Jurio is Searched (Smith Hall; Ista Weyr) - Leona - January 17th, 2007

SmithCraft Hall Meadow

A large open meadow surrounds you, scattered throughout are the various buildings that comprise the main SmithCraft Hall. Unlike other halls, holds, or Weyrs, there seem to be no walls surrounding the site. The buildings themselves are set into the surrounding woods, the Telgar Mountains rising up around the meadow on all sides, allowing only the narrow river valley for easy access.

One side of the meadow is bordered by a main tributary of the Telgar River, the water flowing from Telgar's paternoster lakes through the meadow toward the sea, dropping in three Cascading waterfalls directly behind the Main Craft Hall.

Accessible from the meadow are all the areas one would need to go. To the East is the Main Craft Hall, to the North is the Main Hall which houses the Halls services, to the West are a series of smaller halls, in which can be found the various classrooms and workshops, as well as the Craft Dormatories. A small cluster of Huts lines the entrance to the Craft Hall Meadow, providing Guest Residences and Stables.

Leona swings down off of Lakareth's neck, and the brown shuffles away slightly, limping a bit. The woman wears the knot of an Istan transport wingleader, and she carries a rather official-looking clipboard. "I'm hear to pick up a crate of buckles!" she calls out, frowning, "Does anyone know where I might find a crate of strap buckles?"

"Igotit!" Yes, all of that is now one singular word as Jurio spits it out. He's a bit busy /with/ that crate, after all. There's a small 'whump' as he sets the thing down, leaning on it with a tiny huff of air before looking at the rider, tossing out a wide grin. "How many you got /in/ here ma'am? Thing's loaded down." And thankfully not full of..big giant heavy things. The apprentice scurries about though, making sure the crate is definately secured closed. "I think everything's all good to go and all. Were you needin' anything else?" Ah, customer service.

Leona raises an eyebrow, ticks the crate off the list on the clipboard, and glances at it. "'Shipment: Buckles. SmithCraft.' Doesn't say how many there are. Though I'd imagine they do get quite weighty." she frowns over the clipboard at the crate, then at Lakareth. "Hmm. Alright, could you come help me rig that up to the straps under his belly? He can't really hold it in his paws because he needs his back ones to land, and his front ones, well…" she gestures to the brown's withered right front leg.

Jurio tosses up a little salute before moving the crate all the closer. "Oh sure, ma'am. Of course he needs his legs free. I mean, if I were comin' outta the sky, I'd take alll the landing gear I could get!" Or he'd just land on his face. Same difference. He gives a brief rub under his nose then, before squinting at the straps. "Alrighty then." Now to figure out how these things work.

Leona smiles briefly at Jurio, and nods. She's all business at the moment, which is fitting, as this pretty much is her job. She nods to Lakareth, and the large brown stands on his toes, to allow the maximum room underneath his belly. She pulls down a sturdy leather harness, then moves over to help Jurio get the crate in position. "We need to get the crate right there, on that piece of netting, that's the base of the harness." she explains, with a nod. "Landing is fairly interesting with only three good legs. But he seems to do okay. We've been trusted with far more fragile cargo than this." she adds, with a grin.

Jurio does look up a bit. So he's never been /under/ a dragon before. Not a place most people think of going, really. "Well of course he does. My grandaddy, he lost an /arm/ in an accident. Cut the whole thing right off. But he went on about his business. Once he healed on up, of course." Really, the boy tends to have a big mouth. He shifts the crate around just a bit more then, and looks around. "I think that should do it.. Looks good and ready for takeoff."

Leona grins, and nods, ducking under to fasten the crate in place. "Really, lost an arm? Well, luckily Lakareth still has his leg. He can't do much with it, but it's not totally useless." she does smile though, and glance up at Lakareth. "Oh, um, I wouldn't touch him if I were you either, he doesn't like that." she says, with a shrug. But when she straightens up again, she does ask, "Are you busy? Seems to me I could use a hand unloading this at the other end, as well." Couldn't someone *there* help?

Jurio blinks just a little bit, and looks around, sneaking a glance at the other smiths milling about, hauling things in other places. "Help ya out, ma'am? Well now…heh, sure!" Shirking work is what it's all /about/, right? "Never been to far from the hall, and everythin', and the masters /do/ say that we gotta help out customers out however we can."

Leona snickers slightly, and nods up at Lakareth, perhaps some private joke. "Alright then, let me help you up." she says, with a grin. "We'll be going between," she adds, "Which can be quite a shock if you aren't used to it. But it only lasts as long as it takes to cough three times. And I've never heard of a dragon coming out of between without all of what they went in with." she adds, pulling down a little leather ladder fastened to Lakareth's straps. "I made this to help my daughter up. She's nearly twelve now."

Jurio does look a bit skeptical. "I think that's cause no one's fool enough to try jumpin' off." He'll stay firmly attached to Lakareth, he will! But he does give a mild little sniff, looking at the ladder. "Well now there's an idea." Definately good for those..inexperienced in the art of dragon mounting. He moves then to start climbing.

Leona chuckles, and nods, leaning over to make sure Jurio is securely buckled in before doing her own buckles, and stowing the clipboard in a pocket attached to the straps. "My mate is especially grateful for the little leather ladder I installed. He's definitely not riding material. But he's a passable harper. Trying for his mastery, he is. Been trying for the past five turns." she rolls her eyes, then gives Lakareth the signal to take off, warning him to be careful of the crate.

Ista Weyr: Southern Bowl

Compared to that of other weyrs, Ista's bowl is small, and incomplete - northwards, one wall was blown clear away several millenia ago, leaving the view clear towards the plateau, the jungles, and the ocean beyond that. Somewhat elliptical, the breadth of the bowl seems to run Northwest to Southeast, the bustling epicentre of the weyr being here, towards the southwest. Several large entrances have been dug into the great bowl walls here - north east are the hatching grounds, south the Living Caverns, these being the two largest caverns in the weyr.

To the east, a small entrance leads in to the ground weyrs - the ledges of these line the bowl wall above, often filled with dragons of gold or bronze; westwards is another ledge, but with a staircase built into the wall, allowing access to the Sable Sands. The infirmary is located towards the southwest.

"That's /cold/!" And that's all Jurio has to say about that..between thing. "I'm gonna have to do that on the way home too, aren't I?" Alas. What a cruel trick to be playing on a young boy. There's a tiny shudder given to work off the lingering chill. "I'm definately gonna need a couple mugs of hot hot klah. Yes..that's on the list." So sayeth Jurio's Schedule of Things to Do. Which of course is rapidly gaining a slot for 'lounge on the Istan beach'. But that can wait. "So this is Ista, hm? Right pretty place, it is. Warm, too."

Lakareth lands carefully, because of the crate attached to his underside. Leona undoes her buckles, and Jurio's, before sliding down to the ground. "Yes, I'm afraid so, it's rather a long way to fly straight, and we've got lots to do today." she says, with a shrug, as she works at unbuckling the crate of buckles from the straps. As she works at it, she does say in a nonchalant tone, "You *could* just stay here. I'm sure I could find you a knot." as though she's just suggesting they get some klah.

Jurio blinks for a moment at the suggestion, but grins. "I think my pop would throw a fit if he found out I went and shirked my duties all day long." Really, he's in danger of some tanning already. "Sorta pawned off my /assigned/ stuff on some poor guy earlier." He wasn't even supposed to /doing/ the shipping. Whoops?

Leona nods slightly, and glances up at Lakareth. "Hmm, alright then." she says quietly to the brown, before turning to Jurio, "By the way, I don't think I've caught your name? I'm Leona, and this is Lakareth." she introduces, then nods at the crate, "Could I get you to help carry this as far as the lower caverns, at least?" and she nods to the living caverns, "Just through there. And we can get some warm klah on the way back?"

Jurio's grin only widens, and he moves to get the crate. "Oh, terribly sorry 'bout that. Name's Jurio, ma'am." Of course he'll help. After all, it's what he came for. She did say she needed unloading help, after all. "And pleased ta meetcha. You too, Lakareth. You just show me where to put this and I'll get it there for ya."

Leona nods, and gestures to the Living Caverns. "After you, Jurio." she says, with a smile. Lakareth watches Jurio and Leona carefully until the pair disappear into the caverns, then curls up and goes to sleep.

Ista Weyr: Lower Caverns

Twin caverns stretch off from each other, wide and bustling - this is the workshop for the weyr's support staff, filled with people at work in a variety of occupations, throughout the day. The bubbled caverns are huge, breaking off into a warren of different tunnels and passages, leading off to a variety of places within the depths of the weyr walls. The walls are smooth with use, as is the floor beneath, although it becomes more jagged deeper through the tunnels; the ceiling arches high above, almost rounded in high, spacious formation.

Tendrils of steam creep through the wooden door that leads towards the hot springs, to the north west, whilst the Records Room door - often locked - is located down a passage to the west. A smooth staircase leads uptowards towards the living caverns, to the south west, whilst other rambling passages lead to private offices, and the quarters of the weyr's residents.

Jurio is definately a little slow about his progress. Hey, he doesn't know where exactly he's going. Just that he's got a somewhat heavy crate in tow. So he looks around, taking stock of where he is. "So all these buckles.. They're for what, exactly?" They've got to be for something, and he really /doubts/ that they're for people's shoes. That wouldn't be very trendy.

Leona glances about, then nods. "Over there, I think, near the records room. I'll get someone to move it to the storerooms later." she comments, then turns to Jurio. "The real reason I wanted you down here is that Lakareth wanted me to ask you something…" she pauses, then snickers, then finally says, "Jurio, would you accept the honour of standing for Teloriith and Dhonzayth's clutch, which is hardening on the sands as we speak?" Leona adds, "The buckles are for straps. Much like the ones Lakareth wears. Us tanners supply the leather, and you smiths provide the buckles." she says, with a smile. "They've got to come from somewhere, dragons don't just hatch with straps." she adds, with a grin.

Jurio mphs a bit, setting the crate down where indicated. Goal accomplished. "Mm?" Indeed, the question gets a /stare/ from the apprentice, before a little grin forms again. "Haha, ya didn't have to trick me down here or anything for /that/, ma'am." Daddy can't very well get onto him for being delayed for something like that, now can he? No punishment! Yes! "I'd be glad to stay."

Leona grins at Jurio, "I had a feeling you'd say that. I just figured we'd head there along the way." Then she explains, "The barracks are just through here." with a chuckle. "I've got to get you settled in, and then we can head back out and get that klah." she suggests, with a nod.

Ista Weyr: Candidate Barracks

Rows and rows of cots fill the length of this room, which is far too big for the amount of candidates that Ista commonly hosts - it's a remnant from turns gone by, when space for up to eighty candidates was necessary. The cots have been pulled further apart, many discarded, which means that there is plenty of space between each of them for a press and even a small table, although it's still not the most spacious of areas - there are far more cots than could ever be needed. Boys and girls have been mostly separated, with a curtain able to be slung down between the two areas, although there's still a communal sense between the two areas.

A tunnel, kept firmly covered by a great door, leads deep into the bowels of the weyr; it's a long walk to the end, wherever it goes, and glow lamps are required for any who walk that way. The barracks themselves are well lit - glow lamps kept filled, as yet another chore for the candidates, both on and off duty. Upon one of the walls, a brilliant mural has been painted, depicting a queen and her mate, and a clutch of eggs.

Leona goes through the rules for Jurio, as well. "No sex, that can lead to pregnancy, and it's fairer just to not let *anyone* do it. No drunkenness, because you don't want a hangover come hatching day." she snickers, "And behave yourself, because you may end up being among the next generation of riders at Ista. Don't forget to do your chores. Shirking duties just leads to worse chores if you get caught." she adds, with a slight frown. "One in my class would up on latrines for the entire candidacy." she adds, with a snicker. "Never much liked him."

Jurio snickers slightly as he finds himself a cot. "Prolly was a pretty stinky fellow after all that anway." Mm, spending quality time with the latrines. "But gotcha. No sex, drinkin', partyin', rollin' outta bed at noon…all that good stuff, right?" He throws a grin back at Leona at that, and plops on his chosen cot. Bounce?

Leona snickers, and shakes her head. "Nope, no fun. What a shame." she says, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, it's worth it. You don't want to risk getting kicked out of candidacy!" she gets that sappy I-love-my-dragon smile, then. "Lakareth, or any dragon in fact, would have left you at the hall if they didn't think you could do it."

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