Elevators Go Up

Writers: Jelena, Chelle
Date Posted: 9th July 2012

Characters: P'nal, Derwill
Description: P'nal and Derwill chat over dinner.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 11 of Turn 6

He had been at the Weyr a few days now and Derwill was starting to
feel at home. The Weyr might be a big, strange place, but the people
didn't seem to pay too much attention to him yet. It was a nice change
from being stationed at a Hold where everyone watched his every move
like he could explode any second. Which, in all honesty, could happen
with some of his experiments. But the Weyr was big enough to go
unnoticed, at least for now, and he liked being able to do as he
pleased without complaints. Sure, he checked on the Weyr's systems
and did his job, but most of the time he got to work on his ideas.
And his latest idea had him glowing with enthusiasm. To work on it,
though, he needed information. And as he reached an empty spot in
the Dining Hall he decided that now was the right moment to start
gathering it.

"Good evening, Sir," he said cheerfully to the brownrider sitting across
from him.

P'nal looked up, automatically checked knots, and nodded. He didn't
know this man. Then again he didn't speak to crafters that often
these days. "Evening," he greeted in return as he popped a biscuit into
his mouth.

"My name is Derwill, senior journeyman technician, how do you do?" Derwill
said pleasantly as he took a fork and stuck it firmly into his meatroll.

"Well enough. Well met Derwill. I haven't seen you around I don't think.
A real technician huh?" There weren't many of
those.

"Yes, as real as they get," Derwill grinned. "And you could be right,
I have only just moved to Dragonsfall. You might find me wandering
around the Weyr completely lost anytime during the next couple of
sevendays."

"Hmm thankfully the Weyr isn't as big as a major Hold in some respects.
Our common areas have to fit in a small area of caves after all." P'nal had
been craftbred, so he'd started in a fairly small community, though he'd seen
enough of Opal Cove Hold to know about how large things might have been
before the plague.

"That may be true indeed," Derwill nodded. "Doesn't it get crowded?
Especially with all the dragons needing a place as well?"

"Well..the dragonriders make up the bulk of the Weyrfolk, so down here
doesn't get as crowded as you might think since besides eating and such,
we usually stay above ground while drilling, exercising, or flying.
Our weyrs are also above ground, unlike those of the Weyrfolk, since we need
ledges for the dragons." All in all, it was a good arrangement, he had to
concede. Their ancestors had known what they were doing.

"Ah, I see," Derwill said, taking mental notes as he kept on chatting.
"And is it easy to get around for dragonriders, with their weyrs up
high? Do they always go there with their dragons, or do they have to
walk a lot stairs, sometimes, too? Are there even stairs?" he paused
for a moment, thinking. "Of course there would be stairs, the cleaners
need to have access as well, I'm sure?"

"There are stairs but it's quicker with a ride. It's very unpleasant in the winter."
P'nal was glad he had gotten a lower Weyr with his rank. Although he had
problems with snow drifts now so it was just one of those things.

"I can imagine! And it has to be difficult if you have non-rider
visitors, I bet. I always thought the staff cleaned all weyrs and
such, with the riders busy at drills, but that was a false
assumption on my part?"

"Riders are responsible for the daily maintenance of their own weyrs.
The staff comes in once every so often to touch things up and gather
dirty bedfurs, laundry, and the like. The weyrlings are their elevators
when they need it. Of course in the winter, it's nigh on impossible some
days for that to happen so we're a bit..on our own at that point." He could
just see all the women in the Lower Caverns trying to haul up heavy loads
on the stairs or worse being out in that snow day in, day
out with frostbite or hypothermia.

"Hmm... interesting..." Derwill said, his eyes glazing over for a
moment, until he shook himself out of his thought and returned his
attention to the food on his plate. "Do you think there is a rider who
would show me one of those upper weyrs? I'd be interested to
investigate some possibilities."

"Any of the weyrlings can take you
up there to the empties if you need."
There was usually one on duty out in
the Bowl, P'nal knew.

"Oh, that would be great!" Derwill's eyes sparkled with a barely
contained enthusiasm, ideas already bouncing around inside his skull.
"Are you sure they wouldn't have more important things to do, though?"

"It's a part of their duty, plus it helps them get used to flying before they
have more strenuous drills," the brownrider explained patiently.

"Oh, I never looked at it that way," Derwill said with a smile. "How
wonderful. How do I apply for a lift?"

"Quite easy actually. You walk out to the Bowl, look at the knots to find the
weyrling on duty, walk up to them, and ask to go wherever you need to." The
look on his face was rather straightforward. It was really a simple process.

"Well, that seems pretty straight forward," Derwill grinned. "Thank
you, you are a great source of information." Derwill paused for a
moment. "If there is anything I can help you with, do let me know."

"For sure," P'nal replied, wondering just what he might need a
technician for.

Last updated on the July 24th 2012

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Elevators Go Up