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Harper's Tale - Saturday, June 29, 2002, 5:41 PM
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Main Hall and Ballroom
The echoing space of the formal Ballroom is a mosaic of mosaics. The floor is covered with a precise and colorful ocean, slim pillars of smooth marble reaching up to support the balcony overhead. The low, flat ceiling decorated with bright golden-yellows and reds in a depiction of a partial eclipse of Rukbat. Beyond the cover of the balcony, the space rises in an airy arch far overhead, an ironwork window round over the gracefully curving marble staircase.
An elaborate mural lines the walls, stretching from the mosiac on the floor to the ceiling. One the 'northwall' and 'southwall' are portraits of some of Pern's influential Masterharpers. The 'eastwall' and 'westwall' show aspects of harper life.
Watching from a bit of artistically carved lintel are seven firelizards.
You see Muff and Leyte here.
Kurt is here.
Obvious exits:
Artist's Workshop     Archive Vault     Harper Office     Harper Classroom     Shainman Rehearsal Hall     Great Hall     Instrument Workshop     Curving Stairways
Liesana walks in.

The ballroom is quiet. Too quiet, perhaps. The only occupants are a drudge sweeping away on the other side, and a bored looking apprentice, just milling about and procrastinating going to practice his scales. He heaves a sullen sigh and slumps back against one of the huge marble pillars.

Kedei strides eagerly down the curving staircase from the balcony hallway.

Liesana strolls in from the outside world, humming a standard, cheerful tune and with her nose buried in a book of poetry. Love sonnets to be precise, which would explain the slightly far-off sappy look she's wearing. Hey, she's got ovaries. So sue her. Oblivious to bored apprentices, she pauses to declaim aloud "My love, be but true to me, and I shall keep your hearth alight," before chuckling slightly and muttering "That was so written by a man." with an amused tone.

The bored apprentice looks up and quirks a brow, then returns to his intense study of the air in front of him. The drudge sweeps away, occasionally turning to Leyte and whispering a bit of gossip, toddling off and cackling.

Liesana offers the apprentice a little smile, before returning to standing in the middle of the room and continueing to read her book, right under the chandelier and oblivious to anything else.

Sweep...sweep...sweep...the other plump drudge drifts past, sweeping the tops of Liesana's shoes.

"Watch the boots, Drinela," cautions Liesana absently, flipping another page and continuing to hum. My. Someone's been in a good mood lately.

From the top of the stairs, Kedei stops and listens to a bit of Liesana's poetic performance, before finally coming down and clapping hard at the words. "Very nice," he greets the journeywoman, sidling up to her and grinning cheekily. "Did you write that yourself?" Obviously, he hadn't heard the part about 'must have been a man...' etc.

Liesana snorts. "Faranth help me if I ever write such rot as that," she notes to Kedei, still not looking around much at all. "No, I'm just reading over a few sonnets because Dashv-- erm, a... friend of mine... enjoys poetry."

Kedei raises a brow, but says nothing. Instead, he just continues to grin. "Well, continue then," he finally states, waving one hand in motion for her to go on. "Let's hear some more of that gooey... what was it? Ah, yes.. Rot such as that.."

The faint zipping sound of a rope rubbing against metal precedes Kurt's arrival by mere nanoseconds. One minute there's empty space, the very next moment Kurt comes to a halt out of nowhere- upside down, his face just inches away from Liesana. His long hair hangs upward, his arms folded over his chest, though one hand holds onto a peice of the rope, one leg straight, the other bent at the knee slightly to control his descent. "Liesana has a boy-friend." he says in a sing-song voice. "Doesn't he know that it's the man that's supposed to write poetry?" the drudge nearby gives a croaky-throaty yowl like a feline that had just been stepped on, her broom falling to the floor with a clatter. The apprentice nearly has heartfailure, putting a hand to his chest and strategically retreating.

Liesana, to her credit, doesn't scream. Nope. Liesana goes way beyond that, backpeddling halfways across the ballroom in the space of about 2 seconds, and smacking up against a piller. All in an eerie silence. One broken approximately 5 seconds after that by the outraged howl of "KURT!!! You bleeding TWIT!!!!"

Now, if Kedei wasn't surprised by the sudden drop out of nowhere performed by Kurt, then he's certainly shocked by the yell and actions as done by Liesana. "Agggh!" He too moves, but his back-peddle ends in a topple to the floor, the dark-skinned apprentice letting out an 'oof,' as he falls hard on his arse. Looking up, he then stares, mouth agape, at the Master. "How? How.. How d-d-did you do that??"

Both Kurt's eyebrows shoot up at Liesana's reaction, then even further up at Kedei's. "Oh now is that any way to greet someone?" he asks, completely amused. The plump drudge nearly has heart failure, flailing her arms about. "Bloody little git!" she squawks. Kurt just watches them blankly for a minute, then busts out laughing so hard he nearly lets go of the rope, twisting himself around to hang by one arm, his feet about a foot from the floor. Dropping neatly to his feet he nearly doubles over, laughing hysterically. Drinela glares at Leyte "Ye oughtta do somethin' bout these unruly 'arpers! Master r' not! Thought ye said ye were keepin' em in line!" no more gossip for her then. Kurt just howls. "Whoo that was fun!"

Liesana pries herself off the pillar, marches over to the dangling Kurt, and gives his shoulders a firm shake, just to relieve her feelings. "Brat." she glowers, before giving up the act in favour of shaking her head and grumbling. "And Dashvard is not my boyfriend." she insists. "We just happen to both like poetry and felines." So there.

Kedei takes a while to get back to his feet, as he's still impressed over the Master's entrance. At Liesana's mention of Dashvard, he blinks and innocently asks, "Who's that? I didn't know you had a boy friend, Liesana." Is that a faint flash of dissapointment that crosses the apprentices features? It's quickly replaced by a look of awe, as Ked walks around the rope hanging from the rafters, starring at it and trying hard to figure out just how Kurt managed the feat.

Kurt giggles as Liesana shakes him then lets the rope go, now on his feet. Spinning around in a dramatic twist, he laughs while he sings "Liesana must have a boyfriend." then he leans into Leyte, laughing. Maybe someone's been around Aerrin's herbs a little too long. Or he's been into the klah. Kurt and caffeine don't mix. But overall he's just incredibly amused. "Oh and his name is Dashvard! What a dashing name...." Drinela rolls her eyes as she picks up her broom. "Sharding masters..."

Ever wanted to see Liesana blush? Well, you're seeing it now. Of course, it's coupled with an expression reading that she'd very much like to kick Kurt in the shins, so perhaps one ought to be more careful what they wish for. "Dashvard." she notes stubbornly. "Is a friend, by the First Egg!! I am not in love with him. I am not in love with anyone. I refuse to be in love with anyone, after how badly things ended up when I was dumb enough to fall in love with Kryz!" she growls, glaring at Leyte and Drinela. "And I had better not hear any of this in gossip!"

Kurt chuckles. Oh how he loves antagonizing. "You're blushing!" he declares, then launches into an act, swooning as he suddenly grabs Leyte's chubby hands. "Oh Dashvard! " he coos in his best impression of a girl's voice, and he gets on tip-toe to give her a smooch on the cheek. Yuck. What he does for the sake of art and amusement. He certainly is in rare form tonight. But as the saying goes- what good is being grown up if you can't act childish sometimes?

"Ech! Ech! Gerrof, ye rabid wherry!" bellows Leyte, swatting the hyperactive Master away with a shooing motion. "Grr, go soak yer head!"

"I am not blushing!" counters Liesana, blushing still more. "You're crazy." she intones. "Positively mad, absolutely starkers, a few books shy of an Archive. And I am so not discussing this further." she decrees, turning on her heel and 'ignoring' Kurt's capering, a la girl-of-six.

Kurt grins and scuttles away then puts a hand to his forehead. "Oh, my poor poor love. How I fall for thee!" and he hops up, (hopefully) to land in her unsuspecting arms. "Such language. Did you learn that from the drudges?" ok, probably bad to insult one when you're held by one. "tsk tsk... Poor Liesana. Trapped in denial..."

Kedei has disconnected.

And Leyte suddenly has an armload of Kurt? "Healer herbs, belike." she opines. "EE's been smokin' 'em instead o' pipeweeds." she opines, although she does manage to let the Master back to earth gently.

Liesana, now being as thoroughly childish as Kurt, has her hands over her ears, and is proclaiming, almost at the top of her Harper-trained lungs "I'm not hearing this! Not hearing anything! La la la la la! Not a word! Nope! Not in denial!"

Kurt grins and pokes Leyte in her soft belly. "I resent that remark! Hmph!" he twirls around Leyte and tugs at her apronstrings, then darts to the other side, making it look like Danila did it.

The housekeeper arrives to cart Kedei off to bed.

Leyte just shakes her head, and makes a move to grab the little Master by the hair. "Now you jest settle, y'young wherry. An' Liesana, you just settle down too, lass, 're I'll get that boy-friend 'o yourn in here t' deal wi' you." she rumbles, in an I've Had Enough sort of tone.

Liesana continues to stand in the middle of the ballroom with her hands over her ears, although with Kurt now digging at the drudge, she's switched to carolling the Ballad of Moreta's Ride, in excellent voice. "Black dust! Crack Dust! Turn in freezing air! Waste dust! Space dust! From Red Star bare!"

Kurt 'acks' as he's grabbed, then twists to tickle Leyte's gooey form. Eeew. His bony fingers deftly seek out those most ticklish spots, trying to get her to release his hair. "See Liesana? Boooooyyyyfriend."

Leyte just keeps a firmer grip on Kurt's tresses, her ample padding protecting her from tickle warfare, although the big drudge offers a disturbing giggle. "Oooh! Oooh! Stop that, y'young whelp!"

Kurt grins, his hair long enough to give him a bit of leeway as he backs her toward one of the benches, to at least jolt her into letting him go. Tickling mercilessly, his bony fingers manage to find where she's the most ticklish and going for it. "Haha...nothing you can do!"

Liesana stops her standing and singing, in favour of sitting crosslegged in the middle of the floor and glowering again. "I am soooo not in love with anyone!" she announces. "I do not have a boyfriend. I do not need a boyfriend. I do not want a boyfriend. I am never, ever going to have a boyfriend again in my life, so help me Faranth!"

Leyte continues to eep and gibber and giggle, all the while aiming clumsy swats in Kurt's direction. Denila, meanwhile, has crept off to go find someone who can put an end to the insanity. "Eeep! Kurt, ye shardin' wherry, that t'aint atall dignified fer a Master!!"

Kurt shrugs, ducking the swats aimed at him. "So? I'm off duty." he says, wriggling self righteously, continuing to tickle, bending down to go for the feet. He'll definitely have to scrub his hands tonight. Yuck. Denila is met by an aging old Sr. Journeyman in the hallway. "What's the rush?"

Liesana continues to sit in the middle of the floor, offering the odd interjection of "I do not have a boyfriend. La la la la la. Kurt's a blithering twit!" at random intervals, when she feels the conversation, such as it is, is flagging.

Leyte aims a kick at Kurt's ankles, unwisely using both legs, and causing the fat drudge to tumble onto her ample posterior with a jarring thud. "Oooh! Och! My backside. Young whelp!" she grumbles. Denila, meanwhile, is giving a rapid fire recitation of the events. "Well, sorr, he be teasin her, and ticklin' /her/, and she be settin' there not likin' t' be teased an' callin' im stuff, an..."

Kurt cackles, then lets out a 'woop!' as he tumbles with her, more or less landing on top of her in a tangle of hair. "Your backside? Bah! You have enough padding! I'd be more worried about the floor." Down the hall, The old Jman sighs at Drenila tells her story. "Who is he and she? what are you talking about?"

"Kurt's a twit," singsongs Liesana, the senior journeywoman happily oblivious to any ranking presences in the room. "And I do not have a boyfriend. No. Nope nope nope." To her credit, the young woman sounds quite musical in her singsonging.

Leyte continues to harangue Kurt, while Denila points out the culprits. "Him is Master Kurt, an' her be Senior Journeywoman Liesana. Y'ask me, they be actin' like a couple o' kids. I think she do like this Dashvard feller, and that Master Kurt's bin' inta th' sweetener 'gain."

The Sr.Journeyman isn't too far away. He'll find out what's going on here in a moment. The old coot is quite a tattletale too. "All right." stomping out into the ballroom he takes a quiet peek at the scene. "I suppose I can either let them go and sort it out themselves, call Dashvard to come get her and let Leyte lick Kurt, or have Master Unisia pay a visit." he gets an evil look in his eye as he glances at Derila.

Master Unisia hears the ruckus down in the ballroom and steps down the staircase. She's a rather large woman, but it's mostly all muscle. "What in the name of Faranth's last egg is going on down here?" she asks, glaring at the pair. "You two, in my office. NOW."

Kurt stops tormenting Leyte and glances at Liesana with an 'uh oh' look on his face. Though his smirk returns as he straightens, tugging down his tunic and stepping into the office.

Cue an 'Oh shards' look on Liesana's face as well, before she returns to steaming. Heh. He started being undisciplined and unbecoming to his Rank first.

Message 5 of 5 on *Gossip (#627):
Date: Sat Jun 29 21:17:46 2002 CDT
From: Anonymous :)
To: *Gossip (#627)
Subject: Tsk, those young Harpers!

Well, it appears that the Istan heat is starting to addle the brains of a couple ranking members of the Harper Craft, if the report I got from one of the Harper Hall drudges is accurate. And we all know that drudges never lie!

Seems that there was a young Harper Master hanging from the chandelier in the ballroom, lurking there for a chance to scare some unsuspecting visitor. He got one in the form of a Senior Journeywoman, down from her posting to Smith Hall. This Sr. Journeywoman chatted with an apprentice for a few moments, about poetry and sonnets in particular, the name of a Guardsman being brought up. And so the Harper Master pounced, descending to dangle upside-down in front of the Sr. Journeywoman and announce with great glee that "You've got a boooy-friend!!"

This did not amuse the young Journeywoman, who vehemently denied the charge of being in love with the Guardsman. Repeatedly. Which served to amuse the young Master further. Who proceeded to tease her further. She proceeded to call him a blithering twit, and descend into a proper six-turn-old game of singsonging "La la la, I can't hear you!" Upon this tactic being sprung, the Master moved on to teasing a nearby drudge.

The elderly drudge wasn't amused either, although she was soon reduced to most-un-drudge-like giggling as the mad little Master tickled her. And then an elderly Sr. Journeyman (NPC) spotted them, and the pair of rankers was soon called into the office by a ranking Master (NPC), both the youngsters wearing twin looks of dismay.

Oddly enough, they left soon after, with the Sr. Journeywoman smirking and the Master steaming. Wonder what got said?
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