Telgar Weyr's Living Cavern(#750RJM$)
This huge cavern is sufficently roomy to hold a large portion of the Weyr's population without feeling cramped. There's always a bustle of activity here. Fragrant dishes are constantly in prepartion for mealtimes: currently for the evening meal. Drudges are always present, either cleaning under Pierron's watchful eye, or helping fetch and carry. A myriad of glowbaskets and many ever-lit hearths make the cavern warm and inviting despite its size. The scents of cooking meats, baking breads and pastries, and the pungent aroma of spices hang mouthwateringly in the air. It is little wonder that those seeking to relax nearly always find their way here to do it.
A short tunnel jaunts northward out to the bowl and the merry sounds of cooking, chores, and laughter echo from the kitchen at the southeast end of the cavern near the easterly passage to the rest of the lower caverns. Within the lower caverns is an entrance to the infirmary weyr to care for injured dragons and riders.
Ro walks in, coated with smears of firestone dust, the dried sweat on her skin is an implication that she has been doing some hard work.
Ro pours herself a glass of cold juice, which she downs immediately. She refills the glass and takes a moment to look about for familiar faces.
Ceria glances up from the hide she's reading and gives Ro a nod and a smile.
Asher stops leaning on his palm, and sits up a little straighter, looking at Ro. How she manages to stay so /clean/ on firestone duty, he'll never know. Looking almost resentful in a vacant way, he re-sets his elbow on the table and his chin on his palm.
Ceria glances around suddenly as she catches a flash of something out of the corner of her eye.
Mehlani walks in from the bowl.
Mehlani has arrived.
Ceria seems to be absorbed in reading a hide.
Ro is standing near the table with the drinks, a glass of juice in hand. She smiles at her fellow candidate.
Neliea turns to glance at the newcommer and smiles while cradling a mug of klah in her lap.
Asher realizes that he's falling asleep in his chair and stands suddenly, going for something to drink.
Anybody even remotely familiar with the amount of work it takes to clean up a stable -- and do it _well_ -- can surmise that that is where Mehlani has been for the last several hours, as the rumpled, straw-bedecked, and somewhat fragrant-smelling lass with the battered brown hat comes wandering into the lower caverns. Anybody familiar with Mehlani in particular might also surmise that she's been taking the time to attend to her runner, as she's got a subtle shine in her eyes, and she smiles more readily than usual as she arrives on the scene. She's got her bronze fire lizard Holl on her shoulder, and she waves a slender hand at those she spies.
Ro laughs and says to Mehlani "My don't we make the pair. Muckin'?"
Asher wrinkles his pale nose just slightly, a cup of juice just touching his lower lip. "Does anyone....smell anything?" he asks slowly.
Ceria glances at Asher with a wry grin. "One usually does when candidates are about," she comments.
"Today," proclaims Mehlani solemnly as she comes within earshot of Ro, "was my turn to clean the stables, and I took care of Nightsong and Tsornin, too." She pauses to swing her earnest blue gaze to Asher, then peers down at herself, quite possibly thinking, _You mean, other than runner manure?_
Neliea takes a longer look at Mehlani, noting the straw and the familar smell. Pointedly she asks Mshlani, "You like runners?"
Asher blinks his dark green eyes at Ceria and walks over to her, sitting in a chair at her side. "do I smell?" he asks quite blatantly, eyes as vacant as they always are.
Holl, on 'Lani's shoulder, looks vaguely put out; the bronze's eyes are whirling a touch yellow, and he bops her cheek a few times with his muzzle, trying to get her attention. Sharding runners, anyway! But to Neliea, Mehlani turns and nods gravely, blue gaze steady under her hat brim.
Ro grins, rubbing the back of her hand across her forehead, which only serves to smear the firestone dust. She answers for Mehlani "You could say that."
Ceria chuckles at Asher's question. "Not really. It's just that you can usually tell what chores the candidates have been doing by the way they smell" she says. She stands up and puts the hide in her pocket as she turns toward the kitchen.
Neliea grins at Ro and looks back to Mehlani, "Hi, name's Neliea and yours?" Best way to start things as she moves her chair over to make space for her.
Asher looks up at Ceria as she walks away, curving a dark brow. He leans back in his chair silently. Well. He looks a little like he's just been slapped.
K'nan walks in from the bowl.
K'nan has arrived.
Mehlani settles down softly into the chair, lifting a hand to steady the affection-hungry bronze. Holl croons -- that's more like it! -- and the girl in the hat murmurs, "My name is Mehlani. Hello."
Asrai walks in from the bowl.
Asrai has arrived.
Ceria glances back at Asher and blinks at the look on his face. She smiles slightly. "I know because I was a candidate once," she calls to him as she enters the kitchen.
Kitchen
The aroma of herbs and spices is even stronger here than in the living cavern. Bunches of drying herbs hang from cabinets and any overhanging space along with braided ropes of onions and garlic bulbs, peppers of all colours, and dried, jerked meats. The pale, golden skybroom wood of the cabinets and preparation tables glows softly with the dancing light of three huge hearths set into the backmost wall. Next to these are several large ovens, heated from within by the warmth of the hearth fires and spacious enough to hold sufficent bread for a small gather. Low, wooden bins of tubers and sundry beans and other root vegetables line the walls, overhung by gleaming rows of fastidiously polished copper pans and utensils. Shelves line the rest of the free wall space, carefully stacked with dishes and glasses and mugs near the sink for ease of washing. Also, there are many shelves of shiny jars of powdered, crushed, and whole herbs for cooking. Lower caverns women and assorted helpers bustle through the kitchen at most hours, peeling, stirring, basting and checking the ovens. They are not loathe to help underfoot onlookers out with the swat of a broom if needed. The expanse of the living cavern proper stretches out northeast of the kitchen with the passageway to the storage rooms to the southwest.
From the living cavern, Asrai comes in, her arm linked in K'nan...but there is a definte pout to her lips. "i promised that already, didn't I?"
From the living cavern, Ro smiles at Asrai, waving with a firestone dust coated hand "Evenin' ma'am."
From the living cavern, Asrai smiles at those present. "Ah, hello everyone."
From the living cavern, Asher puts a finger to the side of his face, watching Ceria's exit. Face blank, he looks away lazily, and decides to simply sit in his seat for a moment more. Goodness.
From the living cavern, Mehlani looks up, and bobs her behatted head to Asrai and K'nan, still scritching the bronze on her shoulder. Holl, more vocal than his mistress, croons his satisfaction at this turn of events.
From the living cavern, K'nan leans down and kisses Asrai's cheek. "I know. Just making sure you didn't forget." He looks up, "Heyla all."
From the living cavern, Neliea smiles at the two riders that just walked in and glances back to her mug.
From the living cavern, Asrai smirks, "As if my three gardians would /let/ me forget."
Ceria enters the kitchen and takes a pot from the drying rack. She moves to the back of the kitchen, almost out of sight. Suddenly she gasps and a loud crash is heard. If one were to look, he might see a very large tunnelsnake slithering through the kitchen and into the living cavern.
From the living cavern, Mehlani's head swings round, her hat going slightly crooked with the haste of her motion. Holl's head snaps up. Chirp?
From the living cavern, Asher turns his eyes swiftly towards the kitchen, blinking once. But he doesn't move.
From the living cavern, Asrai's smile drops quickly from her face as she spots that /thing/. does she scream? No. Does she run? No. does she faint? Why yes. *THUD*
From the living cavern, Neliea hears the noice and glances over her shoulder, "What?" Jazzy chirps from her perch.
Ceria rapidly follows the tunnelsnake. She enters the cavern and looks around. "Where did it go?" she asks as it moves under one of the tables.
Asher tips his head at Ceria silently, as is she's just a very little bit daft.
K'nan blinks over as all the attention heads one way - but just misses seeing the 'snake. "Where did what go?"
Mehlani blinkblinks as Asrai actually keels over. She rises, then, turning in bemusement and anxiety to Ceria, Holl fluttering in increasing agitation -- and at the sight of the thing darting under that table, Holl abruptly hisses and launches himself into the air, eyes whirling red.
Ro's eyes snap toward the kitchen. As soon as she glimpses she tunnelsnake she sets her glass down, not carefully enough, as it tips and spills, and draws a large hunting knife from inside her boot. Her jaw set, she takes off after the snake at a run, dodging furniture.
K'nan then yipes, and moves quickly to grab his weyrmate from falling over, "Love?!"
Ciara flies in from the kitchen.
Ciara darts into the room, chittering wildly.
The tunnelsnake soon comes into sight as it slithers frantically across the cavern.
Asher stands up languidly, and walks towards the table. He sets his juice cup atop it. "He could smell you from here to Igen, Ro," he teases gently, crouching down to look beneath the table.
K'nan catches Asrai just before she makes it all the way to the floor. Her face is pale as flour.../she/ obviously didn't miss 'The Creature That Came Form The Depths Of The Storage Room.'
Mehlani, too, is armed. She's got a belt knife, not nearly as large or impressive as Ro's, but she draws it without a word, turning in a circle to scan the room. Holl lets out a bugle and dives towards the slithering creature... and a few seconds after, he is joined by several successive *pops* as several more of 'Lani's fair of fire lizards arrive out of *between*.
K'nan doesn't see it again, since he's currently busy trying to revive his weyrmate from unconsciousness. "
K'nan says "Asrai? Wake up!"
Ceria moves over toward Asrai and K'nan, strategically moving her away from the tunnelsnake. "Is she alright?" she asks solicitously.
Asrai's eyelids flutter slightly as K'nan's voice penatrates the fog. "Wha..what was that? It..was huge..." she tries to raise her head.
Asher whistles at the length of the 'snake. "He's pretty," he comments, watching the snake. Standing again, he leans forward, watching it. "And he's quick. Do you think I could catch it with a thrown object?" He looks left to right, and than picks up a /chair/ of all things.
Kassima walks in from the bowl.
Kassima has arrived.
Pierron humphs thoughtfully as the wingleader of Thunderbolt arrives.
Neliea dodges the slithering thing and makes her way over to the others.
The Son of Slithereth, as the tunnelsnake was so aptly named, turns suddenly. It's seems to be heading straight for Kassima.
Mehlani glances to K'nan and pipes up, "I'll fetch a healer...?" Half her attention, though, is on the sudden little impromptu Wing of fire lizards that has joined Holl. Green Arki roars out of the midst of them, her eyes positively incandescent with baleful fire -- and a few of Mehlani's 'lizards creel and get immediately out of Arki's way.
Ceria eyes Asher. "You're going to throw a chair at it?" she asks skeptically.
K'nan looks down at his weyrmate with concern, "What was what? I didn't see anything.."
Ro feints at the slithering creature, trying to make it pause long enough for any of the firelizards to get in a good bite, and perhaps get a chance for her to strike at it herself.
Asher blinks at Ceria as if she's a wee bit more daft than he thought before. "I'm not going to kiss the sharding thing!"
Asrai sees the Son of Slithereth turn towards Kassima and starts to point frantically. "Kill it!" Obviously the tunnel snakes she hunted as a child were a lot smaller. A lot.
Enter Kassima, stage left, frowning vaguely and blithely oblivious to the presence of one of her archnemeses. "Bloody blueriders," she gripes. "They just *have* t'get pregnant. Miryenne was bad enough, but now Destria, too?" Then, of course, the 'snake begins to head towards her. Knives find a place in each hand within an eye's twinkling; one held on guard, the other thrown--though, given her distraction, not thrown all that well.
Arki, even swifter than Holl -- and the bronze is only a breath behind her -- sweeps down unerringly to the 'snake, all claws, talons, and sharp, malevolent hissing.
The SoS narrowly avoids being hit by the knife. He's being distracted by all the firelizards and he moves under another table.
Neliea giggles as she keeps a good distance away from the Son of Slitherth and keeps backing away. Well it can be amusing, later.
Asher's eyes suddenly sparkle. He backs up a step, still holding that silly chair. Throwing a chair at a snake! It's Kassima he's smiling for--he's never seen anyone throw knives like his uncle before Kassia walked into the cavern!
Ceria backs up against a table, ready to hop on top of it at a moment's notice.
Kassima's fair lets up a gleeful shriek--look, food!--and follow Holl's lead, even as Kassi herself snatches up her knife before the weapon can go skittering too far out of reach. "Come back here, you misbegotten spawn of a mutant crawler!" she yells, diving under the table after the creature in an unusual feat of bravado/stupidity.
Ro crouches, balanced on the balls of her feet, near the table. She aims a swift swipe of her knife at the tunnelsnake.
Most of Mehlani's fire lizards -- all her fair has arrived on the scene now -- retreat to the girl, apparently bent on circling her defensively, perching on the floor, chairs, or whatever's nearby and handy. A streak of white-green signals Arki's course as she not only catches up with the snake, but also latches onto it with talon and beak, bent on mauling the Thing.
Asrai turns pale again as she sees Kassi actually /dive/ under the table after the SoS. Course, its prolly a good thing, since she's still on the floor. "K'nan, stop her before she gets /killed/!"
Asher eeps suddenly as something scratchy crawls over his boot. With a laugh and a hoot, he sweeps Ceria up in his arms and hops atop the chair he was holding moments ago. "Someone take my life, I think it touched me!"
K'nan follows the pointing and blinks, "That's a tunnelsnake." He moves to help Asrai up and into a chair, "I'll take care of it."
The immense 'snake darts from it's haven under the table, presumably fleeing from the wrath of Kassima. This wasn't a particularly intelligent move for he's soon blooded by Arki. He wrenches himself from the firelizard's grip and slithers in the direction of the lower caverns.
Maylia walks in from the bowl.
Maylia has arrived.
Neliea blinks in awe as she thinks that Kassima goes after that slither. Glancing at Asher, "Why would we do that? If you want the snake can do it for you?"
Ceria squeals as Asher picks her up. Then she giggles. "At least it can't get to me up here," she says.
Arki goes flying, slammed into the floor by the greater weight of the 'snake -- and undaunted, she goes zipping off into the lower caverns after it. You don't escape the wrath of Arki that easily, you Food!
Asrai gets up on the chair, not even letting her feet hit the ground. She's not a wimp..she's just protecting her unborn child. Yeah, that's it. "K'nan, be /careful/."
"Don't even think about it, K'nan--this one's mine!" Kassi's voice protests from under the table, where its owner is frantically and madly scrambling after her elusive prey. "I got its Star-spawned sire; I'll get it too--hey! Ooof! Move your sharding feet, you nimrod; the thing's getting away!" With dust in her hair and a homicidal gleam in her eye, the greenrider scrambles out from under the table and chases after the beast. Unusual behavior for her? Nah... not really. "Die! Die! Die!"