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Avoiding actually stepping out onto the sands, you head to the right,
up into the galleries.
Galleries (#5000)
Row upon row of stone benching rises above the Hatching Grounds, seats
for those who come to watch the incredible experience that is a hatching.
Each individual seat is embellished with a worn cushion, the only concession
to comfort in a place that traps heat, holding it within so that those
who watch are inflicted with its intensity, though on a milder level than
those who must stand and face the dragonets. The expanse of sand that is
the hatching grounds spreads out in front of the benches, a huge stage
for a spectacular show.
Type 'help here' for info on how to view objects on the sands.
Settled along stone are Iwatabem, Kynance, and Ploofy.
Nuff, D'renn, and R'sli are here.
Obvious exits:
Dragon Ledges Bowl
"Ahah!", says Nuff again pointing at Lylia this time. "That one's unharmed?"
"Run, Lylia!" the greenrider calls merrily. "Run as if your life depended on it!" He chuckles, and sits back, watching.
"'Miooonnnnn.... 'Miiiooooonnn.... Stupid ferret." A grumbling example of a Lylia makes her way up the stairs, sharp emerald gaze trained on the ground. "I know you're here /somewhere/, stupid little furry--oh." Wincing slightly, the rider gives her best attempt at a grin. "H... Hello. Erm." Oh, this hasn't been encouraging. Run? Oh dear.
"/She/'ll do." D'renn gives Lylia one of his beaming grins, blue eyes alight with amusement. "Lylia! Come here a moment?"
"What is it I'm doing?" Lylia's not gonna do any favors, nope. Biting her lower lip, still quite suspicious, she slinks forward slightly. Her green gaze takes on a pleading look. "What's going on?" Badbadbad situation. And all she wanted was her ferret.
"Well", says Nuff sitting up a bit straighter on her paisley-cushion, if you do just make her an'Ass, and not worry about leaving the other knot..." Nuff chuckles again, "Not that yous need my permissions or naught anyways. Hi Lylia." Nuff says Hi Lylia as if nothing in the world were going on.
R'sli waves a hand nonchalantly, and scrutinizes his trouser leg carefully. "Should have run when I told you to," he says in a sotto voice, and leans back to gaze at the bluerider. "Well? Watchwher take your tongue?" He grins, and winks at the Weyrlingmaster.
"Lylia!" D'renn stands up with a grin, beckoning for the young brownrider to sit down. "I know it's been a while since I took your wingsecond's knot away and left a Wingrider's.... What's your opinion on changing it again?"
"H... Hi Nuff." Lylia attempts a grin, she really does. Nuff makes a day more purple, after all. But R'sli just gets a nervous stare.... She should have /run/? Carefully, Lylia takes a seat, still watching D'renn carefully. But the idea of a shiny thing makes her eyes brighten. "Ooh... Wait. Depends... Changing it to what?" The important part.
R'sli *sorries, but has run out of time. Thanks for the limited
RP... :)
R'sli goes home.
She was broad and fat and loose in the stays, but Nuff manages to look somewhat the weyrwoman even in purple. "Right. Knots are good."
"How about a knot like R'sli's?" D'renn offers hesitantly. "Course that would mean /I/ was your boss, but... a small price to pay."
Nuff's little snub nose gets all wrinkled up. "Well, ew, in that case."
R'sli gets a quick glance from Lylia... One like /that/? Hrm. Shiny, though. "Assistant Weyrlingmaster? Meaning I'd be stuck under /your/ direction once more?" The horror, the horror. But Lylia's grin curves upwards slightly. "Shards, might as well. It might be fun." A weird idea of fun, though.
"Alright then." D'renn answers, glancing at Nuff with brows raised. "I'll find you a knot later...." And that seems to be it. Hopefully Lylia will never find out /why/ she's become an AWLM....
Nuff won't tell, she won't she wont she -- "Hey Lylia, nothing like getting promoted on virtue of being the next one to come up the stairs, eh? I mean, what if it'd been Catia? Or worse yet, Ophelia? Can you imagine it?" Oops. Nuff did. "Watcha wanna go and be a Weyrlingmaster for anyways? You'll smell like dragondoo. D'renn does."
"Okay..." Lylia nods slightly, unsure as her glance darts around. What brought this on? Hrm. "/What/?" D'renn gets a Lylia-glare, yay. Her expression darkens slightly, almost puzzled. "What's this going on, D'renn?" Puzzle. But Nuff just receives a slight pout. "I get a knot. And I won't smell that bad... The weyrlings always smell worse."
Yikes. Ophelia would've been technically eligible... "What did you have to go and tell Lylia that for, Nuff!" D'renn protests, anger and sheer sheepishness at war on his face. "I think you'll make a good assistant 'lingmaster, Lylia...."
Lylia sulks. "Right. 'Cause I can come up the stairs at the right time." Sniffling slightly, she stares morosely out at the sands. Mean ol' boss.
Nuff just grins fiendishly. "He is, Lylia. He is indeed." She'll make trouble for D'renn anytime, given half a chance. "Still, 'e's right you know. You would make a good Weyrlingmaster. Not like some of us, nope. Druseth too, eh?"
"We need another one, and you'll be fine," D'renn seeks to reassure Lylia... turning to give Nuff a huffy glare. "And I do /not/ smell of dragon-doo."
"Yes you doo doo doo", humms Nuff happily. She always smells like cookies.
"Do /not/!" D'renn's not amused.
"Me and Drusth can make good weyrlingmasters." Sniffle, pout. Lylia knows she can, nyah. "I know I will be. And it gives me an extra excuse to annoy you." Mwahaha. But there's a moment of pity. "He doesn't smell like dragon doo... Well, only slightly." Grin.
Druseth> Tiareth stretches herself out towards Druseth, reassuring him that he does not, in fact, smell like dragondoo.
"Not at /all/. I'm sure I would've been told before now if I did," D'renn exclaims, cautiously not mentioning exactly who might've told him.
Nuff nodnods. "Of course you will, of course. That's how D'renn got his knot too, afterall. Or did you bed the old Weyrlingmaster for it D'renn?"
Druseth> Druseth remains a curled up lump of shadowy hide, peering sleepily at Tiareth. A tired rumble of thanks, and he returns to peering at the queen. He'd hope he didn't.
Lylia would really choke, but she's gotten too used to it. "Erm... Perhaps." Snicker. "And erm, of course D'renn. I'm /sure/ someone would tell you." Uh-huh. Right.
D'renn nearly chokes, himself. "I never did anything improper to Salea.... she /gave/ me this knot," he defends again, looking grumpier and grumpier by the moment.
"Of course you didn't." Lylia can hide her evil grin, she really can. But for now she's busy fumbling with her knot. Better get that ribbon out of there for her new shinier one.
"Mmmmhmmmm", says Nuff drawing it all out. "That's not what I heard. Still, Salea had some sense. And I'd have to admit you doo too, D'renn, you doo. (Even if you smell like dragon doo). Ergo Lylia has to have common sense too." Noone ever said a Nuff had to be logical.
D'renn scowls at the empty Sands. "If you're lucky, Lylia, I might be able to find you /my/ AWLM knot. It was a bit of a mess, but..." What an offer, eh? D'renn calmly ignores Nuff's doo-ings.
"Supposedly." Lylia knows that most might disagree on that account. "What'd you do it it to mess it up?" She might not want to know, though her own gaze edges towards the sands. Thankfully empty. "At least I get a little break before this new job."
"Enya's gold 'lizard stole it, a long time ago. And chewed it a bit and so on... We had to fight for it." Yes, D'renn had to fight for his knot with a firelizard.
Lylia giggles slightly, shaking her head. "And tell me, did you lose the fight with this ferocious 'lizard?" Not that she hasn't be beaten up by mean old firelizards.
"Uhuh", says Nuff further taking advantage of the situation, "D'renn here said you would organize some of the current weyrlings and old candidates into a workcrew, and get the sands raked tomorrow. Hasta be tomorrow, cuz Tiareth wants to start digging trenches tomorrow. And what Tiareth-the-pregnant-barn wants, Tiareth-the-pregnant-barn /gets/."
"I won," D'renn replies... then smirks at Nuff. "Oh, that's a good idea... I'm sure Lylia could organise the weyrlings we already have. And maybe the dragonets would help too...."
"Good." Can't have a weak new boss, after all. Lylia's eyes widen slightly, hair hanging in them. "Erm.... I guess I could..." Eep. Responsibility. Scary.
Nuff barrels forwards, "And then the galleries need to be all swept outs, and D'renn wants new cushions for his berried bottom, and we should put some new weyr-banners up, mebbie. I'll talk to the Weavers about getting some materials. And we needs make sure the candidates barracks are all spiffed up. And and and.."
"Shouldn't this be the Headwoman's work?" D'renn points out. "I don't want Lylia over-worked before she's even found out what the job's all about, you know...."
"Erm, are you sure you aren't drafting more assistants than me?" Not that /she/ ever say the assistant weyrlingmasters doing all this hard stuff when she was a weyrling, nope. Lylia swallows slightly, peering at Nuff with a little whimper. "'Cause not all that sounds like my job, I think the Headwoman's spoken about some of that... And can't the candidates sweep the galleries, when we have some? They're good at that." Eep. Eep eep eep.
Nuff waves D'renn's comment away. "My weyr could use a washing down too, smells like G'vin and that dragon of his, and... oh, well, if you just get the sands all nice and raked, Lylia, that would be great. But when the candidates sweep the galleries later, see, they make a lot of dust. And Tiareth doesn't like dust."
D'renn screws up his face. "But the Galleries need to be swept before the clutching, Lylia.... and hence before we have Candidates. But your weyr can wait, Nuff. /I'm/ not going in there."
"Oh. Well, I can do that. I'm efficient at sweeping." Lost too many chore bets in her day. But Lylia's still looking slightly bug-eyed. "Wash down your weyr? Oh... Erm, yeah, I can get that done after." Or she and Druseth can run for the hills.
"No, Lylia. You're an assistant weyrlingmaster now - the only person you take orders from is /me/. Oh, and your wingleader." But that's an afterthought for D'renn... he's using his glowering caterpillar-browed frown on Nuff. "So no you can't get her to do all that, Nuff."
Nuff likes this Lylia the pushover, till D'renn goes and ruins it. "Aw, c'mon D'renn. She coulda been Assistant to Nuff, my own little pet weyrlingmaster."
Lylia is confused. Poor thing. "Oh. Okay then, D'renn..." Puzzle, puzzle, and her brows raise as she gives a little sigh. Maybe she'll be more awake tomorrow. A Nuff assistant... There's a scary lifestyle. "I'm sure you could draft someone more competant to be your assistant, Nuff." Someone less frightened.
"Oh yeah, yeah, had Conlan for awhile, that little scribe boy? But he grew up and became C'lan, and now Nuffs don't eve rsee'm at all. Not fair, not fair at all." She eyes D'renn in a speculative sort of way, but then shrugs it off. "Hrm.... don't got a little sister or brother or something that's kompeetent?"
D'renn shakes his head, running one hand back through that head of curls. "All my brothers and sisters are grown up and wed and have children..." D'renn replies, adding thoughtfully, "I do have a nephew..."
Nuff hrms again. "Does he smell like dragon doo? And what about you, Lylia?"
D'renn shakes his head again. "Worse - he smells of fish," says the bluerider of his nephew, before looking hopefully at Lylia.
"Afraid not, my siblings are all older. And my nieces and nephews are either apprenticed or fostered, Faranth knows where." Lylia gives a slight shrug, tugging at her sleeve. But the slightly malicious smirk returns. "Pity Lis is pregnant, if not I'm sure she would have /loved/ to help." Mean old Lis, also known as... "But I'm sure there's people around that would be thrilled. Really." Eep.
A rather foolish expression finds itself onto D'renn's face at the mention of pregnant Lis, although he says nothing.
Nuff looks at D'renn, pointedly she looks at D'renn, with points, the points of her nose, the look in that purple-eyes, then all her fingers at once. "You did that, didn't you?"
"Did what?" D'renn snaps out of his dreamy reverie.
Nuff says, "Lis."
D'renn beams. "That was me." That was him. Faranth help the Weyr.
"Meaning torture for the rest of us." Lylia just mumbles. Quietly. Uh-huh.
D'renn aims a cuff at Lylia's shoulder. "/You're/ not the pregnant one, what's your problem?" he demands of her.
"A pregnant Lis is a scary Lis... Not to mention her inability to do all her normal activities means she's got more time to find ways to irritate me." Lylia's not gonna even start on Lis's latest methods. "And she's probably not gonna let me buy the kid a ferret." Pout. Gotta let 'em love the creatures early, after all.
"I should hope not!" D'renn responds loudly, an outburst that doesn't completely ring with sincerity. "I don't want a ferret anywhere near any child of mine..."
"And why not?" Growling slightly, Lylia stares at her new boss. Another ferret hater, just what the Weyr needs.
"Because." D'renn doesn't need a reason, does he? "And anyhow, if Lis doesn't want a ferret around, then neither do I." Bless him.
Nuff is looking more and more upwards to where a sungold head keeps peering over from the ledges above. "I'm suprised you still fit up there, Lump", she finally says into the conversation as if for no particular reason. Then, directly to the others: "Speaking of things that are scary and pregnant, if you Weyrlingmasters will please excuse me...?" Too bad if they won't.
Nuff edges along a narrow ledge and disappears up some steep steps.
D'renn hmmphs after Nuff. "Lis might be pregnant, but she's not scary...." /Sure/. Who's he trying to fool?
"Mhm. Sure. Yeah." But Lylia loses the sharp tone, once more her bubbly self. She's got a shiny knot, after all. Or will. "I'll convince her eventually." Perhaps. Maybe. When the kid's twenty. But ducking her head, the new assistant stumbles to her feet. "Druseth needs to eat, though... 'Specially since we've got more to do now." Sigh. "And she can be." Yep.
Lylia *has to go too. Rawr.
***End Log***
One little touch here... Here was the official message on *hrwn that
I was promoted. *beam* I'm sentimental.
Message 3 of 3 on *High Reaches News (#7862):
Date: Sat Apr 29 19:03:28 2000 CDT
From: D'renn (#12016)
To: *High Reaches News (#7862)
Subject: New AWLM
Thanks to a discussion 'tween D'renn and Nuff, a decision was made that
the next eligible person to
turn up in the galleries would become D'renn's new assistant.
First to arrive was R'sli - he's already an AWLM, so he was no use.
But next came Lylia, who D'renn decided was more than eligible... and
promptly promoted!
So congratulate HRW's newest Assistant Weyrlingmaster - the first to
be made so by just walking up the
stairs!
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