The following is a log of roleplay from PernMUSH . The World of Pern(tm)' and 'The Dragonriders of Pern(r)' are copyright to Anne McCaffrey (c) l967. This is a recorded online session, by permission of the author but generated on pernMUSH for the benefit of people unable to attend.

10/29/02

Weyrling Barracks

This immense cavern is the home for weyrling pairs. A huge opening is the entrance, leading to the ground level bowl. The floor is not quite smooth, being gauged with numerous scratches and cracks, from the clumsy undergrown claws on equally clumsy dragonets. The indentations on the floor, made by millennial pressure of the growing dragons, are quite suggestive of their purpose. Most of them have furs in one corner of them, as the new riders sleep as near their lifemates as they can. A particular odour lingers in the air here, not quite pleasant.

The normal ruckus of the barracks is almost constant.

Contents:

DRAGONS: Irenyath Mariloth

PLAYERS: M'rten Cheni

P'tod comes striding into the barracks. "You," he says shortly, pointing to Cheni. "You, you and you." He points to several more weyrlings in turn. "You haven't had your supervised unmanned flight, have you? Let's go, I can take up to five. Anyone else?" He looks around.

Shawnah glances up from where she and Alyonth are just sitting there, staring at each other. "Huuh..?" she starts, before she remembers to stand and salute. "Umm, we haven't gone yet?" she offers, glancing back to Alyonth, who just look vaguely confused.

Cheni blinks, holding an oil paddle in one hand and a dumbfounded expression on her face. "Really?" She grins, looking up at Irenyath. "We're ready, Assistant Weyrlingmaster."

P'tod favors Shawnah with a brief grin, then with a nod he's all business again. "Let's go, then. I'm off-duty in less than an hour, so if you hustle we can get you all in. No need for straps, you won't be riding." With a wave of his arm, he gestures them to follow him out to the bowl.

P'tod moves through the opening to the west, heading toward the bowl.

You move through the opening to the west, heading into the bowl.

Central Bowl

A stony field is the center of this great caldera, the size of which is unmatched at any other Weyr--for the whole complement of all the wings at Telgar could rest comfortably within its towering cliffs. Shaped in a perfect oval, the rock walls seem ideal for keeping the usual chill winds stirring about. The ground is mostly made of pebbles and rocks, some hued the milky shades of old quartz, though there are patches where softer dirt and even trees sprout up from the ground. To the south, the bowl opens onto the living caverns and the Weyrleaders' quarters; the immense entrance to the Hatching Grounds lies to the northwest. Heading southwest will lead one back out into the rocky mountain ranges around Telgar's protective walls. Dragons may be seen, relaxing or fresh from feeding, to the north, as well as the soft lapping sounds of Telgar's lake touching the sandy shore. The Weyrling Barracks, always aflutter with activity, are to the direct west. If you're looking for the 'dutypair' to take you to an outweyr destination, they can be found here. The meadow near the lake is strewn with wild flowers, like little stars of pink, yellow, and white. The ground by the barracks is quite muddy.

Cheni trots out after Irenyath. "Hold on!" She laughs at her eager lifemate. "Shells, just take care, dear and -listen-."

Dragon> Irenyath senses that Semeth reinforces the command. << Listen to your rider. >>

Dragon> Irenyath senses that Irenyath warbles excitedly. << I always do, she's such a dear, isn't she? >> Whuffling her lifemate, she sighs. << She worries but I do listen. >>

Cheni smoothes down her whuffled hair. "No good trying to get on my good side, Irenyath, just pay attention now."

P'tod stands with hands folded behind him, waiting until the weyrlings have all emerged. Semeth, crouched by the barracks wall, rumbles cheerfully at each dragon that comes out. His rider nods again, sharply, once everyone's in place. "Okay, it'll be one at a time, just a short flight - three wingbeats and glide, then land. No more than that. We'll take turns. Now. They'll probably be a bit wobbly and may land rough - it's hard, until you get the hang of it. Encourage them if they get frustrated that they'll learn it, because they will. And let's not have any panics over scrapes if they happen either. Everyone clear?"

Shawnah walks nonchalantly out of the barracks after P'tod and Cheni. There's a brief pause, and suddenly Alyonth is stumbling out, as if just now getting it. Shawnah sends an amused glance back to her, then turns back to P'tod, nodding slowly. "Yes, sir!"

Above, Decarath flies over from the south end of the bowl.

Decarath backwings for a landing.

Semeth bugles brightly at Decarath. He's crouched near the weyrling barracks, all tensed up with excitement.

Decarath spirals downward, landing neatly a distance away from Semeth and the Weyrling dragons. Yashira climbs down immediately from his back.

Yashira dismounts Decarath.

Decarath snorts once, stamping a foot before settling down to peer at the weyrling dragons with skepticism.

Dragon> Telgar Weyrlings sense that Alyonth's mindscape is a torrent of waterfalls, restless excitement. << At last! >> is all she bespeaks.

Cheni chews her lower lip at the mention of scrapes and looks anxiously to Irenyath. "Do be careful now?" She nods as she listens. "Two or three wingbeats, glide, land. Right." She spreads her arms, then giggles. "Oh right, Irenyath, you paying attention now?" She salutes Yashira as soon as she dismounts. "Assistant Weyrlingmaster."

"Hello, Yashira!" P'tod calls, breaking his stiff stance to wave briefly to her before turning his attention back to the five weyrlings gathered in front of him. "All right then. Who wants to go first? Shawnah, how about Alyonth? Does she understand the instructions? Make sure, and then give her leave to go as soon as she's set. Oh, and make sure she checks above her first. You need to develop that habit."

Dragon> Telgar Weyrlings sense that Irenyath croons as she looks skyward. << We can do this, can't we? We know how. >>

"Weyrlings," Yashira greets, saluting crisply and striding closer. "P'tod."

Dragon> Semeth bespoke Telgar Weyrlings with << Yes. It may feel strange at first but dragons are hatched to fly. >>

Dragon> Decarath bespoke Telgar Weyrlings with << Even you can figure it out eventually. >>

Alyonth also warbles a cheerful greeting to Decarath even as Shawnah salutes his rider, though the young green had mostly given up on that with that particular brown. She is just as tense as Semeth, wings unfurled slightly and held at and angle over her head.

Semeth rumbles at Decarath with some surprise, angling his head toward the other brown.

Dragon> Telgar Weyrlings sense that Irenyath chortles with good-natured amusement. << Why thank you, Decarath for the vote of confidence. >>

Dragon> Telgar Weyrlings sense that Semeth snorts at Decarath. << You will all fly well, when you have practiced it. >>

"Supervising flights," P'tod informs Yashira shortly, his attention on Alyonth. He shoves his hands into his pockets, watching intently as she prepares to take off.

"So I heard," Yashira says. She waves her hand. "Don't mind Decarath, whatever he just said. Oh... that. Oops."

Cheni grins at Yashira. "No offense taking, assistant Weyrlingmaster. Irenyath takes it all in her stride." She watches Irenyath as the green intently concentrates on her clutchsibling's every move.

P'tod glances over at Semeth inquiringly, then suddenly puts a hand to his mouth to further muffle his choked off laughter.

Semeth rumbles, curling in on himself and pulling his wings in slightly. He looks annoyed.

Decarath raises his head higher, peering down at the weyrling dragons.

Irenyath> I bespoke Alyonth with << You will show them that we can fly well. >>

Shawnah nods to P'tod then, turning to Alyonth. "You heard him? Good then! Whenever you're read--" and the green is looking up, and then suddenly in the air. Okay, /that/ was easy. One, two, three wingbeats. A glide, and she's angling for the ground... and then another wingbeat, taking her a few more feet into the sky. "Umm.. /Alyonth/!" Shawnah scolds, but the weyrling dragon seem to be enjoying her new 'freedom' a bit too much, gliding a bit more before she flaps yet again. "Bad Aly! You get down here /this instant/!" Shawnah calls, and, reluctantly, she begins her accent.. and then just drops, doing a tumbling roll once on the ground.

P'tod watches impassively through the wingbeats, the glide, the approach - then his face erupts into anger when Alyonth starts to rise into the air again. "Get her down, weyrling!" he shouts at Shawnah even as she's scolding her green. He glares as the dragon rolls, then says to Shawnah in clipped tones, "Go check that she's all right. Then come back and report."

Yashira scowls immediately, muttering, "If she's strained anything..."

The spring air is cold. The cloud cover increases until the sky is partially cloudy. The wind dies down until only a calm breeze blows now and then.

Cheni's eyes widen as big as saucers as she gazes up along with her lifemate to watch the other up in the air. As the green deliberately disobeys orders, she nudges Irenyath. "Don't even think..." Sucking in her breath at the rocky landing, she winces and hides her face in her lifemate's hide. "Don't you -dare- do that!"

Shawnah winces, and runs across the bowl to wear Alyonth is picking herself up. She runs her hands across her wings, carefully, muttering something under her breath the whole time. After a moment, she steps back, closing her eyes and breathing a sigh of relief. "Couple of scrapes on her chest and sides, but nothing major! She says she saw the ground and it suddenly came way too fast and she panicked." she calls over her shoulder, then steps closer to the green, muttering again.

P'tod raises his voice as he addresses the other weyrlings. "There's a reason, you see, why we tell you to do the things we tell you to do. If Alyonth had obeyed instructions, she almost certainly would not have crashed." He eyes the others, as if daring them to contradict.

Yashira looks over to Shawnah, nodding. "If anything swells up or starts hurting, do not hesitate to talk to us and the healers about it."

P'tod turns toward Shawnah, hands planted firmly on his hips. "That puts you out of further flying for this evening, then, weyrling. And," he nods to Yashira, "yes. You should get her checked over if the discomfort isn't gone by morning. Consider yourselves, both of you, on my list of people to watch." He pauses to let that sink in. "Any further disobedience I witness from either of you, and you'll instantly be grounded. Is that clear?"

Dragon> Alyonth bespoke Telgar Weyrlings with << I flew! Did you see? >> she pipes up, voice husky with pride. A sparkle of red-gold floats through then, and her voice sounds a bit guilty now. << The ground is harder than it looks.. >>

Cheni's eyes widen even bigger as she shakes her head. "No sir, I mean, we'll do just what we are told, sir." She looks at Irenyath with a significant glare. "Right?" And as Irenyath reluctantly croons her agreement, the girl relaxes somewhat.

Shawnah blinks, and then bites her lip, nodding mutely as she puts a hand on Alyonth's side. Alyonth emits a small croon of disappointment, but doesn't protest further. Instead she sits back, glancing up to the sky before looking toward Semeth. "I'll go get something to put on those cuts.." Shawnah murmurs, and hurries into the barracks, returning a few moments later with a small can of some salve - likely numbweed.

Yashira's head bobs once, and she turns her attention to Cheni. "Repeat the instructions to me, please?"

P'tod watches Shawnah with steel in his gaze. "Yashira - if you would," he mutters, then stomps off into the barracks.

P'tod walks through the entrance into the Weyrling Barracks.

Cheni stands at attention, looking over her shoulder briefly to make sure Irenyath is listening. The green placidly whuffles the girl's hair as she speaks. "Launch up, three wingbeats, then glide, then land."

Cheni stands at attention, looking over her shoulder briefly to make sure Irenyath is listening. The green placidly whuffles the girl's hair as she speaks. "Launch up, three wingbeats, then glide, then land."

Shawnah winces again, and then turns to Alyonth, scooping up a bit of the salve and then spreading it across the cuts on her lifemate's chest. She pauses, looking in wonder at her own chest as the soothing effect seems to spread to her, and then continues on. Alyonth, meanwhile, just watches the other Weyrlings quietly, wings still half-unfurled, catching the cold breeze blowing through the bowl.

Yashira's head bobs again. "Excellent. She may do so when she feels ready."

Whether or not Cheni is ready, isn't the question and as Irenyath's lifemate nervously watches, the petite green bends her knees, looking up at the sky, getting her momentum before launching forward. With a surprised croon, she unfurls her wings up and down, then up again, three beats exactly as ordered. With only the very slightest of wobbles, she glides forward, her warble of delight at being sky bound abruptly cut off as a mental nudge by her lifemate reminds her to land. And land the green does, with not much fuss, again, only the slightest of unbalance.

"Shawnah, go take Alyonth to the barracks and give her a complete rub-down, won't you? Check for anything that's swollen," Yashira says, waving her hand at Alyonth's rider.

Yashira nods in Irenyath's direction. "There, that worked out well, I think."

Cheni, in the meantime, doesn't handle the flight of her dragon as well as the dragon did. She pales and leans against the barracks wall as the green goes up. The further Irenyath goes, the more Cheni fades and slides down the barrack wall until she's sitting with her legs sprawled out in front of her. Shakily, as the green lands, she struggles to her feet. "She's fine."

Shawnah blinks away from Alyonth, and then up to Irenyath. She offers Cheni a beam. "Well done!" she says, and then coughs and nods to Yashira. "Yes'm" she says, and looks at Aly, who rumbles softly, and they head to the barracks.

Shawnah walks through the entrance into the Weyrling Barracks.

Yashira's forehead wrinkles. "Cheni? Something wrong?"

Dragon> Telgar Weyrlings sense that Irenyath warbles. << We did it, We did it. She was on the ground but she flew with me, in me, she's with me always. >>

Cheni swallows and as pale as she was, she now pinkens with embarrassment. "I'm fine. I ... well, we..." Her eyes widen. "We flew!!"

"So you did," Yashira remarks. "Not afraid of heights, are you?"

Cheni shakes her head. "No, assistant Weyrlingmaster. I was climbing trees and cliffs as a child. Just got disoriented." She grins up at Irenyath who waddled over to check her lifemate over. "Sometimes, I get sort of inside her head and forget where I am, you know?"

"I take it visualizations are going well, then?" Yashira inquires, arching an eyebrow.

Cheni chuckles shakily. "No problems on that front, almost too good, sometimes. But she flew, and she did alright?" She sighs. "She does everything alright, I'm the one running to catch up."

"She won't be good at everything," Yashira says, shaking her head. "Neither will you. Just try your best and you should do fine."

Cheni looks doubtful. "Well, you know more than me." Looking back up at Irenyath who seems raring to go again, she chuckles "Don't know what I'm doing half the time anyhow and the other half, I'm trying to figure out if I'm doing it right. I'll get it eventually, I guess, it's not cause I'm not trying."

"Just try your best," Yashira repeats. "Checks Irenyath over, please? Ask about strains, try to sense them and such."

Cheni nods and asks Irenyath to step out and spread her wings, doing a visual check as she does a mental check as well. Irenyath stands perfectly still, amused by the concern and her lifemate, after a good check and a recheck calls back from the other side of the dragonet. "She's fine."

Yashira's head bobs. "Sometimes you'll want to run your hands over her muscles and such, to check for swelling."

Cheni purses her lips and hits her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Dolt!" Scurrying to check once again as Irenyath takes the attention with growing amusement, she mutters. "Nothing unusual. Everything seems fine." She smoothes down the muscles under the left wing. "Looks good."

"No self flagellation necessary," Yashira murmurs. "Alright, then. Class dismissed."

Cheni pinkens. "No ma'am, we'll just head on to the lake, then. Irenyath has an interesting slug she wants to show me."

"Oh joy," Yashira says, looking faintly amused at that. She turns away quickly. "Well done, excellent, do enjoy yourselves."

Irenyath lumbers in the direction of the shimmering lake, leaving the central bowl area of the Weyr.









*** Disconnected from PernMUSH ***

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