HOME FIRES MISTS LIFEBLOOD SPOKES
The Weyrwoman sends word: come to the Hatching Grounds. Naturally, the candidates obey!
Hatching Sands - Fort Weyr
The ground is heavily covered with hot mounds of sand, warmed by
dormant volcanic activity. The cavern is large and circular with a
rounded dome caused by a bubble in a long-ago flow of magma. Just inside
the cavern, etched into the wall to the south, before the tiers of the
upper deck that is supported by natural stone columns up off of the sand,
is a curious design. The picture is a description of the Red Star along
its unusual rotation. The tiers are benches just to the south that rise
up into the cavern curving against the rock wall where an audience could
relax.
Higher in the cavern are natural cliffs; dimly visible in the vague
illumination that reaches that far.
(Type 'view eggs' to see a list of visible eggs.)
Contents:
Naiad
Solaeth
Obvious exits:
Grounds Entrance
Istha walks onto the burning sands.
Ariane peeks out onto the stands, hastily straightening her hair and
clothes. She looks tired but exhilerated.
Xeteo walks onto the burning sands.
Naiad strides over to a dozing Solaeth, who unlids one eye at her
approaching lifemate. The Weyrwoman motions for the Candidates to stay
near the edge of the sands with a flick of her hand behind her back as
she nears the massive queen.
Xeteo doesn't move much more forward than just the edge of the sands at
first. The blue that searched him was big. From the Galleries, the queen
looked large. Now, she just looks HUGE, and he's highly respectful of
that fact.
Istha wanders onto the sands, her arms crossed and hands tucked into her
armpits as if to keep them warm. She suddenly stops, spotting the large
queen. A glance to the Weyrwoman and she nods, not wanting to alarm the
sleeping dragon.
Ariane isn't about to come onto the sands until the queen looks all right
with it.
Deri walks onto the burning sands.
Deri blinks and bows to the queen and Naiad, a brief swallow the only
sign of her nervousness.
Naiad lays her head on Solaeth's chest and rolls it around a little. She's
never been wary of showing her great affection for her queen in public.
She is sly, however - and this warm greeting given by Naiad only weakens
the golden queen's resolve against letting strangers on the sands. All
sorts of conversation must be going on between the two, the only hint of
it being the occassional hand gesture Naiad gives as if it was
accompanied by speech.
Ariane smiles unconsciously, watching the Weyrwoman and her love for the
lovely golden queen. Sweet-talking or not, it's beautiful to witness.
Xeteo tucks his hands behind his back, and doesn't quite watch. That
looks terribly personal.
Istha watches the interaction between Gold and Weyrwoman in wonder. She's
never seen something so interesting before.
Solaeth seems satisfied with the saccharine affections afforded her and
she raises her head from the dozing position it once held to turn it
towards the candidates. She croons in acquiescence, but only once. She is
accomodating, but do not test her patience - she is clear on that fact as
she settles down around the large gold egg.
Deri blinks a little and waits for the okay to move forward towards the
eggs, though her gaze watches the queen set her limits on what eggs they
can get near.
Ariane whispers "I understand you. We're here to honor your children, not
disturb you." She doesn't care if Solaeth can't hear her. Some things
need to be said.
Istha's eyes flicker toward Ariane and she smiles, giving a nod.
Naiad smiles warmly and settles herself down in a crook of Solaeth's
tail, folding her legs to watch the candidates spread out about the eggs.
"Go ahead, don't be shy. You can touch them, too. Just not the gold one.
She's protective moreso over that one."
Ariane nods, making her way onto the sands, and blinking in surprise at
the heat. She lets out an involuntary exclamation under her breath.
Of course, it being guarded by a huge gold dragon would make anyone
braver than brave to try and go near it, too...but that's just an errant
opinion.
Xeteo moves carefully out onto the sands...luckily, right now he has
boots on, and just moves to the nearest egg, keeping his hands behind his
back to inspect.
Istha nods quietly. She looks up at the queen and then does something
she's never tried, curtsies. A whispered 'thank you' passes her pale lips
and she walks toward one of the larger eggs, eyes wide and unbelieving.
Xeteo asks, after a moment's looking, but not touching, "How do you tell
what's in them?" Oh, can he be such a clod, or what? "I mean...can you,
or was that just Harper-tale?"
Ariane gets over her surprise and lifts her feet high as she makes her
way out onto the sands.
Loriana walks onto the burning sands.
Naiad raises her brows at the question and peruses a few of the clutch
nearby while she ruminates out loud, "Oh, I don't know. Some people say
they can tell all the time, but I find it's pretty much a one-in-four
chance, you know? Sometimes big eggs that people think hold bronzes hold
a big brown, so you never really can tell. Though the smaller eggs are
almost always greens."
Loriana rushes onto the sands, looking very flustered and slightly out of
breath. "I'm sorry ma'am." She calls quietly to Naiad, stopping in her
tracks to bow politely to the gold, "May I approach your eggs?" She asks
of Solaeth, her eyes flickering between the hardening mounds and the
radiant queen.
Istha peers over her shoulder and asks, "Ma'am, couldn' the big 'uns have
blues or somethin else? Does it have t'be brown or bronze?"
Solaeth ignores the question, her attention focused solely on the
wanderers already out and about the sands. Naiad just waves Loriana on,
"She already gave her okay...it's all fine to come out and touch."
Ariane makes her way over to the Crom Rill egg, oohing at the brilliant
color.
Ariane looks up at Solaeth. "I'd be protective of these beauties too!
These colors are so bright, like jewels!"
Lying scattered about the dark sands, you see:
1 Bumblebee
2 Springtime Slumber
3 Whipping Sandstorm
4 Wildflower Field
5 Swift Oceanic Drift
6 Giraffe
7 Crom Rill
8 Keroon Whirlwind
9 Moonlit Wolves
10 Falling Autumn Leaves
11 Fiery Desert Plains
12 Sultry Summer Evening
13 Canyon Waterfall
14 Field of Dandelions
15 Anthill
16 Aureate Crystal
17 Forest of Trees
18 Smoking Mountain
19 Raindrops on the Water
20 First Buds of Spring
21 Ocean Depths
22 Long Winter's Sleep
23 Feline's Stare
24 Wherry Nest
25 Ruathan Ice Lake
26 Pyrite Chunk
Xeteo eventually makes his way around a few of the eggs, and winds up
before the large pyrite egg. A nervous, calloused hand reaches out, and
rubs across the surface, "Oh...it's solid...."
Loriana bobs her head at the weyrwoman, taking slow steps towards the
mounds. "They're much larger than I thought." She whispers, her hand
extending slowly as she nears the Feline's Stare Egg. As the tips of her
fingers brush against its surface, she pulls away as if it burnt her,
"Shards, they're hard." She states, her tone innocent as if she didn't
expect them to be.
Xeteo taps VERY gently with a fingerpad on the dark egg's surface, and
then looks around again, more enamored of the idea of being here.
Ariane squats down next to the Crom Rill egg, and strokes her hand over
its surface. "Hello, little one!"
Deri grins and strokes her fingers along one of the eggs, not tapping or
anything, just gently rubbing her hands along the shell in a stroking
motion.
Naiad rumbles in a low chuckle, her fingers entwined in a strand of her
hair as she watches the looks of surprise come over the candidates. "They
used to be soft for a long time - they hardened only a few sevendays
ago." She winks to a shy-looking Holder girl nearby. "Not long now,
truly."
Istha gets up and walks over to the Falling Autumn Leaves Egg. She looks
over the surface cautiously, almost afraid to reach out and touch it.
Instead, she cocks her head and mutters, "'ello"
Xeteo smiles some, and rubs his hand lightly over the surface, and then
both. "This is..." He cuts off, not sure what to call it. Nice? It's
too...nice...a word. He picks himself up from his half-squat, and moves
on among the eggs.
Ariane smiles, rising to caress the Bumblebee egg. Her eyes are bright
and alert, more than she has seemed in days. "Weyrwoman, do they know
we're here?" Her tone is almost hushed..you don't wake sleeping babies!
Loriana reaches out her hand again, this time not pulling away as the
tips of her fingers rest against the hard surface. "To think, there is a
little life inside there. Perhaps my soulmate, " She pauses for a moment
as she looks around to the other people on the sands, "Or one of
their's." She sinks to her knees as her fingers trail down the darker
slit on the egg, marvelling at the texture.
Istha's fingers lightly brush on the egg, but at Ariane's question, she
pulls them back quickly. She turns and asks worridly, "They don't mind us
touchin them, do they?"
Naiad still plays with the strand of hair, musing over something when
Ariane asks her question. "Do they? I imagine they hear outside the
shell, yes. I don't think they know what they are hearing or not." She
pauses for a moment. "Solaeth says they do what they are supposed to be
doing right now," she adds with a shrug. Typical draconian vagueness.
Xeteo stops at the egg reminiscent of a canyon waterfall, and strokes his
fingers over it lightly, before his eyes fall on the 'dandelion' egg.
"Oh..."
Xeteo trudges throught the sand, and sits on his heels next to it,
putting the flats of both hands against it.
Deri chuckles, "Well who knows." she says softly as her fingers move
along the Raindrops egg.
Ariane smiles in mingled awe and elation and goes on to an egg which
looks like a blizzard in the north. She leans over to it, and sings it a
soft lullabye which she used to sing her sisters and brothers back home.
Istha nods slowly and turns to touch the autumn colored egg before her.
She ohs softly as her finger caress the smooth shell, and she whispers,
"I bet you'll be a strong good sized one, won't ya?"
Pyrite Chunk
Dappled slate stands sentinel, dominating much of the oval shape.
Its colors strike out from the paleness of its background, causing it to
contrast that much more. Jagged edges seem to spring from the surface,
with glittering globs clinging to its surface. A chip, frozen in its fall
from the mother lode, is picked out important with flaxen ivory scores.
Xeteo blinks and then pulls his hands a little away, "S'like a pregnant
mare!"
Istha looks over at Xeteo's exclamation and nods, a smile spreading
across her face. She nods, "Aye, cept a lot smoother"
Ariane straightens and looks at the golden egg, not making any move
toward it. She shifts from foot to foot and stares at it intently, cupped
safely in the curve of its mother's tail.
Loriana brushes a little sand closer to the egg, using the golden grains
as a strange sort of blanket. "You have to stay nice and warm." She
mutters to the egg, undisturbed by the appearance of it. "You'll be nice
and strong when you hatch, I'm sure." Idle mutters are about all that
Loriana can come up with, her expression one of awe.
Xeteo grins hugely, "Yeah, but it kicks!"
Xeteo stands up, and puts his hand on top of the egg, very lightly,
feeling the heat, and ignoring the rivulets of sweat that bead up and
start to trickle down from the warmth.
Naiad settles down into Solaeth's curve of a tail and finally releases
the strand of pestered hair. She chuckles at Xeteo's startled words.
"Yes, they move quite a bit in there. Gathering strength to break free
soon, I'd imagine."
Istha frowns slightly and leans her cheek against the shell of the egg,
trying to hear for movement. A few nearby candidates have to choke down
laughter as Thea murmers, "You in there?"
Xeteo nods, "I just didn't know eggs kicked." This gives him pause,
"or...I guess...the hatchling inside kicks..." He tickles at the shell,
as if this would evoke much reaction.
Ariane closes her eyes and from her place safely away from the queen egg
extends her palms toward it, as if touching it from a half-length away.
She closes her eyes, and seems to concentrate on it.
Deri smiles, eyes mostly closed as she moves over to the forest egg,
finger stroking it's convavety gently, "Ma'am, do you think she'd let us
girls touch the gold egg?"
Ariane opens her eyes, smiling, and goes on to the Feline Gaze egg,
petting its smooth, hard surface.
Xeteo glances at the girls as they start to pay attention to the gold
egg..and then goes back to petting his newfound 'pet' egg.
Loriana leans against the egg she's kneeling beside, hardly any of her
weight rested against it to disturb its rest. "Are you comfortable in
there?" She asks quietly, her fingers caressing the side of the shell.
She starts muttering to the egg, likely bits and pieces of her life
story, her quiet tone one of relief to have something to babble to.
Naiad is in repose, but Solaeth gives answer enough as she curls herself
around the large golden egg even further and snaps her jaws once in
warning. She can hear, too. Naiad just shakes her head in a negative
after that display.
Istha glances at Deri, her cheek still pressed to the shell of the egg
before her. She gasps as she finally hears something, and she grins
wider, "There.. I hear ya now"
Deri nods and sighs a little, "It was worth asking." she says with a grin
as she tilts her ear against the shell to lsten to the sound of the
hatchling in it.
Xeteo glances up at the gold when she snaps, and then moves to put the
egg and himself on more even footing, so he's neither between the egg and
the queen, or hiding behind it like he was.
Jalis walks onto the burning sands.
Ariane's eyes fall on the pyrite egg, and she gasps. "Oh, look at that
one!" It's close to the Queen, but not so close as to make it a risk. All
the same, she bows to Solaeth as she goes to the side of the brilliant
egg, kneeling on the hot sands to caress it.
Istha pulls herself away from the egg and looks at it. She smiles and
nods, "A lovely egg you have and a lovely dragon you'll be. Just lookit
your ma. Betcha if you look half as pretty as her, you'll be too o pretty
t'look at"
Jalis walks onto the sands looking as if she's out of breath. Her face is
flushed and red with exertion. She spots Naiad and nears the Weyrwoman,
looking a little embarassed, "I'm sorry I'm late, Weyrwoman.." She sucks
in a few breaths and says "I was in one of the back tunnels and only just
now found out when one of the workers saw me. I was so absorbed with the
inventory that we were taking.." her words fade off.
Loriana looks up to see Ariane at the same egg as she's at, "Hello." She
says to the other candidate, her fingertips still dancing idly on its
surface. She seems content to remain where she is, obvilious to the fact
that the sands are hot. Seeing that Ariane has left, she continues her
oration to the egg which looks like a feline's eye.
Xeteo shifts his stance a little, to more evenly cook where he's
half-kneeling, half-sitting, not taking his hand from the shell of the
dandelion egg. He's too busy watching the rest of the candidates.
Ariane pauses long enough to give Loriana a brilliant smile as she leans
her cheek on the pyrite egg. She closes her eyes, listening and all but
hugging the shell.
Deri grins a bit and waves to Jalis, "Got searched again Jalis?"
Naiad shakes her head, still enveloped herself in watching the wandering
candidates. "Not a problem, Jalis, not at all. It was all rushed anyway."
Jalis turns her head and spots Deri as she looks for whom said her name.
She gives a weary smile -- hard work must of tuckered her out. She merely
nods, looking back over to the Weyrwoman for acknowledgement as she
inquires, "Would you like me to join the other candidates Weyrwoman?" her
tone respectful.
Xeteo shifts again, and then is forced to stand before he's cooked into
his trous. He moves around the egg again, then gives it one last look
before he starts another circuit of the eggs, peering up into the
galleries and ledges around the edge of the Hatching Grounds as he does
so.
Ariane sings softly to the Pyrite egg, the same lullabye she sang
earlier. Her knees and shins are burning up as she kneels on the hot
sands, but she doesn't seem to notice.
Naiad nods, waving Jalis on. "Go ahead! They're rambunctious tonight,
too. Xeteo there got a handful just a little while ago."
Istha reluctantly walks around the clutch. She soon finds the Moonlit
Wolves egg and she stops, staring at it. A tentaive hand goes out, and
she lightly touches the tip of the shell.
Xeteo wanders past the eggs...dark blue green, light blue, dark grey,
light colored. He stops to grin down at Ariane, and says, "I touched that
one first...isn't it....pretty?"
Ariane looks up at Xeteo, not moving from her close hug of the egg, and
she beams. "It's lovely. It seems to just sparkle!"
Xeteo's eyes sparkle for a moment, but he looks back, just in case
someone's looking at the dandelion egg while he's away. "Yeah...so smooth
too, to look so...rough. I wondered how the mother laid it!" He grins a
bit more, "But it was just an illusion."
Jalis smiles then and nods, looking out over the candidates before taking
the steps that carry her toward them in order to join them, but not
before she says, "Thank you Weyrwoman." With a deep breath she walks
amongst the others and the eggs, hesitating a bit before touching one as
she simply gazes over them.
Istha's eyes suddenly go very wide and she takes a step closer, her voice
shaky as she asks, "Hello?" She looks over at the other eggs then back to
the one before her and says, "Bet you're itchin to get out too"
Loriana seems to have finally finished her recital of her life story to
the feline egg, but seems loath to move from it. Instead, she snuggles up
to the egg, her arms extending around the shell as best as she can. Its
in that position she stays, her eyes closed and a content smile on her
face. "You're so beautiful." She says.
Xeteo reaches out, but doesn't quite touch the egg again. His gaze goes
back oooone more time to look at the dandelion egg, and he sets off to
get a look at all the rest, so he can at least tell himself he looked at
them all.
Deri chuckles at D'von as the egg beneath her ear wobbles just a tiny
bit, "I can hear this one moving, I think."
Xeteo's wandering is quick, before he's glanced at all he wants to, and
comes back to lay both palms on the egg again. "I like this one," he
announces. "It's very...green. And blue."
Solaeth senses "Ariane murmurs to your egg "You're so lovely, and
somewhere out here is the one who will be your friend, who will love you
forever and ever, and he or she is just waiting for you!""
Jalis's gaze is caught by the egg that Xeteo so helpfully points out. Her
eyes graze over its surface for a few moments -- but she does not
approach the young man nor the egg he's hanging around. Instead, she
steps to an egg unoccupied by others.
Naiad's head lolls against Solaeth's tail, she too a little tired from
the day's events. Hearing some rather interesting comments from the
peanut gallery, she throws a look up at said nut and raises a brow
silently.
Xeteo crouches back down, and watches the others over the top of the egg
he sits next to, taking in their faces and reactions.
Ariane gives the egg a final gentle squeeze.
Jalis finally ventures up to one that looks like nothing more than a
verdant field of blooming wildflowers. Her fingers brush across its shell
while a wistful expression transfigures her face. The hint of a smile
tugs at the corner of her lips.
Ariane rises and goes back to the snowy egg, standing over it and
shifting unconsciously from foot to foot as she runs her fingertips over
the surface.
Loriana relaxes her hug on the hard surface of the shell. She rises a
little from her crouch, her eyes wandering to the golden queen to see if
Solaeth is still calm and accepting of people on her sands. She leans
lightly on the feline egg, a dreamy expression on her face as she watches
her fellow candidates wandering through the eggs.
Xeteo tugs his attention back to what he's stroking, and somehow manages
to wipe the absolutely silly grin off his face.
Istha slides her hand down the side of the egg, hopefully searching for
another movement. She just murmers, "lovely thing.." under her breath as
she does. Perhaps flattery works as well.
Deri chuckles as she looks up at the Galleries, hearing the comments
vaugely as she moves back over to listen to the Raindrops egg, "They are
really amazing, aren't they Jalis?"
Solaeth seems to be doing fine with all this hullabaloo around her. That
is, around the other eggs. She peruses the Candidates one by one, sizing
them up perhaps, while one claw makes little tapping movements in the
sands next to her.
Jalis hears her name again, and glances over at Deri, broken from her
reverie by the question. She nods again, smile growing wider. A covert
glance is then flickered toward Naiad before she leaves that egg to move
on to another. Hands rest against its textured surface, fingers spreading
wide, palms conforming to the curve of the shell that appears to look all
silver and black like moonlight and shadow.
Ariane sways in her unconscious dance over the snowy egg. "Lovely,
lovely, rest well in your shell, dream dreams of flight and sun.." she
croons.
Istha takes a seat before the egg, tracing the snouts of canines with her
finger. She still murmers, "Pretty pretty little thing.."
Xeteo is almost stoically silent as he keeps one arm draped around the
egg he's starting to fancy as 'his', attention flickering from gold to
weyrwoman to candidates to egg again.
Loriana remains nice and close to the feline egg, her posture hinting
that she has decided this is 'her' egg. Well, that its her favorite egg.
The end of her braid dangles onto the surface, and her fingers move to
clasp her hair, and to pet the egg lightly. "I wonder what colour will
emerge from you?" She says, draping her body over the egg as if to listen
for an answer.
Jalis moves away from the egg, and on to another. Her hand brushes gently
across the surface of a yellowish egg and hovers there a moment. Her head
tilts to one side, eyes closed, almost as if she were communing with the
egg's inhabitant. Her hand comes away after a moment, and with a shake of
her head and a smile, she moves toward another.
Xeteo says resolutely, "I don't care what color. I want to be a 'rider."
This statement, in truth bold, will likely startle those who've spoken to
him in just the recent past, when he didn't know if it was such a good
idea after all. "I think I would be a good one," he confides to the egg,
with far more self confidence than the naieve young man has shown to
date.
None of the eggs have moved for Ariane, but she seems not to notice as
she makes her way around. From the snowy egg, she goes on to the dusky
Smoking Mountain egg, stroking it and gazing at it as if trying to think
to the dragonet within.
Solaeth is starting to show signs of weariness with all this
hyper-focused attention and the upper half of her torso starts to lift
from the sands as a rumbling sound trickles forth from her. With a palm
laid steadily against her from Naiad, she is stayed - for the moment. The
rumble turns into something more akin to a growl. Jays, when she gets
perturbed, it's fast.
Xeteo startles, and hops up, dusting his hands off. "Maybe not," he
murmurs apologetically, and takes a step back.
Ariane looks up and bows deeply. "Solaeth, thank you for letting us talk
to your babies," she murmurs as she steps respectfully back from the
eggs.
Naiad clears her throat and raises her voice gently, "Maybe you should
all say your goodbyes. Solaeth is getting testy all of a sudden and we'd
have better chance of you all getting to come out here again if we don't
bother her too much now."
Istha stands up quickly and gives the egg a final pat. No, a growling
dragon doesn't sound good at all. She smiles and murmers, "Good bye. Grow
strong and beautiful. We'll all get to see soon" She walks away from the
eggs and curtsies again to the great queen before getting out of the
proximity of the eggs intirely.
Juanith lumbers in from Hatching Grounds - Fort Weyr.
Xeteo begins to make fast tracks for the edge of the sands...give the
queen a sort of wave of goodbye.
Chrissa walks onto the burning sands.
Deri grins and bows to the queen and Naiad, "Thank you very much Solenth,
for letting me touch your eggs."
Nomar walks onto the burning sands.
Xeteo comes up short when the bronze sire appears, and looks back at
Naiad..."uhm..."
Ariane backs away before bowing again and nodding respectfully to the
Weyrwoman. "And thank you, Naiad, for calling us here." She makes her way
to the edge of the sands, away from Juanith's entering bulk.
Jalis turns her head in a startled motion. She glances over at the source
of the growling -- Solaeth. For a moment she simply gazes at the senior
queen, hands slipping from the shell of the latest egg. She nods her
acceptance of Naiad's suggestion and automatically starts weaving her way
through the organized eggs. "Thank you Weyrwoman." She says as she passes
queen and rider on her way to the bowl.
Chrissa follows D'von in with Nomar and pauses a sec in wounder still a
bit amazed that she is actually here again..something she has convinced
herself wasn't going to happen.
Loriana rights herself and lowers her upper body towards the queen,
"Thank you Solaeth." She says politely, her fingers taking one last
opportunity to touch the feline egg before she slowly walks away from it.
"Take care, little one. Stay nice and warm." She says to it and heads
towards the edge of the sands."
Nomar seems to be doing quite a bit of running today. He runs onto the
sands behind D'von and stops short of the Weyrleader, once again, and
catches himself before he falls flat on his face. "Aaaagh, it's *hot!*"
Solaeth is somewhat calmed by Juanith's timely appearance, but despite
her mate's arrival, she persists on her growling and snapping of jaws.
Even her tail lashes a bit. Get away from my eggs, she seems to say.
Naiad just looks apologetic, but firm.
Xeteo makes his way to the far edge of the sands, and waits for his
friends among the Candidates to make their way near him.
Xeteo walks off towards the Hatching Grounds - Fort Weyr.
HOME FIRES MISTS LIFEBLOOD SPOKES