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Kant's Search


Date:  December 6, 2007
Places:  Igen Hold's Walkway; Igen Weyr's Skyspace, Main Entrance, 
and Candidate Barracks
Game:  PernMUSH
Copyright Info:  The World of Pern is copyright(c) to Anne McCaffrey 
l967. The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is a registered copyright.

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Kassi's Note:  Sooner or later Kassima's penchant for bribery had to 
affect her lifemate.  Offering a chance to Stand for a clutch in 
exchange for not being hit with foul vegetables isn't the best deal 
a dragon ever made--although it shows a certain promise on Kant's
part--but hey, Lysseth's still learning. ;)

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The Log:

You fly down and land on the walkway.

<*> Kant's still taking advantage of what breeze there is, but whereas
before - minutes ago - he'd been leaning peacefully against the Hold with a
plate tucked in the crook of his arm, looking out over the valley, after
Delitt's hail he's just staring out from the door-panel with the plate
clutched under one arm. There's a trail of crumbs from where he'd been, if
a couple chunks of meatroll and an undefinable, somewhat dessicated green
thing count as crumbs.

<*> Lysseth doesn't land before appreciating that view of the River Valley,
turning in a long, lazy circle over the Hold, sending a shadow across the
sun's otherwise merciless brilliance. At length she condescends to land.
Her claws click on the stone as she gets herself settled in such a fashion
that she can still gaze out while her rider, pitiless rider, abandons her
here. "Mayhaps we should've tried the Courtyard," Kassi murmurs without
conviction. "From here, I don't know whether... what's that?" She has
noticed the dessicated green thing! And so slides down, the better to get a
look.

You slide off of Lysseth's neck to land beside her easily. She rumbles,
cocking her head down at you, and you rub her eyeridges gratefully.


Kant:
The tall floppy-haired boy, probably in his mid- to late teens, has a lanky
swimmer's build and a generally cheerful air that belies his long, somewhat
narrow face. He's clearly seen a lot of sun, for it's tanned his light skin
and bleached his hair more blond than brown, though his brows are still
dark over brilliant turquoise eyes. (+detail) 
He wears Gritmane Hold's badge on the shoulder of his long blue tunic,
which is not only bright enough to been dyed or redyed not that long ago,
but also has a simple design cross-stitched around the lacings in lighter
blue, and furthermore is neat and tidy enough to actually have creases in
the right places. Slightly less kempt are his unornamented brown trous, of
a heavy, work-quality sisal, while his worn sandals must be at least two
seasons old. A leather thong around one ankle bears a red ceramic bead
knotted between two river-polished pebbles.


Merciless sun, pitiless rider! However, seeing as how there aren't any
knife-brandishing or war cries going on, which is to say that Lysseth seems
the only one endangered, Delitt doesn't show any fear as he calls over from
his perch. "Igen's duties to Igen! Nobody else's expected, she can have all
the room she wants. Want me to send the lad for something cool to drink,
rider?" The lad in question, abruptly volunteered, stops trying to sneak
the nearest bit of fallen meatroll towards him with the toe of his sandal
and just stands there, giving them both one of those big toothy grins used
to try to discourage predators from thinking about prey.

No knife-brandishing? Well, give Kassima time. Though if the things
strapped to poor Lysseth's neck are any indication, she has fishing more in
mind than stabbing, and the only war cries today might be of the, 'I'm
going to get you, little fishie' variety. "Igen's duties!" she calls back.
"Thankee for that! I'm of a mind t'be paying respects to a Steward or the
like, and asking permission t'plunder the river, and--as a side bonus--let
Lysseth watch the goings-on and see if'n anyone catches her notice. Are we
still welcome?" Lysseth takes it more for granted: now she lounges,
confident that she will be here awhile. "You'd do that?" Naturally, Kassi
glances at once to the indicated lad. Her teeth flash briefly in a smile.
They aren't nearly so pointed as they should be. "I'd love a drink if'n
'tisn't any trouble. And someone t'tell me what this thing is," nudge,
nudge of the green bit with a boot toe.

Delitt may be reincarnated as a fishie, but for now he's safe, so he
grandly says, "Fine by me! No stewards up here, though. They hide this time
of day," and adds a belly laugh for good measure. Maybe all that time
watching in the hot air, even if he does have a little shade, has addled
his brains? Or maybe that's just what you need to survive around here.
Young Kant, though, being new to the place and possibly reassured by that
answering smile, just bobs his head with his own mouth closed, this time.
Which he then has to open. "No trou... which is to say... that is..." He
dares another peek at the green bit and admits all in a rush, "It was an
accident? Ma'am? Ma'am! Don't let it get on your boots!"

"Wise men," Kassi opines, swiping a wrist across her brow. Her heat
tolerance being what it isn't, she finds it a good time to shuck jacket,
gloves, helmet, and bring an aged straw sunhat from Lysseth's strap pouch
to set firmly on her head. "'Twill take you at your word," she adds as she
does, grinning, "at least regarding Lyss snooping; I probably should hunt
down a Steward a'fore I steal fish, though. Alas--" She'd left the...
thing... to get rid of those hot clothes, but now she turns back, although
her boots stay where they are, yes indeed. "An accident." She eyes Kant
with something near alarm. "What... what sort of creature had a green
accident? And why is it on the walkway?" For once she's been distracted
from the M-word; will wonders never cease?

It's not as though Kassima's a weyrling to be watched with the sharpest of
eyes, so after Delitt gives her the name of the steward on duty and a few
last words of encouragement, he leans back and props his feet up again,
letting his eyes half-close, and adding a yawn into the hot air: the fate
of the green thing, or Kant for that matter? Not his concern. Kant? His
fingers twitch against the plate. "It, that is to say, I, I mean, it's me,
I..." He half-stumbles, half-steps back toward the green thing, his long
frame folding in a rush to reach down and try to grab it. Not grab her
boots. Just grab the green thing. If he can.

"You had a green accident on the walkway." Color Kassima horrified. At
least for a moment, before she makes herself look again at the thing and
decide it can't possibly be--can it?--that sort of accident, no, surely
not; "What is it?" The query is almost plaintive now. "So, y'know, I don't
have nightmares about the possibilities."

Kant looks up from his crouch, having successfully gotten the green thing
and not dropped the plate at the very same time. Only there's hair in his
eyes, so he has to sort of blow at it and tilt his head back to look up at
her properly, "Food?" That should help with the nightmares, right? "I mean,
it was food? It's, um, dirty now."

Kassima says slowly, eyes still fixed on green, "I'd gather. What, err.
What was it a'fore 'twas dirty? It doesn't look particularly appetizing?"
At her age you'd think Kassi would know that some things can be safely
stated declaratively.

Kant straightens slowly, very slowly, with that same questioning tone. "It
was... a vegetable? Yes. I forget which kind. It was cooked," and now he's
looking down at her, if not by much. "I'll, um. Make sure there isn't any.
In your drink. And wash my hands first."

"A cooked vegetable." Today the part of Kassima will be played by the nymph
Echo. "That's half your problem, right there. You're better off without it.
If'n you cook something and it looks like *that*, Faranth forfend you put
it in your mouth; there are gentler ways t'die." Over the heads of both,
Lysseth interjects a mild rumble. "You say that without any authority,"
Kassi fires back to her. Explanation: "She says, how bad can aught that's
green be? She isn't that stupid. Just contrary. Although for that, methinks
you should make her eat it." Warble? Green dragon is alarmed!

Kant starts to protest, "I didn't cook - " but then there's that rumble,
and he stares past the Kassima to her dragon with those dark-edged wings,
and then drags his attention back to the rider, and then the warble makes
him look at Lysseth. And then at Kassima. "Y-you're welcome to, ma'am? And
I'll just get you your drink? She's not too angry, is she?"

Kassima likewise protests, but on a different subject, "I don't want
t'touch it--you're touching it already. Go on, throw it at her or
something. She's a wench and she deserves it." Lysseth is a dragon. Lysseth
cannot really pull off puppy-dog eyes, particularly towards a person who
likely isn't skilled in reading the nuances of draconic expression. This is
not to say she doesn't try, and try mightily. "Kassima, please," the rider
suggests while blithely ignoring the show. "Or Kassi, just nay 'ma'am.' She
isn't angry 'tall with you. Me, well, a'course she's irritated with me. The
sun came up this morning."

"It does every morning," Kant says blankly, only then all of a sudden he's
gone red in the face with realization. And a moment later, he relaxes some,
even chuckling. A nervous chuckle, accompanied by fingers rattling on the
plate, but a chuckle. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you all, and them, got
on that way too. And I can't see that she could hardly taste it, she's so
big and it's so little, but if you really want me to..." he looks up at
Delitt, but there's no help there. "I can try. But she's looking at me, my,
even prettier than my aunt's firelizard she is! Though I don't want to hit
her by accident," and there's a heaviness to his tone that say there have
been aim-caused accidents aplenty in recent Turns.

"Is that how the vegetable got on the ground in the first place?" Kassima's
wide eyes find Delitt as a prospective target. "This is a form of lethal
weapon I've never considered. I'm sure some partnerships are all sweetness
and light and harmonious accord, but me and Lyss... nay with the so much,
that." Yet there's such affection in her voice; and Lysseth, for all this
threat of biological warfare, bows her head to brush her rider's shoulder.
That this also brings those big, shining, whirling blue eyes closer to Kant
is a bonus. Rumble. A flick of the long, sinuous tail. "...You have t'be
kidding. Seriously? Because that's a new low even for us, lump, and that is
saying something."

"Oh," Kant realizes very quietly, and doesn't say anything, so as not to
interrupt them and what the rider's explaining. He does shuffle just a
little bit backwards, what with that large head coming close enough to
shadow her lifemate's, and that rumble and tail-flicking and all. But then,
cautiously, not looking down, he puts the plate right side up and twitches
the now-dusty green bit onto it. Just in case.

And as he does, Lysseth shifts forward. Forget the green bit: she's not
interested in the green bit. She's interested in avoiding the green bit.
Her breath has no meat-scent, but firestone is distinctive in its own way,
and hard to miss at such close range. "I don't believe this," Kassi says
from somewhere behind the green head, her voice suggesting that she does
believe it, and is amused by it, and whether one wants to take that as a
bad sign or a good-- "All right. Just t'see what happens. Lysseth would
like t'be offering you a bribe," she tells Kant, "along these lines. If'n
you don't throw the green thing at her, you can come t'the Weyr and Stand
for Lhiannonth and Gelth's clutch. She furthermore assures you that she has
full authority t'make good on this offer, which since she's a Searchdragon
I guess is true enough."

Kant clears his throat, not quite a cough, but he's young enough that then
it does become a cough, and with Kassima invisible he can only have eyes
for Lysseth, big and apologetic and somehow happy, too. Except then Kassima
keeps talking, and those emotions track across his long face, humor chased
by confusion chased by excitement, and he leans forward a little with mouth
open, waiting, just waiting for Kassima to finish explaining so he can say
yes - except. Except then he swallows, Adam's apple lurching, and makes his
shoulders straighten up a little. "You... you don't have to do that," he
admits to Lysseth and her rider. "I won't throw it at you. It wouldn't be
right."

Lysseth snorts, but it's a relatively gentle--relatively, for she's still a
dragon--whuff of warm air. Now it's his shoulder she tries to nudge, all
soft-skinned insistence. "'Twould be more right than you know," Kassima
says. "Even so. She'll Search you anyway, if'n you let her; she wouldn't
say it if'n she didn't think you should be a Candidate regardless." A
pause. "She would have it be known that *she* agrees the vegetable would be
very, very wrong, however. Will you come?"

That's enough to blow the hair out of Kant's eyes, and he tenses as the
dragon pushes at his shoulder, nearly a tremble: it would be easy to push
him over, with him grown so tall in these last couple of Turns, all skin
and bones without yet the time to grow into his frame. He swallows again,
tries to ignore what he might suspect is humor, and with Lysseth right
there and her rider saying it's okay, all right, or as much all right as
these things get, he forgets entirely about such mundane things as
permission or Thread or, well, dying. "Oh," he says, and then again, "Oh.
All right. Yes. Yes, please!" and now he's up on the balls of his feet,
balancing, laughing.

On another day, in another place, to another person, Lysseth might do that,
too. It's not beyond either her strength or her nature. Neither is
compassion, for all Kassima's verbal protests; it's a light touch and
withdrawn before she can accidentally send him tumbling to the Courtyard
below. The day has held enough accidents. "Thank her crimson egg you're
happy about it," and though Kassi's still invisible beyond her lifemate,
there's a grin in the voice, the words, "it makes this such a pleasure. So
much for drinks and fishing! Can you find the Steward or Headwoman or
someone in charge and let 'em know what's happened, and get your things
together? We'll take you to the Barracks straight away. Only," she thinks
to caution, "'twill nay likely be able t'come back a'fore after the
Hatching, longer if'n you Impress. If'n you want a few moments t'say
farewell for a time t'your family we can spare 'em."

IGEN-> Z'nal waves, "a fine good day everyone." :)

IGEN-> Kassima waffles to Z'nal, and welcomes Kant to Igen as a Candidate!
Blame Lysseth. And a vegetable. ;)

Kant can't help but lean after her a little, as she withdraws, but again,
not so much that he goes tumbling. "Her... egg.... all right! All right!
I'll..." he tries to crane for a look at Kassima herself. "I'm Kant, you
should know, out of Gritmane Hold, only really it's is Kantalan, and I'm
visiting anyway so I'll just... never mind that, what's your name again?
You told me but with everything, it just, wait till Bennat hears!"

IGEN-> Beli says, "Hi, Z'nal! Welcome, Kant :)"

IGEN-> Z'nal adds syrup and butter...uh, to the waffles. ;);) "Hey Kant!
Welcome!"

IGEN-> Lanisa fears somehow... 3 guesses why but welcomes Kant, "Congrats!"
:) and *wavers* to Z'nal too. :)

IGEN-> Devany waves and congratulates, "Welcome." :)

IGEN-> Kant hopes this works, "Hi, and thank you!"

"Her ladyship would also have it be known you can rub her muzzle, if'n you
wish. Her ladyship is a shameless muzzle-rub harlot. There's time for that
later," Kassima asides to Lysseth, lightly elbowing the green in the side,
which naturally she barely notices. "Lift your head, lump." Once she does,
Kant can see Kassi and she can see him. "Kassima, and this is Lysseth. 'Tis
good t'be making your acquaintance, Kant, and duties t'Gritmane besides.
Who's Bennat?"

Kant's eyes round, and he reaches up with one of those gangly arms to try
and oblige, even if her head's moved some by now. "Um, duties to..." he
can't be subtle about looking at her shoulder, then looks relieved, "I had
to check, you see! Igen, duties to Igen, and to you, rider Kassima, and
Bennat's my friend," and here he gets red again beneath his tan. "I don't
think he's going to believe me at first, but he'll have to! Oh, by the
River, this is exciting. I don't know anyone who's been Searched, but lots
of people must have, and of course I don't know all that many people here
yet, so there's that, and just look at her, she's beautiful, it's just
perfect, and... right, I should go now, shouldn't I," before anyone changes
her mind.

Lysseth stays in place long enough to get at least a brief rub: priorities
are priorities. "I can loan you m'jacket to take and show him, knot and
patch and all?" Kassima suggests, perhaps facetiously and perhaps not, but
certainly entertained. "She's extraordinarily beautiful, I agree. Nay that
I could think otherwise. She'd have words with me I couldn't repeat to the
ears of the burliest sailor. Go on, get ready, we'll still be here when you
get back," Lysseth probably still as she's already started to be,
perceptibly pleased with herself and radiant in smugness.

Kant starts to open his mouth to say yes, but then has to admit, "He's back
at Gritmane, so... all right! I'm going now!" but just one more rub for
Lysseth first, make that, two more, before he's backing up with the plate
and then all but tripping over himself to get through the panel and safely
down only... just past the panel, there's a distinct thud. But at least
that's followed by the sound of running down the stairs, so he must have
picked himself back up along the way. Indeed, the first arrivals to come
back through the panel are a trio of serving girls who offer Kassima not
only drink but food, and none of it green, and who make big eyes at Lysseth
just in case. The second set of arrivals is a headwoman and a tall man just
slightly shorter than Kant and at least three decades older, who take a
slower time of it heading up the stairs from the courtyard.

Since he's beyond the panel and can't see, Kassi turns to bury her face in
her dragon's shoulder and laugh helplessly. "We'll have t'watch out for
him, hmm? Make sure he doesn't drop sacks of firestone on his feet."
Lysseth is too busy being pleased to comment. She's delighted by the
arrival of unexpected food and drink, accepting, of course, and making
small talk; this is Lysseth, isn't she something? Don't throw vegetables at
her, now. The greenrider eats tidily, neatly, as one accustomed to a bite
here and there before taking off again. She's a shade more formal in
greeting the Headwoman and her party, when they've ascended. "Igen's duties
t'Igen and her Lord," she says. "M'apologies if'n we've disturbed the Hold
in any way."

The petite woman laughs up at Kassima, "No trouble, none at all, and our
duties to Igen in return!" A sharp look at the girls sends them back behind
the panel, although the last one takes it particularly slowly, the better
to give Lysseth just one... more... chance... before she finally
disappears. With that, the headwoman dusts off her hands and explains who's
who, introducing her companion as Kant's foster-father's cousin Ranyar, and
Kassima as an experienced Igen rider with whom the man can trust his
nephew... at which point the pair has a bit of a verbal duel in which
Ranyar starts talking about genealogies and territories some three
generations back. The headwoman, though, basically ignores him in favor of
explaining warmly to Kassima that she had indeed parked Lysseth just where
it would make the least trouble, and that they should come back again, and
with these strange Falls their help is that much more appreciated, and so
on. And so forth. And so on. Finally Kant makes it out into the courtyard
with a heavy-looking rucksack, takes one look up and blanches, and starts
hurrying up to intercept them.

IGEN-> Lanisa welcomes Beli to victimhood...err, Candidacy! :)

IGEN-> Kant says, "That's great, Beli!"

IGEN-> Devany welcomes and congratulates :)

IGEN-> Beli grins. Thanks, I think ;)

Kassima's eyes follow the girls out, sympathy in them for all that she
calls no one back for Lyss to whuffle. Introductions! The rider has plenty
of smiles and agreeable head-bobs to go around, none so deep as to be
obsequious. She's one of the Coordinators, as it happens, so she can
promise to keep an eye on Kant's welfare. Did Igen know that the
Starcrafters have come up with new Threadfall charts? Yes, indeed. They
aren't guaranteed, but the days of unexpected Fall might be over and
wouldn't that be a great thing. Let it not be said Kassi can't gab when the
situation calls for it... or when it doesn't, to be honest. "Here's the
lad, looks like," she interrupts herself to say. She grins. "You've got
everything?"

IGEN-> Kassima congratulates! :)

IGEN-> Z'nal waves, "congrats Beli!" :)

Kant's grin is practically ear to ear, the more so since his Search pair
hasn't been frightened off before he got there, and he manages to give her
a quick assent before he's swept into a corner by his uncle for what are
presumably instructions, and a thump on the shoulder since his back's
occupied, and then more instructions by the headwoman at which he nods and
nods and nods. With that, the woman passes the lad over to Igen's
searchrider like dragonpoker winnings: with a touch of regret, maybe, but
mostly pleasure at the game.

Unlike dragonpoker winnings, Kassi doesn't scoop him up with gleeful
cackling and put him in her pocket. Wouldn't it be a sight if she tried?
She gestures for his belongings: she'll strap them in if he'll permit it,
and then, after parting words and reassurances to the Igenites, climb up,
offering him a hand up after.

You place one hand on Lysseth's neck and she warbles down at you fondly.
You grin and scratch her eyeridges once before climbing up onto her lower
neckridges, using the riding straps and Lysseth's thoughtfully offered
foreleg.

<*> Kant's not so proud, at least not after he's taken a deep breath and
made sure she really wants him to put his feet where they're going to have
to go, that he can't take her hand long enough to get himself up high
enough to where he's going to go.

Kant accepts Kassima's proffered hand and swings up onto Lysseth's lower
neckridges, settling himself behind Kassima carefully. Kassi grins and
reassures the dubious Lysseth that Kant is safe, and the green faces
forward as her rider gets ready to fly.

Another deep breath once he's up, and Kant waves with some restraint to his
uncle and rather less to... well, anyone else who happens to be looking.

<*> Lysseth endures feet with remarkable mellowness. Not even a twitch
until he's up and Kassi's helped him get the straps fixed just so, and then
she rocks back on her haunches, rumbling a cordial note--that's the only
warning. A heartbeat after she's leaping with vigor, fast-churning wings
taking them high--

<*> Lysseth spreads her wings to their full extent, bringing them down with
a rush of wind as she leaps nimbly into the air.

You launch yourself from the walkway and soar upwards.

Kant yelps, laughs - "She's so fast!" - then hangs onto the straps with a
shout, staring excitedly out at all the world around him, the way he's
never ever seen it before.

"Brace yourself for *between*!" Kassi calls over her shoulder. Sometime in
the interlude she put her riding gear back on. "Hold onto m'belt if'n you
need to."

<*> Lysseth disappears into Between.

Between
You gasp as the icy black nothingness of Between surrounds you! You hear
nothing, see nothing, and feel nothing. The trip takes five heartbeats...
Black...
Blacker...
Blackest!

You suddenly emerge...

<*> Lysseth emerges from Between with a blast of cold air!

<*> Lysseth indulges again in a circle: one long sweep, displaying the
jewel of the Weyr to her passengers before she's descendng with slightly
less speed and sharp angles than her norm.

You furl your wings slightly to glide lower into the Bowl.

You carefully wing lower into the Bowl.

Kant finally grabs on, but only after they're out of Between and it's too
late, and pity his searchrider because he's still yelling. "Yeah! Yeah!!"

You fly carefully towards the main entrance, then land.

Somehow Kassima endures! Laughs, furthermore. "You took that better than
some do," she tells him, and aids with the straps again should he need it;
"Now, the Candidate Barracks are through the Living Cavern--that's that
entrance there--" and she follows with more detailed directions, but at the
end says, "Want me t'show you the way?"

Kant says happily, "Thought I was gonna..." but at least he doesn't
complete that thought, staring around at the whole place, and how it's so
different, and how it's at least a little the same. He manages to get down,
jumping the last part and if he falls on one knee, at least he seems used
to it and gets right back up again. "By the River! Yes. Yes, please."

Kant climbs down from Lysseth's neckridges with the help of her riding
straps, looking grateful to be back on the ground. Lysseth eyes Kant for a
moment, rumbling quietly, before turning her attention elsewhere.

You slide off of Lysseth's neck to land beside her easily. She rumbles,
cocking her head down at you, and you rub her eyeridges gratefully.

"All right," Kassima says, "easy enough. Just follow me. You'll have a lot
of chances t'be looking around and exploring--nay that much choice, even.
Chores. But for now...."

You walk down the long, winding path to the Inner Caverns.

Lysseth> Chores... who can remember about chores now? Kant gives Lysseth
another of those huge grins, says, "Thanks! Thanks, a lot! I'd better run
before she ditches me!" and does just that.

Kant walks out of a cavern opening.

You stride into the Candidates' Barracks.

Kant strides in from the hallway.

Kant follows Kassima in like a duckling after its mother, all lanky
near-six-feet of him, and out of breath from catching up and staring and
sometimes laughing all the while.

Kassima reports just as she arrives, ostensibly to the younger man behind
her, "Lysseth says you're welcome, a'course. And here we are. Candidates'
Barracks: your home away from home for the duration, so be wary of picking
a cot beside someone who snores." How he's supposed to tell, she doesn't
divulge. She moves to one of the work tables which holds an assortment of
white-threaded knots and fishes one out for him. "This is for you, too. Any
questions right off?"

"Um," Kant asks, taking the knot she gives him without even looking at the
rest, "How am I supposed to tell who snores?" He looks around, then back
down at her. "Before it's too late?"

Beli looks just-arrived, herself, and not quite sure what to do with the
expanse of the room before her, so she's made her way down the length of
it, all eyes for the tapestries and such in the meanwhile. She turns upon
the arrivals, however, and watches - listens, perhaps - from her spot.


Beli:
Beli is a young girl of maybe fourteen turns, with eyes about the size of
saucers and a sleek mass of very straight, dark hair that is most often
separated into six or seven long plaits. Her skin is pale and unfreckled,
and her enormous eyes (which considerably dwarf her other, less appalling
features) are a pale shade of blue, like paint mixed with too much water.
She wears a lightweight dress of no particular color that rather blends in
with her skintone, and a number of magenta and blue scarves draped this way
and that. Were she a very old woman, she'd seem a bit strange; even so
young, 'eccentric' seems to fit.


"They have big nostrils," Kassima says with a straight face. "--I'truth,
if'n someone does snore you can move around. Plenty of room in here for
twice the number we'll see by the end. Just so y'know, Z'nal and I are the
Coordinators, so if'n you've questions or problems or any such like you
should look one of us up. Aye?"

Kant gets a look at those tapestries too, and rubs his eyes when he sees
the one with the mountains with the white tops, before Kassima yanks his
attention back again. "Big... oh." He looks around some more. "All right. I
mean, aye! I want a top bunk and..." More looking. And then he whispers, as
though his searchrider couldn't tell, "There's a girl. Here."

Beli abruptly makes a decision - after listening to Kassima's words, it
might be noted - and plunks a seemingly heavy shoulder bag on top of the
nearest cot, as none of the beds in her immediate area appear to be claimed.

A corner of Kassi's mouth twitches. "Aye," she agrees. "Lads and lasses
bunk together in here--well. Nay *together*. There are rules about that,
namely, don't do it. But you share the room." She wiggles her fingers in
greeting to Beli, as long as they're talking about her. "Everything all
right?"

Beli looks up from her now-staked cot to nod, "Oh, yes, thank you. Just got
here, too." By way of a little more explanation, maybe: "Lanisa, and
Tisiath - just left them."

Kant's eyes get big beneath the overhanging bangs, but then he lets his
shoulders go and just says, "Oh. Like camping out. All right." With that,
and a look at Kassima, and then at Beli, and then at Kassima again, he
nerves himself up to march right over to the bunk-set next to hers,
unslings his rucksack, and tosses it onto the uppermost of the pair. He
turns around: there.

"Two for Tisiath too, then. 'Twill needle Lyss about it, and she'll pretend
nay t'care," a prospect which amuses Kassima. "Congratulations t'you too.
'Twill repeat what I said t'Kant, here--come find Z'nal and I if'n you need
aught or want t'ask aught. For now I need t'be going, unless either of you
need something. You look," glancing between the claimed bunks, "well
settled so far."

Brave. Very brave. Beli awards Kant a once-over, and a smile once she gets
up near the floppy hair. "I'm Beli." She seems normal enough. Kassima's
'congratulations' gives her a moment's pause, but only just, and to the
rest she nods, as if she hadn't already heard it. "Thank you. I don't -
need anything."

"Ma' - ...marvelous," Kant substitutes, "Rider Kassima. In fact," and he
pauses to give Beli yet another look, and a trial smile of his own, before
lowering his voice and asking yet another question. As soon as he gets the
answer, he's gone.

IGEN-> Kant logs out for now. "Thanks again, and good meeting you!"

"That's well. I like the scarves," Kassima mentions suddenly, having made
up her mind on that subject. "'Tis an unusual look and makes me wonder if'n
Stores has any in green...." A quick, murmured answer for Kant, then she
starts to follow him out. "Good t'meet you--which, well, might go better
if'n I gave my name, so I'm Kassima."

Beli doesn't know what to make of that 'marvelous', but upon Kassima's
scarf comment, she's clearly pleased. "Thank you." It would seem, from the
little nod, that she already knew that last part. "Beli," she repeats.
"Well met, Kassima."

Kassima offers a grin. "A pleasure," she says, and sounds as though she
means it. "Good luck finishing with the settling in. 'Twill see you about,
likely," and whether that's more threat or promise, it serves as exit line.

You wend your way out to the Inner Caverns.