Cairn Hold

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 17th April 2007

Characters: J'nus
Description: J'nus goes exploring on his day off
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 3, day 7 of Turn 4
Notes: Follows, 'Mouldy Old Maps'

The air was pleasantly cool against J'nus face as he came out from the bitter chill of /between/. Dark green treetops swayed in the wing beneath Kopth's bronze wings and the mountain peaks that surrounded them were still capped with snow, although it was summer. He squinted against the glare off the white peaks and silently named them to help get his bearings. **Cairn Hold ought to be over the range to our left.**

Kopth rumbled his acknowledgement and turned on a wingtip, leaving J'nus with a dizzying view down the gorge below. Their shadow leapt across the pine and sped toward the treeline. Something moved -
ovines, J'nus thought as he caught a glimpse of ragged white. Escaped and gone wild in the safety of the mountains, and food for the fierce wild felines that hid up here. Kopth rumbled again as they crossed from trees to the treeline, his wings straining in the thin air to move them up and over the side of the nearest peak. }:You are sure that we could not have come out of /between/ any closer?:{
**I am. I think Sweepriders occasionally come past here, but unless it's Threadfall then I'm pretty sure that we haven't flown over. And I wouldn't want to take a bearing off something half-noticed during Threadfall.**

}:Maybe so, but _you_ are not having to fly! The air is so thin, and you are fat and heavy.:{ J'nus could hear Kopth's lungs straining as they neared the ridge.
The snowy peak was to their right, and it arced up even higher than they flew. He could barely breathe as well, but even so his eyes were drawn to the tip of the mountain. **No one has ever stood there, Kopth. Nobody in all of Pern.**

}:They would be foolish to try,:{ the dragon replied sourly.

J'nus shook his head. Dragons were too practical to understand the magic of being _first_. Kopth gave one last mighty wing stroke and then they were over the ridge, and the next valley fell away beneath them. The dragon glided down the mountainside back over rocks, tundra, frightened ovines and back over swaying treetops. The drop was dizzying and made J'nus' ears pop painfully - dragonriders were used to severe altitude changes, but that didn't make it comfortable.
**It should be at the east end of the valley, near the pass,**

}:What pass? I see no pass,:{ Kopth said.

J'nus squinted against the sun - it was true. Cairn Hold had always been relatively isolated, and now he could see why. The 'pass' that Kapera had found for him on a map was no more than a trail over a ridge that was perhaps a little lower than the ridge that Kopth had just flown over. He frowned; that could be a problem.

Cairn Hold had been established pre-Plague by a cell that had split from Amethyst Cliff Hold. They were Miners, Smiths and Woodcrafters, for the most part, seeking the high mountain valley's privacy and abundant outcroppings of ore and copper to practice their Crafts without the restrictions of their Crafthalls. The land had been cleared, but the cool forest was rapidly filling in the fields and gardens. J'nus could see thinned, shorter trees and snaking fences of rock across the land below him. Nearby a lake glitter brilliant glacial blue; the Hold had been built at the lake's edge. **There! I see it!**

}:It is a pile of rocks,:{ Kopth said, eyeing the ruin. Lichen grew on the south face and part of the west wing's roof had collapsed. It was a small Hold even by mountain standards - but J'nus could hear Kopth's curiosity. }:I can land in the courtyard.:{
**Please.** The world tipped dizzyingly again as Kopth circled down, then landed carefully in the overgrown courtyard. He eyed the weeds poking through cracked paving stones disapprovingly as J'nus dismounted. **I shouldn't be too long.**

}:I will wait for you,:{ Kopth said. He flattened an enterprising pine tree with his tail, then curled up and did his best to soak up the sun.

J'nus stripped off his helmet and goggles and left them in a pile near the Hold's entrance. The door was askew on its hinges; beside it stood a small cairn that glittered with tarnished copper and blue-veined ore. A small plaque was cemented into its centre: 'All Who Seek Wisdom; All Who Craft; All Who Create Wonders From The Earth: Be Welcomed to Cairn Hold.' J'nus ran his fingers across it and left four shining marks in the grime, then stepped into the Hold.

Inside was dark and dusty. He could navigate somewhat by the light of the door, but couldn't get further than the entranceway without light. From a pack on his back the bronzerider withdrew a glow that shed dancing beams across the ruin before him.

The remains of tapestries rotted on the walls. J'nus peered at them but they were too dusty to see clearly. Dirt, sticks, and leaves had blown in from the open front door and he frowned as he spotted feline tracks etched in mud. Were they still here? "HELLO!" he shouted, just to be on the safe side. His voice echoed and dislodged a small shower of dirt from the rafters. He went on.

The main entranceway branched off in three directions; a staircase that swept up to the left and right, and a wide portal straight before him that led further into the gloom. J'nus paused to examine the banisters; they were elaborately carved, but scarred and cracked from use and abandonment. The central door beckoned; J'nus held the glow up as he entered.

There was a central hall; if one took the passage to the right they were led to the workrooms. Straight ahead lay the common rooms - a dining hall and a central community hall where folks could gather around a large fireplace and while the winter nights away. To the left lay the kitchens and storerooms; the floor above held the bedrooms and suites, to take advantage of the heat of the roaring fires. The workrooms were intriguing - J'nus promised himself a peek before he left. But it was the woodcarvings he was interested in, and those would be in the common room with the fireplace.

Something scraped against the stone floor; J'nus hesitated and looked behind him. Faint light from the door he'd come through etched the hall; it was empty besides rotting tapestries and a long, cracked wooden table that lurked along one side of the room. The air was chill and utterly still; goosebumps raced up J'nus' spine. **There's no one here. You're alone,** he told himself. }:Not alone. I am just outside,:{ The bronzerider smiled at the reminder. Abandoned Holds held too many echoes of people to be comfortable. He'd probably scared a large spinner or trundlebug. The central gathering room was through the double doors just ahead. He strode forward, his boots loud on the dirty stone, holding his glow aloft and pretending he wasn't straining to hear any sounds that weren't echoes. Tables leapt into profile beneath the glow's searching light. Ringed with benches whose edges glittered with dulled bronze beneath dirt, they were mostly whole although one or two showed signs of decay. A mug stood abandoned to one on his right, a plate was smashed against the wall near the door. Spinnerwebs stretched from the tabletops to the floor; J'nus shuddered and moved on. Closer to the middle of the room padded chairs rotted quietly in small groupings. There were couches nearer the looming fireplace; a monstrosity of cobbled stone with a black, gaping maw with wrought iron fangs. A black iron screen held the sparks at bay behind a twisted scene of flowers and firelizards. Two long tapestries bordered the fireplace, but both were blackened by soot and time and utterly illegible. J'nus wasn't interested in those. A long wooden panel ran around the edge of the room carved into stark relief; the woodcarvings. He held his glow high and slowly paced around the perimeter to examine them. Felines leapt out of the wood and grimaced as spinners ran from the light into their open mouths. Men on runnerback held spears and bows aloft; a garland of women danced beneath the trees. Stars fell, fires leapt, people laughed, fought, made love - it was a Masterwork. **Beautiful,**
J'nus thought, grinning. It would fetch a good price once it was cleaned.

He turned back to the room; the benches were too large and bulky to take out, but some of the chairs with the vine-carved legs and backs would be easy to salvage. J'nus took one last look at the wall panels and left the common room to its ghosts. He thought he heard a soft patter of feet as he passed through the doors, but no - it was more likely the wind soughing in the eaves. The glowlight glittered off the brass door handles; they were shaped like growling felines. He felt a chill run down his spine again as the door's guardians stared at his retreating back with dead eyes. The workrooms beckoned; J'nus found himself hurrying through the doors that led to the Crafter's abode and wondered if it was eagerness to see what they had left behind or if he was trying to escape the creeping stillness of the dead common room. The doors closest to the main hallway belonged to the Woodcrafters, it seemed.
Hooks on the walls were begrimed and stretched with spinnerwebs; thin light trickled in from grimy windows. Some of the cabinets that lined the walls stood open revealing rows of smaller, inexpensive tools like punches and gouges, and dried out pots of glue and resin. One corner held lengths of cured wood that leaned in rows against the wall. J'nus tried to open one of the closed cabinets but it was locked. He debated breaking the door, but decided he could come back later with tools, should he wish to. The next room in held benches and the larger tools Woodcrafters needed. There was a discarded set of gouges scattered across the floor and the hooks on the walls were empty. Something white near the door caught his eye; was that paper? The bronzerider walked over and plucked a small book from its shelf on a cabinet. Dirt fell in a wave off it and its pages were yellowed. It was handwritten. A diary? He turned to the last page.

'1165-9-4 Mother is dead. I'm happy for her; watching her suffer was impossible. We have to leave the Hold but the pass is closed and no dragonmen answer our pleas. Lachas will leave tomorrow, and although I hate to leave the dying we cannot bring them if we are to make the pass... if we stay we will die for certain. Braving the pass gives us hope, or at least the semblance of it. I would prefer to meet death head on rather than wait for it to find me. Curse that Harper! I am glad he is dead, although I wish he'd died of altitude sickness before he'd ever reached our Hold with his Plague. Everything we've worked for is gone. I am leaving my diary behind in hopes that someday someone will pick it up and understand what we have done. To you, Stranger, I leave my Hold and my dreams. Tread lightly.

Journeyman Smith Lillim.'
**Tread lightly.** J'nus pocketed the diary, then left and crossed the hall to the next door, which was closed. The handle gave way beneath his hand and J'nus pushed it open to reveal a storeroom.
Carvings lined the shelves against the walls, although there were gaps where some had stood and had been taken. Several of the carvings had been knocked over and spread liberally with grime and spinner webs. The dragonman grinned - now _this_ was a find! He chose out a stylized feline etched onto a wooden vase, a set of bed knobs carved into flowers, and a box inlayed with a rose for Kapera to thank her for her help. He was just about to leave when something glittered in the glowlight. He held his light aloft, then swore.

There was a skeleton at the far end. Clothing draped off his ribcage in an indistinguishable colour; his leather boots were stained at the top. Worst of all was the gouge that was lodged in an eye socket.
J'nus' mouth tasted sour. **What on Pern happened here?** He knelt beside the poor soul and found Crafter's knots on its shoulder: a Technician. There was a brassy globe in the corpse's rotted hand.
Etchings teased at beauty between skeletal fingers and J'nus used the edge of Kapera's box to pry it out of the Crafter's death grip. It rolled across the floor and bumped against his foot. **Curious,** he thought, then stuck it into his pocket along with the diary.

His morbid discovery robbed the bronzerider of his taste for exploration, and he turned on his heel and quickly left the Hold without peeking into the rest of the workrooms. The sunlight on his face was a relief and J'nus lifted his palms to the light. Kopth watched him with amusement. }:You are covered in dirt. I thought you'd be in there longer!:{ "So did I, my friend." The bronzerider shuddered and replaced the glow and the carvings in his backpack. "But I think I'm ready to go."

}:As you wish,:{ Kopth said. He stood patiently as J'nus climbed onto his back and strapped himself in, and then took off in a flurry of wings that set the grass in the courtyard spinning. They circled the Hold once before going /between/, but not before J'nus spotted the rows of cairns behind the Hold. Graves. He grimaced, catching a gleam of bleached white bone amid the tall weeds and grasses.

Cairn Hold was abandoned. The high mountain valley disappeared into the chill of /between/, and J'nus wondered if it should have stayed that way.

Last updated on the April 17th 2007

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Cairn Hold