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.

11/23/02

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. Fall leaves cling around the edges of the bowl, and the trees near the lake are bedecked with bronze and red splendor.

Contents:

P'tod swings his leg over Semeth's neck and slides to the ground.

P'tod comes striding out of the barracks. "Cheni," he calls, "Have you practiced with firestone yet?"

M'rten comes out of the weyrling barracks.

Mariloth comes out of the weyrling barracks.

P'tod turns to see G'relk and his blue emerge first from the barracks. "Good. Go fetch me a bag of firestone, please," he instructs, directing G'relk across the bowl to where it's stored. The blue weyrling groans, but runs off in obedience to the order.

Cheni looks down at P'tod, saluting smartly, even as she sits on her perch of Irenyath's foreleg. "Sir, no sir, not beyond tossing sacks in the air and grading and sacking the stone." She grins at the other weyrlings who come out of the barracks.

M'rten salutes P'tod as he and Mariloth come over from the barracks. "You mean there's another use for the stuff?" he asks Cheni sarcastically.

"Good, you can join us for flaming practice," P'tod responds, nodding to Cheni. "M'rten, are you our number three?" Semeth, curled near the barracks, stirs and lifts his head, looking interested. P'tod glances over at the brown, then grins. "Semeth would like to inform you that there most certainly is. We'll get started as soon as G'relk... ah, here he is," he says as the rider comes puffing up and tosses the sack down on the ground. "Open it up and everyone take a couple of chunks."

Cheni scrambles down Irenyath and hurriedly trots towards the weyrling grouping. She chuckles at Semeth's response as she bends to pick up the 'stone as ordered. "So I've heard and so we have seen." With stone in hand, she looks over at Irenyath.

"I suppose I am, sir," M'rten tells P'tod with a nod. He turns to take some firestone as Mariloth moves closer.

"Okay," P'tod says with a smile as G'relk takes his firestone too. "Now, you're going to need to supervise your dragons pretty carefully while they chew. Two reasons. First, you don't want them biting their tongues. They get better at it with experience, but you still need to watch them. If they bite their tongue, it hurts, and generally will put them out of that Threadfall. The other reason is you need to make sure they're thinking of their 'other' stomach -- if they don't, and it goes into the food stomach, they'll just sick it up and you don't get any flame."

Cheni listens carefully, nervously shifting the stone from one hand to the other. "Right." She looks across at Irenyath to make sure her lifemate is listening as well. "Other stomach. Not the wherry stomach." She drops the stone in a pass between her hands and grins sheepishly as she picks it up with sweaty palms.

P'tod chuckles. "That's a good way to put it." He glances at Semeth as the brown lurches to his feet and lumbers over, nosing at the firestone pile. "I know it's not the best stuff, it's just for them to practice," he explains to his dragon.

The summer air temperature feels comfortable. The cloud cover lessens until the sky is mostly cloudy.

M'rten reaches up to pat Mariloth's nose. "You get that, girl? Put it where it belongs. I don't want all your last meal coming back up on us." He carefully passes her a couple of small pieces.

Cheni ewwws. "I've had enough of that for a while." She eyes M'rten handing over the stone but doesn't do anything with her stone until she receives further instruction. Her attention goes back to P'tod, answering Irenyath's curious and excited low croon. "Patience, dear."

P'tod watches as the dragons chew. "Okay, that's good. Two or three stones should be enough, and then they'll be able to try to make a flame. It may be difficult at first, but the best way to describe it is that it's a lot like burping. So, you may have to demonstrate." G'relk is right on top of that, opening his mouth to emit a fearsomely loud and lengthy belch. P'tod grins wryly. "Thank you, G'relk."

"Oh, yes," P'tod adds, "Make certain they are facing away from you and other dragons."

M'rten chuckles softly as he passes Mariloth another stone. "Like that, girl. I'm sure you can do it." He waits while she crunches, then nudges her to look away. "Ok, give it a try." The green bobs her head a little, opening her mouth and breathing a waft of warm air that smells like wherry, but no flame.

Cheni notices the other dragons' chewing and offers Irenyath a piece, muttering to the green as she does. Irenyath placidly chews away, careful as always. The first chomp causes the green's eyes to whirl with interest and Cheni giggles, more relaxed. She feeds the green her second stone, then steps back as the green delicately burps and lets out a small stream of flame directed at the empty bowl in front of her. The lifemates expressions of surprise quickly transform to victory as the stream steadies into a short but effective blast that sears the dirt in front of them.

Dragon> Telgar Weyrlings sense that Irenyath chortles. << We did it! My lifemate is so smart, of course we could do it. She helped me flame. Doesn't taste like much, though, not as good as crunching herdbeast legs to get the marrow. >>

Dragon> Semeth bespoke Telgar Weyrlings with << Very good, Irenyath! >>

P'tod nods approvingly at Irenyath's flaming. "That's very good, very good. How's Mariloth doing, M'rten?"

Cheni barks a short laugh and slaps Irenyath on her hide. "Well done, but then again, when isn't anything you do, well done?" She wrinkles her nose at the stench as her eyes water. "The smell, I'll have to get used to."

"Working on it," M'rten says with a cough, patting Mariloth's shoulder comfortingly. "I know you can do it, girl. Nice and easy." Squaring her shoulders, Mariloth takes a deep breath and tries again, letting out a short burst of fire followed by a slightly more enduring stream.

P'tod beams. "There you go! Excellent. I see they've both got it d--- what?" He looks over at Semeth, his expression reflecting annoyance. "Oh, great. Guys, I'm sorry, we'll have to put off the rest of the practice another time. There's something Sem and I have to deal with. Now, in a short time, they'll start feeling the need to regurgitate the ash. Just make sure they do it /outside/ the barracks, got it? Or else everyone inside the barracks'll be sorry. Oh, and congratulations!" With that, he hurries over to mount Semeth and the two are off.

P'tod grasps Semeth's straps firmly and swings himself up to perch atop the brown's neck.

Semeth takes flight, using the thermals rising from the bowl to carry him aloft.

Above, Semeth disappears into Between.

You begin writing a +mail message.

You send off your +mail message.

Cheni watches P'tod head off as another assistant Weyrlingmaster steps up. She blinks as two larger dragons already look as if they are about to relieve themselves of the remnant of the 'stone and hurriedly leads her lifemate to the ash pit, barely in time, as the ash is quickly disposed of. She wrinkles her nose yet again. "Ewww, but oh well."

M'rten coughs, waving his hand in front of his nose. "Oh, man. I see why they need to do that outside. Phew."

Cheni heads back to clear air. "Shells, no kidding. And that was only two or three stone. But she flamed, they both did." She grins at her fellow weyrlings. "Soon enough, we'll be up in the air, won't we? I mean, real Threadfall and really be riders and not just messengers." She sighs. "I did enough of that with Braddle."

M'rten nods, grinning over at Mariloth as she hacks up the last of the ash. "I can't wait. I got to go hunting earlier with I'sai and a couple of the other weyrlings. That was fun. Mariloth got herself a nice herdbeast."

Cheni laughs. "Well, Irenyath seems to like her beasts in the pen but she says hunting might be interesting. Where did you go? Very far?"

"There's a valley not too far away," M'rten says. "Really pretty place. Once I get the chance, I think I'll head up there again."

Cheni sighs. "Be nice to get away from the weyr a little, to see the countryside before the snows hit again. Not long now until winter." She shivers. "A nice ocean beach might be nice."

M'rten nods his agreement. "We'll be able to go anywhere we want. We could hop off to a beach every afternoon, if we wanted."

Cheni quirks a brow. "Well, perhaps, get a large group of us weyrlings together and head off, that'd be fun."

M'rten chuckles softly. "Well, yeah. I didn't mean just us. All of us, of course." He shrugs, glancing briefly over at Mariloth before asking, "So how's flying been for you?"

Cheni gives M'rten a look and her eyebrow remains arched. "Well, yes, of course, a group outing is always good." She pauses as she considers M'rten for a moment. "Riding? You mean heading up and down and up and down the weyrs? Well, it's starting to lose its novelty. But the air drills are fun."

The summer air temperature feels comfortable. The wind now just comes in gusts

M'rten nods again, grinning. "I'll try and find you if we get a chance go hunting again. It was so much fun to get out and fly over strange territory."

Cheni grins. "Well, I'm sure we'll go hunting eventually. How do you know if you aren't feeding from a farmer's prize stock though?"

M'rten shrugs, still grinning vaguely. "That's an idea. Maybe I'll go pay a visit to my aunt and uncle's farm. But if you look around for a while first, you can usually tell if they're wild or not."

Cheni laughs. "Well, I'd make sure first, you might get an irate cotholder after you and that's sure to get you in trouble with the weyrling staff or worse, the Weyrleader."

"Hey," M'rten says with a laugh, "That's why you have to fly in and out quickly."

Cheni rolls her eyes. "Cotholders know the dragons pretty well. And besides, it's not nice to eat their prime stock." She looks to Irenyath and then towards the lake.

M'rten nods slowly, still grinning. "Alright, alright, we'll make sure we only go after the wild ones."

Cheni shrugs. "It's up to you, you might like getting yelled at by the leaders. Some people like that sort of thing." She starts towards the lake. "Irenyath says she deserves a scrub and I guess I can't fault her on that one."

M'rten continues to grin. "It'd be better if I can get away with it, I think. You guys have fun, then. We're due for elevator duty soon."











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