Log: Yronica Goes Harper
Courtyard, Harper Hall(#1111RIJ)
The courtyard is the heart of the Harper Hall quadrangle, a vast expanse of grey flagstone without a trace of greenery. Several shallow flights of stairs tiptoe their way upward to a variety of doors around the courtyard's perimeter. The towering cliff walls of the Fort Mountains surge upwards in sheer splendor, the drum heights precariously toed into a large outcropping, as if climbing the wall. Several broad windows pierce the solid rock face, giving an air of lightness and welcome. The bustle and sheer exuberance of the courtyard atmosphere threaten to take your breath away.
As you pause, getting your bearings, your eyes scan the yard. The massive doors of the Main Hall rest at the top of a small flight of stairs to the west. The staircase to the drum heights rises to the northwest. The apprentice dorms are located to the north, while the entrance to the instrument workshop is northeast. The broad expanse of the arch crouches to the east, with the Voice Master's rooms to the south. A small flight of stairs in the southwest corner darts down into the kitchen.
A rusty brown dragon breaks from Between and drops down to a landing position just outside the Hall. It only takes a few minutes for the passengers to alight, Giremi politely holds a hand up to assist Yronica down and then helps to unload her things as well, taking whatever bag she allows him to carry. "Here we are then," says the Journeyman quietly and smiles over at the young woman encouragingly. "See you in a few days, Vrys," he thanks the rider who brought them with a brief look upward at the brown's rider and a little wave, before he escorts Yronica through the archway into the courtyard proper. "Welcome to Harper Hall."
She only has two bags; of them Yronica lets Giremi have the larger, though there's no guarantee that it's the heavier. She shoulders the other and exchanges her own farewells with Jenivrys, then follows the journeyman's lead into the courtyard. "Welcome," she echoes Giremi, her grin bright, her eyes brilliant, a little darting. "You make it sound easy."
Emmi waits for the harper and soon-to-be apprentice in the courtyard, her attention caught by the appearance from the brown from between, her eyes guarded by a hand as she watches him descend and land. She makes her way through the courtyard towards the archway, catching sight of the arrivals just within the courtyard. "Welcome," she calls, once within earshot, unaware she's echoing the words of both. "Welcome back, Journeyman. And-- you must be Yronica?"
Giremi approaches the Masterharper with a polite smile and bows. "Good afternoon, Masterharper Emmi, indeed may I present to you my assistant Yronica, of Telgar Weyr, formerly Crom, daughter of Gyron, Journeyman Minecrafter." So formal is Remi. So very very formal. And proper to boot. "My thanks for the warm welcome; it's nice to be back."
It's that Giremi bows which cues Yronica, having followed him this far, to pinch skirts in her fingers and curtsey. "Yes, Masterharper." She rolls her lips between her teeth, for a moment wide-eyed and terrified, an expression that works badly on her full cheeks and other features made most for beaming smiles. In a moment though she's got a trace of a smile back, transforming fear into wonder; something about the Masterharper is unexpected, and after a moment gazing upon her Yronica checks a quick sidelong glance at her sponsor, then back. "Thank you for meeting us."
This is all a bit over-formal for Emmi, perhaps, but she merely nods at the explanation of Yronica's pedigree. "It's very good to meet you, Yronica. And from what I've heard of you from Giremi, we are lucky to have you joining our ranks as an Apprentice. I hope you're looking forward to it?" She doesn't smile, not really, but there's something of a smile in her eyes that is-- hopefully-- reassuring. One of her hands is clasped around something, but it remains at her side as she addresses the arrivals.
"I've brought all of the necessary Records," notes the Journeyman quietly and then stands back a little, Yronica's bag lowered at his feet, hands clasped loosely behind his back as he simply attends to the exchange between Master and soon-to-be apprentice. Giremi shoots Yronica another little reassuring smile and then looks down at his shoe tips, perhaps distressed at the accumulation of spring road dust on them from the short walk in from outside.
"And very good to meet you, ma'am. I - I am looking forward to it, yes. I was looking forward just to coming here and now that I'm here it seems a little surreal - " The fact that Yronica has overanswered the question a bit comes to her a little late and she clips the sentence there, substituting a grin that, if not reassuring at all, is at least as warm as that little bit of a smile in the Master's eyes. "I hope to live up to everything Giremi thinks of me." Satisfied with having constructed such a proper thing to say, she offers Giremi a sidelong, happy, not even very much flailing, look.
"Thank you," Emmi says to the journeyman, seeming indeed thankful that everything is in order. Turning back to Yronica, she remains silent as the young woman answers her question-- and keeps going-- saying simply, once she's finished, "I have confidence that you will." And then: "Surreal? I'm sure in a few days, it will all seem quite normal. But you're here now, and-- this is yours." In her hand is an apprentice knot, and this she extends to Yronica.
"I'd have to agree Yronica, once I came here, it soon became home." Giremi smiles warmly over at the young woman then blinks in surprise at the extension of the knot before his smile widens a little. "Congratulations, Yronica," he says quietly, pride in his voice though his words don't carry far.
Just like that. Yronica's eyes widen again and she forgets, evidently, that she meant to be smiling. Still, her hand slips free of the folds of her skirt and goes out to receive, with any luck, the knot to which her gaze is riveted. With effort she unrivets and looks up at Emmi, blinking once before finding some semblance of grace. "I'm - yes. I'm sure it will." A lie, but a happy one. "Thank you, Masterharper." A beat. "Giremi." More than thanks, for him, in the turn of her eyes upon him.
Emmi takes in the reaction to the knot, the corner of her mouth turning upwards in a smile. "Home,' I think, happens at different times for different people," she remarks, "But 'familiar,' at least, will happen soon enough, I'm sure." Glancing from new-Apprentice to Journeyman and back again, she continues, "It will take a bit of time to settle in, I know. And there might be some shuffling as we make sure you're in the appropriate classes. I've heard you already have some experience in some areas." And her glance returns to Giremi.
"May I?" Giremi inquires, voice still soft, shoulders hunched a little and he nods towards the knot now in Yronica's hand. His head swivels a little Emmi-wards to answer her glance and implied question. "Quite so, especially archives of course, Yronica has a very neat hand, good organizational skills and experience with book-binding. We've also worked on the basics for almost all of the main instruments, though I'll leave it in your capable hands to work further with her voice as I'm no vocalist myself." The Journeyman continues formal.
Yronica pries open fingers she hadn't realized were clutched so tightly around the knot's cords and offers it for Giremi's inspection or perusal on a flattened hand. Now it's her turn to keep quiet and observe, which she does closely, if obviously anxiously, as though she must strain a little to keep still and not fidget.
"By all means," is Emmi's response to Giremi's question. Listening to his explanation of Yronica's accomplishments so far, her smile grows into one more fitting of the word. "Quite accomplished, for this being your first time at the Hall, Yronica. I'm looking forward to hearing some of what you can do with a pipe or a gitar. As for your voice, we can see to that soon enough." And then she pauses in her speech, allowing for the formal knotting of the new apprentice.
Giremi takes the knot delicately from Yronica's palm, then moves to affix it carefully to her shoulder. "It goes on this way. I recommend washing it carefully in cold water once a seven day to keep it looking crisp and tidy. They have a bad habit of accumulating dust and grime." A moment later he's smoothing the loops of the knot out and stepping back. "There. Now you're a proper harper, Yronica. And you must call me /Journeyman/." A gentle enough reminder and he holds his hand out to her to shake.
"I hope to live up to your expectations, too, then, Masterharper." Yronica holds quite still then, until she's been decorated appropriately. No blinking, no surprise at the fact that Giremi instructs her on how to clean the knot - and only a flash of a grin, beatific with the brilliant, knowing light that shines briefly in her eyes, when he instructs her on his title. "Thank you," she tells him, her voice as meek and mild as her mouth is merry, "Journeyman." She puts her hand in his for the handshake, then turns back to Emmi, smoothing her skirts with unconscious sweeps of her fingers.
"Congratulations, Apprentice Yronica," Emmi says, using the title to full effect. "You're a proper Harper, indeed! And I think that means you deserve to be settled in, instead of kept here, just barely within our walls." She glances down at Yronica's things, so nearly forgotten in the process of the knotting. "Or I could have your things simply brought to the dorms, if you'd rather worry about that later. I'm sure you must be a little overwhelmed."
Giremi shaks Yronica's hand both firmly and properly, his own withdrawing after a moment as Emmi mentions taking the new-made apprentice to the dorms. He bends then to heft her bag back up onto his shoulder. "Perhaps a quick stop to take care of these bags and then a drink in the kitchens?" The Journeyman suggests this with a questioning look for the Masterharper and a tilt of his head towards the kitchen stairs. "Often quieter than the dining room," he murmurs further and colors a little, likely due to his own foible for preferring the kitchen himself for that very reason.
"Whatever's best," starts Yronica, but Giremi's plan seems to be more defined and she defers a moment to let it be said. She grins a little at the bit about the dining room but doesn't look at the journeyman; perhaps that would be to telling. It's Emmi she addresses in any case, as respectfully as she can muster, chin a little down and eyes a little up. "Settling in would be fine, Masterharper." To Giremi now, a little apologetic but very warm: "I - think I might need a moment to get my bearings."
"Then let's get you settled," Emmi says. Overhearing Yronica's words to Giremi, she remarks, "That's understandable. Do you have all of your things? It's just this way." And glancing towards both, she begins to move in the direction of the dorms.
Giremi nods and repositions Yronica's bags. "In that case, let's get your things into the dorms, let you get your bearings and I have a few things I may need to bring the Masterharper up to date on, your records to pass over and we can sort that out while you take a moment." The Journeyman waits for the two women then falls into step behind them, crossing over to the dorm entrance.
"I appreciate it." It has the sound of real relief in it and the smile Yronica gives Giremi before following Emmi's lead is almost tangibly grateful. She nods to the Masterharper, that she has everything, and soon enough they have it all (what little it is) inside. Giremi's departure (predictable) on the threshhold of the dormitory necessitates that Yronica take up her second bag which may, by the careless way she hauls it, be the lighter of the two after all. She can barely be believed to hear things about picking cots and what to do next, though she repeats enough of these instructions back to make it clear that all the wideness of her eyes doesn't hinder her hearing. Finally she turns to the Masterharper and begs off with a desperately polite, "Thank you. I'll be fine, thank you so much, ma'am," and then she's tending to her own orientation as best she may.