Clearing - Outside the Hatching Arena
A wide clearing stretches from east to west, the ground packed hard although grass grows across most of it. Trees are strictly forbidden in this space, their danger to the constant draconic traffic reason enough to banish them to the forest that creates a this and sharp border to the north. Where the ground is less trampled, tiny flowers poke their delicate heads out from their shaded hiding places with upturned petals to wave to whoever may be looking.
The cliff looms imposingly on three sides, stretching upwards all the way up the side of the mountain where, high above, Xanadu's Star Stones and the ever present watchdragon sit on a lonely peak. Directly south is a massive tunnel, fully wide enough for even the largest dragon to fly down. Southeast are wide steps leading up to the Caverns and eastwards is the large entrance to the Infirmary. Somewhat north of the Infirmary is a human sized archway that has a frequent quantity of traffic — it leads to the Tavern. Southwest lies the low ledges currently belonging to Xanadu's queens while north and west a broad path cut by the side of the cliff leads to the Feeding Grounds and due north is the spacious trail that leads to the rest of the Weyr.
A greenrider from Eastern dropped by earlier, and unloaded a few parcels and a dark-haired man. The parcels were handed over to passing weyrfolk with a request for their delivery and have (hopefully) arrived safely at their proper resting places. Jethaniel hasn't followed them yet, despite how the afternoon is fading toward evening; instead, he's gone to the hatching arena, but not to go inside - no, he's just walking along the outside of the building, like he's looking for something.
At least some of the parcels ended up where they were likely intended, as has the word of the journeyman techcrafter's arrival at the weyr. Admittedly there doesn't appear to be much of a buzz about the whole thing other than the noise of a girl's voice muttering. The sound is becoming gradually louder as the source all but stomps across the clearing, coming from the direction of the crafting caverns. "Apparently it's my job to help you, even though it /was/ supposed to be my day off." Really, that translates as a polite greeting here at Xanadu… or not.
Jethaniel glances over at the source of that grumbling. "Mmh. Good," he says absently. Presumably about the help, as opposed to the lack of a day off? Presumably. He pretty much ignores her for another few moments, looking over the building. He takes a few steps back, peering up toward the roof, and then looks back to Daoi with his grey eyes suddenly intent. "You were here, yes? Tell me what happened." Of course, he must have gotten a report of some sort already, or why would he be here in the first place?
At least the pair are mutually lacking in the polite greeting department, they'll get along swimmingly. As she's ignored, Daoi first places her hands on her hips but as her stance changes from irritated to resigned her arms end up crossing over her chest with a slump. There's some fidgeting and the toe of a sandal gets dug into the dirt a little and she's caught intently staring down at her hole digging progress when he actually turns his attention on her. "…. huh?" is her intelligent reply and it comes with a bit of a delay, attention and head snapping back up. "Uh… well, obviously lightning struck and fried the power?" Likely he wants /details/ but that's what he gets so far.
Jethaniel waits for his answer with every evidence of patience, his gaze on Daoi. When he gets it, his mouth curves in a smile. "No," he says. Yet he's smiling. "I didn't ask for your theory… yet. Machines are simple things, and we must use simple steps when" dealing with them. What happened? And no theories."
Patience is a good thing, but apparently the response Daoi recieves does not sit entirely well. "It's not /my/ theory." is grumbled before a more 'proper' reply is offered. No smiles here except for the rather forced one that follows "The hatching cavern went dark, and there was a loud cracking noise. The generators have been running since."
"Ah," says Jethaniel with a broader smile. "And /that/ is why you always credit your sources. It saves you from trying to justify their words." He chuckles, and then his face goes serious as he listens to the explanation. "Was the crack before things went dark, or after? By how long? And was there any scent to it? Smoke, or ozone?"
And the forced smile falters there, falling back into a rather grumpy expression. "Thought it was a rather shared 'theory'" Emphasis on his terminology of course. "Am I allowed to say I /think/ it as only a very slight delay if any? I was in the kind of distracted by the whole experience of never having seen a hatching before. Didn't smell anything other than lots of sweaty people."
"I believe that theory to be correct," says Jethaniel calmly, just as if he didn't just say how he didn't want to hear it. "If you believe the same from the facts you have observed, good. If you do not, that is also good, so long as you have come to your conclusion from the facts." He nods at the answers to his questions. "The noise and darkness together suggests one of two theories - either a lightning strike to the arena itself, or else that issues elsewhere led to a problem at the arena's transformer. The lack of a smell - and the fact that the lights came back on with the generators - incline me toward the second theory. However, we will investigate both options."
Oh, there's a brief sputter but the girl actually doesn't say anything to the man's annoyingly calm discussion of theories which he /didn't/ want before… "Do we at least get to go climbing up there in the investigating?" She'll perk slightly as that thought occurs to her, but apparently she's not trying to get her hopes up too far as the man isn't appearing to be the adventerous sort so far.
That's Jethaniel, bringing the lecture out to the field. If you close your eyes, you can almost see the desks lined up in front of him. At Daoi's question, he nods. "Of course," he says, still with that calm. "How else would we find out the facts of the situation? We're going to go up on the roof and look around for signs of a lightning strike… and check out the state of the lightning rod while we're at it. We may even have to replace the entire conduit going down the building." There's a hint of a smile, as if he's aware of Daoi's interest, and then he holds up his hand. "But! We are not doing that in the dark. If tomorrow is clear, we will do it then. For now… you can direct me to where I can find dinner, and then… you can enjoy the rest of the day. I expect to see you bright and early tomorrow."
Daoi really /really/ would rather not have that mental image in her head. Lectures? Not a fun time to be had at all. The first /real/ grin breaks across her face as he announces that they will indeed get to go clambering around. Sadly it's short lived despite the fact he's making rather good sense, and those lips purse into a brief pout. "Dinner? The caverns are right that way" and she gestures vaguely to the large set of stairs not too far off that seem rather well populated with traffic right now. "I can find you there in the morning?" She fufilled the directing duty and without actually waiting for his response, his own fault for being vague about 'bright and early' she scampers off in the opposite direction. Freedom!
Jethaniel: "Was the crack before things went dark, or after?"
Daoi: "Am I allowed to say I /think/ it as only a very slight delay if any? I was kind of distracted by the whole experience of never having seen a hatching before."
Priceless! Entertaining read all around. :)