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Post by hrsegrl on Oct 20, 2009 10:51:19 GMT -5
Just five more feet. The woman sighed as she carried the firewood in her arms toward the stack that was kept at the Night Hearth. Piling a couple pieces on the crackling fire she got up and looked around the room. Not many people in here tonight. Thank goodness, that meant less work for her. She then took a look at her own brown dress and shook her head. Why did she always have to look a mess?
Havalie tried to swipe off some of the bark that as left clinging to her dress but unfortunately the fabric seemed to be attached to the bark. Oh dear. She decided it was not worth it, shrugged her shoulders and went on to refill the klah. She could use a mugful herself. In fact she might just take a little break. Peaking her head into the kitchen she said to the two other drudges, "I'm going to take a little break. It is pretty quiet tonight. Oh and we need to brew some more klah. This one's half empty." She walked back over to the klah and poured a mug.
There was an empty seating area on the left so she walked over. It was a darker area of the night hearth. Hopefully that meant no one would bother her. She sat down in one of the comofortable chairs and folded her legs underneath her. The mug of klah was in both of her hands as it was brought slowly to her lips. First she blew on it then took a small sip. This was one of the longest days she had worked ever. How anyone could be up so early and go to bed so late and still function the next day she would never know. Tomorrow would be a challenge.
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Post by LyricalBlue on Oct 20, 2009 20:52:12 GMT -5
It was a typically distracted Weyrsecond that wandered into the Hall that night. The talk he had with N'sian had been thoroughly... well distracting. The Weyr's human population was too long, while dragons never seemed to suffer from inbreed, it appeared that the Weyr was at risk for it.
They needed new blood and needed it fast. Which meant, that E'dian had to put riders in danger. He had to send them on Search, out to the holds for the first time in anyone's living memory.He ran a hand through his hair and sighed with frustration.
Flopping down in one of the large chairs placed in front of the hearth, the Weyrsecond did not even notice Havalie near by. In fact, E'dian was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice anything around him.
N'sian had been right, they needed new blood and they needed it fast. They were also going to need Candidates for when Aliath rose and clutched. That was not long off, the Weyrsecond was certain.
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Post by hrsegrl on Oct 24, 2009 11:11:01 GMT -5
Havalie was not as distracted as she wished she were when the rider came and sat nearby. She was hoping that she could take a break without having to serve anyone. Of course, as a member of the Weyr she should not complain about serving riders. Havalie rarely complained about anything. Today though, she was tired.
Watching him get comfortable she wondered if he had even noticed she was there. It did not seem so. The blonde woman smiled to herself. Then she would not have to do anything at the moment. Oh dear but he seemed distressed about something. She had not taken the time to see who he was. Nor was she about to. Instead she stood gracefully and walked to get another mug of klah, but not for herself when she came towards the rider with it, she tried to smile. He did seem very concerned over something.
"Excuse me. I thought you might like a mug of klah. Is something bothering you?" Havalie was not trying to be nosy. She genuinely cared about other people and while she did not normally like approaching people first she felt he was having a bad day and needed someone to take notice of him rather than the other way around. Her day could be nothing compared to the stresses of a dragonrider.
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Post by LyricalBlue on Oct 24, 2009 23:17:37 GMT -5
The Weyrsecond looked up with mild surprise on his face, he had indeed, not noticed Havalie in the vicinity. He took the cup with a nod of gratitude and took a long sip before replying. He knew her face, but then it was hard not to know anyone in the Weyr, small as it was. Couldn't quite place her name though, he was always terrible with names. When he was younger his siblings would often tease him for remembering a dragon's name and not the rider's.
"Ah, thank you. I needed that." He lowered the mug and studied the young woman. She was certainly old enough to stand for Impression and although girl's did not seem to stick much with the hatchlings, with Aliath's first flight coming up, he really should check how many children the Weyr could supply. The hatchlings must have enough choice to find the right person.
"Bothering? Oh, just work." Under normal circumstances, E'dian was a tight lipped man, but he was certainly not going to go spilling his worries all over a young drudge by the look of her.
"And what are you... ah... doing up this time of night?"
If she was a Candidate she should have been in bed hours ago, he made a mental note to ask A'rik what kind of schedule he had the kids on.
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Post by hrsegrl on Oct 25, 2009 10:47:01 GMT -5
Havalie smiled back at him when he took the mug gratefully. She heard the usual brush off of just work and instead of calling him out on it, she nodded. Young she may be but she understood people well enough to know that he would prefer not to divulge. Despite being slightly suprised at his question she managed to keep her smiling demeanor.
"I've got night hearth duty tonight for just a candlmark more or so." That was only meant to be informative. She was not one to flirt with dragonriders. "When I heard they needed someone to cover for a sick girl tonight, I volunteered. Its not my usual to be up so late. Not when I have Candidate chores early in the morning." Havalie knew she sounded like a goody goody.
She was not sure that it was a good thing. People tended to respect you less when they thought you were too nice. Often she thought it was the way of things but her heart knew differently. Havalie believed that even drudges should be shown respect. They worked hard so that dragonriders may train and protect Pern. Everyone should treat people how they wished to be treated themselves. Unfortunately she had met very few people who agreed with her.
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Post by LyricalBlue on Oct 26, 2009 19:01:51 GMT -5
Ah, aha, so she was a Candidate after all. E'dian had guessed correctly and he was rather proud of that fact, when it came to people he had never been very good at figuring them out. Too many variables that did not always coordinate correctly. He finished the klah in the mug with another long gulp and nodded to her. Yes, if one could not pull the weight the others in the team had to. But sick? That was not usual in the Weyr, even now.
"Thank you for the klah, that was sorely needed. N'sian had me talking till I was hoarse." That of course for E'dian meant a normal conversation for most people. The rather eccentric man was much better with his actions then his words. Words were so.... uninformative. If there was one thing he knew about people is that a good half of what they said was false or hardly applicable to the point they were making.
He surrendered the now empty mug back to Havalie's hands with another sigh. Sick drudges, well that was never a good sign. But then it was likely nothing, it was not like they suffered from overcrowding. Food was not exactly plentiful, but they were far from starving either. The Weyrsecond dismissed that worry in favor of larger ones. Sending riders out to the Holds indeed, how could he risk them when there were so few. But then, how could he not?
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Post by hrsegrl on Oct 27, 2009 7:11:36 GMT -5
She felt a bit akward standing there. Shifting her weight, Havalie watched him gulp down the rest of the klah. He still seemed unsettled to her but she did not know him, perhaps he always looked this way.
The blonde took the mug from him and nodded. "Meetings can get long winded. The Headwoman is probably the best for speaking at long lengths about something that is very simple." She was not so chatty with people she did not know. At home her mouth could run all day.
"If only your dragon could go to the meeting for you. Then your throat wouldn't hurt from talking." Although the prospect of the idea was amusing, she did know that dragons did not retain information like people did. He might miss something that his rider might feel was important.
She saw his face go thoughtful again and turned away. The mug needed to be put in its place. Besides she doubted someone who had to talk a lot already really wanted to talk now.
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Post by LyricalBlue on Oct 27, 2009 13:05:47 GMT -5
Slowly a smirk crept across his face at the thought of Xialanth attending a meeting. Were the dragons in charge the only thing that would get done would be demolishing the herd with their appetites and ogling Aliath. It was a rather good thing the gold liked attention, because she was as sure as rain going to get it.
"Something tells me that if Xi were to run a meeting all that would get done would be naps" As she turned to walk away a small smirk found itself creeping back along the Weyrsecond's mouth. The thought of a meeting run by dragons really was an entertaining thought.
His mind shifted gears again as he went over the roster of dragons in his head, which had Search capabilities and could be trusted with such an assignment. E'dian toyed with the idea of sending pairs, it could be safer but it was also just as likely to increase the risk of discovery. One strange man would be easier overlooked than two.
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