Attempted Anti-Anxiety Assignment
caverns.jpg

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.


There is more log that happened before this - if you have it, please copy and paste it over here! <3 <3

Inuelle shrugs. "Well, I was doing that, baking and caverns duty, but I felt like I was doing my normal duties to get out of the normal candidate duties. And leaving all the hard work to everyone else," she reaches for another napkin. "That, and, well, its nice to get away from my Mother and my Aunt while I'm doing chores. Imagine having relatives looking over your shoulder all the time," she bites her thumbnail again.

Ocelara chuckles a touch, and then notes to Inuelle, "I hear you, actually. I grew up on an ovine station outside of Hannista…couldn't turn around without having Mother, Father, or a brother up my nose…not to mention a cousin, an aunt, or several other various relations…"

"Sure thing Caliska, I'll make sure to try and get you some too. See you in a little." Zin calls out as she waves to her friend before heading into the caverns and looking around. She heads for the food tables, her eyes on the candidates and the napkin rolling. Her attention shifts to Inuelle "My mother is always looking over my shoulder. Da's better though."

Speaking of family, Esiae appears in the entrance to the caverns, looking just a little worse for wear. Her clothes are clean - conspicuously so, as though she had just changed - and her hair damp. Damp with random purple ends. Erm… "Sorry I'm late, ma'am" the candidate-harper mutters, quick brown eyes taking in the chore of silverware wrapping even as she drops a light curtsey for Ocelara. "Foster siblings thought it'd be interesting to see if human hair paints like runner hair brushes. Turns out, it works pretty well." This is said sotto voce, Esi clearly not finding the situation amusing just yet. Maybe in a few days… "We're rolling cutlery, I see?" A little wave is aimed at her fellow candidates, but Esi hovers, waiting to be officially signed on to the duty.

Inuelle nods very nervously, her hair flopping a bit out of its braid. "Do you want to help us?" she says. "There's lemonade too," she points to the pitcher thats still mostly full. "Its too much of a nervous day to be sitting still."
Ocelara glances up from where she rests against the table's edge, and nods to Esiae, "Of course you may." The older man with her waves the Candidate over, and whips out a napkin and a fork, knife and spoon…demonstrating the method. Stack, stack, stack, wrap….tada! Neat little bundles.

Zinesha looks over Esiae's hair and just blinks. "You mean he tried it with it still attached to your head?" she asks and then stifles a little laugh and looks somewhat sheepish as she looks around. "Why didn't you stop him?"

Esiae laughs through her nose, nodding to Inuelle. "Never were truer words spoken. Luckily, my morning kept me very active." Her attention shifts over to Ocelara. "Thank you, ma'am." Dismissed to work, the candidate sidles over to watch the older man demonstrate, practicing it once to make sure she had it right. Stack, stack, stack, wrap and voila! Luckily, the girl is a fast learner, or this would be an excercise in futility! Shuffling over to sit near Inuelle, Esi take her fair share of cutlery and napkins, setting it all out in a logical order before going to work. Brown eyes do lift to take in Zinesha, some hint of a smile curling her lips, even if her look is overdramatically bitter. Typical teen. "They, twins, and yes. They did it while it was still attached. I was ignoring them on purpose when they /asked/ if they could try painting with my braid, so they decided all on their own that they'd do it anyways." Her head shakes. "I'm never having kids."

Having fallen silent for a time so he could just work on folding napkins around silverware, Iforian is seated between Jeniosa and Inuelle. He's not leering at any of the girls around him, and is mostly just glowering at the task at hand, muttering under his breath a little. Seems that keeping busy at menial tasks just isn't quite enough to distract the tall miner from his own nerves…

Inuelle smiles at Esiae. "I wouldn't mind having children," she says, folding her napkins a little too neatly now, fussing over each and every fold. "I look after my cousins whenever I can," she grins. "They're also twins, boys. They're not the artist type. They're the run-around-screaming type," she finishes with a little ironic eyebrow raised.

Ocelara gets distracted from watching the Candidates fold napkins, by one of the assistant stewards jogging in from outside. Funny, but the hot, clear, hazy day outside /seems/ to have taken a bit of a change. Is there a hint of haze in the air? She listens, and then sighs a bit, swearing under her breath. "Well…mayhaps with rain, it'll be cooler, at least."

Zinesha wanders off a little to get some and then wanders back again towards where preparations are going on. "Rain?" she asks and wrinkles her nose "Things are getting messy out there." she lets out a sigh.

Esiae glances sideways for Iforian's muttering, a flicker of an understanding smile curling up one side of her mouth, but then she's back to folding and attempting to keep with the conversation. "You say that now, Inu, but once you get one of your own, I bet you'll change your tune within a sevenday." She says that, but there's a fond edge to her tone, as though way deep down even though they dye her hair on hatching day, she's still fond of the little buggers. "Art is a distraction from the running and the screaming." She laughs at the girl's eyebrow-raise though, head shaking as her gaze switches over Ocelara and that assistant. Ew. Rain. Her nose wrinkles, but she doesn't comment, instead nodding at Zinesha. "It'll definitely be messy, if a bunch of visiting dragons come sloshing through the clearing when it rains. Eesh." But a thunderstorm… well, once that comes, she will be much more interested. Rain is boring, but thunder…

Wrapped up warm, and as waterproof as possible considering the look of the weather, Kinzie wanders in to the caverns looking somewhat distracted and muttering to herself about the weather. Noticing her fellow candidates she half smiles and wanders to grab herself a drink… something to steady her nerves may be a good thing right about now.

Inuelle shrugs. "I've been around kids since I was a kid," she says, primly folding another napkin. "And I babysit my cousins all the time. I'm not afraid to give parenthood a go," she then bites her nail and nervously watches Iforian work. She leans in to whisper something to him, hopefully nobody has overheard it. "Did you want to go for a walk, before it rains?"

L'yn comes in and looks around for his cousin. There she is, doing something with napkins it looks like? maybe she's sewing? He inches in and quietly approaches. "Hello, Cuz!" he says softly but with a big smile.

Zinesha grins brightly "I want kids. I want lots of kids." Ah, the ideals of youth. "I want a boy and a girl and maybe even more. But I'm not going to let them paint with my hair." she notes "But I'll let them paint with other things, even their fingers." Course at the talk of dragons visiting she sighs "It's going to be really nasty then. All the mud churned up. Eww. I'm going to get muddy."

When Inuelle leans over and whispers to him, Iforian blinks a couple of times, his scowl deepening for a moment before he suddenly smiles at the young baker, "A walk sounds like a fine idear." He pushes away from the table, leaving folding napkins to the others for now, as long as he's not called to task by the headwoman, at least, and offers a hand down to Inu, "C'mon, darlin'. Le's get outta here an' go talk f'r a bit."

Jeniosa looks up from her braindead folding of napkins around silverware as she hears L'yn's greeting, then she actually gives a true smile for the first time today. "L'yn! You made it. Is J'yn coming too?" She's actually rising from the table to give her cousin a hug. "How're things?" She grins a bit. "They're trying to keep our minds off the imminent hatching…I don't think it's working for me, though." Yep, she's all braindead.

Esiae glances up and waves when Kinzie appears. "Nice gear," she says, glancing towards the door paranoidly when it just seems to affirm the incoming bad weather. Rats. Luckily Inuelle distracts her, Esi listening and nodding, then giving a shrug of her shoulders. "Fair enough, then. I'll come by and play with your babies," she jokes, thinking this is a good compromise. "Finger-painting is definitely fun, though. Even at my age, but definitely for kiddos." There's yet another face for the muddy predictions of their near future, but she makes no further comment, instead folding another couple sets of silverware. It's enough to keep her distracted for a moment, even though she does glance up and smile at L'yn when Jeniosa greets the rider.

L'yn hugs his cuosin back, smiling, and kisses her cheek. "I haven't seen J'yn for a while. He moves around a lot, I'm mostly at the Hall. My, but you look pretty! You intend to flirt with the hatchlings?" He chuckles and winks at her, then he nods to the others there. "Hello!"

Kinzie looks over towards Esiae then to her clothing and shrugs "I may aswell be warm while I can be but hey soon I'm going to be roasting on the sands right?" she says with a slight laugh… yes it was a nervous laugh but she's trying to hide it while she grabs some klah and gulps it down. She's not going to ask the old How are we? question because she knows the answer. Jeniosa's cousin gets a nod of hello before she finds herself a seat and something to do to keep her busy.

Inuelle gets up to join Iforian, but she smiles back at Esiae. "I'll remember that, you promised," and she sticks just the hint of a teasing tongue out before heading away from the napkin folding area, reaching out to take Ifor's arm if he agrees to it. This walk may be very short, if the rain does make a quick appearance.

Iforian chuckles and lets Inu take his arm, placing his hand over hers and being quite gentlemanly about it, though he does swagger a little. He's managed to win over at least one of the girls, at least, and that's something for the big miner to be smug about. At least it is in his opinion, "A li'l rain ne'er hurt nobody, though, darlin'." He chuckles, "Means we ain't gotta worry 'bout bathin', noways." Or something like that, anyway.

L'yn chuckles. "You're right. Rain means you don't have to water the plants!"

Zinesha looks at L'yn and and then her eyes go wide as she looks at Iforian "You mean just standing out in the rain is good enough for you to think you are clean? Eww. That is really nasty." she wrinkles her nose.

It's been one of those humid summer days with the sweltering air listless and still, heavy with the feeling of foreboding as stationary clouds in the sky to the south slowly piled up higher and higher to form a bright white, towering bulk. As the afternoon progressed and the sky to the south slowly darkened under the spectacular pile of clouds, it became clear that a summer storm was brewing. Dinner approaches, and the massive cloudbank, now-pinkened by the setting sun, is finally on the move. Inky black hangs under them, shimmering with silent lightning and it's clear that Xanadu is in for a storm that will break shortly, though blue skies linger overhead yet.

Into the calm, the sudden humming of dragons breaks the stillness and filters into the busy dinner preparation going on in the main caverns. Candidates who know what that means, drop everything and rush to the barracks..

Jeniosa blushes at the words from her cousin. "No flirting for me. I'm just hoping to get out unscathed." She turns to her fellow candidates nearby. "This is my cousin L'yn." And she nods to the rider at his comment about J'yn. "Aye, haven't heard hide nor hair from J'yn in awhile, was just wondering. But at least you're here. And I bet J'ios will be here too for sure." At least she'll have some family rooting for her in the stands. Bit then, the beastcraft-candidate freezes at the rumble that begins to echo through the weyr. "Wait..listen. Is that?" She blinks, she knows what that is. "The eggs!" Okay, is it panic time yet?

L'yn gets but a monet to raise a hand in way of greeting to the throng. "Harper's Duty to you all!"

Ocelara looks up from where she's been working, and slowly, a smile crosses her face…before she simply hops on a table and starts yelling. With more force than most would think the Headwoman could have, "Ladies and Gentlement…Candidates…those are dragons humming! Candidates, get to the Barracks! NOW!"

Inuelle stops in her tracks as soon as the humming starts and she panics. "Shards, its starting isn't it?" she pulls her arm free of Iforian and runs off in the direction of the barracks.

Esiae has to nod for Kinzie's logic, head bobbing up and down agreeably. "True enough. I'm worried my sandals aren't going to be thick enough, speaking of roasting. Last thing I need is blisters…" Yep. Esi's nervous too, if her babbling is anything to judge by, though it is definitely increased in the proximity of others. She flickers a sympathetic smile Kizzie's way and slides a stack of cutlery a little towards her, offering the busy-work they were all doing, some better than others. "Hah, well, a promise is a promise," is called after Inuelle, Esi flashing her an actual grin before worries settles back over her features. Worries with a purpose, apparently - the sound of humming is iconic and unmistakable, and the candidate immediately blanches. "Shards…" Esi stands, flickers a weak smile at Jeniosa, and nods. "Seems that way. Let's go." Ocelara's commands are well-heeded, apparently, because the girl's out the door like lightning, heading for the barracks.


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