
Xanadu Weyr - Meadow
A large, slightly rolling meadow is set high enough above the riverbank on both sides to avoid suffering from flooding, healthy ground cover and grass spreading out from either side of the dividing river. Scattered amongst the meadow are a variety of weyrs, each with a narrow path leading up to it from a main, winding road. Some are set under a few trees, while others sit by themselves.
Runner stables with the paddock beyond are to the south beyond the meadow weyrs, a smithy and a woodcraft shop are settled closer in towards the path to the clearing, while trees border the western edge of the meadow, and a faint outline of a stone wall and low rolling hills can be seen to the north. Wagons laden with felled trees from the forests to the southwest or ore from the mountains to the southeast are hauled by burden beast up the road through the meadow, over the bridge spanning the river to be processed in the appropriate workshops.
OOC Note! I arrived after the scene already started, so if any player has the beginning of this log, feel free to add it and then erase this message. :)
Garait yelps a little bit as he is run into by the girl, dropping what he's writing on, "Oh I'm sorry, my fault." When is he going to ever learn to pay more attention? His eyes widen at the bronze then and the girl "Ummmm, hi." To the dragon, "When did you get here?" he picks up his stuff and moves to help the girl.
Yarovith is not a dragon of many words nor noises, the odd sound of his amusement of their funny antics was about all they were going to recieve. The true voice of the dragon is the man whose striding over that way, curious of the ruckus in which was imaged to him by way of dragonic communication. A'dmar regards the scene as the youngsters pick themselves up and dust themselves off, as the saying goes. The man is of an exotic coloring, like his dragon by chance, dark in skin and hair, his eyes revealing nothing so much as a hint to his thoughts as he approaches. He's not wearing anything a normal rider might, but instead formal attire as if worn by Holders going to council or gather, with a red scarf wrapped about his neck and loose down his chest. His gaze sweeps up from his dragon toward the two teens, "Yarovith has told me the most amusing story and I have just arrived at the tail end of it." A pun you see. He steps forward toward them, "He at least says hello in return, much to his mirth, as he is not sure if a man who speaks unto himself and a girl with such interest in a book may need of his name."
Ahhh, electricity has returned to the weyr! Which means the forges are back in business! Not that they were ever 'out' of business, but the heat of multiple fires from forges plus a lack of AC in the too near dormitories and offices did make things far more uncomfortable than they needed to be. ka-el is happy to be back in the swing of things, although if anyone were to judge from his demeanor as of late, they'd likely report otherwise. Currently, the apprentice is heading away from the forges, carting with him a barrelful of scrapmetal pushed by hand. His bronze firelizard is with him, carrying what seems to be a satchel of the same stuff, though obviously much less of it. The young smith moves along with a no-nonsense look on his face as he heads in the general direction of…hm, isn't that the new, or rather not so new anymore, bronze over there? And that well dressed fellow? He begins to slow as he approaches the weyrleader and stumbled teens.
"No, no, it was me. The Journeyman in the BeastCraft keep saying I need to pay more attention while I'm working. Are you okay?" Garait does seem concerned that she's okay. "I'm Garait." He blinks as he hears a voice and turns, blinking, "Well, ummm, greetings." He glances at the dragon again and it registers. Bronze, Maybe Weyrleader. He almost winces then, "I do sometime talk aloud when I'm thinking and writing." He blushes then and even moreso whenever he sees Kale come by.
Yarovith remains rooted where he has been for some hours long past, stretching out his tail behind him again, flexing his claws, his head above the rest as he listens for a time to the amusing conversations of the people below him. The status of sand sitting with Seryth and cuddling to the golden queen has allowed him his moment in the sun, proper and right in the middle of the meadow, where traffic must flow around him since they surely cannot go through him - as Natalya found out. A'dmar looks to the girl to see that she is not bottom sore, clearly not worried about his dragon as the beast is large and it would take more than a girl tripping over him to wound the beast. Then it is to the beastcrafter to whom he looks, catching a name from him, nodding, "It is of no concern to me that you speak outloud when your mind is moving. Many take to talking outloud as they problem solve, though it does provide amusement for those who spy upon such things, like Yarovith here." Which brings him to pause, considering the apprentice, "What was it that moved you so to fail to see a lovely girl before she walked into you? We know her reason, a book," and he looks to see if Natalya still has it or has lost it in the incident. If she lost it, he will move himself to pick it up and return it to her.
"Garait," Kale greets, slowing his cart to a pause when near the group and dragon. He does look up at Yarovith, the massive bronze, but won't even attempt to speak his name. Dragon names really are a bunch of gibberish to him, and only the shortest ones are the ones he can remember! Though really, considering who this dragon is paired with…he may need to brush up on his memorization skills. He does offer a "hello" though, which is much less than Alloy, who swoops up, satchel and all, to chirrup to the much larger bronze, circling him consideringly. Big, big dragon! Bronze like himself, but oh so different! Kale's eyes trail his firelizard a moment, keeping an eye on him in case Yarovith is not firelizard friendly. "Good day, Weyrleader," is spoken to A'dmar, as addressing a weyrleader is likely an expected thing to do. The words lack a smile, though that does not necessarily make them insincere. He glances to Natalya, whose face he doesn't recognize at all, and offers a nod and vague smile of greeting.
Garait nods towards the Weyrleader, still blushing some as he glances back to the girl, "Well, ummm, I'm in the BeastCraft sir, specializing in herdbeasts. I'm trying to help out with the planning of a round up of some of the wild herdbeasts here since there's still a shortage of herdbeasts at the Weyr and we need more." Many had died off because of experimenting with hormones, but he doesn't mention that. "Sp, i was taking notes and helping with the planning…." No, he's not rambling really. "Um, Kale, back to a full day at the forge with the Smithcraft?"
Kale is a familiar face to A'dmar, though the name is unlikely to find A'dmar's tongue as like the smith to find it hard to speak of dragon names, this man cannot possibly know all the names of each youngster that slips on an apprentice knot. He ought to, but that is why crafts have Halls and masters and journeymen, afterall. The Weyrleader at least gives Kale some acknowledgement, a chin tilt, "Such as it is, Apprentice." Though it is to the newer of the faces in which his attention turns, as his dragon is still in amusement over it, or perhaps just the man was, as the bronze is now dealing with a firelizard dashing about his head, muzzle following the sweeping of his cousin's wings. A'dmar listens instead to the beastcraft apprentice, of the news of a herdbeast shortage, "I trust your journeymen and masters have reported this officially? I don't seem to recall reading of a shortage." Which, at the moment, seemed to draw an irksome line around his mouth.
n-talya blushes as she look up from trying to gather her bag, and says softly, "Really sir, it was my fault I should have been paying more attention…
Kale leans against his cart a bit because, well, why not welcome an unplanned break? Even if he only did get about a hundred or so yards away. Ah, details, details! His attention lingers on Garait, as neither he nor the weyrleader seem in any hurry on putting forth much effort in giving too much attention to each other, and his brows lift a little. "A shortage?" he echoes. No, not the beef! Eyes momentarily stray in the general direction of the caverns. There are so few luxuries in an apprentice's life. For Kale, herdbeast stew is one of them. Even the new version that they've been preparing lately. Spicier. "Does that mean they'll be shorting on the meatrolls and stew at mealtimes?" he asks, sounding a bit disappointed.
Garait blinks several times at the Weyrleader then, unsure of what to say then. "Yes sir, at least I thought they had. There were the herdbeasts that died off when they experimented with hormones….." Hopefully he wasn't getting anyone in trouble, but would the new Weyrleader know of the hormone incident? "I, um, knew about it because my father was stationed with the BeastCraft here before he went to Fort Weyr just over Turn ago, right before I apprenticed. The other journeymen and Masters have been working on breeding, but a roundups would be a quicker solution." But possibly more dangerous since many herdbeasts were over two thousand pounds heavier than him. He is just an Apprentice here, but he does look concerned over the paperwork and the Weyrleader not having sseen it. "I, um, can check and make sure they did the paperwork if you wish sir?" He blinks at the girl again, "Maybe we both were at fault?" He glances at Kale, wondering why he's so concerned about the meatrolls since he himself can deal with just the vegetables. The dragons on the other hand……oh well. He sighs, "I'm not sure if they'll be cutting back. If the roundup of the wild herbeasts goes as expected, there should be no trouble." There's the word. If. Because we all know everything goes as expected and without problems or hitches, right?
A'dmar regards the young lady who has collected her belongings now, lifting a hand to still her apologies. They were beyond the fumble now and he had hoped with the dismissive gesture that she would be comforted. Though that may be something hard to do in his presence, as he's not necessarily expressing anything beyond his formal stoic appearance, not even a hint or gleam of a smile against his features. There are other things that occupy him, none in the least was room for a smile, as now, with the conversation of a herdbeast shortage, there came other thoughtful pauses and ill humored glances aft from the teens. "It does not seem the Weyr's burden to bear then, especially if they were… experimenting," he interrupts Kale's mewling, to an extent, interjecting when he was accorded a breath, displeased with the liberties the beastcraft had taken with the supply of animals given over to the Weyr… and that the Weyr should suffer for their foolish ways! "A matter for your beastcraft Masters, apprentice, and a matter I will see they hear about. Do not concern yourself further beyond what you were tasked to do." No. He doesn't take kindly to those who do not meet their obligations, for his world was built on contracts, written or otherwise. And that seems to take him back to a track he was wanting to leave earlier and had, to come see the ruckus his dragon was about. Unfortunately, maybe fortunately, this means the man is turning from the teen's company, "Please excuse me." No need to explain where he must go and what he must do, he's the Weyrleader, there's always -something- pressing to keep him from his weyr, such as now, he's turning not toward it but away from it, back the way he came.
Natalya blushes as she watches the weyr leader go and says softly, "Not the way I wanted to meet him…" she sighs. and looks over ot Garait and says, "I guess so… I am Natalya by the way….apprentice dolphineer….."
Vegetables? Vegetables!? How is a growing boy, nay … man such as himself going to thrive to the fullest extent without the assistance of meat in his diet? Now this, folks, is a travesty! A dilemma worthy of weyrwide attention! Kale's eyes shift from weyrleader to apprentice as the two discuss the herdbeast situation. Ah likely, it is far more important to think of the dragons, but Kale hasn't one, and thus his loyalty is to his stomach. "Well good luck to the roundup," he says at last, giving a definitive nod to punctuate his statement. The more herdbeast gathered, the better! He'll keep his fingers crossed that his next ladle full of herdbeast stew isn't strewn with vegetables and no meat. His head is given a near imperceptible nod at A'dmar's departure, watching the man for a while with an expression that sours the further away he gets. Eyes sweep back to Garait. "Hopefully you didn't put your foot throat deep in your mouth there, Garait."
Nodding and looking slightly worried as the Weyrleader excuses himself, "Yes sir, of course sir." Once the Weyrleader leaves he sighs and shakes his head, mumbling a little, "This may be trouble." Of course, it wasn't *his* fault there was a shortage, but he did bring it to the Weyrleader's attention, which is not good for him. He nods in agreement with Natalya, "Definitely not the way I wanted to meet him either, And well met by the way." He shakes his head at ale then, "I'm sure I'll hear about it one way or another. Bringing it to the Weyrleader's attention won't make the Masters happy with me." Oh yes, bronze dragon. Weyrleaders's dragon is still here. He looks up at the dragon, "Hopefully you won't pass that onto your rider?" He doesn't expect an answer, but still….
Yarovith is such a good spy. There is much behind those whorling eyes of color that those below will never know. The dark beast lowers his head toward the worried beastcrafter, large eyes twinkling with the glints of sunlight as he studies the young apprentice. But, in the next moment, there is some noise which draws the bronze's attention, cranning his neck toward the way of the hatching grounds. Oh yes, that would be Seryth and this bronzen dragon is but her servant, rolling himself up off the ground, without a sound save for the movement of limbs and muscle. Then, as comical as it is, the black clad bronze starts to trot off toward the hatching grounds, all eager and such to cuddle with the gold or fetch this or that… whatever she desires.
"Seems like not a one of us had a very pleasant first meeting with our weyrleader," remarks Kale, seemingly only partially amused by his statement. He glances to the contents of his cart and, apparently feeling as if they can wait a little longer, he leans away from the cart, considering the other apprentices. "Yeah…you're probably right," is said to Garait. "They'll likely be nothin' close to happy with you, if they figure out it's you who spilled the beans." He pauses. "If there were any beans to be spilled. You never know. Maybe they did tell the weyrleader. Our last one. That one," he nods in the general direction that A'dmar left, "is new anyway. Maybe our old one was told." He glances to Natalya again, having heard her introduction, and although it wasn't directed to him, he offers his as well. "Kale. Smithcraft apprentice. Well met."
Garait nods slowly at Kale, making a face, "I'm pretty sure there's paperwork somewhere, but I'm sure the Masters won't be happy after he talks to them." He just shakes his head, "I won't volunteer rhat it was me he told him, but if they find out…." He shrugs then. "Nothing I can do about it now."
Kale snickers a bit. "I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, but if I see you shovelin' soiled hay for the next few sevendays, I won't bother asking why." He glances back at a chirrup made from his firelizard, who has perched himself upon the cart, satchel still clutched in his claws. "Yeah .. I probably should finish this," he says, jerking a thumb to the undelivered pieces of metallic scraps. "Good luck, eh?"
Garait nods at Kale then , "Thanks. I should finish this and enjoy my freedom while I have it." He glances over the notes on a makeshift map, making mall notations before moving on back to where the BeastCraft is here, paying more attention to where he's going this time.