Meeting The New Team(Quinn)

[DreamerLady]

(Set a day before the new Igen Wings arrive)

To say that Sanzia was stressed was an understatement. Weyrwoman Quinn would arrive at any moment, or at least, at some point today, and she was worried about making a good Impression. Not so worried that she spend the day in the punishing heat of the Weyrbowl- she had Candidates and Weyrbrats for that, but worried enough that she had imposed herself on the junior Weyrwoman's former personal drudge, and demanded that the woman make her look nice.

Her hair, normally pulled into an easy bun had been washed, curled, and glossified, some sort of power had been applied to her face to keep her from appearing too flushed, or sweaty, and clothing she wore, while not Gather material was of a nice enough weave and cut that she would be implying that she was an equal to whomever walked into her office.

Or, in this case, the laundry, where she was berating the state of the table linens.

"Ladies, we have started to count, in hours, how long until the new riders are here." Sanzia thundered. "Put you backs into, and get this clean. We still have a lot to do, and you not be enjoying the meeting feast if you don't get your work done."

And then she stormed out, her mind still on the fact that her office could be cleaner, and that maybe she shouldn't have already brought out the supply hides, and whether or not she was going to appear to forward. A curl fell forward on her face, and Sanzia jammed it back behind her ear. It was okay, the Headwoman reminded herself. She was good at her job, and the new Weyrwoman would have to like her.

And that was when the Weyrbrat arrived, informing her that the Weyrwoman was being brought to her office, and Sanzia hurried back to her post, unsure if she would manage to reach the office first.

[Hrsegrl]

Quinn had made sure they both looked their best before leaving Fort. Her leathers were well kept and her hair, though it continued to try to escape the beautiful net that it was being held in, was in place. Luckily it wasn't long anymore. Tarsaith still had a nice sheen from her oiling two days before. The Weyrwoman had plans to bathe her the next morning before the new dragons arrived. No sense in over bathing the dragon. The Caverns folk would appreciate them no matter what Tarasaith's hide looked like.

As they prepared to land in the Bowl of Igen Weyr, the Queen could not resist pulling an acrobatic stunt. She flew straight towards where the Weyrbrats and Candidates were standing, almost within touching reach of a couple of the taller children, and flew over them causing their hair to get tousled by the wind she created. Then with a satisfied flip in the air above, she slowed herself for a proper landing which was as elegant and smooth as any dragon on Pern could do.

The children, now awed by the dragon had a hard time leaving to inform that the Weyrwoman was there. It as a young boy, probably of about eleven who extended his greetings first and offered to show her to the Headwoman's office. The boy was talking to her the whole way about he hoped he would impress someday and how impressive Tarasaith's flying was, Quinn responded to him as anyone with patience would she listened mostly and made vague comments that only allowed him more time to go on talking.

When they reached the Headwoman's office, Quinn said, "Thank you for the escort. Now I'm sure you have chores to do, so I won't keep you. If the Headwoman sees you aren't doing anything I'm sure she will have something for you to do." With that said the boy ran off. He didn't want to do more chores than he had to, like any true Weyrbrat . She knocked lightly on the door, before entering. She took in the face of the woman before her, she was prettier than the Headwoman at Fort and quite a bit younger though Quinn would guess about her own age. A good age to be a Leader, she thought with a slight smile to herself.

Without judging too much on the face of the woman she noted that the room had recently been cleaned and the woman before her had done her best to look good for the Weyrwoman. Quinn appreciated these things as it meant that Igen Weyr was accepting the fact that she was here and they were going to make an effort to like her. "Hello. I'm certain you know of me already but salutations must be given. I'm Quinn of Gold Tarasaith." Other than wearing leathers which was unavoidable, Quinn had done her best to look good too. She was hoping the Headwoman would like her since they would be working together quite a lot.

[DreamerLady]

Smoothing down her black and yellow shirt(Igen Weyr's colors), and avoiding touching the long white skirt underneath, Sanzia avoided looking out of breath, and carefully looked the new Weyrwoman over. Quinn was dressed in sensible leathers, and no unnecessary fripperies, such as long hair or overly large jewelry, and she'd come alone, which all in all, was a good thing. With a barely perceptible nod, Sanzia smiled a welcome, and stepped forward to grasp the forearm of the new Weyrwoman in a Igen Dragonrider Tradition. Sanzia had no idea, having never really gone traveling, if that held true in any other Weyr. Even if it didn't, she was an Igen Headwoman, and she would do her best to keep Igen traditions alive.

"Greetings, Weyrwoman Quinn." Sanzia responded, arm out. "My duty to your Dragon. I am Sanzia, and am currently the Headwoman of this Weyr." Sanzia doubted that Quinn had already known her name. Fort and Igen weren't exactly on the same line of gossip, and she knew little about Fort, other than the name of it's Weyrwoman and current Weyrleader.

"Would you like a seat?" Sanzia had in fact, changed the chairs in front of her desk. Instead of the uncomfortable wooden chairs, it was a single chair that exactly matched the one she was sitting in- again, a symbolic gesture that that were equal.

"I'm sure you have a lot to do today, but I wanted to aquaint you with some of the numbers, problems, and facts of Igen before letting you go exploring."

[Hrsegrl]

Quinn was able to grasp the woman's arm back and being unsure of the traditions here she did not mind that the woman was including her in one that she had not known. The woman seemed amiable enough and both of them were proffessionals. "Thank you Sanzia." She sat down in the chair provided and noted that it was exactly like the one the Headwoman sat on.

She nodded, they all had a lot to do. "Nothing that is more important than a meeting about the Weyr. I think this is the perfect time to go over everything." Quinn said. "If you don't mind, I'd prefer to hear where our problems are first and then end on a happier note. I just hate ending meetings with negative thoughts."

While Quinn knew she had a lot to do, she imagined the Headwoman had quite a lot to do as well. As Weyrwoman she would make sure every weyr was ready for a rider. Tomorrow would be worse for her. There would be quarrelling over weyrs and dragons coming in all the time. To top it off she would have to meet the Wingleaders and act like she knew something about leading fighting wings.

[DreamerLady]

"Well," Sanzia stated, settling into her chair. "Our biggest problem is that we're low on all sorts of population. We have too few Riders, decreased Lower Cavern folk, and too many Weyrbrats for the remaining Creche women, and Fosterers to handle."

Sanzia looked down, trying not to get emotional. "A lot of people packed up and left with their Weyrmate, or back to a Hold when Thread started falling. A lot of people couldn't cope with the losses. I have a lot of people who are angry that we lost all of our riders, and who have been convinced to move on before they cause problems now." Sanzia shrugged. "It's a hotbed of undirected rage and despair where I work. And, thankfully for me, you get to be the figurehead of hope, and not me. " That statement caused a slight smile, but she smothered it quickly.

"If I were you, which I am not, so feel free to disregard this, I'd tell your Wingleaders to look into Igen Traditions. It would be soothing for my folk to thing that we're not being invaded by Fort, and such forth."

Sanzia leaned back into her chair after that, and placed her hands over her stomach. "Basically, we have too small of a population. The best way to deal with that is Searching for Candidates, especially older ones, and women. We should also go have a chat with the various crafthalls, and take people instead of goods for tithe, replacing our missing amateurs with actual Crafters. Any questions about all of that before we move on?"

[Hrsegrl]

The Weyrwoman did not miss the tone of voice the Headwoman took when she spoke of losses. Quinn felt bad but it was not her decision to do this to Igen in fact she had not even been permitted to come to the meetings. Figurehead of hope? Oh dear, what had she gotten herself into? Tarasaith was more the figurehead and she just happened to be the brain of that figurehead.

"I will make sure that we recieve more staff. Next week we will hold a meeting about the Candidate situation. I want you to be there to state your case and to give the riders an idea of exactly what we need down there. Tomorrow I will send out to the Healer Hall and Harper Hall. I know both Mastercrafters very well, having spent twenty two Turns at Fort. After that I will appeal to the other Crafthalls. They will probably be less inclined to help us but we will do what we can. Even if we have to Search apprentices, we will get staff that knows a thing or two about crafts." Quinn did not sigh but she paused to look at the Headwoman dead on.

"You have done wonderfully keeping this place together. If there is anything I can do for you, let me know. Pern does not always know who the true heroes are but I do. There is nothing I won't do for those who are loyal to the Weyr and to the dragonriders." She wanted to make it clear that she respected the people of the Weyr that were not on dragons as much sometimes even more than the dragonriders. "When I say anything, I mean it. I will get you whatever you need that is within my power to get."

Now she sighed, Bronzeriders, ugh. At least she was used to dealing with them. "The Wingleaders will be informed as soon as they arrive and have time to meet with me. I don't want them to disregard our customs. At least they aren't coming from Fort. I'm sick of all the Fort Bronzeriders except Weyrleader Ch'vol. He at least is a good friend of mine." She gave an apologetic smile for getting off topic and then continued.

"If we can get the people we need will there be anything material we will need as well. Are we stocked well enough for more people?"

[DreamerLady]

"Well, the good news is that just that: we have more than enough goods. In fact, I was, with your permission, planning on having a welcoming feast. We have a lot of perishables that need to be used up, and better in gesture of welcome and joy than in the compost. And maybe Bronzeriders improve with food."

Also, she added silently, a quick way to a Weyrgirl's heart was through her stomach, with the garnish of alcohol, and the lithe body of a Dragonrider. Igen didn't need it's pregnancy rate to drop right at the start of Thread, after all.

"When you have a chance, you should look over our tithe records. When we were due for the last one, I renegotiated for goods that would last longer- already tanned hides instead of livestock, spices instead of greens, cloth instead of carded wool, pre-made medicines instead of wine. Now that we've changed back into functioning Weyr, we'll have to change the tithe back to what it was. And we'll have to do that soon, or we'll get send things in quantities that no longer work for our needs."

Sanzia used the 'we' as an indicator of how she felt about Quinn's pledge to help her. Of course, it was in both of their best interests to help the other, but still. It was a sweet gesture.

"You'll, of course, need to go introduce yourself to our Lord and Lady Holders. I'll brief you on that once everyone's set a mutually satisfactory date in which to do so. Both of our Holders, are, ah, very interesting." Which was polite for saying that they were both mildly crazy, and better left for another day.

"Anyway, to easier things to discuss. While I have a list of all Dragonriders who are expected tomorrow, and a diagram that shows where each of our weyrs are, I haven't assigned Weyrs." Sanzia frowned. "Honestly, I couldn't leave that to one of my assistants, and I have been to busy to look into how one chooses assigns a weyr without causing insult. Instead, I've had every scrap of personal effects removed from every reachable weyr- some couldn't be reached without a dragonrider, and our Weyrlings are usually the ones picked to help, but they were the first to be transported to different Weyrs when we lost whole set of assistants and the Weyrling Master. So those haven't been cleaned, and are the ones with the pins in them."

Sanzia passed the diagram over- a piece of stiffened hide an arms length long. "I was thinking that when a Dragonrider needed a light punishment we could use him or her for transport duty. It's a bit demeaning to have your dragon decked out with cleaning women and supplies, or so I've been told." Sanzia smiled, signifying she was joking- though not about the punishment.

[Hrsegrl]

Quinn much preferred the good news. They weren't going to starve anytime soon. Enough for a feast on top of that was even better. "I think a feast would be a wonderful way to bring the Weyr together." Not to mention perfect for meeting new people. Once the dragonriders arrived they would be ready for feasting anyway.

"Perfect. Fort has been doing the same and of course, as Junior, it was my task to organize that. There is one area I understand perfectly. Senior Queens try to keep their Junior's far away from their Bronzeriders." Quinn smiled, not that that had ever stopped her. Sanzia's diagram grabbed her attention as soon as it was set before her.

"We will let them choose and I'll have Tarasaith inform them that those weyrs are off limits for the time being. I don't think that there is a way to choose for them without starting a quarrell. I'll have enough of that to worry about tomorrow with them choosing their own. I was expecting that to be the case. Most of them will want to be closer together I'm sure." She hoped so anyway. If they all spread out too much the Weyr would feel empty.

Quinn laughed, "Oh I'm sure there will be punishments needed for some of the more troublesome riders the Weyrs are bound to send us. I'll inform the Wingleaders that such punishment is available to them and that they should speak with you directly about when and where." The Queenrider had some other punishments in mind too and none of them were anywhere near as nice as helping Cavern's women to reach upper weyrs.

[DreamerLady]

"Wonderful. I'll let my cooks know that the feast is on. Little Weyrbrats will sing your praises." As would Sanzia. She loved a good feast, and, being a former cook, was, in her own opinion, someone skilled at deciding the menu based on supplies and seasons, and the general feeling of the Weyr. Tomorrow's feast would feature a lot of fruit and sweets, which generally improved dispositions.

"Then I'll inform my workers that their will be no assignments. And since you'll have first contact with the Wingleaders; I informed the new Riders not to bring any bedding, unless it had special significance. The storeroom off of the main dining hall will be the place we pass out bedding, and the sheets to hang between the Dragonledge and the main room. The amount of sand around here is insane, and they'll need the sheet. Since the Senior Queenrider's weyr has an oddly shaped walkway and bed, I took the liberty of setting up both already."

Sanzia smiled and stood. "Now, if you'd like, we could take a quick tour, get you introduced, and then cut you loose. You'll also want to start drinking fluids all of the time- it's very hot and dry here, and you can get very sick suddenly. But the Healers will berate you about it, even if you've already been warned, so I'll just remind you to drink. Ready to go?"

(I have to leave for four days, so if you'd wrap this up in your next post, we can start a different thread when I get back.)

[Hrsegrl]

(thats funny, cause my sisters wedding is saturday so I'm not gonna be posting much either.)

Quinn laughed. She loved the children of the Weyr. If she weren't such a busy person, she would have loved to raise her own babies. Most people found her to be even more sweet natured when she was pregnant which made her want to have more. Sadly she felt that her last child was the last she would be capable of having.

"Thank you Sanzia. Your foresight is appreciated." Quinn had not thought about needing a sheet between the ledge and the weyr proper. Maybe Tarasaith wouldn't be out on that ledge as much as she thought. She could just imagine the oiling problems they could run into with Weyrlings. The thought made her quiver slightly. She had seen too many of the young ones die in the last three months, it was hard to think about anything hindering them more.

"Sounds perfect. Healers are the worst sort of nags in all of Pern. I'd rather hear children screaming..." Quinn said and decided she did not want to end up in a conversation with a Healer any time soon. Drinking a lot of fluids was now part of the schedule and routine. Thank Faranth she was sent and not Suvria. That woman couldn't handle change anywhere near as well as Quinn and Igen was a big adjustment. With that thought ended, she followed Sanzia out into the Weyr where she was given the tour.

(End Thread)