Logs:Of Wellbeing
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| RL Date: 11 May, 2006 |
| Who: Maja, R'hin |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| When: Day 16, Month 8, Turn 7 (Interval 10) |
| Your location's current time: 19:20 on day 16, month 8, Turn 57, of the Tenth Pass. It is a summer evening. You wander across the thin strip of land between the main lake and smaller pond, winding through rocks and boulders. As you near the southern bowl wall, the path begins to incline, taking you to a plateau several dragon lengths above the lake against the southern wall. Diving Cliff Soft, resolute, and dreamlike, the day's ending sunlight provides for an eerie gaze across the Weyr, not to the worn, stone steps that disappear into this flat area resting high above the waters below. Huddled families of rocks, boulders and pebbles lay strewn around the edges of the clifftop. The sandy center of the half-plateau seems to have been cleared of any debris and the area provides enough room, sitting or standing, for many people. A small journey to the edge of the precipice reveals the true use of this place. The deep, midnight-blue waters of the lake shimmer below in the dimming light, and the shorn patch of rock near the edge proves that many a person has felt the thrill of a swift flight from this clifftop, only to be enveloped by the chilly waters of the Weyr lake. The evening is clear, not a cloud to be seen, giving you a perfect view of the stars. The smaller Belior is shining brightly as a full moon while Timor is a nearly full waxing gibbous. A light wind blows and the summer air is pleasantly warm. It looks like it might be fun to 'jump' or 'dive' off the cliff into the water. Contents: Vesereth Maja Obvious exits: Path Mere moments after Maja heads for the cliffs, R'hin can be seen picking his way up from the lake. Leiventh isn't with him, but the bronze isn't that difficult to spot - he's circling lazy in the air above the lake shore, taking advantage of the warm summer thermals. Vesereth is being noisy now that they're out of the barracks, burbling and rumbling at his rider, who sits on the edge of the cliff. Vesereth himself is leaning his large head down to Maja's level, the arc in his long neck much wider than it used to be. Maja verbalizes nothing, but has her mind on a silent conversation. Neither of them notice R'hin's approach. "I was hoping to be able to speak to you, vixen," he begins, not the usual sort of words R'hin begins with, and certainly not when speaking to Maja. He seems to deliberately offer the words as announcement of his presence, stopping short of the edge of the cliff, nodding towards Vesereth. Maja immediately sits up straighter, and Vesereth swings his head around. "R'hin," Maja returns as her greeting, and Vesereth accompanies this with a sharp snort. The woman crosses her arms and twists herself around to face R'hin. "What would you need to speak with me about?" R'hin can't help himself; the urge to mirror Maja's physical posture is irresistible, folding his own arms across his chest. "You're a guard," he says, without bothering with the clarification of 'former'; "You're a weyrling, but you're also a guard. It seems to me if there's to be trouble in the Weyr it's you I ought to speak to." Familiar, knowing grin creeps across his features. His eyes cut briefly towards Leiventh, before shifting back. Maja slowly raises her eyebrows as R'hin continues about her former position, at first incredulous about his intentions. "There's to be trouble, R'hin?" She queries, ignoring R'hin's mock of her stature completely as she unfolds her arms and pushes herself to her feet. "Trouble how so?" "Maybe," R'hin clarifies, taking a few steps closer, but allowing a length of personal distance to remain between them. "I know you've no reason to trust my intentions, but lets just say I have a feel for certain things, certain people." He shrugs, arms unfolding, shoving them into his pocket, restless movement. "Have you met the itinerant visitor, Bayan, yet?" Maja immediately crosses her arms again, an unconscious movement nowadays especially when trouble is mentioned. "No," she responds, though seem to be scanning faces of people in her mind. "Where's he from? Why are you nervous about him?" Nervous was the wrong word. "You should," R'hin says plainly, simply. His lips twitch briefly, and he adds, "Are you sure you want me to color your perceptions of him by giving you my own opinion? He claims to be lately of Igen Hold, travelling." Only the slightest of emphasis on 'claim', but obvious enough for someone trained to hear exactly that sort of inflection. "Igen Hold?" Maja purses her lips, nodding and thinking. She's very interested, even if it's R'hin telling her. "You won't exactly be coloring my perceptions. I'm perfectly capable of separating what you tell me from my own opinions. What are you nervous about?" "Nervous was your term, not mine," R'hin corrects adroitly. "He wasn't exactly being subtle about his dark and mysterious past of which he claimed that no one could possibly discover a single thing, nor was he particularly subtle about threatening me in front of witnesses when I called him on it. He also seemed particularly interested in our Satiet." He drawls out those last two words, smooshing them together, purposefully. Leiventh> To you, Leiventh's a tad bemused by all the talk, but seems interested nonetheless. "She's your Satiet, not mine," Maja corrects R'hin, in the same way as he had corrected her. "I see. Being incredibly conspicuous? I'm willing to bet that he's tamer than he seems." Vesereth has been watching the two of them silently so far, but adds on his own rumble of agreement at that-- not that he knows any more than to agree with his rider. "Bayan, you said his name was? Mmm." Her eyes are shining now, lit up by her curiosity. R'hin's response is to spread his arms wide, "She belongs to the Weyr, and we are a part of the Weyr, are we not? It is our... duty. Responsibility," his voice turns oddly harsh as he says that, "To ensure the wellbeing of all within, whether they appreciate it, realize it, or not." His head tilts a little at her assessment, mild agreement that is anything but, "Perhaps he is nothing more than a tame storyteller. If, however, you'd seen his reaction when I offhandedly referred to him as an itinerant ruffian, however, you would certainly think differently. 'If looks could kill', I believe the saying goes..." his eyes roll upwards, as if he's contemplating that - though it doesn't make his words any less sincere, it's simply a part of who he is. When his eyes drop back towards Maja, noting that glint to her eyes, he nods to himself, without comment. Leiventh> To you, Leiventh observes, « It's far too easy to offer a feline milk. There's no challenge. » Fortunately, Maja is fairly familiar with the kind of person who gives scary looks for a living, and the fact that Bayan is adept at the practice doesn't phase her. She simply looks more interested. "I will certainly look into it," she says resolutely, disregarding any possible 'rules' that might keep her away. "I appreciate your concern," R'hin drawls, aware that it's probably more curiousity than anything that holds her interest. "If you require my assistance," he can't help a little grin there, "For... -anything-, I am at your service, vixen." Maja drops out of her reverie just in time to catch R'hin's last remark, and her thoughful expression slides into one of disapproval. "/If/ I require any assistance, R'hin, I will first go to the Ground Watch." She narrows her eyes on him, "But if they can't help, perhaps you may be able to." "I'm hurt," R'hin's response is light enough to hide any sentiment behind. "I'm a man of many talents. You should make good use of me, if you're able." The facetious words are acommpanied by a grin, which fades only slightly with the more sincere words, "The Ground Watch is stifled by rules, duties... responsibilities. They can only help you so far." Dryly, "Much as with the intentions of weyrlinghood, I imagine they have individual thought and intelligence beaten out of them." Leiventh> To you, Leiventh's amused, and observes facetiously: « Concerned for her well-being, are we, R'hin? » "Mmm," is all Maja can say to the contrary. "Individual thought tends to breed insubordination, and it's easiest to suppress it altogether. S'din takes the easiest route. I encouraged individual thought when I thought it would be beneficial." Her disapproval of the Weyrlingmaster can be heard in her voice. "The Ground Watch follows less stringent rules-- or they did when I was head of them. I haven't checked in on them for a while. -- And what talents do you have?" "He does." R'hin agrees, and he seems gratified to hear someone else express his own sentiments about the Weyrlingmaster. "And in twenty, thirty Turns, this Weyr will be run by the people who were trained by him, to follow without question, to lead without deviation, people who have no original thoughts to offer. Does that worry you?" he asks, deadly serious all of a sudden, as still as Leiventh tends to be, "Because it scares me." At her query as to his talents, he shakes his head, still sober, serious, his voice following in the same vein, "A conversation for another time, perhaps, vixen." "The Weyr will not be run by those people, because those people cannot make decisions. I worry about the fate of this Weyr in the future, but not because it will be run by the mindless. It'll be taken over by someone outside of the Weyr." Maja pauses for a brief thought, "Which is why I've been encouraging Satiet to do what she wants to do, and change the rules." She presses her lips together at his last remark, then turning back around towards the lake. "Another time," she insists. "You forget, Maja," it's a mark of R'hin's strong feelings on this subject that he actually uses her name as he steps closer when she turns away, "The arbitrariness of who leads the Weyr. The next gold to rise - not the most capable, the smartest, the best for the Weyr. The first bronze to catch her - not the most capable leader, the most wise and benevolent, a person who does what needs to be done, just the person with the fastest, most wily dragon. A random choice, heaped on a random choice, made by a random impression. -These- are the people who are the so called protectors of Pern." His voice holds a certain note of intensity, not quite anger, but probably fuelled by it to a certain degree. His gaze flickers towards the circling Leiventh, but is quickly drawn back at Maja's latter comment, surprised: "Satiet?" He barks a laugh. "She will do what she wants to do, regardless of your encouragement or not. Don't make the mistake of thinking she's not ambitious... or ruthless, if she has to be." Leiventh> To you, Leiventh's thrumming mindvoice is simply present, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with your sentiments. Maja twists her head around for a moment at R'hin's approach and keeps her lips together at his insistance. "Some argue the Weyr collectively has control over who the gold allows to win." This side of the argument presented, she doesn't defend it. "But we are no longer protectors," and she includes them, "now that Thread has ceased to fall." She turns her attention back on the lake. "She needed encouragement, whether or not you believe it." "Does the Weyr also have collective control over whom a gold impresses? Or to whom a bronze impresses?" R'hin's disbelieving voice is enough to make it clear he doesn't believe in the validity of that particular stand. "When you're picking from a group of mindless peons, how do you decide? The best looking? The best in bed? I imagine Shalyn would know, she seems to effectively represent the mindless view of a rider with no thoughts of her own left to offer. Or even Melata, who is so hung up on the thought of training leaders who obey her every whim that the thought of being in her Wing actually made me feel ill." He flings a hand in the direction of the lake as he steps beside Maja, even though the Wingleader's blue has long since departed. He takes a slow breath, his eyes once more lifting to follow Leiventh's slow circles. He's silent for a moment, then quietly, "Do you imagine she will be a good Weyrwoman?" "I have been disappointed in some of the riders here, there's no question." Maja extends a hand to give Vesereth's snout a brief tickle. "Shalyn and Melata are good examples. But there are... promising riders." Not that she can name any specific examples at the moment. "I imaging Satiet would turn the Weyr on its head, if Josilina ever stepped down and Teonath rose. Yes, I think she'd be a good thing for this Weyr." The intensity of R'hin's voice lessens, mollified by the agreement from Maja. In fact, he seems somewhat surprised by it, if the sidelong, thoughtful glance he gives his fellow weyrling is anything to judge by. "Jewels in the stone, all too rare," is his pointed comment on that score. A twitch of lips turns into a full throated laugh at her description, agreeing, "She would turn this Weyr upside down. I don't think it'd be a bad thing, either. Relations with every other Weyr might suffer, but she is no mindless peon, our lady of the spires." "Relations with every other Weyr might suffer, but they may strengthen." Maja continues to scratch at Vesereth's snout. "But you're right, there is nothing to guarantee she will be Weyrwoman in twenty turns. It's only wishful thinking to talk about it right now." R'hin, if anything, seems a bit bemused by that assumption. "Public relations is not Satiet's strong suit," is all he says of that, along with a twist of lips. The smile, faint as it was, disappears quickly. "If, as you say, the Weyr can influence who rises, perhaps it is not entirely wishful thinking. Certainly... you and I are not the only ones to have such thoughts. Having never been loyal to a particular Weyr, would they be called traitorous? I suppose you'd be the one to ask..." he turns away, respecting her personal space. "I appreciate your candour," he murmurs as he steps away from the edge of the cliff. "Who else prefers Satiet over Josilina? We should form a club," Maja almost jokes, in a way to emphasize the ridiculousness of the collective wishful thinking of Satiet's supporters. "They may be considered traitorous by the likes of Shalyn and Melata, I suppose." Maja turns around to watch R'hin step away, frowning and again crossing her arms. "You asked for my opinions and you got them. As I've said, I rarely lie." "I believe you," R'hin says fervently, stopping without turning, almost as if he accepted the words before, but didn't give them credit until now. "I'd be careful about who you share those opinions with. You, after all, are a part of the Weyr yourself, and your well-being is just as important." There's a hint of laughter in his voice at her mention of a club. "Perhaps we should at that. Good night, Maja." Above, Leiventh shadows his rider's movements, the lazy circling turned to deliberate motion as if a co-ordinated effort, sweeping over the cliffs and towards the bowl in R'hin's wake. "I share them with you, and I share them with Satiet. No one else is interested," Maja notes, turning back towards the cliff with a quick, "Good night." You stroll down the path leading back to the lake shore. After tracing the line of the bowl wall for a few dragonlengths, it turns north and winds its way between rocks and boulders before opening up to the lake shore. |
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