Janja Plays Fetch

Characters Janja, Ilyse
Synopsis Janja finishes up the Half Moon Bay Weyr candidate request for Al'dru.
Out-of-Character Date December 12, 2014

Half Moon Bay Weyr - Lower Caverns
An oddly shaped cavern. Almost kidney shaped, with tunnels leading off to various parts of this side of the Weyr. Residential, craft and storage caverns mostly. Though one exit leads to the Candidate quarters, since with all their chores, it was thought to be a good idea to have them close to the Living Cavern and the Bowl, just to keep them from disturbing the rest of the Weyr in the mornings.


Working in the lower Caverns is Ilyse, with a small bucket and a scrub mop. She's busy scrubbing the floor near the laundry room, eyeballing the room dubiously. She murmurs below her breath. "I can't believe that someone spilled the laundry soap all over the floor and spilled it out here. Suds everywhere!" She laughs a bit at herself, before turning and shifting a Please Don't Cross sign behind her, giving it some more space so it's not on the edge of the wet floor.

A mildly befuddled looking Janja is wandering lost through the cavern halls muttering to herself. "Why me? They should have just finished at the time." She steps around a slight bend so the sign and spill finally come into view and the visitor just stops with a blank stare. "Now what?" Her nose wrinkles and she gives a soft shudder. "What a horrid mess." Then with a determined look her voice raises and she calls out towards Ilyse. "Oh girl! You there. Can you please help me?" Her glance travels back and forth between the floor and the girl, as though unsure which is the more immediate danger.

Ilyse turns and places her mop to the side. "Wait, don't cross that." She calls out to the woman as she holds her hands up. "I don't want you to slip." Ilyse is barefoot and she pads across the floor and nearly slips herself anyway, "woaah." She balances herself quickly before she bows. "Yes Ma'am?" She asks. "How may I help?" The voice is kind and gentle. "Please be careful. I don't know how far the spill splashed out."

Janja's expression is even more dubious than before as her eyes firmly fix on the ground now. "Yes, I see." Her hands waver ineffectually at her sides while she orders her even more then normally scatterbrained self. "I'm trying to find the candidates' barracks? Al didn't finish you see and they've sent me back cause Kadesh is going to want something." She nods, though her eyes remain firmly on the floor. "Need to get our money's worth, you know." Finally at the end of this rambling speech she lifts her icy blue eyes off the ground and really looks at Ilyse. "I'm Janja. From Igen." She clearly feels like this is enough information because she just waits, face expectant.

"Oh." Ilyse says a pang of memory hitting at the mention of the candidates barracks. "Money's worth?" She asks, sounding surprised before she holds her hand up. "None of my business. I'm Ilyse..formerly a trader. Now a drudge here." She turns and scoots around the spill. "It's just right here. I used to be a candidate here, so I could find it from memory. Igen, huh? Isn't that a good distance?" She asks as she walks towards the barracks.

Her lips round and her eyes widen through Ilyse's introduction. Then Janja brightens into a smile. "Excellent." One hand reaches out as if to pat the other, but quickly withdraws before any contact is made. "You're one of the people I'm looking for! Do you mind taking me by the barracks first though? I need to check in with the list real fast. Then we can just gather your things up and go!" Her hands clasp together happily at this round of confusing comments. "Why didn't you go back to trading? Did you like being at the weyr that much?"

"Gather my things up?" Ilyse asks as she steps into the barracks and looks around, her eyes going misty for a moment before she turns and wipes them quickly and hoping that Janja doesn't see. "The old candidate list? Think it's over there." She walks over to the middle post and motions to it. "If this is what you're looking for." She says. "Because my trader family was murd…" She pauses and cuts that bad memory off. "I like it at the Weyr, and I don't have any marks to get back into it."

You say "Yes. No. Yes. Impressed." Janja is muttering to herself, only half listening to the other. She's hurried over to the list and is going down name by name using her finger as a pointer. She hesitates slightly when it seems that..but no. "Ok. Just you apparently. Don't know why he didn't finish it out to begin with. I know Igen is very different than here but you might like it there as well." Her eyes alight as she adds on, "And we've several other trader candidates you might know! Or at least, you can make connections too." Her finger rises to tap her lip. "I need to remember to tell Neyuni to look into those connections after, in case." This is waved away with more hand fluttering and she turns back to Ilyse. "Ready?"

"Wait." Ilyse says as she looks from the woman who is muttering to herself to the list and then back when Janja mentions "Just you." She blinks a few times when it finally hits her when Janja mentions other trader candidates. "You want me to be a candidate at Igen?" She asks, sort of dumbfoundedly. "Uh.." She looks around at her old barracks. "I guess so? I don't.." A blush. "I don't have any other clothing."

From the genuine surprise on Janja's face, she clearly didn't realize how disjointed she's sounded. "Oh!" One hand covers her mouth briefly. "I'm sorry. Igen Weyr has a clutch hardening. We've spoken with your leaders and they have agreed to lend us any unimpressed candidates they had available. You don't have to come if you don't wish, but you're welcome to join us at Igen and try your chances on our sands." She offers a somewhat hesitant smile, "Would you like to stand at Igen, Ilyse?"

"Lend me?" Ilyse says, tilting her head to the side. "That makes me sound like I'm a piece to be traded between powerful families." A small laugh comes soon after. "But that's okay. Sure. I'd like to try again. Broken heart once, might as well try it again, hey?" She salutes to Janja before she nods. "Lead on, I guess?"

Janja nods firmly to that. She begins to breeze back the way they had come clearly more focused now that things are a bit more set. "Well, I'm not sure exactly how else to put it? Candidates are valuable to a weyr future. They certainly want you back here if your lifemate isn't on our sands." She turns, looks about conspiratorially, then leans in to whisper. "But they can't make you come back if you like somewhere else better either." Another nod after this and she heads out to the bowl.

Half Moon Bay Weyr - Living Cavern

Here is the center of Weyr life, the living caverns. These two main rooms were man-shaped from smaller caves, and are joined by a carved arch with depictions of dragons in flight and dolphins leaping in swirling waves. One room has many round stone and wooden tables and a stone fire-pit instead of a hearth. Over the round-walled, gas fired pit is a large conical hood made of polished bronze, with reliefs of dragons with their riders flying over ships guided by dolphins. This hood and chimney keeps the room smoke-free. Through the archway is an enormous hall, with long tables and benches, some carved from the rock floor, many crafted of wood. This room is a combination dining and meeting hall, and can seat over 300 comfortably. Above both rooms, angled shafts lined with polished metal bring in sunlight during the day. Electric lights also burn, day and night.

Half Moon Bay Weyr - West Bowl

The western end of the great bowl of the Weyr. You can see the steep walls of the crater to the south and south, with small openings and ledges in the cliffside. These are the individual weyrs of dragons and their riders. To the west you can see the great natural arch, and the lagoon, to the east, the center of the bowl. To the south you see a large natural cave opening that has been made into a tunnel. It is the main entrance to the Weyr from the road to Half Moon Bay Hold.

Ilyse has arrived.

"Well that's true." Ilyse says as she hurries to catch up to Janja. "I was mostly teasing about that, trying to wrap my head around it." She says, speaking quickly to try and cover any toes she might of stepped on. "Where is yours?" She looks around; dragons, riders, and people all mill about in this part of the weyr.

Feyruth lifts into a low crouch as she sees Janja coming out of the caverns. "OH! Feyruth is mine." Jan points towards where the gold awaits and her face takes on a completely sappy and besotted look. "Have you ridden before?" she asks when the two women reach the on the larger sized gold's side. She turns to ask even as the gold is extending a leg patiently.

"You're a GOLD rider?" Ilyse blushes sharply at that and looks rather embarrassed. "I must look horrid…" She looks to the gold. "I'm sorry I look so shoddy. I…just don't have any marks to get clothing." Or much of anything. "I've ridden." She says. "Not a lot, but a couple of times." She bows again to the Gold, maybe a leftover from the sands.

With a very, very slight dip of her head, Feyruth acknowledges the deference. Janja on the other hand is again surprised. "Well of course I'm a goldrider." She looks at Feyruth and then back to the other woman, adding in a lower voice. "She'd hardly let me ride if I wasn't would she!" Then Janja is pulling herself up the offered forelimb via the straps with the ease and grace of an expert. "And don't worry about the extra clothes. I'm sure the headwoman will get you some when you're introduced." Settling onto the gold's back, she begins messing with her straps, adding as an afterthought. "If not, I'm a weaver and I design clothes. I can whip you something up real quick."

Feyruth
The warm supple Gold hide of your lifemate rests beneath you. Strong shoulders behind you support the broad expanse of her wings. Prominent neck ridges rise in front and behind you, helping add a sense of security, which the straps actually provide.

You swing up onto Feyruth's neck.

Janja buckles herself into the riding straps.

Away from Feyruth, Ilyse ohs. "Really?" Ilyse blushes at that as she moves to climb up on the dragon. She pauses for the moment. "Uh, can I come up?" She asks, before getting up onto the dragon.

Ilyse climbs up onto Feyruth's back.

Janja buckles Ilyse into the riding straps.

Janja helps the other up and to get buckled in as well. "Ok, hold on." She gives the signal to rise and once well clear of the ground and any other dragons, takes them between.

You draw into mind the wind smoothed bowl of Igen Weyr. The placement of the star stones and the worn westerly rim distinguising features that you focus on.

Half Moon Bay Weyr - West Bowl Sky

Winging up a bit higher the walls seems to rise right alone with you and is cut off abruptly high above. The higher up you get the more dragon ledges there are, but even these are not completely full of Dragon pairs. At this height you get a full view of the Weyr and everything going on within the bowl itself. The lagoon looks very inviting this high up as the sun sparkles off of the surface. Once in a while you'll even see a train coming through the entrance to the Weyr, bringing people up from Half Moon Bay Hold.

Half Moon Bay Weyr - Sky over the Weyr

The view just above the rim of this massive basin is breathtaking as the islands take shape far below you, reaching up out of a gleaming sea of blue. Away in the west, the vast expanse of ocean continues past the horizon, to spill over its edge into eternity. A plateau on the east side of the rim makes for an advantageous lookout point, a watchdragon and rider pass the time there while on sentry duty by a large aerial antena. Gusts of unstable winds falter against the undersides of wingsails that pass you by. Half Moon Bay's bowl seems, from here, nothing more than a mere child's toy. Tiny weyrfolk, playing out the dramas of their daily and nightly lives, are no more than miniature featureless dolls come to life from the vivid imagination of a woolgathering youth.

Away from Feyruth, Feyruth suddenly disappears -=* BETWEEN *=-

Between
Darkness and cold like you can't imagine. Nothing to see, feel or hear, except the beating of your heart.
<LUB> <DUB>
<LUB> <DUB>
<LUB> <DUB>
Then, as suddenly as you entered the emptiness…

Igen Weyr - High Sky
The whole of Igen Weyr spreads out below. Worn by the winds the stone about the rim is smooth, though deeply worn along the west side. Star stones stand out in contrast to the sky, purposeful no longer. The thin trail of the passage accessing the weyr can be traced dissapearing into the mountains southeastwards. Further beyond to the east and west the golden desert sands shimmer and seem to go from one horizon to the next with little reprieve. Hints of water tease at the far eastern horizon, but it's impossible to tell if one is seeing the igen river or just a trick of the endless dunes.

Away from Feyruth, Feyruth suddenly reappears from -=* BETWEEN *=-

Ilyse gasps about that, taking in deep breaths. "I.. I don't think I'll ever get used to that." She admits, clenching tightly against the goldrider. "Sorry."

A delighted laugh sounds from Janja. "Oh, it's quite alright. It takes getting used to." She sighs, a soft wistful sound. "But I do love it so. You can look around as we land. Once down we'll need to introduce you to the weyrlingmaster and the headwoman. They will help you find a position to keep you busy while we're waiting for the hatching. Candidates get a few basic 'what to do hatching day' lessons but you should have that down pat. Other than that, mostly everyone carries on with whatever thier job is unless there's a special event planned." And with that, they begin to circle down to the weyr below.

Igen Weyr - South Bowl Sky
The orange hued sandstone layers of the bowl wall rise smoothly ever upwards. Windworn, even the dragon ledges and weyrs have been smoothed by the countless seasons. Shadowed openings potmark the southern bowl wall at irregular intervals and fade into a mere handful that erode into the strange shapes comprising the harshly weathered western portion of the bowl wall. Below the blue shimmer of the lake and the contrastingly green area of the feeding grounds easily catch one's eye, both inviting if for very different reasons to those flying here. The smaller figures of residents and crafters can be seen now and then making their way across the bowl on various errands.

Igen Weyr - South Bowl

The orange hued sandstone layers comprising the bowl walls curve gently, but ever presently in your view. Fine sand shifts underfoot, a slightly paler version of what is found upon the walls. It gives way along the eastern edge to a section of contrasting green grass where a series of cleverly engineered pipes provide water to the fenced off area of the feeding grounds, and keeps the shimmer of the shallow lake beyond from dissapearing during the dryest periods of the turn. A distinctly squared entrance farther south is the tunnel leading out to the lands beyond. Traders and tithes arrive here at regular intervals and it is not uncommon for part of the bowl to be set up with a series of tents and wagons as wares are displayed and sold. To the west, the bowl wall has been eroded by the desert winds into strange shapes. At their base are found the weyrling barracks and training fields.

You go to dismount but the straps hold you on.

Janja unbuckles Ilyse from the riding straps.

Janja unbuckles herself from the riding straps.

You swing down from Feyruth's neck.

Igen Weyr - South Bowl

The orange hued sandstone layers comprising the bowl walls curve gently, but ever presently in your view. Fine sand shifts underfoot, a slightly paler version of what is found upon the walls. It gives way along the eastern edge to a section of contrasting green grass where a series of cleverly engineered pipes provide water to the fenced off area of the feeding grounds, and keeps the shimmer of the shallow lake beyond from dissapearing during the dryest periods of the turn. A distinctly squared entrance farther south is the tunnel leading out to the lands beyond. Traders and tithes arrive here at regular intervals and it is not uncommon for part of the bowl to be set up with a series of tents and wagons as wares are displayed and sold. To the west, the bowl wall has been eroded by the desert winds into strange shapes. At their base are found the weyrling barracks and training fields.

Ilyse climbs down from Feyruth's back.

Ilyse slides down and looks around, taking in a few long, deep breaths. "Wow." She looks around, amazed. "This looks so different from what I'm used to." She sounds stunned. "No big trees anywhere." She looks to Janja. "I survived on my own in a forest for two turns. I don't think I'd of lasted two days out there." Her eyes flick to the goldrider. "But it is lovely."

Janja grins wryly. "It's hot, sandy, and the sun glares something terrible." She watches as her gold immediately takes to the air again, headed to the north where her weyr is located. "The lake is behind us. That over there," with a gesture to the large opening, "is the weyrling barracks. You'll be in the candidates' quarters off the living caverns. Follow me, please." She strides off towards the north bowl.

Igen Weyr - North Bowl

The relatively flat bowl is covered in a thin layer of pale sand and dust that shifts with the seasons. Contrastingly, the orange hued desert sandstone which comprises the bowl walls stretches skywards. Northwards is the smaller niche administrative complex, where the queen's and weyrleader traditionally make their home. The singular staircase running along the wind curved bowl wall can be traced connecting the ledges of the Weyr's leadership. To the northeast is the greater opening into the hatching grounds, with a smaller shadowed entrance for the dragons a few lengths above it. Most of the foot traffic however goes into smaller ground level entrances which lead into the heart of the living and dining areas. Set apart from the other areas a series of smaller entrances of varying size which lead into the infirmary and various crafter areas.

Igen Weyr - Living Caverns

Second only to the Hatching Sands in size — although its walls are not so nearly circular — the living cavern is filled with numerous rectangular tables, almost too many to count. The Weyrleaders have the table farthest from the kitchen and hearths at one end of the cavern. The hearths are kept as low-burning as possible during the day when folk come inside to escape the heat outside. They burn brighter at night to keep away the deserts chill. No matter hte level of flame, there is always a stew pot that hangs for nibblers at a good temperature. Favored drinks, particularly iced klah and juice, are kept on ice and interspersed at various food tables scattered about, along with baskets of rolls and fruit. There are, of course, scheduled mealtimes, and at certain points of the day the available fare slides into the menu for the nearest meal, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late-night snackings, but the staff has long since acknowledged that people will sit to talk and nibble here at all hours. In the cooler parts of the evening in particular, the cavern hosts games of chess, checkers, dragonpoker, and others. Several degrees are knocked off thanks to the Technician Craft's cooling system.

Igen Weyr - Inner Caverns

Igen's inner cavern is smaller than the main living cavern, but isn't small by any stretch of the imagination. Tables and comfortable chairs are placed about the room, clustered together, and often-occupied spinning wheels and a large loom sit in one corner. A small corner-table holds klah and various crudites and appetizers, refreshed constantly by the kitchen's staff. The walls and much of the floor are covered with a mosaic of colorful rugs, many handcrafted by Igen residents, dampening noises and giving the cavern a more intimate feel than its size immediately would suggest

"I'm going to get so lost and nothing but my bones are going to be found." She giggles at that as she arrives.

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