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 Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:09 pm
Narisa - NPC Vintner Stall
{Current Marks: 10/10}
Her face was tight and drawn, showing lack of sleep and the stress she'd been under the past few days. But she'd managed to clean up and put something pretty on. It was a Gather and she couldn't just show up in breeches and a light weight shirt! No, she was wearing a nice dark blue dress with golden thread embroidered into it. The designs were almost like stars or mini suns. The dress was something she'd had for some time, a gift from her family. The embroidery she'd had added. For Cepheith.
Sighing, the Junior Weyrwoman stood among the others of Trine, listening to Wingleader Kleos' speech and feeling like the pit of her stomach was going to drop. Again. Narisa briefly closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer up to Faranth herself to watch over those dragons and their bonded who were recovering. And to take care of those who had not made it.
Once the speech was over, Narisa weaved her way through people and headed towards the craft stalls. She needed a distraction from everything currently occupying her mind - the most prominent being her dragon, who was still a little achey but almost completely healed - and what better way to do so then look at what the people of Pern could produce? She skimmed this or that stall, glancing at the nice quality of clothing here, or the finely crafted jewellery there. Ah, but it was (to no one's surprise) the vintner stall that drew her attention first. She smiled, unable to help having the urge to stop by there. After all, she'd grown up in the craft and always enjoyed having brief moments that reminded her of home.
"Good afternoon crafters. Might I steal a glance at what choices you've brought with you today?" Narisa asked kindly, looking the pair over. Not anyone she recognized, but even from this side of the stall she could smell the familiar lingering scents of the grapes and other fruits used to make the wines. "Oh goodness! You've got some sparkling wine?" Oh it had been ages since she'd enjoyed a finely brewed sparkling wine!
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:21 pm
C’ross – Ring Toss – 2 & 7/16 Marks
C’ross waited patiently as I’saak pored over the prizes, picking out first a green, then a brown – a brown? “For K’yne?” he asked. The plush did bear some passing resemblance to Psaumith, and the greenrider and the brownrider seemed to be getting along quite well. Good friends, even.
(Why did that thought cause a little twinge of some unknown emotion in his gut? It didn’t make any sense. I’saak was free to be friends – or more than friends – with whoever he liked. As long as he didn’t flaunt it in C’ross’ face, anyway. It wasn’t his business.)
Some of his Gather enthusiasm seemed to have faded somewhat. He was getting more than a little bored of the ring toss stall, and not entirely sure he wanted to spend the rest of his marks. “I’m not sure how well Trill would take to harness – don’t spend all your points on something that she might just chew up. At least the little toys are cheaper… How about a blue for her?” He idly scratched the firelizard’s headknobs, glad that she and I’saak seemed to be getting on well. Now he just had to hope that no one beat his score at the High Striker…
Kiril – Wandering – 4 & 15/16 Marks
…Well, that had clearly been the wrong thing to ask. Kiril had intended it only to be friendly – he was going to offer to go fetch his fellow Harper a drink from one of the stalls, or even to sit with him and offer accompaniment if T’lon needed a break and wouldn’t mind the company.
But apart from the offer of a name and a curt reply, the apprentice just awkwardly plucked a few chords as his firelizards stirred uneasily. Kiril touched his forelock politely in acknowledgement. “Pleasure to meet you, T’lon, and congratulations on your Impression.” He didn’t know hardly anything about dragons, but he wasn’t blind or completely incompetent at judging size. Compared to his brother’s full-sized bronze the green behind T’lon was obviously young, which meant… Weyrling, they were called. Well, he'd leave the weyrling to his performance.
He dropped a sixteenth-mark in the busker’s basket and bid farewell with one last call of “Enjoy the gather! Don’t spend the whole thing working, if you can help it.”
Idris – PC Weavers Stall – 7 & 1/2 Marks
…Good. It seemed that for the moment things had been defused; the particulars of the argument were none of Idris’ business, but at least it was somewhat less awkward for her than standing in the midst of brewing tensions on all sides.
“Thank you, both of you,” she said to the pair of mastercrafters, unable to fully keep the relief from her voice. She’d been spending the entire afternoon thanking people, it felt like. But it was a nice safe response – it was hard for anyone to take offense to gratitude the way that they might take offense to too much confidence. As Alina had said, the circumstances were… regrettable.
“Did you see the stall of aromatherapy oils for dragons?” she inquired of Bereck after a moment’s pause. “I was considering visiting there to investigate – the idea is intriguing. I’m not sure how effective such things would be, but I suppose as long as no toxic oils are used the worst case scenario is a nice-smelling dragon…”
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:46 pm
Heill - Wandering.
Once Heill had stashed everything, he carried his marks closer to himself now, he really didn't have much money left now. What could he do with it?
While wandering around, he stopped near the harper, hearing him play, he grinned alittle and started to slap his thighs in time with the music, he was training to be a drummer before all of this and afterwards, he might end up going back, depending on whether he impressed one of those amazing dragons. "Good job!" He called to T'lon.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:52 pm
T'lon: T'lon's stall 3 Marks Earned: 1/16 mark Ah, now Kiril was leaving? ...He probably should have done something more interesting, though he had no idea what. As the other young man dropped a mark of some sort in his guitar case (whatever it was, he probably didn't deserve it, he couldn't have been much entertainment) and turned to go, T'lon managed a reply. "Thanks, have a nice Gather," he called, then winced as his raised voice cracked. Well, this wasn't going well. Perhaps he should stick to taking his turn on the Harper's stage. At least in a group performance he didn't have to talk to the audience and if he messed up, the skill of the other performers would hopefully deflect the attention from him. He strummed a bit more, wondering if he should just pack up. Echo shifted from foot to foot on his shoulder, chirring unhappily at his master's mood. Poth butted into his gloomy thoughts by saying, You were doing so well before, and that person liked your music while you were playing. She would have liked to reach up and nuzzle him, like she could when she was smaller, but now she was too big for it to seem like a good idea. You even got a coin. That was what you wanted, right? Less people, a chance at earning something?There's less people, yes. But I have more of their attention, he responded, fingers beating a slow, listless tattoo on his guitar. And now there is nobody. It will be like playing alone again, Poth pointed out. When T'lon made no reply, she said, Play for me, then. I will always like anything you play. What does it matter what anyone else thinks?It mattered a lot. What was a Harper who couldn't make good music? ...But no, it wasn't the music that had driven his lone listener away, it was him. He hadn't the personality for this, perhaps. Maybe if he just kept making music he'd be better off. He set aside his guitar to pull out his pipe. Whistling to his flits for attention, he started in on the opening refrain of The Question Song. The haunting, querulous tone of the song might not fit the Gather atmosphere, but it suited his mood at the moment. This song only had one singing part, so both flits sang in unison to his instrumental accompaniment. Edit: But he hadn't gotten far into the song before another person came up to enjoy his song. One advantage of playing the flute instead of the guitar: he had a perfect excuse not to talk to the new arrival. He nodded at the complement and kept playing. Then, noticing the listener was marking the beat by slapping his tights (and doing a good job of keeping the time, too) he decided to try being a little more personable. He gestured with a tilt of his head to the small hand drum sitting beside his stool, and quirked his eyebrows in a question: care to join?
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:04 pm
Heill - T'lon's Stall He got the hint and his eyes lit up. Okay maybe it wasn't something he would normally do, but he was bored and it seemed fun to join in. He was still an apprentice, no way would a master or even a journeyman would let him play, so he took his chance and sat down beside T'lon, pulling up another stool to do so. He grabbed the drum and ran his fingers over it, checking to make sure he wouldn't hurt it, after all, if this man was a harper AND a dragonrider as his cords said... his dragon might eat him. Heill nodded to T'lon and started to tap with his fingers to begin to gently start the beat up again, his head nodding until he got the beat down. He started to use the rest of his fingers, keeping it a light sound that would echo slightly as Heill continued to hit the drum softly so he wouldn't overshadow T'lon's flute's music.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:17 pm
T'lon: T'lon's stall 3 Marks Earned: 1/16 mark T'lon nodded as the young man took a seat and started drumming along. This was better, playing with someone instead of for someone. A drum didn't suit the slow, eerie Question Song very well, though fortunately that was a short song. A scant verse more and it was over, flute and flitsong alike fading off into a wavering trill. When the last note died away, he launched straight into a new tune, one that better suited accompaniment. In honor of the occasion, he chose the lively Gather Song. Not the most graceful transition from the last song, but he wanted something more upbeat now. His flits switched songs easily, their high, piping voices sounding reminiscent of excited children let loose at the Gather.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:23 pm
Heill - Assisting T'lon His hands moved quicker now, adding two hands wasn't the easiest thing to do on a small drum, but he knew the trick and kept up. Smiling at the song, he had practiced this with his DrumMaster a few times. The much older man claiming that while Heill had an ear for keeping time, he might not have the same ear for the messages. So he was kept at a lower stage, learning to play with other harpers would have been the next step. And look at this! He was already doing that. Grinning as he kept up the beat, he wished they had another person, maybe someone to do the gitar or perhaps another flute to round it off. But he was fine assisting for now. And besides the man had looked alittle lonely and Heill didn't even know his name! He would have to find out after this.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:49 pm
V'lay - Ring Toss
1 1/4 marks
He had left the tree at T'ni's stall for the time-being, taking his time to browse through the stalls and investigate the crowd and the goods being offered. Another female blackrider was offering scented oils (he didn't need anything other than plain oil for Vinath, thankyouverymuch) and there were people squabbling over a dress or somesuch at one of the weavers' stalls (one of them the Weyrwoman, Faranth, women), but he saw little that interested him.
He did stop briefly at the tanner's stall, looking over the goods before he turned and headed in the direction of the ring toss. There was someone he was hoping to catch, and he thought he was somewhere over there...
He caught sight of a familiar form in the crowd, very tall and broad, with a crimson firelizard (ah, he had a flit? And a clutching female at that?) on his shoulder. Smiling slightly, V'lay moved toward C'ross, drawing alongside him and touching the young man's shoulder gently, "C'ross?" he said quietly. "I have something I'd like you to have."
---
I'saak - Ring Toss
2 1/8 marks, 24 points spent
"Well, if you're sure..." he said doubtfully, frowning. "I'm not sure what to do with these, otherwise..." he began, and then he sighed and shrugged, gesturing to the stallkeeper. C'ross had said something about K'yne's firelizard plush, but I'saak was distracted. "Um," he said haltingly. "I have twelve points, so I'll take one of the twelve point prizes...I don't really care which one?" he said. And he turned his back for a second to look at C'ross, only to turn back to the stallkeeper and find himself presented with a parasol.
"...I -" he said, gaping blankly at the blue cloth configuration. "Um, all right?" he said, accepting the card that came with the parasol and trying to ignore the fact that he could feel his cheeks burning. "Thank you," he ground out, then turned around, suddenly desperate to get away from the ring toss as quickly as possible.
...There was another man - a much older man. "C'ross?" he asked quietly, glancing from V'lay to his friend.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:22 pm
C’ross – Ring Toss – 2 & 7/16 Marks
And then somehow I’saak was holding a parasol. It was a pretty parasol – light blue with little embroidered firelizards along the edges. But Faranth, it took every fiber of C’ross’ self control not to burst out laughing at I’saak’s blank expression as he stared at the bundle of cloth and wood.
“It’s beautiful. It suits you,” he said, and despite all that manful effort the last few words came out as a snicker.
The laughter died somewhat, however, when he turned at the touch on his shoulder and saw – “V’lay! Good to see you.” If I’saak had any concerns about C’ross being approached by a strange older bluerider, then hopefully they would be allayed by the familiar smile that V’lay was greeted with. C’ross didn’t really greet strangers with that level of warmth… or any level of warmth to speak of.
At V’lay’s quiet words, C’ross glanced briefly over at I’saak. He gave the older man a questioning look, but nodded and gestured over to a less crowded spot than standing right in front of the ring toss prize stand. “I’saak, I’ll be right back.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:31 pm
I'saak - High Striker
2 1/8 marks
"...Thanks," he said awkwardly at C'ross's compliment, but he couldn't help but grin back. It was ridiculous, but Faranth, ridiculous things were what Gathers were for, right? And K'yne would probably appreciate the embroidery - he could at least give him the crafter's tag, along with the firelizard plush. And since C'ross was walking off to talk to the bluerider... "I'll be right back, too," he said with a smile, raising his hand as C'ross turned. "Meet you at High Striker?"
And he was moving through the crowd again, trying to catch sight of a short, broad shape - ah, there! "K'yne!" he called loudly, hoping to get the brownweyrling's attention. He held up the firelizard plush as he approached, grinning. "I have something for you!"
-----
V'lay - Ring Toss
1/4 mark
When C'ross came away from the ring toss and his friend, V'lay smiled. "I'm glad to see you out and happy," he said, genuine warmth in his voice. "And I wanted to give you this."
He pressed a mark-piece into C'ross's hand, smiling at the young man. "Nimith's quite big, now, and you'll be starting flying soon. Argo's work looks excellent, and I want you to put that toward a good flight jacket. I know weyrlings don't get much, so I didn't want you to run out of marks before you bought something you really needed."
He smiled warmly, the expression lighting up his weathered and scarred features. "Consider it a belated Impression present. You and that blue of yours deserve it."
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:43 pm
K'yne - I don't even know how many Marks
He lifted the mallet again to smash the hell out of the game, see if he could do better, but I'saak called out his name. K'yne paused and put the mallet to the ground before he turned around. It' hardly do to be threatening a person with a giant punching contraption when all they did was say something. Or wield a pretty Lady Holders parasol.
Dark eyebrows rose quickly at the sight of the larger weyrling and his super pretty new accessory. K'yne tried to fight the grin, he really did, bu he lost it when I'saak lifted up a firelizard plush toy. Even the strongest of men couldn't keep their amusement hidden - and as High striker showed, he didn't qualify as one of those. The brownweyrling chuckled, grinning wide enough for a moment to show teeth, dimples, and crinkles at the corner of his eyes.
"Please tell me you have the toy for me and not the umbrella," K'yne held out his hand expectantly never the less, the laugh fading to a slight half-grin still miles away from the usual flat look. "Did you wander off to go get a plush toy?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:53 pm
I'saak - High Striker
2 1/8 marks
And K'yne was grinning, so I'saak grinned back, even if he was altogether too aware of how patently ridiculous he must have looked carrying the parasol over to his weaver friend. K'yne seemed genuinely happy to see him and the firelizard, and I'saak held out the brown. "Yeah, the toy's for you. Not the umbrella."
"I actually got three plush toys," he answered, sounding incredibly proud of himself before he realized how strongly those words undermined everything he did to not look like a fool in front of his friends. Well, he had already gone there, so he might as well go the rest of the way. "And a parasol," he added somewhat awkwardly. "But the brown is for you! I thought he looked kind of like Psaumith..." he trailed off, a little unsure how much more to say. "So yeah. He's yours now. I hope you like him."
Faranth, this got awkward, I'saak was terrible at talking to people, much less giving them gifts.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:03 pm
C’ross – Somewhere Else – 3 & 7/16 Marks
C’ross waved in acknowledgement, although he didn’t comment further on I’saak going to find K’yne. Of course he was. C’ross just went with V’lay off to the side where they could actually talk without being quite so… in the middle of everything. He had to admit, the bluerider’s request was puzzling to him: what could someone want to give him?
And then V’lay was pressing something into his hand. “I –“
I can’t take this. The words were on the tip of his tongue half-formed before he even thought about it. A whole mark – that was a lot to be giving someone who wasn’t related to you and hadn’t done anything particularly notable to earn it. C’ross didn’t get by on charity or pity or whatever V’lay’s angle was, and he didn’t want to be further indebted to the man…
Then he looked up and saw the expression on V’lays face, and the words died in his throat. This had nothing to do with debt and everything to do with happiness. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to find a good one.” There was genuine gratitude in his eyes as he met the older bluerider’s gaze.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:09 pm
V'lay - Somewhere Else
1/4 mark
"You're welcome, C'ross." V'lay smiled, vaguely aware that he felt genuinely pleased to be talking to someone for once. C'ross was a good young man, and he believed him when he said that he was going to put the mark to good use. "I don't want to keep you from your friends, though," he said, gesturing back toward the ring toss. "Just buy something roomy. Faranth knows you're big enough already, but you might have an inch or two in you yet before you stop growing." C'ross was already a full head taller than him, but the bluerider didn't mind. "And you don't push yourself too hard when drills start. Don't hurt yourself or your dragon, you hear me? You two've had enough excitement."
A slight smile, a fatherly clap on the shoulder. "Now get back and have fun. It shouldn't be too hard to find that boy with the parasol." Yes, he had noticed it. No, he wasn't passing judgment.
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Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:38 pm
C’ross – Skulking Back to Lanakirene – 3 & 7/16 Marks
“Faranth, I hope not. The lower caverns feel claustrophobic enough already.” It wasn’t easy living life in a society that mostly built underground tunnels of stone when you were over six feet tall and broad in the shoulder.
“And Nimith and I will be careful,” he promised. “I don’t intend to lose him to some accident before we’ve even had the chance to fight Thread.” At the clap on the shoulder, C’ross wavered for a moment… then, as if a switch was flipped, he reciprocated the motion and finished it by stepping in briefly to turn it into a proper manly hug. “See you around!”
Speaking of Nimith… The blue had been napping for most of the Gather, taking the opportunity of C’ross being otherwise occupied to catch up on basking in the nice weather. But C’ross guessed his conversation with V’lay must have been enough to catch the dozing weyrling’s attention, because there was a soft touch at the back of his thoughts. A flight jacket? That’s a kind gift, and a useful one. Did you find the oil you wanted?
…oh. He’d… kind of left Lanakirene’s stall without the oil for Nimith. And now C’ross felt a little guilty – he had a gift for himself and even a gift for Trill, but not… Well, he didn’t want to go back and look that dragonhealer woman in the eye. She was just going to do something horrible again.
Well, it’s no great loss, Nimith said sensibly, and the faintest hint of disappointment was just enough to tip C’ross over the edge between guilt and wounded pride. He was going to have to go back and face the music. Or in this case, face the hippie. Maybe he could just grab a jar of the right oil, toss a correct mark denomination at her, and leave without actually talking.
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