Brondrenna Arrives
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 colour 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 colours 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 and southwest is a wide tunnel, carefully roped off to avoid accidents.


Kirilla has been pacing around the living cavern for the past hour, looking at her watch and at the door, pacing to the door and poking her head out, and pacing more. Pace, pace, pace. And also complain to anyone who will listen, about various random things like her current weyrlings and how rude they can be, the state of affairs on Pern, advertisements sent out across Pern lately, the Harper Hall's new MasterHarper whom she dislikes and why, among a many other things. And she is complaining at a fast rate that only those actually /listening/ could keep up. Eventually, though, she slows down the chatter and the pacing, and switches to sitting, alternating between eyeing the door and eyeing her watch and eyeing the rest of the cavern occupants.

Niva enters in the middle of the long complaint, step slowing as she brushes the bit of rain stuck to her shoulders off, eyeing Kirilla cautiously all the while. Keeping an eye on her seemingly nervous former Weyrlingmaster, she skirts around her to get a mug of klah, watching her over the mug as she takes the first sip of the steamy beverage. As she moves to sit down, she finally decides to inquire as to the source of the Kirilla's anxiousness. "What /are/ you waiting for?"

The dark-haired sailor hums to himself while creating something out of sugar cubes. So this is what sailor's do on their off time? Well, no, just Matteo. A mug of klah sits on the table nearby, perhaps the origional recipient of these cubic objects. Doesn't matter now. A good 20 lay in wait for their stacking. He looks up from his project quite a few times at the Weyrlingmaster, only half listening.

Kirilla glances at Niva and blinks as if it were obvious though it was not. "Oh. Well, my sister. She was due here an hour ago, and I came, and she isn't here yet, the twit. She's so irresponsible. Youngest of the family, you know, at least, of my mom's natural children. Spoiled rotten, handed everything, whatever. She never went to craft, never applied herself to anything more than /worker/!"

Niva instinctively flinches as the complaining shifts from various ideas to simply Kirilla's sister, recoiling some as it continues, eyes widening as just goes back to sipping at her klah. "Perhaps I shouldn't have asked.." She murmurs under her breath, shaking her head slightly as she steals a glance at the sugar cube stacking Matteo, and then cautiously back at Kirilla. "Uh, maybe she liked it?" Maybe Niva should just shut her mouth.

Matteo places a couple more cubes in place before looking up at the pair. He listens for a few seconds before promptly returning to his work. Men just can't multitask well. Mind focuses on one thing at a time. Which was all fine and dandy for him. He felt a little sorry for Niva though. Had she been here a bit longer she'd have known better than to ask.

Kirilla eyes Niva. "Ahhh… well, maybe but she's still irresponsible. She insisted on coming the long route via the sea down here and she sent word she'd be arriving an hour ago," Rilla finally shuts up for a bit, taking the time to viciously pull apart a roll and eat it. She glances at Matteo. "What's so enticing about water, anyway? Dragonback's always been the best wayt o go."

Niva blinks at Kirilla and proceeds to wrinkle up her nose. "Ew.." That's about sailing, really. She's never been fond of it, one way or another. "Well, you know how those things go. Someone probably got hurt on the trail. Or they hit a minor snag. I'm sure its not her fault." And if it is, there's no doubt that Kirilla will proceed to proclaim it to the whole cavern. Eyeing Matteo's activity for another long moment she shakes her head and sips at the klah. Tis a good distraction.

Matteo looks up shaprly, startled. "Water? Well, everything's got some of it doesn't it?" He says. He looks between the sugar cubes and Kirilla finally deciding to address her. "Got a calming effect. Much more so than dragon back. Granted I've only ridden a dragon once… so I guess I'm not one to talk." he puts another sugar cube on his structure. At Niva's reaction to the sea he shrugs. "It's not for everyone…"

Brondrenna makes her grand entrance with two women she had met on the way to the cavern, Sarai and Gonwen, who worked in the kitchens and laundry respectively, and were kind enough to point the direction, and then accompany Bron in said direction. And thus the trio enters, with Sarai and Gonwen giggling and pointing out this or that person, and Bron leaving them be and striding right up to her sister - and without giving Kirilla a chance to start complaining, she excuses herself, "It /wasn't/ my fault this time, Rill. The ship had a problem and of course I had to stick around and help. It's polite, you know, to do that. And by the way, hello - and my duties to you," she directs the last sentence to Niva, having noted the knot.

Niva rolls her eyes slightly at Matteo, putting the klah mug down on the table before, "You could say that again.." Never ever again. Ever. Not even a tiny fishing boat. At the entrance of the trio, her attention is drawn to them, assuming the confident young woman can be no one other then Kirilla's sister. An eyebrow is arched at Kirilla at the greeting, bobbing her head in return to Brondrenna. "Welcome to Xanadu.." And she glances back to the weyrlingmaster. "You were saying?"

Matteo looks up at the trio that enters. His eyes stay, however on the new one, watching her stride up to her sister and declare the situation. "What was wrong with it?" He asks with curiousity riddling his voice. He was too nosy when it came to ships. A sugar cube tumbles off his creation and teh entire thing goes. "Aiii!" He sighs and sits back, giving up. he pops a sugar cube in his mouth.

Kirilla is silent, glowering for several second before she starts in. "What is it with you and poking around in /everything/? I've been waiting an hour for you and I'm sure no one in /here/ appreciates the way I get when I'm waiting," Rilla ends in a grumble, then glances around with a general apologetic look. "Anyway, welcome to Xanadu, as she said *gesturing to Niva*. This is the Jr. Weyrwoman, Niva. Niva, my sis—" she is cut off, and Bron interjects, "I'm Bron, thank you for the welcome." She pauses and eyes Matteo's fallen creation, chuckling. "It looked nice before it fell. Bet it tastes even better."

Niva leans back in her chair, rocking it enough to lift the front legs temporarily off the floor before they return and she reaches for her mug of klah. Taking a long sip, she attempts to hide the grin on her face, although its only barely under control as she sets the mug back down. An eyebrow is arched as she nods once more to Bron, gaze drifting to Kirilla as the younger sister is distracted.

C'ian comes down the stairs from the administration hallway, thumbing through a few papers as he absent-mindedly makes his way to the wine chest. You can't work without wine. Well, Caspian can't, at least. He pours himself a glass, continuing to read the papers. He even goes so far as to take a sip before he even realizes that other people are around him. Flakey Weyrleader… He grins and waves to no one in particular. "Hey everyone."

Matteo gives a rather sardonic grin. "Yeah… Loads better actually." He eats another sugar cube then collects the rest into a pile. Oh well… Fun while it lasted. He motions to the pile. "Any of you want any? If I eat them all I'll won't get sleep for a week, let alone my usual every other day. As the Weyrleader happens on in he gives a grin. "Heya o' gracious weyrleader." He smirks. "Want a sugar cube?"

Brondrenna grins and steps over to Matteo, taking a seat by him. "I'll take one," she says, taking one at the same time, popping it into her mouth, savouring it, then glancing up at said weyrleader and hopping up from her seat to grin. "My lucky hour." Kirilla groans at the same time and rubs her forehead, "This is my sister, C'ian." Bron rolls her eyes. "Hullo, Weyrleader, I'm Bron, and I'd like to have a job at your weyr. To whom should I speak?" Meanwhile Kirilla mutters lowly, "No, really, what do you want?"

Niva takes note of C'ian's entrance, rolling her eyes as he goes straight for the wine, shaking her head and settling to take a pouting sip of her klah. She's suppose to be working, somewhere or other. She's not drinking, why is he? Attention then shifts back to Matteo and she shakes her head, wrinkling up her nose once more. "I'm good, thanks…" Pure sugar's not the most appetizing thing, after all. At Bron's actions and her sister's reaction, she peers at C'ian to gauge his reaction, idly pushing the chair next to her out, if he cares to take it.

C'ian motions for Matteo to throw him one (catching in his mouth, assuming Matteo does). He sits down next to Niva and blinks, appearing to blank out a bit before smiling at Bron. "Well, nice to meet you there, squirt." Cringe. He considers a moment. "Working for the Weyr eh.." he starts, stroking his chin, before saying, "I suppose that it would be that you talk to.

Matteo finds himself rather amused at Bron. he tosses one to C'ian, grinning in the sort of half way taht he does. He reaches over to take a sip of his klah. It's cold. grr… he sets t down and eats another sugar cube, not in the mood to go get more. This was far more interesting than klah and sugarcubes.
Huh? (Type "help" for help.)

"To…?" Bron echoes C'ian's last word, before she realizes he called her a squirt, and her mouth drops open a little. Kirilla snorts and shakes a little while trying to keep down her snickering. "Yup, she's definitely a squirt," she says aloud, earning a huffy glare from Bron. "Don't /you/ start, Rill." Rilla snorts again. "I'm Weyrlingmaster here, little sis, I've deal with bratty kids on a regular basis."

Niva blinks right back at C'ian before rolling her eyes. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about the wine muddling your brains. You seem to have managed that yourself, already." And she winks at the Weyrleader before glancing over to Kirilla at Bron, coughing softly to cover up a laugh. "You two are worse then my cousins.." And she bites her lip as Kirilla mentions the bratty kids, a touch of pink appearing on her cheeks. So… perhaps the weyrlings from Kilaueth's first clutch are a bit more.. immature then most. Its okay, though, right?

C'ian shakes his head and nudged Niva indignantly as he smiles at Bron. "Sorry sorry. I mean, you should talk to me." He takes another sip of wine. "What exactly would you like to do?" He looks up at Kirilla, "And what exactly is she good at, 'Rilla?" After all, you have to weight everything and all options before you can make such weyrleadery decisions.

Matteo arcs a brow a little at the sibling rivalry. interesting. Hmm, at least he and… and M'lor were never like that. "I'm glad I never experienced that sort of conflict." He comments to Niva mildly. "I'm going to get more klah." He hops up and wanders off, returning shortly with a mug taht's now TOO hot. good job, slick.

Kirilla snorts again. "Good at? What's she /good/ at? Nothi-" Bron interrupts, "I beg to differ. My area of expertise is 'general'. I'm a handiperson. I can /do/ pretty much anything you need me to. So if there is a need for an assistant or handiperson /anywhere/ in your community, hey, /I'm/ your woman." She speaks quickly and fluently, like a salesperson, then grins. Rilla, of course, grunts, then answers Niva, "Yeah, well, we've had practice at it. At least, whenever I was home. I was at the Hall a lot, then here, of course."

Niva makes a face at C'ian and nudges him right back as she glances over to the sisters, shaking her head as she does so. "There's a reason it's easier to simply… bypass the Weyrleader here and come straight to Jezzara or myself. Let the muddled one muddle only his own affairs." And she glances at Casp again, arching an eyebrow as she does so, teasingly. Attention is drawn to Matteo and she shakes her head slightly. "I'm glad I'm an only child. And that it was just my cousins.." Least she didn't have to deal with it personally, that way. Attention is drawn back to the sisters, and Niva arches an eyebrow. "I see…" She'll just stay out of it, kay, thanks.

C'ian just chuckles at Niva, looking at Bron. "What our young /Jr./", he begins, emphesizing rank, "doesn't realize is that there are ways that Weyrleaders know exactly what's going on in their weyr, wether they appear muddled or not." He grins right back at Niva, beore once again looking at Bron. "Handiperson, huh? Do you have any field experience?"

Matteo sits back down, plopping two sugar cubes into the klah. Then two more… okay, six should do it. He eyes the hot liquid curiously then looking over the drink, smirks. "Well, I'd believe her just on that speech alone." He takes a sip and burns his tongue. "Argh! STU-PID klah!"

Kirilla shrugs at Niva. "She's not reasonable like that." Meanwhile, Bron chuckles at C'ian. "Field experience? Oodles of it. I've got references if it's necessary, since I'm sure my sister won't speak for my decency in all things general. I've done pretty much any job that uses assistance or hands around my home - Telgar." Meanwhile, Kirilla steams, venting quietly toward Niva and Matteo. "You were lucky. My brothers weren't like this. But she-she's so /perfect/… to hate, you know? One of those people."

Niva glares silently back at C'ian for a long moment before grinning some, and sighing as she turns to Matteo and Kirilla. Casp can do the Weyrleadery thing, then, and deal with Bron. She'll enjoy doing nothing. Taking another sip of her klah, she jumps at Matteo's exclamation. "You okay?" And she watches him for a long moment, before her gaze drifts back to Kirilla and its all she can do to keep from laughing, simply nodding her head. "I understand.."

C'ian just looks a little uncomfortable at the mention of Telgar. Very uncomfortable actually. He just nods quickly. "Alright, alright. I don't need to hear all these references." He thinks about it and looks up to Kirilla. Then, turning to Bron, he makes his decision. "Alright. Welcome to the Weyr, Handi-woman. But I best not see any problems in things that you work on. Else, I'll get your sister to handle your punishment. Do I make myself clear?"

Matteo tries a sugar cube on his tongue. Doesn't help. He sighs and sits back, watching the two. At Kirilla's comment he shrugs. "I guess I'm not one to hate. I'm sure I'll be son enough, but… hmm… can't think of anyone I've hated." He gives a shrug once more and starts dropping more sugar cubes in it.

Brondrenna grins. "Thank you, Weyrleader," then she glances at Kirilla. "I'm sure I'll do fine… wouldn't want to be handed over to her, after all." Kirilla looks up, and shrugs. "Whatever. If you do mess up-" she trails off, then eyes Matteo. "Want an ice cube or something?" Meantime, Bron turns to Niva. "So would I speak to you or another to get my jobs? I'll be staying with my sister for now, naturally."

Niva quickly nods at Brondrenna, flicking her fingers slightly as she glances to C'ian for confirmation. "Well, there'll be various people, I'm sure.." And she sips at her klah as she trails off, staring at the inside of the empty mug as she finishes it.

Matteo blinks. "Good idea!" He gets up and jogs over for ice cubes. As he sits back down he takes a sip. "Blah… really sweet now. I give up." He sets the mug down and pushes it away. "Oh well…"

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License