Xanadu Weyr - Main Docks
Jutting out from the land are the platforms that make up the main dock of Xanadu Weyr. The extruded plastic makes an odd sound when footsteps echo across it. From this dock, two others protrude taking opposite directions, each for a special purpose.
Its a beautiful day at Xanadu Weyr, puffy white clouds high in the sky, quickly slipping into view and then just as quickly out towards the horizon, a stiff breeze carrying them on their way. However, the stiff breeze also brought with it a large sloop - sails in the colors of Ressac Sea Hold - which is just now making its way to the docks on Xanadu's shores, slowly furling in its large sails as it goes. Niva has come out to meet it, pacing the length of the long yellow dock, looking up now and then to judge its careful progress.
A small gathering of weyrfolk have also come out to meet the ship's arrival. Fisherman look up from their tasks, a younger one even losing the fish he'd brought out for cleaning as it wiggles free from his hands to flop on the deck of one of Xanadu's own ships. On the docks, a some of the weyrbrats have been let out of normal lessons to help mend nets. Walking through that group, is Rogawani, who pauses now and again to say something to one of the children before finally pushing his way through, only getting his foot caught in the nets once. Catching his feet under him, the boy steps forward onto the clearer section of dock, only to spot a pacing Niva ahead. Straitening a little, he pulls his delivery bag up on his shoulder and offers a polite, "Fair day, Weyrwoman."
Walking the beach, on a short break from the heat of the Sands, is a lone figure in the form of Seryth's rider. Thea, from afar down the beach, has spotted the ship, and the lone figure of Niva and has slowly made her way towards the docks. She's still a ways off shading her eyes to watch the trim of the sails, the easy way the ship rides with the current and wind with obvious enjoyment. She moves through the crowd to find a spot on the dock. Curious weyrwoman here, looking for anything that doesn't have to do with paperwork. And she's not grouchy-looking, a small wonder in itself.
"Messenger.." Niva replies with a nod of her head to Rogawani, actually giving the teen the smallest of smiles as she pauses in her pacing to acknowledge him. And then the boat is coming to dock, the various ropes thrown down to tie it off, and the Weyrwoman is hurrying out of the way, waiting to the side as her eyes flick over the deck, looking for her own representative and the cargo listing. Spotting the young man, Niva nods, satisfied, before glancing back to Rogawani with a tilt of her head. "Surely you've not been sent to help, simply because you cannot ride to Hannista?"
"Not at all ma'am." Rogawani easily slips from his boyish quips with the weybrats into his trained and polite service attitude as he gives a shake of his head. "The head messenger sent me to pick up some letters and parcels due to come in on this ship. Mostly correspondance for the weyr and Black Rock Hold from what I've been told." Stepping back as the ropes come down, the messenger keeps himself safely out of the way. As his eyes sweep over the ship, he spots Thea's approach as well. Small blessing that she doesn't seem as upset as his last encounter with her. "G'day Thea." The boy calls, and then looks back towards Niva, trying to get a peek at the cargo listing.
Thea weaves through the crowd, edging to a spot where she can better see the activity, and maybe hear as well. Her feet bring her to a spot just behind and to one side of Rogawani. She gives a nod to Niva, an easy smile, but doesn't interrupt her conversation, although her mention of Black Rock has started a twinkle in her eyes, a thought suddenly remembered. Green eyes, lit to nearly silver by the bright sun, lift to trace the sails with delight as she breathes in the fresh air blowing in from the waters of the lake as the ship is being moored to the dock. "Morning Rogawani. Are you here to deliver the remains of Enkavir back to Black Rock Hold?" There's a tiny grin forming on her lips as she says it.
The young man is the first off the ship, hoping from the deck to the dock, moving at a quick pace to hand off a clipboard with a cargo listing to Niva, before he's nodding a quick bow to each in turn, and then returning to the side of the ship to help organize the unloading. Noting Rogawani's curiosity, she tilts the board slightly with a slow smile. "I hope you like fish." She murmurs, the listing showing not much else for the Weyr than various forms of seafood. Glancing over her shoulder at Thea, she arches an eye curiously, a bit confused by the Junior's words.
"I'll take fish over the tunnelsnake stew Myra's been threatening to make." Rogawani replies, his practiced politeness dropping for a split second as he sticks his tongue out in disgust of the idea. As his eyes scan over the cargo, the boy just gives a small nod before a voice near his ear shifts his gaze back to Thea. A small smirk shows on his face as he lifts an eyebrow towards her. "So how did he die, then? Did Seryth drop him or did you finish him off once you landed?" There's a joking tone in his voice, seeming more at ease with the younger Weyrwoman when she isn't quite so upset about things. "I assume things went well? I didn't hear any record keepers going splat, so…"
"Seryth insisted he climb up and have a talk with me while she stretched her wings last night," Thea explains dryly to Niva, "Neither of us really wanted him there." The truth and putting it mildly, too. She sniffs the air, redolent with the scent of the cargo, eyes on the deck's activity, "I can't imagine anyone desperate enough to eat tunnelsnake, myself." Her lips still twitching with amusement, she answers Rogawani, "See, there's the good news, you don't have to worry about taking care of them. We dropped him off *Between*."
"Tunnelsnake stew?" The look on Rogawani's face is quickly mirrored on Niva's own, and she shakes her head with a rather digusted look. "I don't care *what* they say it tastes like." Niva murmurs, even as she's looking from Rogawani to Thea and back, just shaking her head with a slight sigh. "I'll leave you to notify the next of kin." And then, in a surprise move she winks to Thea, even as she's marking off the first barrel that goes rolling by, full it seems, of salted eels. Tasty.
"Uh huh." Rogawani eyes Thea suspiciously, not quite believing her story. "Well, I'll be sure to let him know that next time I see him." With a small, childish smirk, the boy shakes his head. "I swear, you two argue like an old married couple, except with less throwing of pottery." Looking back as the first barrel makes it's way off of the sloop, Ro' taps his foot a bit, still waiting for the Ressac messenger to show his face. A questioning chirp near his ear causes the boy to blink. "Oh!" Lifting the small green onto his hand. "Can you find this person for me?" He nearly goes cross-eyed as he tries to focus on the face of the messenger he's expecting to meet. With a confused trill, the lizard flaps towards the boat.
Thea takes a half-step backwards as the barrel comes rolling off the plank, giving way to the deck hands to do their job. Niva's wink causes her to blink and surprise flickers in her eyes, a slow smile following. She just head-shakes at Rogawani, "It's usually the younger married couples who do that. The old ones? Long past." She turns her head to watch the water for a few moments, then back to the nearer activity with interest, and a bit of expectation as she eyes the barrels. She laughs quietly at Rogawani's expression, "Got her trained already?" Then curious, "Who are you looking for?"
Another barrel quickly follows the first, Niva once again pausing to mark it off, before smiling a bit at Rogawani, enjoying the bit of a break from the confines of the office, relaxing a bit. "Only was the first few turns that we lost most of our pottery. Ended up with nicer things though." Niva says with an amused tone, marking off a barrel of fish as they go by.
"Well, my fosters still do that to this day. Lost a good mug just a seven-day ago." Rogawani explains, shrugging his shoulders as he looks between the two Weyrwomen. "Just don't go killing all the guys in the weyr, okay? Some of us aren't half bad." He tries to put on his best smile, but it ends up looking a bit lopsided in the process. Shaking his head towards Thea, "Not trained, no. Just thought I'd give it a try." As he says this, there is a small cry of exclaimation from somewhere aboard the sloop. "I'm waiting for the Ressac messenger. He's supposed to be dropping off some deliveries for the weyr and holds. Maybe they put him in a barrel with the fish." Crossing his arms over his chest, the boy watches as the barrels are unloaded.
"No kidding? Sounds a bit perilous at their place." At least for mugs and other breakables. Thea laughs outright at Rogawani's plea. "All right, I'll stick to knocking off only the ones that irritate me. How's that?" Smirk. She eyes the deck, but apparently not seeing what she's hoping to, leans towards Niva's clipboard, "Do you see a four bale of fleece from Cold Stone on your list? I'm expecting a shipment."
"Poor dishes.." Niva murmurs, echoing Thea's sentiments, shaking her head a little bit, before grinning at Rogawani. "I've not killed anyone yet. Of course, no one has gone after my daughters, either." That constitutes fair warning, does it not? At the questions by both of them, she glances up, a bit worried at the sound from the ship, and then hurriedly flicking through the sheets on the bored, pen tapping a line near the bottom of the last sheet. "Cold Stone Fleece, Weyrwoman Thea." She reads aloud, before nodding at Thea. "Probably buried, though." And another barrel is rolled by and marked off.
"Mum said the mug had it coming for ages now." Rogawani replies, although it's likely not the piece of pottery that his foster mother was referring to. "Okay, rules to stay alive. One. Don't try to seduce either of Niva's daughters. Check. Two. Don't annoy Thea. That one's a bit harder." He ticks these off on his fingers, and then gives a small, innocent shrug. "I'll try to keep those in mind." The cry from the ship's deck seems to have come from a drowsy looking man still in a sleeping gown. Above him, Rogawani's green firelizard is chittering. "Uhh. Oops?" The boy ducks a bit, and the green comes to land on his shoulder, wiggling a little excitedly. "Are you the messenger from Ressac?" He calls out, cupping his hands around his mouth. The reply back is irritated to say the least. "Yes, and I was sleeping thank you very much! Sharding firelizards. When I find out who owns that green, Faranth help me!" With one hand, the boy grabs his green lizard and not-quite stealthily shoves her into his jacket.
Thea gives a short bark of laughter at the Weyrwoman's comment, she eyes slide sideways towards Rogawani as Niva's mentioning her daughters. "That second one might be a bit harder to achieve, Rogawani. Perhaps Seryth and I might take you up for a ride and just get it out of the way now?" As Niva finds her bales on the list, she nods, "True, they probably are buried. I think I'll see if I can get someone to come down later for me. My breaktime's over." She gives the two a little wave and slips off through the crowd.
"I'm not too worried, given that they would probably chase you off with their attitude within a moment." Niva mutters a bit, shaking her head as she contemplates her spoiled daughters, nodding absently to Thea as she disappears. "If I see them, I will have them sent to your weyr." And then, the younger weyrwoman is gone, and she's left with a teenager, a clipboard, and a hidden firelizard. As another box goes by and is marked off, Niva just shakes her head. "Lazy messengers." She murmurs absently.
"Nah, I don't plan on annoying you that much, Thea." Rogawani gives a wry sort of smile, and then shakes his head. "Take care." He offers as she leaves, and then turns back to the messenger aboard the sloop. "I'm Rogawani, the head messenger sent me to pick up some parcels from you?" As innocently as he can, he keeps a hand over the wiggling green firelizard in his jacket. Glaring around, looking everywhere for the beast that woke him, the Ressac messenger just finally grunts. "Fine fine." The man's face disappears for a moment, enough time for two more barrels to come down. Then, he follows, dragging along a carry bag similar to the one Rogawani usually has. "Here, take it." He holds the bag out with one hand, pulling a belt buckle tight with the other. As the bag is shoved into Ro's hands, he blinks a little, glancing at Niva. The Ressac messenger does the same, and then goes a bit pale to see that the Weyrwoman is the one checking off the shipment. "Uh, err. My apologies." The man flushes and pulls his pants up higher, before trying to excuse himself back to the ship.
Niva marks off the barrels as they go by, as a box for one of the other riders is set off to their residence, to keep the dock clear. The various barrels are being collected in turn by the kitchen staff, taking them off to be properly stored as quickly as they can. Thankfully, all she catches is the Ressac messenger's apology and him pulling his pants a bit higher, shaking his head. "I suppose you should be getting to those things.." Niv comments, nodding at the large satchel, even as the last of the various bundles are hauled on deck to be pulled off the sloop.
"Uh, right." The Ressac messenger takes whatever excuse he can find, and escapes back to the ship, still holding his pants up in the process. After a few minutes, however, he can be seen helping the others unload cargo. Rogawani, on the other hand, barely contains a chuckle as he throws the carry bag over one shoulder. "Well, I'm off to start these deliveries. Did you need anything else, Weyrwoman? Other than to stay away from your daughters that is?" Light hearted as always, Ro' just tilts his head a bit, watching the goldrider.
Niva arches an eyebrow at the messenger as he takes back off, marking off the last few things on the cargo list, and pausing to stare confused at a large box that seems to belong to no one in particular. A shrug, a shake of her head, and the box is set off to the stores, as Thea's fleece is set to her own residence as promised. "Not at all, messenger. Let us know if you see anything." As always. A brief nod of dismissal, and Niva's checking the list once more before following it all towards the kitchen. Thank goodness for no tunnelsnake stew.