Craft Dinner
June 2003
Main Hall and Ballroom
The
ballroom's vast space is simply and tastefully decorated, combining images and
materials from many parts of Pern. Opposite the main entrance, a broad balcony
is supported by pillars of the finest northern marble; polished to glassy
smoothness, they contrast the toning blues of the walls. A staircase of the same
stone rises in sturdy flights to the upper level. The high vaulted ceiling with
its round wrought-iron window is white, brightening the room, while the
varnished floor is the deep red-brown of a Lemos hardwood. High on the west
wall, a large'mural' shows a map of Pern, framed by images of harper life and
symbols of the Craft, while the bright tapestry' opposite offers an informal...
[look closer]
Quayna walks down the curving
staircase from the balcony hallway.
Ylisa walks down the curving
staircase from the balcony hallway.
Caeran nonchalantly strolls in
through an arch from the great hall.
Kierna walks in.
Quayna trots downstairs, hastily
fastening her runnertail with the usual scarf. She pauses at the bottom of the
stairs, looking around nervously.
Once more, the tables and linens
have been set out, and once again, the ballroom resounds with the murmurs of all
of Ista's Harpers under one roof and in one room.
At the raised table for the Masters, Liesana breaks with tradition by
being early for once, starched and formal in her best formal wear, and sneezing
vigorously into a handkerchief.
Ylisa comes down the stairs with a
spring in her step and a cheerful smile on her face.
Pausing a few steps from the bottom, she scans the ballroom and the
people assembling, then heads on down, all set to be sociable.
Caeran sprints in. "Sorry I'm
late!" he calls to everyone in the room, though that would only cause all
the more disturbance, before coming to a dead stop. He looks around in relief.
"I'm /not/ late, am I?" He straightens his clothing and his hair and
walks the rest of the way in a dignified manner.
Niara storms through the doors of
the hall, riding gloves gripped tightly in one hand, the other holding a rip in
her skirt closed. Her eyes widen at the site of the gathering harpers and her
mouth drops into an embarrassed grimace. She weaves her way to the Master's
table and stands silently, hoping that /someone/ would notice her disheveled
state and give her their attention.
Quayna shakes her head at Caeran.
"You weren't late - though you could've fooled us," she teases the
younger apprentice, brushing down the front of her tunic self-consciously.
Sioned walks in.
/Someone/ does indeed notice,
Liesana finishing her sneezing fit in time to wipe a reddened nose with the
handkerchief, sniffle once, and then turn to eye her disheveled foster daughter,
lifting an eyebrow to ask "Take Hadrian out without asking again?"
as her free hand reaches for a mug of steaming herb tea a drudge is
pressing on her.
Jueann walks down the curving
staircase from the balcony hallway.
Caeran smiles at Quayna.
"Looks like Niara thought she was late too," he says as he nears the
bedraggled woman. At least he's mostly in order. He's scraped several body parts
from tripping, but other than that you would never know the difference. The
formality-hating apprentice is rarely found in formal attire, and tonight isn't
one of those occasions.
"I h-a-t-e runners. They have
got to be the stupidest creatures ever. And no... not Hadrian. Tried one of the
newer ones, and the dimglow threw me and ran off. I had to walk all the way
back. Permission to be late so I can change?" Niara rattles off her
explication and request in a barely intelligible growl, shifting so Liesana can
see the ragged edges of the hole in her skirt.
Jueann comes out of the Harper
Office, looking less harried then normal. There's
an ink smudge on her left cheek where she had accidently, wiped her face with
the knuckle of her finger. Taking
her place at the head of the Master's Table, she nods to a couple people.
Quayna moves to a free space at
the apprentices' table, folding her skirts neatly beneath her as she sits down
to wait for the Masters to start whatever it is they need to start. She glances
over at Niara, following Caeran's words, and shrugs. "She'd better hurry if
she needs to change."
Kierna slips in from the way of
the great hall, a small overnight pack slung over her shoulder. Setting it off
to the side she glances about to see if she recognizes any of the hall
apprentices. Shrugging after a moment she slips into a seat.
Ylisa circulates, greeting this
person and that, before coming to a halt near some of the apprentices.
"I've hardly seen you since you got back, Quayna.
How's it going?"
Liesana chuckles and shakes her
head. "There are no stupid runners, only overconfident people.
Permission granted, Nia." she
waves off, nursing the mug of tea and rubbing at her sinuses.
"And next time, ask Synte before taking out a strange beast."
Sioned makes her way back in and
quickly finds a seat. She glances around to see who is here and waves to a few.
Soon as she has made herself known to be there she then props her head up on the
table with her hand.
Quayna gives Ylisa a warm smile.
"I missed your promotion! But otherwise, things are fine. I'm settling back
in just... well, fine." The apprentice gives a shrug for her lack of
originality in words.
Jueann standing at her place, nods
to all. "let's be seated.
Please. We have alot to do
tonight."
Caeran plops down across from
Quayna, as the empty spots are filling up very quickly. He can't believe he was
actually early, after running all that way. He tries to remember if he saw Niara
as he ran. "Hi, Ylisa," he says with a grin. "How have you been
doing?" He hushes when he realizes Jueann has spoken.
Niara is about the respond when
Jueann's announcement catches her attention. With a roll of her eyes as her only
allowable response, she nods and dashes across the hall to the stairs, taking
them two at a time until she hits the second step. "ooww..." she
whines under her breath and heads up to the dorms.
Ylisa gives a quick chuckle and
says, "It happened so quickly I almost missed it, too! Anyway, better sit
down. Hello, Caeran, I'm doing well,
thanks. See you later."
With that, she steps across to the Journeyman's table and drops into a
seat.
"Aaaaahh-CHOO!!" follows
directly on the heels of Jueann's directions, followed by a sheepish sniffle
from Liesana, who waves the handkerchief in one hand slightly, as if by way of
explanation. Still, the craftsecond
tries to look her attentive self, propping her chin on one hand and turning to
focus on Jue.
Jueann takes her seat, brushing
her hair back out of her eyes, smearing the ink smudge a bit more.
Nodding to the drudges to bring in the food.
Quayna goes quiet in response to
Jueann, shuffling in her seat - and then looking excited and interested as the
food's brought in. "Wonder if the cooks have done anything interesting for
us tonight?" she says to Caeran, opposite.
Caeran loves food, and beams when
the drudges emerge from the kitchen. "They always do something a little
interesting, it seems. For variety, I guess." He ponders what to eat first.
Tubers would be nice. Then again, he can have tubers any time. Maybe he's up for
something a little more substantial.
He digs his knife into some steak.
Sioned sighs happily as food is
passed out. "I am so hungry." sh says in a low tone. She trys to fill
her plate as full as she can with out taking it all for herself. She then passes
on the trays with a smile and hopes for seconds.
Ylisa finds herself between an
empty seat and a couple of journeymen who are deep in conversation and ignoring
everyone else. Not very promising.
She concentrates on the food, helping herself to quite large portions and
then eyeing her plate as if regretting it.
Liesana would normally be tucking
into her food with a right good appetite, but, feeling slightly better than a
large pile of firestone ash, she contents herself with chasing a sauteed
mushroom around her plate with her fork, the dastardly fungus managing to evade
her repeatedly. Still, amber eyes
settle on the ink smudge on Jueann's cheek, and with a soft "Hssst...
Jue." and some rubbing motions of her own cheek, she tries to get the
Crafthead's attention.
Jueann looks over at Lies, rubbing
her cheek. Seeing the ink on her
fingers, chuckles softly. Picking up
a napkin, dipping it water, well one can gues the rest.
Looking over at Lies as if to ask if she got it all.
Quayna tucks in to tubers and meat
with the rest of them, pouring extra gravy on her dinner. "Well, it tastes
pretty good," she answers Caeran after munching her first forkful.
Kierna serves a few of the dishes
onto her plate, dumping a pile of vegetables on her neighbor's plate, a fellow
Tilleken apprentice with a notorious dislike for vegetables. Talking between
bites she points out a few of the notiable harpers to her companion.
Niara descends the stairway and
renters the scene. Although not in her formal wear like a few others, she at
least has a new skirt, has brushed her hair and washed her face, and has
attempted to cover the reddening scrape on her cheek with her hair. She scampers
around the outside of the room and slides into a seat at her appropriate table.
She offers a puzzled look to Liesana's motions, but quickly covers a smirk when
she notices Jueann's cheek.
Caeran tries to eat slowly. He
doesn't want to be full before the business part of the dinner starts. Eating is
typically the only thing that keeps him awake and functioning. He notes Niara's
return, thinking that perhaps he
should have changed himself. He immediately dismisses that idea and takes
another bite.
Liesana gives Jueann a grin and
points at one final spot, before returning to ignoring her dinner, and the
clucking of an elderly drudge who seems to have taken the care and feeding of
the too-slender Craftsecond to be a personal quest.
Glances are given at various members of the audiance, and she leans in on
her elbow to murmur a few comments to her master about various possible
promotees.
Sioned notices Niara seat herself
at the table. "Where were you?" she asks with a smile. She didn't see
her earlier. She takes a quick drink and waits for a reply from her. "I
came over from my Aunts at Ista Hold, so I got cleaned up over there."
Niara rolls her eyes and leans
over, about to speak until a drudge passes behind her. Nia gets her attention
and quickly whispers her request for the trays to be recirculate her way.
"Runner..." she picks up with Sioned. "Threw me and I had to walk
back. Tore my skirt too. I was getting changed. Ooo..." the tray of meat
diverts her attention once again.
Jueann chuckles as she cleans her
face very quickly, as she turns her attention to her meal and the conversation
around her. She too isn't much
interest in eating tonight for some reason as he begins to study the fresh young
faces around her.
Quayna concentrates on her food -
though she spares a moment or two (or three or four) to glance towards the
journeymen's and masters' tables. Ylisa gets a rueful smile, even if she doesn't
see it; the masters get curious looks, though
hopefully not so obvious that Quayna's noticed.
Sioned smiles. "Never had
much luck with runners. Not sure why." and she watches Nia pile her plate
and she laughs a little and tends to her own stomach with a smiles of course.
She looks up and wonders. "Are you gonna be able to fix the skirt?"
continuing to eat as she waits again.
For someone who normally doesn't
eat a lot, Ylisa is making surprisingly healthy inroads into that rather good
herdbeast-steak. Still, the pair next to her have dropped from normal
conversation into low murmurs and staring into each others' eyes, so there's not
much else to do except eat and keep an eye on the Masters' table to see what's
happening next.
Jueann standing up, looking around
before she cleans her throat and taps her knife on the table like a gavel.
"Alright now. First off,
I would like to announce that Journeyman Torlan and Journeyman Aife are
requesting sr apprentices to help them at the Ista and High Reaches Weyr.
If you are interested, see me or Liesana.
Secondly, if youare interested in a posting with a posted journeyman
outside the Hall you must come to me or Lies."
Looking over at Liesana for a second, and nods.
Looking about at the apprentices, "We have some promotions to give
out tonight."
"Oooh, a posting to Ista
Weyr!" Quayna can't help but murmur excitedly. "That's where I was
brought up, you know," she tells the apprentice next to her, who just
shrugs and reapplies himself to his food.
Kierna pauses in her eating,
letting her fork make a small clatter onto her plate as she stops to listen to
Jueann. Shushing her companion she glares at him "Hush, I want to
hear." Loe mutters "Sorry" before sticking another bite in his
mouth.
Caeran would groan, but his mouth
is full. Knowing he is very unlikely to recieve a promotion, and not exactly
caring at the moment who is going to be, he decides to tune this next part out.
"I hope to get back there one day. Maybe when I'm a senior appy," he
whispers to Quayna. "High Reaches wouldn't be bad either."
Niara lifts lidded eyes to the
Master's table, though she does nod and mouth "Hope so," to Sioned's
question.
Jueann looking at the junior
apprentice tables, she smile, "Well Shawi and Delatia are old enough now to
be taken on as full apprentices. Stand
up you two and walk to the Apprentice Table."
The two young ladies stood up and
walked over to sit with the apprentices, grinning happily at this new
development in their lives.
Liesana is doing her level best to
follow the proceedings, even if the young master (30 is still young for a
master, so hush!) is thinking longing thoughts of hot baths and comfortable
pillows. The two junior apprentices
get applause from her, and a little smile for both of them, but her attention is
mostly focused on the table of current apprentices, eyes settling on a few in
particular.
Kierna watches the two girls for a
moment, before sneaking a quick bite off her plate.
Caeran applauds automatically, not
really focused on what is going on. When everyone else seems to be clapping, he
copies them. 'Attention. Apprentice Caeran will now be devoured by wild
felines.' He'd probably be clapping then as well. He keeps his eyes on his
plate.
Turning her attention now to the
apprentice table, The Craftmasters level her gaze at each apprentice there.
"First off. Apprentices
Jocan, Murin and Pipin are on water rations for three days and they have to help
Smith Sean cleaning the forge for their prank with the soot bucket in the girl's
dorm after they finish cleaning up the mess.
I hope you girls are giving them what for as they are cleaning."
Ylisa neglects her meal to watch
and clap softly as the two girls move to their new places.
Not so the two lovebirds, who simply continue their intense conversation
until someone on the other side of them nudges the young man; then they fall
into embarrassed silence.
Quayna smirks at the three
apprentices who are getting punished. "Serves 'em right," she tells
the fellow female apprentice on her left, who nods vehemently in agreement.
Niara gives one of those sappy, 'I
remember when,' smiles and joins in the clapping for a moment before picking the
napkin out of her lap and fishing around in her glass of water for a few ice
cubes. She promptly folds them into the napkin and holds it up to her cheek,
elbows planting on the table gloomily.
Kierna coughs on her bite of food,
well that will be some interesting gossip to bring back to Tillek, she's just
glad she wasn't here for it. Nudging her companion "Loe, did you hear
that?" she motions towards the boys just in case he wasn't. "I bet you
would have been right there with em if you could have been." Her companion
forms into a bright blush muttering under his breath a moment.
Caeran flashes a smile to the
three boys who got caught. One of them glares back at him. He shrugs. He knew it
was them, but it wasn't him who told. He'd never betray a fellow prankster in
such a manner. Innocently he goes back to eating.
Stilling pinning her gaze at the
apprentice table, Jueann says in a stern voice. "Quayna.
Caeran. Stand up.
I've been given reports about your conduct in class."
Sioned shrugs and looks around a
slight wave goes to Kierna as she didn't see her untill just now. She looks at
her plate as she finishes the last bite quietly. A quick glance is given to the
boys and then a shrug. Her head is promptly placed on her hand.
Ylisa tries to look suitably
disapproving when Jueann pronounces the punishment on the offending appies, but
can't quite manage it and resorts to staring at her plate instead until Caeran's
name is called. Then she looks up,
all concentrated attention.
Quayna flashes a panicky glance at
Caeran. Uh-oh. Getting to her feet, she smoothes down her tunic, and grimaces at
the sauce stain that's blossoming on one lapel. "Master Jueann," she
manages to say in a level tone.
Kierna winces slightly, hmm this
doesn't sound good. Spotting Sioned's wave she returns the greeting discretely.
Liesana looks properly grave and
solemn at the apprentices being called up, forcing her lips into a thinly
disapproving line that only twitches a -little- bit.
Honest. She thinks better of
that tactic, and raises a hand to screen the lower half of her face, watching
with interest and occasionally rubbing her nose.
Caeran's mind doesn't register
until Quayna stands, and then he recalls hearing his name and something about
his conduct. That's not good. He pulls himself to his feet after a redicuulously
long time and stands there silently, staring at the master grimly and hoping his
punishment isn't too severe.
Jueann turns to look at the
masters and at Liesana, "What punishment should I give these two?
What do you think?"
"I think you should follow
that first option we discussed, Jue," Liesana
opines, sounding stuffed-up rather than her usual polished diction as she quite
happily keeps them wondering just that little bit more.
"Clearly these two are an interesting case."
Quayna is trying to be mature and
sensible in the face of adversity - but she fidgets with the fork in front of
her anyway, drawing lines in the gravy on her plate.
Jueann nods, turning about to the
two, "Well there's nothing left to do but promote you two to sr apprentices
for your good reports from all your teachers."
Caeran sorts through his memories,
wondering which past incident did him in. Was it the tuber sculpting? Or maybe
the whole thing with the ink...But he was convinced at the time Journeyman Oekaf
believed it was an accident. And what could Quayna possibly have done that he
hadn't heard about? Then he hears Jueann's words. "Why...thank you,"
he manages to say.
Kierna coughs at the sudden
apparent turn in events. Her cough quickly turns into a slight chuckle before
she makes a quiet commentary to her companion "Well that is one way to do
it."
Sioned ears perk up as Senior
Appies are mentioned. She looks at the two and smiles and begins to clap with
the table. A quick glance and a nod is sent Kierna's way also.
Quayna blinks. "So this isn't
about...." she starts to say, then abruptly shuts up, clenching her fists
at her sides. "Senior.... thank you!" she answers, pleased as well as
surprised, and takes a couple of steps towards Jueann.
Ylisa smiles broadly and applauds,
annoying neighbours forgotten. "Well
done, Quayna!"
Caeran smiles at Quayna.
"Congratulations," he whispers to her. Now that she's taken care of,
he can finally do nothing but stare into space for the rest of the night. And
eat. There's always eaating. Too bad he's running low on meatrolls.
Niara lifts the makeshift icepack
away from her cheek and gingerly feels out the spot on her cheek, nodding and
trying not to smile too broadly at Quayna moves away from the apprentice table.
Jueann looks over at the
journeyman table, "The miners and the herders are looking for a harper to
post with them." Then her eyes
fall on Ylisa. "Aren't you
sitting at the wrong table Ylisa? Shouldn't
you be siting with the Sr journeymen?"
Ylisa has just looked away from
the proceedings to help herself to some fruit when Jueann speaks to her.
She looks up, smiling, and calmly replies, "We could do with a few
more seats on that one, Master Jueann; there wasn't room tonight with everyone
here."
Jueann chuckles, "Ylisa.
Our newest sr. journeyman. Everyone."
Quayna, in the middle of moving
herself (plate and all) to sit with the other senior apprentices, glances up
towards Ylisa. Another promotion already? With a bright grin for the others who
share her new status, she settles down in an empty seat, and pokes once more
with her fork at the food.
Sioned looks at her plate in need
of seconds but decides to wait till after the dinner finishes before she raids
the food left over. She glances at the Masters table then at Ylisa. Hrmm. She
claps a little and smiles. Zone'n out.
Kierna watches the promotions come
quickly now, grinning her fool head off "We'll be doing that someday
too." she nudges her companion's attention back towards the front.
Jueann nods, "That's all I
have for tonight. I'm very proud of you all." Untill her eyes fall on the
three pranksters, "Well most of you, anyways." Raising her glass,
"The the Harpers of Ista Hall!"
Caeran follows Quayna over to the
new table, still a bit dazed. How could he possibly have gained this new rank so
quickly? It seems like he hans't had nearly enough classes yet. But he is too
excited to worry about that for long. "I just can't believe it," he
tells her.
Jueann Hits the OOC Button.
"Ok, guys. some ooc announcements
Kierna raises her glass as well,
and as the ranking visitor from Tillek she can't help but add "And
Tillek" not too loud, but certainly not whispered either.
Quayna stabs at the leftovers of
her meal with her fork, before joining Jueann in the toast. "I'm a bit
surprised myself - well, about me too, but about you as well. I didn't think
you'd be here long enough," she tells Caeran, her heavy brows almost
joining as she frowns.
Caeran puts on his OOC hat and
pulls out some oreos.
Under the glare of the OOC Light,
Jueann begins, "Some ooc stuff. We
really do need people at the weyrs, active and wanting to bring activity to the
weyrs. But when we do send people out, they are good for a bit, then they too go
idle with discouragement. Also...."
Jueann munches on popcorn,
"Also, the herders are working up a tp that looks promising.
Those of you with herder alts, knows. We'll be posting details when we
get them."
Jueann says, "Lastly, my
activity is going to go down hill as the summer heats up.
If you need help with anything the harper staff are wonderful people.
We need active rp'ing and tp's. If
you have pranks, tp ideas, please please let us know.
We may want to participate too."
Kierna mutters and needs to get
more active and finish her project one of these days.
Jueann says, "Ohh I almost
forgot. Niara, our handy dandy
webperson has a new look to our webpage. Get
with her for the url."
Jueann says, "Any quesitons?
comments?"
Caeran wonders if Pern has
flugelhorns.
Jueann depends on the metal
Caeran hmms. Well, they're really
just enlarged trumpets...
Though I don't plan on RPing about
flugelhorns any time soon.
Ylisa notes that she's very
willing to be grabbed for classes when she's on, but finds it difficult to plan
them in advance for various reasons.
Sioned nods and needs classes.
Huggles Ylisa!
Kierna wonders "Sr. Appies
teaching, how does that work again?
Jueann says, "They can teach
with a j'man sitting in or staffer watching via spy"
Sioned wonders if I teach a
class...with a J'man or higher sitting in...can it count as one of my two
specialty classes... if i already have the first one
Niara
There is a teaching credit needed to be fulfilled as well, Sioned.
Sioned knows that, but i was just
wondering if it could happend *huggles Nia*
Jueann says, "We think it's a
separate category on the progress board"
