chuckles at the wounded pride in Kinseth's audible tone, commenting idly, "Better to lose marks than risk your dragon's ire." She doesn't add a bet of her own, rather busies herself catching strands of hair the breeze is trying to re-tangle, bundling it in a runnertail and tying it. "Cost less to make the tack, Rogawani," Thea muses idly, "Most any Rider can help ya out there." She chuckles, nodding at his self-preservation, "Wise of you. Shall I put him on the duty-list, then X'hil?" She's being sweetly evil, but hey! Nosken has earned it.

X'hil is a little tighter with marks than he used to be, having had to live on his meagre savings when he went out Ierne way for those three long turns. He'll still splurge on a good meal fairly regularly, but he can no longer afford to replace his wardrobe every few months or so. Which, yes, he did do before. Though his old jacket was /never/ replaced. "Nosken's okay, so long as you know what buttons to push. I tried his nose, not sure that's where it is, but he's not been /quite/ as bad since." the man is boasting about breaking Nosken's nose, yes. "Hmm, yeah. Nosken's had entirely too much free time of late… Sneaking into my weyr and stealing my eggs… Not a clue what he did with them, probably bartered them away. Sign him up." he smirks.

"I'm not so good with hide-crafting." Rogawani admits a bit sheepishly, rubbing a hand through his tussled hair. "Maybe I'll ask one of the riders for a lesson though." The idea does strike him, giving the boy a thoughtful expression as he starts to tick off in his head just how much raw materials would cost vs. a finished product. "Still have a ways to go before I have
enough for the materials though." His voice takes on a rueful tone, as a messenger doesn't exactly make the big bucks around the weyr. "Anyways, I should get going. Lots of deliveries to make today. Enjoy your plotting." With a nod to both riders, and a somewhat childish wave to the dragons, Ro' heads off at a steady pace towards the forest.

Seryth finishes her meal, daintily licking her talons clean and repeats her clumsy fence-hop after a longing whuffle towards the remaining herd. "No seconds?" Thea calls to her. The mournful croon says it all. "She doesn't have the stomach room she used to," Thea explains to the other two as her gives the golden muzzle a sympathy-pat. "Let's get you settled, then
I've got to head to the office. To assign Nosken some clean-up." She chuckles as she gives the departing Rogawani a wave and a casual, "Later" to X'hil.

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