Labyrinthian Musings

[lyricalblue]

These halls must gone on forever. With the glow-globes spaced so far apart, Kami felt like one of those large felines stalking through the dense undergrowth. She'd been in the Weyr only a sparse few days but the layout still escaped her. One of the young women had pointed her in this direction. How did the riders ever find their way through these mazes, Kaminari was hopelessly lost. So much for Harper common sense. Somewhere along these corridors the Weyrwoman's weyr was said to be. Kami stopped and tried to take note of her surrounding. Had she been here before? All this walking in circles was making her dizzy.
She sighed deeply and ran a hand through her hair. It would be a great time to spot that drudge again or frankly anyone who could help her. Were all Weyr's this sharding confusing, about that time Kami would have given her best lute for the straight corridors in a Hall.

Shards and shells! She glanced around again, hands on boyish hips. Getting lost was not her idea of fun, in fact it was a great deal of wasted time. Next time she decided to go looking for a weyr she minded herself to bring provisions along. Or maybe a permanent guide, that young bronze rider would have been a most welcome guide indeed. Ah well, she moved forward again, at least this was a good chance to stretch her legs.

[Memorie]

Merda's eyebrow arched at the sound of footsteps in her corridor. Who could be coming up here? She, herself, had just woke up from a nap, and was going down to the Weyrhall for a bite to eat. Coming around the corner, she saw the dark-eyed girl, looking around and appearing a bit lost. Merda smiled; she remembered her first time in the Weyr. How confusing the natural tunnels of Sodalis could be to newcomers was old hat to her. "Hello, girl. Can I assist you?" she asked politely.

Merda leaned toward politeness with strangers, though she thought for sure this girl was a candidate. After all, it was mostly only candidates that got lost in the Weyr. A thought struck her--maybe the girl was a gold candidate, come to see her. That rarely happened now, what with the kids growing more independent than they were in her day.

That's a lie if I ever heard it, Caliath commented sleepily. The dark gold had just been fed, and her golden hide gleamed, indicating upcoming Flight. Merda just smiled in return, sending love back to the dragon.

"Or perhaps you have come to see the Weyrwoman?" the goldrider asked, almost hopeful.

[lyricalblue]

Kaminari beamed as she caught sight of the company. Oh thank the stars she wasn't going to live out her days wandering through these ash-blasted corridors. The Harper quickly appraised the older woman and her eyes gleamed. If the descriptions fit, she knew exactly who this was. A voice in the back of her mind did a little toss-dance. Not only would she be no longer lost, but she'd found exactly what she had been looking for. That same voice stifled a giggle, of course she'd found her, Kami's luck was renowned, well that and she was just that brilliant.
Kami gave a quick little bow at the waist and then straightened and offered the woman her hand in greeting.

"Assistance would be most welcome, I fear I will never learn which of these corridors go where."
The young Harper grinned brightly, her dark eyes alight with what could generously be called curiosity though it bordered far closer to simple mischief. Her toes nearly curled with delight, now if she could only get Merda alone for awhile and pepper the woman with questions.
"I'm Kaminari, the new Journeyman Harper out of Lateo Weyrhold. And yes, the Weyrwoman is exactly who I've come to see." Her grin flashed once again. "I'm told its proper to search her out and find out exactly what a Harper should be doing here other than wandering like a wherry in a snake den."

[Memorie]

Merda saw the spark of recognition in the girl's eyes. "Well, you've come to the right place, my dear. I am Merda, Senior Weyrwoman and rider of Gold Caliath," she said, giving her full title. "But you may call me Merda," she told her, winking. "Follow me, if you will. I'm just headed down to the Weyrhall for a bite, and you have my full attention. Tell me, are you also one of our candidates for my clutch?"

The old woman walked slower than she did when she was Kaminari's age, but she was still fit and could walk without taking breaks. Which is more than some old women can say, she thought to herself. Caliath, now fully asleep, didn't respond.

[lyricalblue]

Kami paced alongside the Weyrwoman all grins and long lanky strides. At the question she shook her head.
"No Lady, I was just sent here on assignment. I've seen a few of your beasts up close but none have chosen to talk to me or their riders about me." The young Harper laughed quietly and tried the best she could to fall into step with Merda, though her long legs were much better suited to runs out in the open than these blasted halls.

"If you have the time, there are a good many things I've questions about." Her dark eyes gleamed with mischief again. "But then again I don't know many Harpers who don't." Well at least the good ones in any case, still amused with her own humor. However food right now sounded simply fantastic. If there was one thing that was always said about the Weyrs it was that they laid a mighty good table at meal times.

[Memorie]

Merda led Kaminari down the hall, around a couple bends, and down on flight of stairs. "There is not so much on my schedule that I would ignore my Harper. Speak, girl, if your tongue allow it," she said. The girl's legs, not so much longer than Merda's own, took politely decent strides to stay back with Merda's self-described "doddering" pace. She grimaced at herself, but dropped the expression quickly.

"Shame, that, not being for my clutch. Well, you just plan on being in attendance, and we'll see what happens. I've told Caliath that if she doesn't drop a gold this clutch, I'll disown her," Merda told the girl jokingly. They started down the second flight of stairs.

[lyricalblue]

Kaminari nearly doubled with laughter at the last comment, but out of several replies she could have made she chose the most diplomatic.
"I'm am sure she will m'lady, shes as fine a Queen as I've seen."
Ok well maybe it was more flattery than being diplomatic, and maybe she'd only seen the Queens in residence here. But it should still count right? Once again she laughed inwardly.
"I'd like to know about the Queens mostly m'lady, I've been able to learn alot from the other riders here but when it comes down to the breeding process and hatchings, clutching and the sort they seem to know as little as I."
Kaminari took a breath and ordered out which questions she had exactly, her mind awhirl at its normal pace. It would be a long time before the young woman showed any signs of slowing down at all.

"Do you keep records of the breeding patterns, is there a way to predict how many dragons of each type will be produced. And why are only the Queens producing, The greens are female too, so why do the clutches only come from Golds and Bronzes?"
She grinned and almost had the good nature to be hesitant about bothering the Weyrwoman, but Kami didn't. The best way to learn was to ask after all.

[Memorie]

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Harper," Merda replied amiably. "As far as Flights, Clutchings, and Hatchings go, they're coming up fast enough that you'll be here long enough to see them. You can surmise answers, and anything that isn't answered, you can ask me after the event.

"Yes, no, and because the green dragons are rendered infertile by the ingestion of firestone, Kaminari," the Weyrwoman replied in almost as fast a pace as the girl had asked the questions. "We have good Records of clutches and who Flies who. As far as predicting colors goes, only the Gold dragonet's egg is the dragon's color. The rest are simply mottled, though some are larger than others, and you almost always get a larger-colored dragon from them." Merda paused to regain her footing. Some of the halls in Sodalis became uneven the further one went in the Weyr to the center. "The only way to predict a good clutch is by the length and intensity of the flight itself. A longer, more intense flight yields larger, healthier clutches, and the opposite is also true."

[lyricalblue]

Kami nodded and assimilated the information. So then older Queens would surely produce better clutches, to a point of course.
"So are browns and bronzes equal in producing a clutch? I heard that browns can't sire Queens. And yet only the lesser colors can Search right?"
The Harper mused over the connections and responsibilities in the Weyr, most of which was founded on the dragons themselves. The riders of Queens and Bronzes were the natural leaders for they were the parents of the Weyr.

"And if I may ask m'lady, what do the women in the Weyr do about pregnancies, at least the riders. I've noticed certian... proclivities and one can't be out of active duty forever." Her head tilted sideways as she mused. Indeed what luck she'd managed to find the Weyrwoman. Here was a fount of information she wasn't going to let pass, but then again there weren't many things she let pass.

[Memorie]

"It's true, if a brown, and he's got to be a giant brown, does fly a queen, no queen egg will come of it. So, I'd say that in itself would make bronzes and browns unequal, wouldn't you?" Merda said, smiling. "And all dragons can go on a Search, it's just a matter at which individual dragon is better at it. Yes, blues and some greens tend to show more ableness to Search good candidates, but bronze-Searched candidates have Impressed golds. In fact, I usually like to send a healthy amount of browns and bronzes to Search when I have a gold egg on my sands; it's just good practice."

The older woman had reached the bottom of the last flight of stairs, and the Weyrhall was in plain view. "Care to join me at the Great Table, Kaminari?" she asked, before launching into her next explanation.

"Pregnant riders ride with the Queen's Wing during their terms, excepting when they get to the last few months of pregnancy--or when they are no longer able to go between. Then, they help with Weyrling duries--carrying sacks of firestone, and they also help the Weyr's women in healing injured dragons and riders. However, all that is assuming that the pregnancy makes it. Going between before you know that you're pregnant often aborts the pregnancy at all."

[lyricalblue]

((Did you want to move to the hall?))

Once again Kaminari listened and absorbed the information. Weyrs were so diffrent, there really was nothing to hold them comparision to in Pernese society. The thought struck her that it might be this reason there was always so much tension between Hold and Weyr. While some Weyrfolk were holdbred, living in a Weyr changed you and the two had very little common ground. And it was easy to envy the Weyrfolk their easy life and magnificent partners. Well it was easy till the thread fell. Maybe that was the key then, educating the Holds about thread and the diffculties Weyrs did face.

At the Weyrwoman's invitation she bowed quickly, not missing a beat.
"I would be most honored m'lady." The Great Table indeed, the Harper grinned her thanks. This day was just getting more and more intresting. But for now she kept those thoughts to herself. At least she would till she could find out the opinions of the Weyrfolk as a whole.
As much as she didn't like the idea she could understand why there were so few women in the fighting wings. Pregancy was simply not efficient.
"So regarding Search, do you find more candidates come from within Weyr walls or without. I am sure many Holders are slow to take up the offer."

[Memorie]

((To the Hall! *points like a super hero*))