Post by Omnia Munda on Apr 28, 2008 6:25:41 GMT -8
Month 8, Turn 100 - Sixth Interval
One hundred turns into the Sixth Interval, Pern is quiet. The plague is gone, though not forgotten; ballads celebrating Moreta, her colleagues and kin are experiencing a revival of popularity after a sixty-turn slump. Economies are generally in upswing and the crafthalls thrive, but in the last two decades the storerooms at Weyrs have begun to seem a little bare. No one's hungry yet, but tithe is not what it used to be, and dragonriders regularly work as messengers and carriers of cargo for their beholden areas in order to maintain quality relations with their Holds.
At Telgar Weyr, the trials of Interval have been compounded by a situation more common during Pass: a sudden influx of travelers. The Caminar, a loosely-knit clan of traders particular to Telgar's southern territory and some of Igen's, have been flowing into the Weyr wagon by wagon since the snow began to melt.
At first it seemed the traders were just coming to do their business, but it's well into summer and the caravans show no signs of leaving. Since the newcomers have already sold to the Weyr everything it could want from them, to many locals it seems that the traders have no purpose at the Weyr but to eat Telgari food and take up Telgari space. Matters were not improved when the queen's mating flight months ago inspired a rowdy invasion of the lower caverns by the young men of the Caminar.
Weyr objectors from wingleaders to cooks have complained about the situation to the Weyrleader J'fel, demanding that he turn the outsiders out. Accustomed to deferring in domestic matters to his Weyrwoman Aderes and the Weyr's staff, J'fel has stalled, claiming that hospitality becomes a Weyr - even when Thread's not falling.
And the wagons haven't stopped coming - though with the latest group of travelers came an explanation at last: the traders are fleeing persecution in the holds' lands. Children have been going missing out there, it seems, and the trader folk have been unjustly blamed.
With a new class of weyrlings and failed candidates choosing to remain for a future clutch swelling the Weyr's population, supplies are at a premium. Holdfolk and weyrfolk alike wonder why the Weyr's been so slow and so quiet about investigating the missing children, and there's been talk of involving Harper Hall. The pressure's on: will anyone break?
One hundred turns into the Sixth Interval, Pern is quiet. The plague is gone, though not forgotten; ballads celebrating Moreta, her colleagues and kin are experiencing a revival of popularity after a sixty-turn slump. Economies are generally in upswing and the crafthalls thrive, but in the last two decades the storerooms at Weyrs have begun to seem a little bare. No one's hungry yet, but tithe is not what it used to be, and dragonriders regularly work as messengers and carriers of cargo for their beholden areas in order to maintain quality relations with their Holds.
At Telgar Weyr, the trials of Interval have been compounded by a situation more common during Pass: a sudden influx of travelers. The Caminar, a loosely-knit clan of traders particular to Telgar's southern territory and some of Igen's, have been flowing into the Weyr wagon by wagon since the snow began to melt.
At first it seemed the traders were just coming to do their business, but it's well into summer and the caravans show no signs of leaving. Since the newcomers have already sold to the Weyr everything it could want from them, to many locals it seems that the traders have no purpose at the Weyr but to eat Telgari food and take up Telgari space. Matters were not improved when the queen's mating flight months ago inspired a rowdy invasion of the lower caverns by the young men of the Caminar.
Weyr objectors from wingleaders to cooks have complained about the situation to the Weyrleader J'fel, demanding that he turn the outsiders out. Accustomed to deferring in domestic matters to his Weyrwoman Aderes and the Weyr's staff, J'fel has stalled, claiming that hospitality becomes a Weyr - even when Thread's not falling.
And the wagons haven't stopped coming - though with the latest group of travelers came an explanation at last: the traders are fleeing persecution in the holds' lands. Children have been going missing out there, it seems, and the trader folk have been unjustly blamed.
With a new class of weyrlings and failed candidates choosing to remain for a future clutch swelling the Weyr's population, supplies are at a premium. Holdfolk and weyrfolk alike wonder why the Weyr's been so slow and so quiet about investigating the missing children, and there's been talk of involving Harper Hall. The pressure's on: will anyone break?