Fort Weyr

Rumors have been circling in the last few days: where is that junior weyrwoman? Normally Isyath is a fixture in the skies above Fort Weyr, her golden figure almost constantly spotted circling above. However, both she and Ali have been noticeably absent of late. Some have even spotted six-Turn-old Jessimi proudly sporting the knot of a Fortian junior weyrwoman, which she claims she found on the bowl floor.

Is Ali hiding out, with the release of the prisoner? Was she involved in what happened to Hattie? Did N’muir actually throw her out? Is she being sent on some sort of trade for a High Reaches goldrider? Has she been sent to Boll as payment in exchange for return of tithes? All these rumors are making the rounds, though just how true they are is anyone’s guess.

Day 22 of month 10, word got round that Orialu had been released from the cells and not, as many were assuming would happen, sent away from the Weyr. Her release suggests that she’s not been convicted of anything despite the wild and varied accusations rumoured to have been flung at her, though, given the fate of the last person to be convicted of a crime, are the Weyrleaders just trying to play down and rehabilitate this one?

Mere hours after the cells became empty, a gold firelizard was discovered dead in the crafters’ workrooms, impaled by a large shard of blue glass.

Day 22, Month 10: Given there has been no shortage of problems piling up on the Weyrleader’s shoulders, it’s unsurprising that N’muir promoted one of his wingriders to assist current Wingsecond, Ol’vae, in leading Hematite. What might be surprising is that he promoted brownrider E’dre – the same wingrider who punched him in the face last Turn. Time will tell how the promotion will effect Hematite, and whether N’muir and E’dre have truly set aside their differences.

For the few days following the accident, Ebeny continued to hold weyrling classes, though must have either refused to or been instructed that she was /not/ to hold any classes involving firestone. The greenrider was unnaturally subdued and overly-anxious the whole time, with Laurienth’s participation minimal due to her injury, and, on the morning of day 7, month 10, Ebeny simply didn’t turn up to take /any/ classes. Any who’ve seen her will have noticed that she’s no longer wearing her assistant weyrlingmaster knot and her jacket is sporting Jasper’s emblem again. Did she quit? Was she fired? Is it temporary?

Without another weyrlingmaster to take her place, classes will have to be reshuffled to allow the remaining weyrlingstaff to take on her timetable as well. Some weyrlings have joked that they’ll run classes themselves. Whatever the outcome, things are going to be a little chaotic for a while.

Midday of day 4, month 10, the panicked and pain-filled voice of one of the weyrling dragons, green Ryerith, reached out wordlessly to every Fort dragon. The chaos in the southern bowl soon revealed that an accident had occurred during the weyrling dragons’ first attempts to produce a flame: Ryerith had severely burned her own rider /and/ other dragons. Aislara, Ryerith’s rider and the youngest of the weyrling class, was soon removed to the Infirmary, unconscious and with burns covering her chest, one shoulder and her back. It remains to be seen whether Aislara will survive and whether Ryerith will cope with the healing process if she does, especially since she seemed moments from Between during her frantic mental contact.

Now that the solarium has a new roof in-place, the task begins of trying to make sure it doesn’t shatter again and reduce everything back to square one. The glass smiths are still working on the refit, yet won’t reveal if they’ve found a particular way to reinforce the glass, as are the woodcrafters, who are producing a number of large panels similar to the temporary roof that was protecting the chamber. Some of the crafters temporarily posted to the Weyr haven’t been exactly quiet about voicing their desire to get the job done and get away as soon as possible, though the incarceration of Orialu seems to have calmed those who have been suggesting that they’ll be seeking danger pay for being made to work in ‘unsafe’ conditions.

Morning of day 2, month 9, Elaruth alerted almost the entire Weyr to a commotion in the living cavern by subjecting the dragon population to an uncharacteristic flow of panic and darkness which continued long into the day. Orialu, a former candidate, found herself in the cells before noon, accused of an attack on the Weyrwoman, and was reportedly dragged from the living cavern shouting obscenities following a confrontation with the Weyrleader. Not only is she accused of harming the Weyrwoman, who was found unconscious and with a head wound, but of being the one behind the other sinister goings-on at Fort. Does she harbour anger towards the Weyr for not Impressing from Isyath’s clutch? Is it really anything to do with Bea’s death, as so many have assumed? Is she actually guilty of anything at all?

By early evening of day 15, month 8, it became apparent that a number of riders had fallen ill with nausea and vomiting, only driven to visit the Infirmary when the symptoms just would not let up. Each of the patients turned out to be from Hematite wing and it was this suspect pattern which prevented the Infirmary from issuing a quarantine. Theories as to the cause of the illness are running wild, from something slipped into their drinks at the Fountain, to just some dodgy food set at their table in the living cavern, post-drills. Those who are unaffected have been asked to provide as much information as possible about their routine on day 15 and the previous evening. If this is the latest in the line of sinister happenings, was someone aiming something stronger for the Weyrleader, given that Hematite is his wing?

With the most recent of the firelizard killings reported to have been a brown that looks to the Weyrwoman, are the Weyrleaders now on a list of targets that has already included weyrlings and caverns staff?

It didn’t take long for word to get round the Weyr that blue Tsaheyluth’s Sedark, Jasper rider and one responsible for supposedly leaving Bea /between/, had been grounded by the Weyrwoman, the command enforced by Elaruth. Does this mean that Sedark didn’t actually leave the dragonless murderer /between/? Is she behind what’s happening to firelizards or the graffiti in the weyrling barracks? Or is it for other reasons entirely?

Progress is slowly, but steadily being made on the repairs to the roof of the solarium, with new panes of coloured glass being produced to replace those that shattered at Turn’s End. Some are arguing that, if the roof can be broken once, it can be broken again, so what’s the point in putting in more glass? Do the Smiths have a trick up their sleeves to prevent the roof being shattered again? Reinforcement? Shutters? Time will tell.

The geese have finally been turfed out of the broken weyr beside the solarium to allow work to begin on restoring and transforming it for its next purpose. Those who have been assigned to clean it out are reportedly /not/ happy and really, who can blame them, given that its last occupants weren’t exactly… house-trained.