Headwoman's Challenge

Norri and Fort Weyr host a Headwoman's Conference. Jenna proves how non-domestic she really is.

NCpern - Thursday, November 30, 2000, 2:02 PM
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Your location's current time: 16:03 on day 21, month 12, Turn 33, of the Tenth Pass. It is a winter afternoon.

Center of the Fort Weyr Bowl
The Bowl of Fort Weyr, a large, featureless plain surrounded by steep mountain cliffs, stretches out around you. It is approximately oval in shape, about 2700 meters along the long axis running southwest to northeast, and about half that distance across the short axis. You stand in its approximate center. The soil of the bowl is somewhat sandy.
To the northwest is the large cavern used for the Weyrling barracks. To the west is the fenced off area where the Weyr's herds are kept, and the lake shore is to the southwest. To the northeast can be seen the ledges for the junior queens and the weyrleaders. The large entrance to the Hatching Grounds can also be seen to the northeast and to the east are the Lower Caverns.
Contents:
Isha
Headwomens' Challenge Area
Serving Table
Snack Table
Headwomen's Olympics Area
Headwomen's Olympics Rules Sign
T'shar
Toniath
Gather Schedule Sign
Ice Skating Rink
Delari's Wagon

Vaelyn walks across the bowl from the Lower Caverns.
Vaelyn has arrived.

Roan walks across the bowl from the Lower Caverns.
Roan has arrived.

Jenna comes up from the direction of the feeding grounds, in deep conversation with an older man. He gives her a nod, and the pair part company rather amiably, as Jenna ambles towards the snack table and the general hullabaloo.

Vaelyn leans back and looks over her shoulder. "Now where is this challenge?" she calls towards Roan. Movement catches her gaze as she spies Jenna and the older man. "Hello," she calls as she raises her hand in greeting. "Welcome to Fort!"

Styx walks across the bowl from the Lower Caverns.
Styx has arrived.

phoenix walks across the bowl from the Lower Caverns.
phoenix has arrived.

Carissa walks across the bowl from the Lower Caverns.
Carissa has arrived.

Roan comes back in the bowl behind vaelyn he suddenly says, "Ya know I seem tto follow around behind you an aweful lot...." he looks and sees Jenna and waves, "Hiya again... I wondered where you wandered off to."

Carissa picks her way down the bowl, cradling her harp case to her. She frowns in disapproval as a weyrbrat bumps into her.

phoenix oh dears as she surveys the mess, muttering to herself, "Norri's skin must be crawling to even look at it."

Norri has arrived.

Norri heads into the bowl, smiling, Roan's firelizard Pryde following her. "Here we are!" she says, "I hope you all enjoyed the stories? We headwomen had a fine, productive meeting."

Jenna nods politely to the greeting and makes her way over towards Vaelyn and Roan. The lad gets a grin and, "Ran into a friend of mine - runner from down at Fort. We got to talking about the ice in the passes - he says it's worse going up to Ruatha already. may be a bad winter." She offers to Vaelyn, "I'm Jenna, in from one of the cotholds down 'tween Fort and Fort Sea."

Vaelyn chuckles, eyes alight with amusement as she just looks about. "I'll be on cleanup duty tonight, I suppose." She focuses back on Jenna as the young woman speaks. "I'm Vaelyn, a resident here at the Weyr. Well met, Jenna. Are you going to join in on the games?"

A young man leans towards Norri and states, "We loved the stories! The first was very funny, and the second was very exciting."

This area of the bowl has been set up with a series of challenges for the Headwomen to face. Looking out over the area mops, buckets, bedding and more all look in need to tending.

Norri smiles, "I'm glad to hear it! We'll be starting the next game in just a moment." She heads over to Jenna and Vaelyn, "Jenna! It's so nice to see you again - oh , excuse me for interupting. But I did want to apologize for being so flustered this morning."

phoenix grins at Norri, "The stories were excellent. We should have Vaelyn tell one more often."

Carissa flutters along the bowl, eyes surveying the area.

Jenna laughs and shakes her head at Vaelyn. "Shards and shells, no. Just a coincidence I'm here for your gather. Fine crowd it is too, ma'am." The headwoman is given a nod and a smile. "No need to apologize. Faranth knows you'd more on your mind than messages."

Norri nods to phoenix and smiles gratefully at Vaelyn, "I'll remember that. YOu know, she was a wonder at setting up that craft table too!" She nods to Carissa, spotting her for the first time that day, "Welcome to Fort Weyr!"

Carissa looks up and smiles, "Thank you." she says to Norri. "SmithCraft's Duties." ignore the harp case on her back and the GlassCraft Journeyknot on her shoulder. Trying to explain the combination to oneself would only be rewarded in a headache.

Norri smiles, "I'm, Norri, the headwoman. Well met." She begins to usher people over to the challenge area, "Follow me please...follow me..."

Vaelyn grins towards phoenix, a slight flush to her cheeks. "I was good enough to not warrent fruit maulings if I tried it again, hmm?" She chuckles softly, her tone enthralled with humor. "Oh, well Jenna, I do at least insist that you stay and have your fill at dinner. There'll be lots of good things to eat." Another blush is awarded to Norri's comment. "Oh, sorry I didn't see your knot earlier," she notes, calling over to Carissa. "Welcome to Fort."

Roan grins when he spots Pryde and Norri and asks, "I assume you got the note then?" He motions Pryde to wing back to him.

Welcome to the Headwomen's Challenge!

For those of you brave enough to enter, the rules are as follows:

1) Each contestant will face two typical messes created by a Fort Weyr rider or resident.

2) The contestant must clean up the mess, using any of the cleaning supplies provided.

3) The first contestant to successfully clean up their mess is the winner.

Good Luck!

OOC Note: Many thanks to Garia and Roan for supplying the mess descs!

phoenix bursts out laughing at fruit maulings before she can cover her mouth.

From the Challenge Area, Norri nods to Roan as they both walk in, "Oh, yes, I did. thank you for sending him."

phoenix nudges at Styx again. My but she manhandles the poor kid. "Going to play?"

Carissa smiles slightly and waves a hand, "Thank you." her eyes settle as she wanders towards the Challenge area.

From the Challenge Area, Roan sees the stuff and says, "this time I am just going to watch...I Still dont know how I ended up in the last event but what ever it was It aint going to work this time."

Jenna calls to Roan, "I didn't know you were a headwoman as well as a stablehand?" She grins, staying well away from the cleaning areas. "You're not going to try, Roan?"

From the Challenge Area, Vaelyn glances down at the piles and wrinkles her nose. "Yeck... what's the challenge?" she asks as she raises her eyebrows and squints her eyes at one particularly unpleasant bedfur.

Grissa walks across the bowl from the Lower Caverns.
Grissa has arrived.
F
rom the Challenge Area, Norri coughs delicately as the stink rises up off of the pile of bedfurs. "Its' another cleaning challenge."

Headwomens' Challenge Area
This area of the courtyard has been set up for the Headwomen's Challenge. A selection of soaps, mops, buckets, scrub brushes and other cleaning supplies sits off to one side. In a long line across the area are what look at first like heaps of trash. Upon closer examination, these smelly, foreboding looking piles are actually the bedding of some Fort Weyr folk. Normally cleaned by the headwoman and her assistant, these have been set aside for today's contest.

In each pile is a sorry looking fur. They're originally two extremely nice and soft furs used as bedfurs for T'quinn and Garia. This was until the day their twin daughters snuck the furs off the bed for additional warmth for outside play. Oh they had a wonderful time. cloaked in the warm furs, as they played in the bowl near the lake. Snow was so handy for throwing at each other...and the snowball fight was fast and furious. They didn't really notice that the snow was half-melting and their feet churned up the dirt into lovely muddy puddles. Their olderbrother jumped into the fight, wrestling the pair to the ground and all had great fun rolling around and stuffing clumps ofmuddy snow into each others' faces. It wasn't until after that the girls realized their fathers' furs were in a state of extreme messiness. Dirt and mud had been ground into the fur...and clumps of dirt matted the once-smooth surface. Their mother, an unusually sedate greenrider, was anything but sedate when they brought her the furs. She's hoping to get them returned to their original state of clean softness.

Also in each pile is a very messy bed sheet that looks clean softness.

Also in each pile is a very messy bed sheet that easily tell the person who commonly uses it sweats a lot at night and enjoys eating in bed, as small crumbs are covering all the sheets and pillows and must make it impossible for anyone to sleep in comfortably. Of course, all those crumbs explain the condition of the sheets, which seem to be tangled up into an incredible lump of cloth and crumbs.
Contents:
phoenix
Roan(#16964PVace)
Vaelyn
Norri(#5146PJce)
Challenge Rules

Roan calls to Jenna, "You missed me performing in the early contest I take it... those kids were evil..."he suddly rembers their moms might be close at hand, "In a good way of course."

Jenna chuckles as she drifts a bit closer. "Of course." Then she grimaces, as the stink hits her. "Faugh! What in the world died in that thing?" Hand points to the pile of furs, eyes watering and narrowed to slits.

Norri claps her hands, "This is an easy contest, with easy rules!" she calls. "Let's get started! We have here two typical messes that any headwoman might find in a days' work. Your challenge is to get it cleaned up. You'll each have a pile of some of these bedfurs and some of these sheets. When I blow my whistle, whoeever's pile is the cleanest wins! Who's playing?"

Vaelyn raises her hand. "I might have an unfair advantage though. I've been helping out some of the ladies in the lower caverns... though with nothing quite this, bad."

Carissa watches with a bemused look upon her face. Shaking her head she moves silently. "Have fun!" she calls to the participants.

Grissa grins, "I don't know. What supplies do we get?" she asks, hoping her lateness didn't make her miss those instructions.

Norri nods to Vaelyn, "That's quite alright." She laughs at Grissa's question, "Spoken like a true headwoman!" She points to the table full of varied supplies. All the standards are there, plus a few fancy variations.

Norri looks around, "How about you?" she smiles at Jenna, "Show us how it's done at Fort Seahold!"

Vaelyn bobs her head. "Then I'm in. Which pile do I get?" she asks, not ready to yet approach any of those before her.

Roan pats Vaelyn on the shoulder, "I'm sure you will do fine and experince has nothing to do with it... you know how many chores I do and I still lost the first contest... some how those sheets seem nice compared to those children...."

Norri points Vaelyn to her pile. "You too," she urges phoenix. "Roan, you help me judge this time please."

Grissa grins, "Alright, I'm in. But if my dress get's all messed up, someone -else- is gonna have to clean it..." She pushes her sleeves up to the elbow and fixes her skirts.

Jenna blinks at Norri. "Me?" The question comes out as a squeak. "I'm a runner, not a cleaner." She frowns doubtfully at the piles, "I suppose I could give it a go, though."

Vaelyn isn't wearing any fancy dress, but she does like the clothes she's wearing. She moves over to her indicated pile and stands next to it. "We can take any of the supplies?" she asks, reaching down for a scrub brush.

phoenix begs off for this round, using the handy excuse of Healers ordering her to take it easy with the pregnancy.

Norri beams at Jenna, "Wonderful! Let's get you all lined up...oh, and I have some protective clothing for you all..." she says, distributing voluminous aprons. "Yes, help yourself to supplies..." She nods to phoenix, understanding, "Of course...the fumes...perhaps you'll help me judge as well?"

phoenix brightens, "I would love to."

Roan grins as he doesn't have to enter this contest and he nicely says, "Sure thing Norri.... But I aint immune to flatery...." he jokes.

Jenna fumbles with the apron and, to her credit, does actually manage to get it tied on correctly. She makes her way to the supplies and frowns down at them in confusion. "Vaelyn? Uh, which are we supposed to use?" A nervous smile is given to Grissa as well, and she keeps an eye on the other woman - perhaps looking for a clue.

Norri watches the contestants get ready, "Now...when I blow the whistle, you'll begin..."

Grissa happily takes an apron and put it on, tying it with quick fingers. She winks at Jenna.

Norri looks up and applauds as P'ya comes in. "Oh, the champion! Ready for a rematch?" she offers him one of the protective aprons.

Roan watchs the contestants and will try his best to be impartial.

phoenix laughs and sits back to watch P'ya work his magic.

Vaelyn is quick to slip into her apron, then reaches down for some sandsoap and a few other items. She hands a scrub brush to Jenna. "This, and something that will help you wash out stains. Pick your poison," she states with a smile, nudging differen soaps with her toe. She moves back to her pile with a brush in one hand and soap in the other, both arms up against her chest. "I'm ready when you all are."

Norri nods, picks up her whistle."On your mark...get set...go!" She blows a loud blast.

P'ya grins, cracking one knuckle. "Depends," he says, accepting the apron and putting it on quickly. "Do I have to deal with more screaming littles or have they already been and gone to make this mess?" Hearing the signal to go, he moves to one of the piles and squints at it, trying to figure out the best way to deal with it.

Norri explains as P'ya moves off, "You just need to clean the piles of furs and sheets at your place."

Jenna murmurs, "I think I'm way outranked here, but..." She closes her eyes, and selects something at random. It's entirely the wrong kind of soap, but it's too late now. As the whistle blows, she takes brush and lye in hand, and spreads out the fur she was assigned to. It is attacked with vigor, if not experience, and foam soon starts to rise from the hide, along with a peculiar smell.

Norri moves back towards Roan and phoenix and coughs. "Oh dear..." she murmurs.

Roan calls to P'ya, "dont get your tunic dirty! And show those ladies how a man does it!" He knows a bap is soon to becomming and gets ready to duck.

Grissa grabs something off the table and sniffs at it. With a shrugs she take the container, a scrub brush and two buckets of water towards the pile of furs and sheets. In very little hurry she seperates the sheet and shakes them out, all the while trying to hold them as far away from herself as possible and make an 'icky icky icky' face. When she feels freed them of all the crumbs she can she crams them all in the bucket and pours a bit of the unspecified cleaning solution in on top of it and begins stirring.

phoenix laughs at P'ya, "Oh no..their mothers ran far and fast to get them safely out of reach..

Norri fans herself, "I hope you're not feeling faint at all Lady phoenix..."

P'ya grins up at Roan. "I didn't bring my wig so a man will /have/ to do it," he says, then picks up - hmm, crumbs. Lifting it as far as he can, he just shakes it to get the worst out. "I don't blame them. I might offer them more bubblies."

phoenix giggles at Grissa's expression, pointing her out to Norri, "No, ma'am, not at all. Just where did those come from?"

Vaelyn kneels over and quickly begins to scrub at her furs. It doesn't matter which spot should be tackled first, she just aims for the nearest as her arms flail about in a fury of cleaning. Each spot will meet it's maker, in turn. "Whoop, here we go!" She calls with a grin. She reaches for a bucket of water and douses the fur, then begins to scrub again at the spots still remaining.

From outside the Challenge Area, Rhi has arrived.

Jenna just peers at all the foam with a trifle helpless expression. Surely it's not supposed to smell like that. Clean furs don't. Seeing Vaelyn douse her furs, Jen darts back and grabs a bucket of water. It is sluiced over the furs - much better! Then the brush is used vigorously again. More foam is the result, and that strange smell starts to rise once more. Like a canine that got singed by fire. Oh well, in for a quartermark, in for a whole. Jenna continues to scrub doggedly.

phoenix takes a seat, drawing Styx into her lap and pointing him to various people, "Well that will never do, will it."
Styx smiles as he settles in his mothers lap, looking where she points and nodding.

Roan just watchs and says, "P'ya must be a glutton for punishment..."

Norri explains to phoenix, "Those furs came from Garia's weyr...and the sheets...from Roan's." She lowers her eyes, avoiding looking at the young man responsible.

Roan blinks, "They did not! Ive never seen those before in my life!" he begins to protest.

phoenix blinks quickly, jaw clenched to avoid laughing out loud

Vaelyn focuses in on one particularly unpleasant spot and scrubs so hard it's a wonder she hasn't broken the brush yet. Rinsing it off again, she contents herself to working on getting a piece of some sort of gummy substance off of the edge of the thing. "Yuck... who was eating sweets in bed," she protests, evidently extremely grossed out. Once all the stains seem to be apparently out of the thing, she stands and walks over to the edge of the area, shaking it out like you would shake a rug. Water goes flying /everywhere/.

Norri blinks as well. "Oh," she says lamely, "But...you did find them for me. I must have misunderstood."

Styx covers his mouthg and can't help a giggle.

Grissa lays out the furs and places the clean bucket on one end. She kneels on the other end and the furs are held securely down. Dipping her brush in the soapy bucket she starts to scrub. Both hands grasp the brush as she uses her entire body to scrub the furs. So that's how she got her figure back after those children! Suds begin to bubble up on the furs, obscurring the dirty spots.

P'ya continues to beat the crumbs out. At least he's managed to get the worst of them out - but, unfortunately, that's the easy part. Grabbing a soapy water bucket and some other stuff, he goes about cleaning methodically, but not with very much skill. "Don't feel bad," he calls out, grinning. "One time, I got some sweets at a Gather, and I put them in my pocket, and they gummed the whole pair of pants together when I fell in the lake and they dried."

Roan nods, "I keep my room neat like you told me too."

Norri waves to Rhi and nods towards the three contestants, Jenna, Grissa and Vaelyn, "We've given them quite a challenge this time!" She smiles at Jaxelle, "Welcome to Fort Weyr."

Four contestants! Including P'ya!

phoenix tries to shush Styx but really does a horrible job since she's now giggling herself.

Vaelyn says "The object is who gets theirs the cleanest, not who finishes the fastest, right?" The girl peers over her shoulder as she continues to snap the wet fur in the air. "I need to get to my sheets."

Rhi enters the challenge area and waits for Jaxelle to catch up, smiling and waving back to Norri.

Norri calls to Vaelyn "When I blow my whistle, whoever's are the cleanest will win."

Styx presses his lips together and covers his mouth, but his mother's giggle is infectious.

Jenna absently ducks water flying out from Vaelyn's shaking, and pours more water on the furs. That reduces the smell once more at the very least. Though it does appear that where she was scrubbing is changing colors. Only a slight variation, but they are lighter in the spots where the lye foamed over. "There's sheets too? Faranth's tail!" Grimly, she goes back to scrubbing, pinching her nose shut with one hand.

Jaxelle laughs softly as she jogs up to Rhi's side, eyes darting over the goings-ons and her lips pulled into a wide smile. "Well.. I suppose you /did/ say it'd offer a change." she murmers.

Vaelyn glances over at the others, and gives her fur a few more snaps before returning to work on her sheets. The furs are cleaner, but by no means entirely spot free. She did a good job at getting the sweet goo out of it though. Pausing to give that piece a rest, she focuses in on the sheets. Gathering up the piece of materual, she dunks it directly into her bucket and mashes it down a few times with her fists.

P'ya, cleaning, eventually sniffs. Twice. The sheets he's cleaning don't smell - much - okay, they might, but he's used to them by now. His head turns, slowly, to look at Jenna and the furs. Then back to his own work.

Norri heads over to Rhi and Jaxelle, "I'm Norri, the headwoman,"she introduces herself to the latter, keeping an eye on the scrubbing contestants.

Jenna sluices a final bit of water over the now slightly ragged furs. She *does* get the bright idea to hang them - isn't that what one does with wash? Unfortunately, she didn't clean both sides of it. And yes, there are slightly discolored parts, but at least they're clean ones. She moves on to the sheets and douses them thoroughly with the leftover water. Whoops. Maybe she should have shaken them out first.

Norri waves to Seralla, "You've missed the beginning of the contest!" she tells her disappointedly, "But I can introduce you to some new people. "This is Rhi, from the seacraft..."

Jaxelle grins and extends one hand towards the headwoman, "Jaxelle.. daughter of Lord Regex and Lady Selchin of Tillek. They send their greetings and well wishes."

Rhi bites her lip then smiles at Norri "I'm sorry. Forgot about that" she apologises. She turns and smiles to Serella "And this is JAxelle, as you just heard."

Norri nods politely to Jaxelle, covering her palm with the correct gesture, "Well met." She bows her head respectfully, "We're honored to have one of your family here with us today."

Vaelyn kneeds the sheets within the water, working out several spots this way. She, too, forgot to shake out the sheets. But whatever is in there is melting away. Pulling out the materiel, she dumps the water and refills the bucket with clean liquid, then starts again. This time she adds soap, and bubbles start flowing over the sides of the container.

"Had a little throw up in the living cavern," Seralla apologizes to Norri. She nods politely to those she's introduced to, "Fort's Duties, I'm Seralla," and takes a moment to look incredulously at the mess.

P'ya doesn't know to shake a sheet, either, but thankfully he already did - at least to ditch some crumbs. His cleaning is more energetic then skills, as he seems to be swinging that brush around pretty wildly.

Norri winces at Seralla, "I hope the craft table is alright.." She checks the time and then turns to the contestants, "Three more minutes," she warns.

Roan grins in amusment watching the contestants.

Seralla answers distractedly, eyeing the furs, "Oh yes, everything is fine. --Whatever happened to those poor things in the first place?"

Grissa gets up and flips the furs over, repeating the same process on the second side. Once the furs have been scrubbed properly on both sides, she pours the clean water over them, the majority of the stains washing away with the suds and foam. She examines them quickly and with a shrug returns to the sheets, still filling the soapy bucket. Plunging both hands into the water, she begins scrubbing the sheets, hoping the cleaning solution is strong enough to get rid of their stench.

Jaxelle laughs, eyes sparkling their amuzement as she watches the contestants. "Thank you, Lady.. It's a pleasure to be here."

Norri shakes her head, "No, no, no!" she says quickly, "Not lady. Headwoman. Norri."

phoenix' head spins from all the activity and just snuggles her baby up tight.

Roan grins and says, "Your not a lady norri? Wow all this time I thought that was a requirment to being headwomen..."

Vaelyn hears Norri and thus forces herself to speed up. The sheet us pushed down and swirled around several times, being scrubbed with the brush or rubbed against itself. The last time her hands come down into the water, she manages to foam back up onto her face and in her hair. She only pauses to wipe around her eyes so she can see, before finishing up her task. The sheet emerges from the bucket and gets taken over to the side of the area, just as the fur had, for a thourough shaking. She does twist it up and wring it out first though.

Styx grins watching everyone and he looks up at his mother's face and back to the activites.

P'ya, as he works, starts to whistle. Badly. It's more to keep time with his strokes then anything else. Hearing Norri's call, his whistling abruptly shifts into double time, as does his brushing. Finishing with the sheets, he looks for something to drape them on, shrugs, and switches to the furs to attempt to clean those in record time.

Norri blinks at Roan, "I'm not a member of any Lord or Lady Holder's family, " she explains, "Although both Lord Carow, Lord Tenefel and also Lady Filliana did trust me to work for them." She peers back over and then lifts the whistle and blows. "Game over!" she calls.

Jenna makes a vague sound in her throat. She attacks the sheets relentlessly, scrubbing hard. The lye she had picked to use fares somewhat better on the linen, rather than fur. This time the smell isn't quite as noxious. When the whistle sounds, the sheets are still full of suds, and Jen looks sweaty, blonde hair stuck to her neck and the sides of her face, cheeks rosy in the cold.

Vaelyn has just finished drying out, for the most part, the sheet. She walks back over towards Norri with a big plop of foam on the top of her head. "Aww, times up already? Well, let me go put this by my fur."

Roan grins at Norri, "it was a joke...but ah never mind..."

Grissa is still up to her elbows in the bucket when Norri calls the end of the game. She pulls the dripping sheets from the soapy water and waits to be judged.

Norri nods to Vaelyn, looking from one messy contestant to the next, "Oh dear," she remarks. "Just let me confer with the judges, and you can all pay a visit to the steam baths..." She leans over to whisper with phoenix and Roan.

Seralla folds her hands behind her back, keeping to the outskirts of the group and waiting with interest to see what's next.

P'ya stops almost instantly as Norri calls end-of-game. Of course, that means he left whatever he was doing in the condition it was in right then, which was with all the soapy liquid piled up in one place, the middle. "Can I push that around a little?" he asks. "I think it's going to melt through, or something."

Norri looks over her shoulder and nods to P'ya. "Yes...I think you'd best." Then she returns to the huddle.

Vaelyn stands over by her pile, dusting it off a bit as she inspects it.

Jenna sits back on her heels, relieved, and then starts wiping her hands off on her apron. She gives a slight giggle at P'ya and then admits, "I think I *did* melt those furs a bit. Faranth's tail - I'm glad I don't have to do this everyday. No one'd have bedlinens left!"

Roan looks criticly at all the piles and the goes back to the huddle.

Rhi icks as she looks over at the soapy mess on the furs and leans in to Jaxelle. "Can you imagine if that dried on there.. You'd never get it out."

Norri mutters, listens, nods and finally moves away from the huddle, smiling. "You've all done very well!" she begins. "However...the prize goes to...Vaelyn of Fort Weyr!" The spectators errupt in cheers.

Jaxelle slips one hand over her mouth, hiding the huge grin as she watches the contestants with their suddy remainders. A sly wink is delievered to Rhi and she leans close to murmer in her ear. "I'm almost glad mother couldn't come.. this would no doubt remind her of all I've left undone this day." Blue eyes cross and she fakes a bit of a swoon to emphasis what a catastrophy that would be.

P'ya obediently starts scrubbing it around, just so it's not going to melt through. Looking up and stopping a moment, he says, "I'd applaud but my hands are full - good work, Vaelyn!"

Norri beckons for Vaelyn to come up and get her prize.

Styx grins and cheers!

Seralla's eyes widen as she sees the pillows. "Aren't those fancy," she murmurs.

Roan claps and cheers for vaelyn.

Vaelyn blushes brightly and grins, stepping forward. "Thank you," she says happily, moving to get her prize. P'ya is awarded, a giggle. "That's all right," she calls back to him. "What did I get?" She looks at the pillows and ohs softly. "Wow... "

Grissa claps her hands, suds and water flying about as she cheers for Vaelyn.

Jenna applauds with the rest, and then dunks her sheet in the water to get the remainder of the lye off it. Glad enough to hang it with the still soaking furs that had the misfortune of being assigned to her, she dries her hands once more, and starts pulling off the apron. "All right, Vaelyn - oh, don't those look soft!"

Rhi claps for Vaelyn, looking back to Jaxelle at the same time "I've yet to see her -that- angry at you for anything."

phoenix claps along with Styx, getting him to clap with her hands and generally be a goofy mother.

Norri smiles. "It is a very fine prize indeed. Now, thank you one and all for participating and giving it your best effort!" She applauds them all, Jenna, Grissa and P'ya. "There's time to clean up, and then we'll be havign a dinner and dance later in the living cavern. I'll see you all there!"

Jaxelle giggles as she claps for the winner, grinning widely. "And I should like to keep it that way." she agrees with Rhi.

Styx giggles at his mother clapping and grinning.

P'ya gets most of the soap off with some water. "It's a real nice prize," he says, grinning, "but I know lots of people that'd destroy them by mistake when they're sleeping."

Vaelyn grins and brushes the foam off of her head finally. "When did that get up there?" she asks quizically. "Thank you, Norri. They are really beautiful." With a definately nod she states, "I'm headed for the bathing caverns."

Grissa glances at the mess of wet furs left behind, years of training making it hard for her to just walk away. With a sigh she removes the apron and takes up her shall again before heading out.

Jenna turns over her apron and greatfully heads away from the mess. "I don't know that I need a bath as much as something to drink. That's thirsty work."

phoenix sighs and stretches, suddenly exhausted.

P'ya takes off the apron. "You're telling me. Me, I'm going to have a drink /and/ a bath. Double dose."

Jaxelle crinkles her nose a bit at the mess, years of being who /she/ is encouraging her to move away from it as quickly as possible. Gently, she nudges Rhi, "I've yet to eat.. I got so wrapped up in those scrolls I was supposed to learn I forgot entirely." she whispers, one hand going to her growling stomach.

Vaelyn chuckles. "The caverns are over that way," she notes with the point of her finger. "But I'm sure you saw the entrance earlier. Go help yourself to whatever's on the serving tables. I'll catch up with you all in a bit. I need to clean up." With that, she waves and heads off.

Vaelyn heads into the Living caverns.
Vaelyn has left.

Jenna flexes her fingers, chilled and red in the cold. "Something hot to drink I think. Anyone interested in joining me in the caverns?"

From the Challenge Area, Rhi chuckles "You're always hungry anyway Jax" she says as she leads her friend out and down to the living caverns.

Roan nods to Jenna, "Sure I would be glad to.."

From the Challenge Area, Styx hmmmsss and twists his face a little, "Short nap sounds nice..."

Jaxelle heads into the Living caverns.
Jaxelle has left.

Seralla lifts her skirts to hold more securely as the wind picks up. She nods to Jenna and moves towards the caverns.

Jenna grins to Roan and heads off towards the caverns. "I'm *so* glad I don't have to do that every day. I'd rather run a trace to Igen in the dead of summer than scrub things."

You head into the Living Caverns.
Fort Weyr Living Cavern(#199RJa$)
Approaching half the size of the Hatching Grounds, this cavern echoes with voices during the day, and the soft patter of feet during the night. Dozens of tables are spaced throughout, each with open space around to provide small amounts of privacy for the discussions carried on at each. The night hearth, with a cluster of pots of stew and klah, is situated near the large entrance to the Bowl. Several other hearths are spaced around the huge chamber, lending light and some heat to the room.
Broad marble steps to the southwest lead up to the impressive Fort Weyr kitchen. To the east, a short flight of stairs leads to the hallway to the inner caverns. A stout door to the north has a healer's emblem on it, marking the Infirmary. To the south is a wide tunnel, leading out of the weyr, and a wide opening to the west leads to the weyr bowl.
Contents:
Jaxelle(#17316PJace$)
Rhi
Banner(#15684C)
Headwomen's Craft Display Table
Meg and Peg
Fort Weyr Firelizard Perch

Seralla comes in from the bowl.
Seralla has arrived.

Roan comes in from the bowl.
Roan has arrived.

Roan follows everyone in from the bowl and says, "I sure hope they dont serve that 'soup' I made earlier today."

Rhi stands by the craft table, admiring the work and showing each piece to Jaxelle in turn. "Maybe you should try to do some of these type of things Jax."

Jenna eyes Roan. "You made soup? I did miss a few things, didn't I?" She coaxes a mug of cider from one of the aunties tending the hearth. "Was it any good?"

Roan grins and sos, "Oh no... it was terrible I doubt anyone would want to touch it... it was made of moldy cheese, some old bread and some fruit." his grin grows at this part, "And enough wine to make a person walk sideways for a week."

Jaxelle snorts rather unlady-like, one hand running into her hair and settling there as she eyes the crafts. "I can sew harpers into their beds.. and I can sketch the line of a rigging. But I know my limits. It'd be an act in frustration at best.." she murmers, tilting her head to one side and viewing a piece at another angle.

Jenna gives Roan a confused look. "And you did this deliberately?"

Seralla lifts an eyebrow at Roan, tagging along, "Sounds like a waste of fruit and wine."

Roan shrugs, "Yhea it was the best I could come up with in that contest earlier today. The point was to make a good meal out of it. But I don't see how that was possible."

Rhi grins at Jaxelle and chuckles about the soup 'It certainly looked.. interesting.."

"Oh," says Seralla, "I see. Different context then.. I suppose it would make someone drunk enough that they'd not notice the moldy cheese."

Short and thin, Seralla might be labeled as petite. Her long dark hair's tied back in a runnertail, exposing her high cheekbones and thin face, complete with dark eyes that stand out against her Igen-tanned skin like small dark gems in the sand. Teeth flash bright when she smiles, that quick, hesitant, shy smile that makes her seem a bit older than her 16 turns. Contributing to this as well are her neat and orderly clothes: long bright skirt and neat white top show not a speck between them, nor does her skin show a blemish or a dirt spot. She moves with quick steps, efficient and energetic. Upon her shoulder, currently, there is no knot.

Roan nods, "well I scraped most of that off the best I could... at least I think I did...."

Jenna grins at Seralla. "There's always an upside, I guess. I'm Jenna, by the way. Message runner from a cothold down towards Fort Sea." She muses at Roan, "I think cheese is supposed to mold? At least Fallon's wife says it is. Something about aging it?" She shrugs. It's obviously a bit beyond her.

Jaxelle blinks and looks over to the one discussing his soup, "At this point, my stomach would accept just about anything." she chuckles, heading to the hearth and giving the auntie there a sorrowful look which is answered with a bowl of stew and a mug of cider.

"Seralla, if you missed that before," the girl answers. "You looked rather busy."

Roan grins and says, "I am amazed you can eat after even talking about my whino-soup." he grabs himself a glass of Boll wine and takes a sip.

Jenna nods to Seralla. "I did. It was fun." Her tone strives for sincerity on that statement, and misses it by a dragonlength. "Well met, Seralla. So are you her at the weyr as well?" She starts to edge towards a table with enough chairs for those around her to sit.

Jaxelle comes up from where she had buried her face into her mug long enough to grin at Roan broadly, "You should taste some of the things they come up with in Tillek's kitchen.. I get to play taste-tester for the newer bakers." she gives a dramatic little shudder and winks, "Not always the favored role. Made my stomach stern." The girl begins to look for a seat then recalls her manners and "Oh's!" "I'm so sorry, I'm Jaxelle.. " she offers her introduction to the others she's yet to meet.

Roan grins and says, "Well incase you didn't over hear I am Roan its nice to meet you all."

Seralla nods, "I live here." She gathers herself a cup of cider and steers for the table as well. "Enjoying your stay?"

Rhi reaches over and taps Jaxelle's arm "I'm going to just go and see if I can find Carlin.I won't be long" She turn the the rest of the gathering and smilesher apologies 'Please excuse me." and heads outside.

Rhi heads out the cavernous entrance to the bowl.
Rhi has left.

Jenna nods to Jaxelle, "Jenna. Well met." She nods to Seralla. "Oh yes. First time I've run the trace up to the weyr. Only short distances for now, you know. And you all had a gather *just* to welcome me - how could a girl not feel at home?" She winks at the outrageous statement.

Jaxelle glances after her friend with a nod and a grin, before turning back to the others. "Certies. Only been here a few candlemarks but it's been lovely. Were I at home now, Lady Selchin would no doubt have me to my scrolls.. anything is better than that." She rolls her eyes as she slips into a seat, settling her food and drink onto the tabletop.

Roan nods and sits at the table, "I am just glad to have a break from the stables."

Seralla flashes a small smile. "Of course. And then to have the joy of scrubbing sheets and furs, as well."

Jenna laughs. "All I can say is that the cothold is lucky I don't do that all the time. They'd have no bedlinens left." She takes a sip of cider and then asks the other girls, "So what do you all do? I hope you're not as bad as I am with one of those scrub brushes." In an aside to Roan, she murmurs, "I *do* hope those really weren't your sheets, and that I didn't ruin 'em."

"I help the Headwoman, do lower caverns work," Seralla answers quietly, settling into a chair.

Roan he shakes his head, "Oh No Norri was mistaken on this one.. I just found them for her. You saw my room, heck your cloaths are on my bed so how can those be my sheets?"

Jaxelle grins at the quiet Seralla, spoon of stew poised before her mouth. "I used to do that often.. still do in fact. Don't you hate changing glows?" She glances to Jenna here, "Mostly sew sails.. do some scroll work. The Lady has me and a few other girls going through classes right now but they're right dredful." her nose crinkles and she sips the stew from her utensil, swallowing it down greedily. "Classes on how to be a proper lady." her tongue peeks out and again she crosses her eyes to show she finds this more than distasteful.

Jenna ohs at Roan. "Right, I did at that. Though I didn't take a particularly long look at your sheets." She grins a bit, and then nods to Seralla. "From here, are you? Or were you birthed somewhere else?" Jaxelle's words catch her attention as well, and she asks, "Proper lady? You're Tillek Blood then?"

Mouse comes in from the bowl.
Mouse has arrived.

Seralla takes a sip of her cider. "I like what I do," she says quietly. "Keeping order. -No, I grew up at a cothold near Igen. I've been here several years now."

Mouse doesn't, in fact, enter. But she peeks inside from just around the corner of the entrance.

Jaxelle bobs her head to both Seralla and Jenna, "Yep.. And you? I'm afraid I didn't catch where you were from, Jenna. Tummy was making too much noise." her jest comes easy although her glance is drawn off towards the entrance where Rhi so recently left through, blinking when she sees the barely there peeking person.

Roan sips at his wine before saying, "I assure you, had you spent the time you would have noticed they are quite clean. I am not as bad as alot of people I know but I like to keep my room clean."

Jenna just grins at Roan, and then says to Jaxelle, "No Blood here. I'm from a cothold, down halfway 'tween Fort and Fort Sea. Runner bred - my da' and my mom both ran the traces here in the west. Course, they only let me do the short legs - too scared of Fall and all. How's Igen, Seralla? Does it really never snow there?"

Mouse, evidently pleased what what she sees, enters the cavern. She kind of stays around the fringes, like she normally does, and goes to steal some klah before someone shoos her off and sends her back to Ista.

Seralla's posture straight and clothes tidy, she looks the model of lower cavern girl perfection as she answers politely. "I saw it once, on my seventh Turnday. Very light, nothing like the snow we have here."

Roan perks up at this and pays close attention, "Really a place with out snow? At this time of turn? Hmmm know if any flowers are still in bloom there?"

Jaxelle darts a look to Jenna and her look is impish, "I certainly hope you have blood.. Would be tragic otherwise.." She chuckles as she watches the small peeker going through a tiny dance all her own, biting her lower lip in amusement.

"Well, it's desert," Ralla explains, "so the only time there're many flowers is after it rains. It's very beautiful then. You'd hardly think it was a desert."

Roan hmmms at this, "oh yhea right forgot that...."

Jenna waves a hand at Jaxelle, "You know what I mean." She grins a bit, and then looks around behind her curiously. "What're you looking at?"

Mouse takes some klah - plain, without any creamer or sweetener - and moves herself to one of the edge seats. Her feet kick, absently, as she looks around every once in a while.

Jaxelle lets out a soft chuckle and smiles at Jenna, "The girl there.. she seems a bit out of place." With that Jax lifts from her seat and knocks the tabletop once, thoughtfully. "I'll be right back.. think I'll go invite her over. I do hate seeing people uncomfortable.."

Roan nods and waits to if Jaxelle is succesful, sipping at his wine every so often.

Seralla turns her head and notices Mouse as Jaxelle speaks. "Oh! Fort Weyr's duties, dear, do have some - oh. You've got some already." She shrugs, offering a small smile.

Mouse looks up, blinking in surprise as she's spoken to. Flushing at being noticed and drawing attention away from what they were talking about - whatever it was - she looks down at the tabletop.

Roan isn't sure what they were talking about either.

Jaxelle chuckles and quirks a brow at the girls behavior, moving from her seat and to Mouse's side she leans down to murmer something to her, eyes bright and her smile encouraging.

Jaxelle mutters to Mouse, "... I feel... of place... seems you... too.... the company."

Jenna turns back to her mug, perhaps not wanting to frighten off the other girl. "So the headwoman said there's dancing tonight?"

Roan nods, "yup. There is going to be a feast and then some dancing. I am going to look forward to it."

Seralla nods perkily. "Oh yes, and a grand feast."

Mouse tilts her head, nodding to Jaxelle and setting her hair to bouncing. She gets off the chair, looking at her feet again, and prepares to move a bit closer.

Jenna grins at Seralla and Roan. "First time I've been to a gather that I was old enough to dance. My brothers taught me at least. I'm glad enough for the excuse of waiting on returns to Fort Sea to stay."

Roan grins, "I know a little about dancing but thats only cause my mom insists on raising a proper gentle men."

Jaxelle keeps her smile warm, "I'm Jaxelle." she whispers again, guiding the girl as best she can to the table where the rest sit. "Can I get you a bite to eat? That Klah is strong, but certainly not ment to replace a good meal." her words are still aimed at the girl beside her, almost soothing in tone.

Seralla sips at her cider again, "Aye, the dancing sounds as though it'll be grand fun. Though what I'm waiting for is eggs on the Sands again. One of my favorite things, egg-gazing."

Mouse looks up, then shaking her head. She says, indistinctly, "No thank you. I'm going to be here for the feast."

Roan grins in memory of the mating flight that happend not to long ago. A small blush creeps onto his cheaks as he says, "Oh shouldn't be too long. I like to egg gaze too but only if the queen is understandable."

Jenna gives Mouse a smile as Jaxelle manages to cajole her over towards the group. Then she asks, "Oh? Are there going to be eggs soon? I thought I heard someone say that one of the queens had flown, but I just deliver the news - I generally don't /hear/ it."

Nodding her acceptance of this, Jaxelle reclaims her seat and pats the bench beside her, indicating Mouse should take this place if she desires. A lopsided grin is afforded the conversation, "It's what I miss most about my old home.. The Reaches.. the bustle that comes with a flight and clutching."

Seralla shifts slightly, "It will mean more work, though - all those Candidates."

Roan nods and says, "I dont know when I was a candidate we helped with a lot of the chores.. or at least I did."

Jaxelle snorts and digs out a piece of stewed-tuber with her spoon, nodding her agreement with Roan. "As did I when I was a candidate."

Jenna looks at Roan and Jaxelle, impressed. "You guys were candidates? What was it like?"

Mouse takes the seat, obediently. "I'm at Ista now," she says. "Not Candidate, just at Ista. Lots of bustle all the time. And I've been a Candidate before."

"Well, of course you do," Seralla says. "I did. But also, there's the Hatching feast to prepare for, all those robes to help with, more laundry."

Roan shrugs, "Well it all depends at what point your talking about. Meeting all the new people was fun but the chores wern't so fun but ya get used to them... the hard part comes trying to recover from Non-impresion."

Jaxelle cringes slightly at Jenna's question, glad to have the tuber in her mouth while she thinks up an appropriete answer. Swallowing it down hard, she clears her throat, "As Roan said.. or from being one of the ones to not move fast enough." Gladly, she averts her attention to Mouse, "At Ista.." she nods, "I didn't catch your name?"

Jenna nods slightly. Apparently, she has enough tact not to tread on a sore subject. "I'd imagine it'd be nice to meet new people from all over." She offers an encouraging smile to Mouse and says, "I'm Jenna, by the way."

Roan frowns, "it wasn't a matter of moving fast enough they all just ignored me..." he lets out a sigh as this is no doubt a painful memory.

Mouse mumbles, "Everyone calls me Mouse; you can too. I was at Ista then too, yes." She doesn't seem to be willing to speak much louder then a whisper - a tad, maybe, but barely enough to carry.

Seralla listens quietly, sipping at her cider.

"Mouse.." Jaxelle nods, letting out a soft chuckle and a light sigh, her smile turning to encompass Roan as well, a sympathetic gaze. Quite suddenly she sets down her spoon and shakes her head, "Look at us.. moaping when a feast and dance is coming our way so soon! We should be prepairing! Now I for one.. havn't a clue how to dance. Someone here could teach me a few steps so I don't fall all over myself tonight perhaps?" she casts a hopeful glance around the table.

Jenna grins at the stablehand. "I'm sure Roan wouldn't mind, would you Roan?" Heartlessly, she volunteers the lad. "Hard to teach you if you're a girl, there's all that stuff about leading and all."

Mouse tilts her head. "I don't know how to dance either," she admits after a moment. "I - I don't go out to dance much."

Roan blinks and looks up, "What huh who me?"

Seralla chips in, "I can dance. I don't know how good you'd consider me, but." She smiles slightly.

Jaxelle laughs and gets up from her seat, "I've an idea.. " she extends her hand to Mouse, bowing with a comically solemn expression and lowering her voice into her own interpritation of a boys tone, "Mouse, darling.. may I have this dance?" She flutters her eyelashes at the girl dramatically. "Perhaps the rest of you.." she turns the gaze onto the others at the table, "Can tell us what to do and we can follow your instructions to start."

Roan giggles at Jaxalle and her eye lash fluttering.

Mouse blinks, startled, and starts to move back, until she realizes that it /is/ just a joke. Then she nods, smiling very slightly. "All right," she says, "but I've never tried before."

Jenna grins and nods encouragingly to the Istan girl. "That's a good idea. I'm comfortable enough to enjoy it."

Jaxelle grins widely and straightens a bit, keeping her hand out to Mouse. "Well I don't think there's a dance which you can keep on the bench for.." her lips purse and brows furrow thoughtfully, glancing to the others, "Is there?" Her grin comes back slyly, eyes twinkling her merriment. "So you'll have to get up to join me here.. I'll even play the boy, since I'm a tad taller." She sighs long-suffering, as if this is a great favor she's offering.

Roan grins and says, "there is nothing wrong with being tall."

Jenna nods in agreement, though she puts in, "Nothing wrong with being short either."

Mouse smiles slightly, flushing. "Good. I don't want to be the boy," she admits. She stands up, accepting the hand up. "If there's a dance where you don't have to I'd like to hear about it."

Jaxelle giggles and leads Mouse a bit away from the table, antisipating the fact they're both admittedly non-dancers and not wanting to bang more shins than necessary. "Alright you three.. I'm the bo..er.." she clears her throat and lowers her voice once again, "I'm the boy, she's the girl.. where do hands go?"