[Log] It /Is/ Soft!
Who: Andikola, Jenna, Nicomerik, Reighley, Tirien, Vendelin
When: Day 16, Month 7, Turn 8
Where: Candidate Barracks, Fort Weyr; Hatching Sands, Fort Weyr
What: Jenna takes the candidates out on the sands for an egg touching.
Candidates Barracks
This large low-ceilinged cavern provides temporary housing for the Weyr's Candidates. Various tapestries hang from the walls, lending an air of color and cheefulness to the dark grey walls. Neat rows of cots fill the back of the cavern, a small press at the foot of each. Numerous shelves dot the walls of the cavern. Littered with various containers and odd items, they seem to lend themselves more to firelizard perches than anything else. A few tables with chairs have been placed towards the front of the cavern, providing a place to visit or do handicrafts.
Obvious exits:
Inner Cavern
Vendelin musters a short laugh for Tirien's comment, and nods, watching the girl's cleaning of the cot with mirthful suspicion until she's stepped further from his belongings. "I'd've thought it happens more often is all. I suppose the interval means fewer clutches, though." The next press contains several rocks, and he nods. "Even so. Rocks."
Jenna comes in, catching Vendelin's words. "Fewer clutches, yes - and what about rocks?" A glance around and she murmurs, "Shards, it's echo-ey in here. So, candidates, I know most of you," a nod to Tirien, Nico and Reighley, and she asks pleasantly to the others, "Introduce yourselves?"
Andikola straightens up from the empty cot she's stuck her head under. "Any FLR's in them?" she asks as she rises back to her feet and moves on to the next cot, also an empty one. Hearing Jenna, she spins around, which tends to send the dust that's accumulated on her clothes flying. "I'm Andi Ma'am." she offers, then sneezes at the dust she's stirred up again.
Having been dusting quietly, making as much mess as anything else, Reighley glances around at the sound of Jenna's voice, dropping her rag in favor of heading over to the Weyrwoman. "Hi, Jenna," is her quick greeting, accompanied by a bright smile.
"Fort hasn't had a gold rise in a while," Nico says as he heads towards one of the cot frames still in need of scrubbing. "Least, not since I've been here," he pauses briefly, "Well, not til this one." He doesn't at first recognize Jenna's voice, but as he walks around to the opposite end of the cot he's at, realization dawns on him. He looks (at least for a moment) startled. "Weyrwoman," he says politely.
Vendelin tosses the rocks onto a spare cot with the others, giving an absent toss of three of them in a loop in the air before sending each off and away. Jenna's presence causes him to drop one, by the thunk of it on his foot. "There are some. Rocks. In some of the presses. Ah. Vendelin. Is my name. Weyrwoman." He quickly echoes, casting a startled glance at Reighley for use of the woman's familiar name.
Tirien is leaning over to inspect the rocks when Jenna comes in. He quickly puts his box back into his press and turns around to give the Weyrwoman his full attention.
Jenna nods. "Andi and Vendelin. Right. You'll likely have to keep reminding me. I'm as bad as Niyath with names." She doesn't seem at all offended by being referred to as 'Jenna', for those keeping track of such things. "And what are rocks doing in here?" Momentarily sidetracked, she moves to get a look herself. "True, we haven't had a gold flight since Faldaverth's last, and those weyrlings have been in the wings a while now..."
Nicomerik glances over at Vendelin, watching the path of each rock the other man tosses. He purses his lips, expression bordering between blank and contemplative, before saying, "Rocks don't seem a practical thing to have in a press." He considers Tirien and Jenna and the pile of rocks on the cot before bending to the work at hand - scrubbing at the cot frame in front of him.
Andikola pipes up. "If you like FLR's it's natural that they're here. What surprises me is that those who left them - left them." and she shrugs as she walks back over to the pile of cleaning supplies, grabbing a clean rag to wipe her hands and face on.
Tirien eyes the rocks out of the corner of his eye. "I'll take care of them," he volunteers.
"Congratulations on this clutch, m'am," Vendelin says softly, raising his volume to encourage, "And my name hasn't changed, so if you lose it, I'm sure I can find it again." Regarding the rocks, he merely looks lost. "We're cleaning?" is a vague enough answer as he scoots away from the cots now holding them. "I didn't put them there. Only found them there."
"Tirien collects rocks," Reighley volunteers helpfully. "He has lots of pretty ones from Igen. What do these rocks look like? I haven't seen them." And, with typical curiousity, she steps over to peer at said rocks, brows arching.
Tirien's face colors as Reighley reveals his quirky little habit. He scuffs the floor with his sandalled foot, looking everywhere but at Jenna.
Jenna shakes her head, dismissing the rocks. "Likely a prank left over from the last clutch. And what," she turns to Andi, "Is a flrr? - No, nevermind. I don't want to know." She pushes her hair back. "Everyone make sure you have some boots on, we're going to take a trip onto the sands to see the eggs. They're not hard enough to do much touching, but you won't hurt them from a casual brush. And the sooner you get used to the grounds, the better."
Andikola's eyes widen as she listens. Her head tilts to one side and decides to offer Jenna an explanation anyway. "F-L-R." she answers softly. "Funny Looking Rock. I've got a couple back home." and she shrugs. She finishes wiping her hands off and actually glances down to make sure she's wearing her boots and not the slippers. "Yup."
Vendelin aims to distance himself from the cots containing the rocks and the other items he'd found while cleaning presses by scooting along the wall, until the next instructions come. He checks the ties on his boots, determines he's set, and tosses his hair back almost nervously, though he attempts an ultra-casual, I'm-not-worried stance before following where directed.
Nicomerik's head snaps up at Tirien's comment about taking care of the rocks, but he nods slowly at Reighley's words. Makes sense, after all. He looks back down at the cot frame and begins scrubbing. When Jenna speaks, he glances up. He takes her words as orders rather than suggestions, striding back to his own cot to his press. He lifts the towel from the top, sticks it inside and withdraws a pair of boots. Absently, the rag is set atop the press. Nico steps out of his sandals and into his boots. And, voila, he's ready to go.
Tirien bounces on his toes slightly, then decides he's better off not being so macho and sits down to pull on his boots. He makes a face as he wiggles his toes in the leather. "All set."
Running over to her press at Jenna's words, Reighley delves around until she finds her heavier boots, sticking her feet in them and making a haphazard attempt to lace them. It does little good, but she hops up again quickly, plainly excited. She doesn't notice Tirien's embarrassment at all, unfortunately for him.
Hatching Ground Sands
The sands here are heated by the volcano that birthed the Fort Weyr Bowl itself... still hot enough to burn through anything less than a sturdy pair of wherhide boots. It is here that the golden queens of Fort Weyr come to lay their eggs, and brood over them while they mature and harden.
Along the southern wall are the galleries for spectators, and broad steps lead up into them. The lower entrance is to the west and above it, you notice a larger entrance for the dragons. Ledges ring the upper levels of the cavern, providing perches for the hundreds of dragons of the Weyr.
Contents:
Andikola
Vendelin
Nicomerik
Jenna
Niyath
Obvious exits:
Gallery Bowl
Niyath eyes the candidates as they come into her grounds, one wing still furled over the small mound of eggs. Jenna walks backwards, lecturing as she goes. "Now, we haven't had a death here at Fort during a hatching in ages, primarily because we bring you candidates on the sands so you can get used to it without the noise and all the chaos. For those folks who haven't seen a hatching before, the eggs pretty much all hatch at once. Total chaos during a pass, with numbers into the thirties and fourties."
Tirien licks his lips, looking up at the galleries and the ledges surrounding the sands. "Numbers have started to go down," he murmurs, stepping gingerly over the sands. He gives a small bow toward Niyath, cautious even at this distance from the queen.
Andikola tries to walk cautiously on the sands but all that does is scuff up hot sand over her boots. With a sheepish smile she wiggles each booted foot to get the sand off it and walks more normally. She gives Tirien a startled look, but follows his example, bowing to the gold dragon.
Niyath's tail flicks irritably at Tirien's words. She stretches out her neck to blow sand at the candidates in an irritated huff. Without looking around, Jenna says sharply, "Niyath!" Much as one would call down a misbehaving child. "I apologize, she's not usually a broody queen. Clutch sizes are indeed going down. She clutched more than this her maiden flight, even when her rider," she clears her throat, "let her gorge. Anyway," she continues hastily, "When dragons break shell, they have two things on their minds: finding their rider and eating. Interfere with either at your peril. The Weyrleader will likely have a more interesting story to share with you all and I won't steal his thunder. Take a good look around. And remember that the galleries will likely be packed with people."
Vendelin's long strides bring him easily along with the rest of the group, even through unfamiliar territory. The Weyrwoman's words gradually sink in, and his ultra-casual walk experiences a momentary stumble. "Thirties and forties," he repeats, then copies what some of the others are doing by offering a bow to Niyath. Then, he's all detached stares at the galleries.
Nicomerik, his hands in his pockets, follows the other candidates onto the sands. Ignorant of sands etiquette, he does not bow and also does not follow Tirien's example. Almost as expressionless as ever, he is, however, wide-eyed and drinking in the information Jenna offers. He glances from Jenna to Niyath and back again. His hands slip out of his pockets and clasp behind his back. Niyath's antics get her a good, long look.
Reighley's eyes are wide as she peers all around the huge cavern, awed--nevermind she saw it from the galleries just the other day. Then, Niyath garners her attention as Jenna begins to speak, the girl fixing the gold and her eggs with a curious look, standing on her tiptoes to see over the shoulder of the older boy in front of her. The move almost works, until her shoelaces, come completely untied during their walk, make her trip, stumbling up against the boy with an, 'oops, sorry.'
Tirien winces, taking a step back as his words seem to carry unexpectedly. "My apologies," he murmurs. "I meant no disrespect." He peers up at the galleries again, one eye on the dragon before him. "The sound is downright deafening, what with all the people and dragons who come to watch. It can be really...chaotic."
Niyath finally furls her wing, revealing the eggs. "Now, the eggs are still soft. Leathery. When it gets closer to hatching day, they'll turn more like wherry - or if you've ever seen them - chicken eggs."
Andikola listens to Jenna and turns around, eyes widening as she sees the grounds from a completely different perspective. "Woah." She takes a quick step back as the full size registers, trips and lands on her backside in the sand. Her eyes haven't left the galleries and ledges as her head slowly turns on her neck to try to take it all in at once.
Tirien swallows. "They're a lot bigger up close like this."
Vendelin blinks against the sand that Niyath's cast about, and sidesteps Reighley so he's not bumped, too. When the eggs are revealed, he's looking around at the other candidates, one hand in his pocket, weight casually shifted to one hip. Don't mind that subtle tremble in his other hand, or that nervous twitch tugging at one eye.
Jenna calls, "You okay, Andi? Someone give her a hand up." She then continues on, "Go ahead and have a feel of them - Niyath's not going to budge up, but don't tread on her tail and you should be fine. Just use a light touch. And you lot are responsible enough for me not to have to remind you not to punch them or anything."
"I can't imagine that many eggs," marvels Reighley as she stares at Niyath's revealed eggs from her safe distance. "What's the biggest clutch ever? Are the eggs smaller so more of them fit in her, or does she just get /really/ fat instead of sort of fat? Sorry, Niyath," she adds to the gold, with a big smile intended to take any insult out of her words. "It's a good fat, right? Because it means eggs, and dragons, and... stuff."
Tirien extends a hand toward Andi in an almost absent fashion, still eyeing the eggs.
Nicomerik's gaze trails over the eggs as Niyath reveals them. He seems to drink in their appearance as much as he drinks in Jenna's words of wisdom, and he nods at Tirien's statement, "Mmhmm." At the Weyrwoman's mention of one of his fellow candidates, he glances around and spots Andikola. He nods absently at Tirien's actions and crosses his arms over his chest. His attention returns to Jenna - and while his eyes widen at the prospect of touching the eggs, he doesn't budge an inch.
Jenna admits, "This time, you could barely see the egg bulges. Her largest clutch was thirty five, I believe. Definitely not the largest clutch on record. And she had all these lumps whenever she wasn't airborne." Niyath just gives her rider a withering look. "I was always worried she was going to burst." The last said in a fond, amused tone as she moves around to Niyath's head, rubbing eyeridges in an automatic movement.
Andikola says "Oh! Yes Ma'am, I'm fine." she says, just as absently grabbing Tirien's hand and letting him pull her up. Her free hand brushing the seat of her pants off and the other hand releases Tirien's immediately to finish getting the rest of the sand off her trous. She finishes turning a slow circle until she's facing the eggs and Niyath again."
Tirien leans in closer to Andi to offer a bit of advice, "The sands get a lot hotter, the closer it gets to the hatching. You might want to be careful or you could end up burning your backside." He leans away, folding his hands behind his back and waiting for the signal from Jenna to proceed.
Vendelin notices, when Jenna mentions it, that someone's fallen, and that someone had helped her up and she seems all right, so he stays where he is despite the invite to approach the eggs. He opens his mouth to speak, but finds it has gone dry. Closing it, he smiles as hints of Tirien's advice drift to his ears.
Jenna waves them on in, as Niyath's inner eyelids start to droop closed. "Come on, come on. You can't hurt them, short of falling on them. So just watch where you put your feet. They're like leather. Hot, tough, though you may feel movement under your hands if there's a soft spot."
Tirien takes the initiative and steps forward, minding his feet carefully as Jenna mentions 'falling'. He seems to have no desire to be swallowed by an irate gold dragon this day. He puts out his hand tenatively, seeking the soft surface of the nearest egg.
Reighley giggles at Jenna's admission, nodding quickly. "That'd be kind of funny, she explodes and eggs go everywhere. Except, I think it'd be messy and Niyath might not like it very much, after all," she decides after a moment. Despite obvious curiousity, though, she still lingers at the back of the group when the others start moving to touch the eggs.
Niyath shows no sign of wanting to immediately gulp down any candidates, instead lulled by her rider's attention to her eyeridges.
A nod comes from Vendelin at the description of eggs being like leather, and he sets his jaw determinedly, taking several slippery steps across the hot sands with his best imitation of detachment. He can handle this, no problem. And Reighley's worst-case-scenerio's help by making him smile, amused. Before he gets close enough to touch any eggs, he pauses, interested by the lulling process. "Does she shift moods quickly?" he softly asks of the goldrider.
Andikola rolls her eyes at Tirien. "Yeah. I do it on purpose." she mutters, only to pause to give Reighley an odd look at what she had just described. ew. Moving forward, closer to the eggs, she moves further to Tirien's left, reaching out to lightly rest a hand on the egg in front of her.
Tirien lightly runs his hand over the surface of his chosen egg, his eyes widening at the feel of the shell beneath his fingertips. "It's so...soft," he marvels, looking over at Jenna.
At Jenna's encouragement (and once someone else has stepped forward), Nicomerik sticks his hands back in his pockets and shuffles forward. He pauses briefly after passing Reighley, looking over his shoulder and motioning her forward. The tall man continues his shuffle towards the eggs, stopping just outside of the mound. He reaches out a tentative hand, fingers splayed out as he lightly rests his palm against the soft, leathery shell.
Jenna tilts her head, considering Vendelin's question. "Not usually. most dragons have a fairly mild temperament, save for when they're mating. Niyath usually doesn't brood too much over her eggs." She grins a bit. "I think Soldreth worries more over them than she does. Another sevenday or so and I'll wager she'll be leaving them to hunt. By hatching day she's usually stir crazy. Some queens have their riders move into the galleries with them. I haven't done that since her first clutch."
Reighley seems oblivious to the assorted disgusted looks coming her way, just edging a few steps closer when Nicomerik gestures for her. Warily, she falls in step with him, biting her lip as they approach an egg. She looks at it like it'll bite her, but she does stretch one small hand out carefully to brush its shell, quickly jerking it back. "It /is/ soft!" she exclaims, as though she hadn't really believed any other sources.
Tirien holds his face close to the egg, hunching down next to it. He seems to be trying to see inside past the shell. "I'd imagine that gets a bit hot, after awhile," referring to Jenna's statement.
Jenna nods to Tirien and adds, "Many golds won't let candidates around eggs that haven't fully hardened. Only because she's so mild tempered can we do this. She's really mellowed over the last few turns. This is also her fourth clutch, so /I'm/ not as tense about it either." A flash of a smile. "The sands aren't as hot now as they were the last time I was on them during the pass. As the red star moves away, the thermals heating the sands cool. During the middle of the interval, it'll take a bit longer for the eggs to harden."
Tirien purses his lips thoughtfully, still peering into the egg. "Guess I didn't think of that. How much longer, do you know?"
Vendelin listens to this description raptly, then again checks out the cavern area. "Doesn't sound pleasurable to take up residence in here, m'am. Lucky enough she's tranquil." After a glance at Niyath (this is tranquil? Allrightee then), he follows after the taller boy, nodding then to Tirien's comment about the heat as he inches a little closer, reaching out one hand casually sideways and letting it just brush an egg that seems awash with texture.
Nicomerik's attention is torn between the egg, Jenna and Reighley: the unattainable, the source of information and the comedic relief. In the end, he grants Reighley a gentle smile at her exclamation before focusing the majority of his attention on Jenna's answers. Absently, his fingers slide together and apart, together and apart on the shell.
Andikola's hands lift from the egg and she moves on, stepping around a candidate who seems to be too shy and hasn't spoken yet that she's aware of, she moves on a little to one of the more brightly colored eggs, gently resting her palm against that shell. Glancing back, she speaks quietly to Tieren. Just above a whisper. "See anything?"
Tirien shakes his head, standing up again and moving around to the other side of the egg. "Not enough light behind it," he replies to Andi.
Jenna leans against Niyath, who has now opened her eyes to watch the candidates invading her clutch with what could only be termed 'amused tolerance'. "Does anyone have any other questions? We'll be out here more and more as the eggs harden. With so few of you - relatively speaking - I can take more time to bring you out."
Reighley runs her hand lightly across that particular egg's shell, offering Nicomerik a bright grin before she steps aside, moving to brush hands on a second egg by herself. She's very careful with it, keeping her feet and those trailing laces studiously out of the way.
Tirien clears his throat a bit, glancing behind him at Niyath briefly. "Does she mind if we look at the eggs from the galleries?"
That one brush with the eggshell, warm and nubbled beneath his fingers, is enough for Vendelin for the moment. He backs up carefully, listening to the lesson though his forearm rakes across his forehead, coercing the heat to dissipate while he shifty-eyes glances toward the awake and attentive clutch mother.
Jenna ahs. "Not at all, Tirien. I'd advise you not to play ball up there or anything, but." She grins a bit.
Tirien smiles and shakes his head. "Uh, no, ma'am. That really wouldn't be a good idea, I think."
Shaking her head, Andi steps back from the eggs. "No questions right now. I'll probably wake up in the middle of the night with a hundred of them going through my head." she admits. "That's when they occur to me."
Jenna nods. "Well, write them down for in the morning, and I'll try to answer them."
Nicomerik's gaze is cast down and so he catches sight of Reighley's shoelaces. "Might want to tie those, Reighley," he tells her before he moves in the opposite direction. As he touches this second egg, he continues to listen for Jenna's factoids.
Oily blond hair shakes back and forth across Vendelin's shoulders in reply: no questions from him. "Thank you, both you and Niyath, for bringing us out," he softly murmurs, still looking from egg to egg, examining the bright colors from a few paces back.
"Oh. Right," Reighley says, glancing down at her feet with a puzzled expression. "I thought I already did. Weird." But, she does bend down beside that egg, meticulously tying first one, then the other, before popping back up. Ironically, it's then that she stumbles again, but at least she has the forethought not to lean her weight against the egg beside her. Still, with wide eyes and a quick, uncertain look to Niyath and then Jenna to see if they noticed, she edges back away from the eggs. "Yes, thank you," she echoes Vendelin to the goldrider, managing a smile.
Niyath turns a sharply whirling eye on Reighley, catching the stumble just as it happens. "Right." Jenna moves away from Niyath, "I think that's enough for now. We'll be back on the sands soon enough."
Tirien removes his hand immediately from the egg and steps back quickly. He stops and gives Niyath another small bow. "Thank you for letting us touch your eggs, Niyath." With a short hop, he's away from the clutch and closer to the safety of the exit.
Andikola doesn't bow but does speak "Thank you Niyath, thank you Weyrwoman." as she walks away from the clutch back to where they had first walked onto the sands.
Nico's eyebrows shoot up at Reighley's stumble, a marked but unsurprising deviation from his general impassivity. Jenna's words compel the former groundskeeper to look up, up at Niyath. He backs slowly away from the eggs and this time does bow. At some distance deemed safe, he turns and strides even farther away from the clutch and back towards the exit.
Vendelin is the first one at the edge of the sands, having had a head start. Once there, he busies himself shaking the grains from his boots and smoothing at the leather. His slow and deliberate breathing regulates, and he's back to being able to appear calm and collected, even smiling a hint of his crooked grin when he rises. "That's something else, isn't it?"
Reighley blushes, creeping further away from Niyath and the eggs without looking back at the gold. "Yes, ma'am," she agrees, making her way quickly to the exit with the others.
Tirien grins at Vendelin, nodding his head enthusiastically. "By far the neatest thing I've ever done," he agrees.
Jenna remains behind with Niyath, after making a vague shooing motion at the candidates to get them off the sands.