Miner Courtyard

Not especially large, the smooth stone area is still big enough to accommodate several dragons landing or taking off without danger from the cliffs. The ground is big square flagstones, cut from pale granite and remarkably hard wearing. However, at the midpoint of the courtyard is a creation of a master stoneworker - a centerpiece to draw the eye. It is a globe; a relatively stylized model of Pern, done with intricate inlay work that has covered the entire orb with semi-precious stones that gleam in the light - the high polish the work of dutiful apprentices. In diameter, it would be approximately ten feet (three meters).

Looking northwards, people can see an imposing granite bluff with various openings cut into it - which is the MineHold itself. Nevertheless, glance west and you see the ground drops away steeply - a carefully paved wagon track leads down towards Tillek Hold proper. To the south is nothing but rough rocky outcrops, sharp-edged and dangerous land to traverse. The east... [look closer]

It is a summer afternoon.

Gliding above is a blue firelizard.

Blue Riyth and brown Rilskiath are here.

You see WatchWher's Den, Minecraft Booth, MineHold's Mind-Boggling Magoozle, Display Stall, and Penguin Peach here.

Jozzie is here.

Jossie wanders in quietly in from the Steep Wagon Track.

Thistia saunters, hips swaying gently, in from the Steep Wagon Track.

Jossie is trying to teach a lesson here, and of course, there happens to be dragons blocking the entrances to the caves. Figures, right? And being the too polite person that she is, Jossie doesn't bother asking them to move. Rather, she stands around, rolling on the balls of her feet "The rest should be showing up soon," she states to the apprentice, attempting to eye the entrances for the missing miners.

Lyria stands in the courtyard next to her dragon, looking very thouroughly Out of Her Element. Like...Completely. Skies are her things. And stars. Not ground. "Okay. So where's that firestone..." A glance to her dragon in question,"You want /what/? Gem-encrusted? Uhhuh...Purple." Pause. A look goes over the brown's straps,"You know...Blue? Dark blue and purple?" A look is thrown over to Jozzie,"Purple would be nice, yes? To put on Ski's straps?" Jossie is spoted and waved down,"You there...Are you a miner? Could you help us with a couple things?"

Thistia follows Jossie in, stopping in the courtyard with her to look at the riders, smiling a friendly greeting. Her attention flips quickly back to the Apprentice Master and she nods. "Think they know to meet us here?" she begins to ask, but stops mid-sentence as she hears the rider call over to Jossie.

Jozzie dismounts from her blue, looking across to Lyria. "Well, I think getting gems fashioned into my leathers would be an excellent idea. Don't you think?" The wingleader of Firestorm as to look fashionable even in leathers. Then she looks to Lyria's lifemate. "Exactly what I was thinking." Meanwhile, Riyth gives a snort from his muzzle towards his rider. "Yes, yes. Of course we are here for firestone."

Jossie just eyes Lyria at her strange talk about gem encrusted straps. Riders these days. "Am I a miner? For about twenty turns I have been, yes." She's well weathered. "Can I help you folks with anything? Oh! I'm Jossie, Apprentice Master--" she trails off as Jozzie speaks "Firestone, eh? I can help you with that--Thistia here was just about to go get some for our lesson!" There's the signal for the apprentice to enter the cavern of doom, and perhaps for the dragons to move their big butts out of the way.

Thistia blinks, nodding quickly. She begins to hurry toward the firestone mines but stops in front of the dragons, looking up at them respectfully. She turns back to the riders, asking, "I won't be in their way, will I?" She grins up at the dragons, not at all unnerved by being near them. "I'd hate to get firestone dust all over them or something."

Riyth simply does not look like he does not want to budge. Nope, not him. He will not move his big, round behind from out of the way of the woman standing around in the courtyard. "Riyth," Jozzie demands, "Will you move?" The blur sways his head. "Why not?" The blue emits a low rumble. "There are no runners here that you will scare? Oh Faranth, Riyth!" The Wingleader turns to Jossie. "I am sorry, let me see if I can plea with my lifemate." Pause, "Oh, I am Jozzie from Ista Weyr. Rider of blue Riyth and Wingleader of Firestorm."

Lyria waves a hand at Thistia,"They get firestone dust on them all the time." or at least Rilskiath does. Right after he gets clean, too. Hmm... "More likely they'll be in your way." This seems to be the clue Ski was waiting for to move over and let the girl go by. And back to adressing her dragon,"I'm sorry, Ski, but I believe that putting gems on your straps would just....not work." Her jacket is tugged on slightly,"Now /me/ on the other hand..."

"I'd think they wouldn't care... they eat this stuff, anyway. Now hop to it!" Jossie shouts towards Thistia, waving her hand about in the air. "We don't have /too/ much--the apprentices haven't mined much lately. That's actually what they were going to do in a bit, but it seems that the others have ducked out of their duties," she frowns, now raising her brows "And what was this about gems? Did you want to place a commission?"

Thistia giggles softly, listening to the somewhat one-sided interchanges. She nods to Lyria and takes a couple steps closer, trying to edge past the stubborn Riyth. But at the snippy tone in Jossie's voice she nods, hurrying towards the mines and just ducking around wingtips and walking quickly towards the entrance to the firestone mine.

Lyria adds somewhere in there,"Oh right. I'm Lyria. Rilskiath's rider. Wavecutter wingrider." Since they seem to be all into titles. "Maybe a small gem on each side of my collar..." muses the girl. "I know I know you want a gem. I know they're shiny like your hide. I know." A sigh. Vain dragon. "Welll...We /were/ just here for firestone, but since we're here...A commission /may/ be in order..." If she can ever make up her mind on it, that is.

Riyth warbles as the woman leaves. She is not supposed to leave. Who said that she should leave? Riyth gives the two riders, one of those being her lifemate, a rueful look in his facet eyes. "She is not upset with you, dear." Jozzie says to her 'mate. Riyth likes people, a lot, they are so intresting.

"Soooo... are ya'll interested in a commission then? I'm sure we can try--that. It's an unusual commission, but it's nothing we can't do. And if by chance we can't, well, we'll hand it off to the smiths. They do more of that type of work, but no sense in another trip, right?" Jossie grins, nodding towards Thistia, "Give them what we have--all of it. And then you can complain to the others how much your back hurts... and then perhaps I'll have them scrub the entire hall with a runner's brush."

Thistia returns, muttering softly under her breath about just what she'll have to say to the apprentices who abandoned her to this heavy task. She drops another load with a thump, right next to the last one. "We've got about one more load, I think, Master Jossie. Will that be enough?" she asks, looking at the group.

I don't understand that.

Riyth fans out his wing, only to see the woman disappear under it aagin. His nostrils flare towards with impatience. "Riyth," Jozzie asks her lifemate, "What do you want?" The blue is having a difficult time making up his mind. As the apprentise enters again, the blue fans out both his wings and whips his tail back and forth. Sniff. Sniff. "That looks like enough," Jozzie replies.

Rilskiath thinks to you, << I bespoke Riyth with: Rilskiath thinks << Hey...hey where's she keep going? You don't think... >> Pause for dramatic draconic sniffle << We /scare/ her,>> After all, dragons aren't scary << do you? She wouldn't keep coming back then, would she? >> >>

Lyria nods satisfactorily,"Yeah, that'd be fine..." Riyth is eyed. Weird blues. Rilskiath however, has edged over towards Riyth. Haha. Can't get past a /two/ dragon wall, now can you? His own tip of his tail flicks baack and forth and baack and forth. Catlike.

Thistia utters a soft sigh of relief, smiling a little tiredly at Jozzie as she nods her understanding. She turns back to look at the dragons, puzzlement showing on her face as the two dragons scoot around and wave their wings and sniff and are generally acting somewhat odd. She turns back to Jossie, waiting for the Master's acknowledgement that it's enough firestone.

Jossie nods her head, agreeing with Jozzie, "If that's enough, then alrighty then! Looks good..." As Riyth fans his wings and startles the bageebees out of Jossie, she steps back slightly, just enough to be out of the way. "Thank you, Thistia. Remind me to punish the others for missing their lesson--not that it's quite started yet, but yeah. Can I help you riders with anything else?" she soon questions, looking back towards the blue and brown riders.

Rilskiath senses Riyth whirls of crimson surround the other as the blue speaks. << We do not scare, sire >> Pause. << I like her, perhaps she should come home with us. >>

Rilskiath thinks to you, << I bespoke Riyth with: Rilskiath thinks << That is good. >> A sudden burst of gold fireworks spatter. Idea. << Oooh. Tell that minecraft woman we want to...what was her word? Comission. Comission one of her. The littler one. >> >>

Jozzie whuffles towards Jossie, his tail whisping back and forth. He leans his massive head towards the apprentice. Sniff. Sniff. Yeah, he's really cheking her out now. "Riyth," Jozzie says to her lifemate, looking a tad embarrassed.

Thistia laughs softly, watching Riyth. She looks up at him, cocking her head curiously as she wonders what's got the blue so interested.

Jossie isn't about to run out and protect her apprentice from dragon snot/drool/whatever, but she's also not about to let it slide, "Uh--yeah, he's not going to eat her, is he? We--kinda like having apprentices here at the hall, so any drama might be a little disturbing. If he's hungry, I'm sure uh--yeah, high reaches isn't /too/ far away. They can feed there?" she suggests, her voice a bit cracky.

Thistia tries hard not to laugh, looking back at Jossie. She's not at all worried about being eaten, just a little curious at all the weird behavior. She stays where she is, looking from the dragons to the riders to the Apprentice Master, and she grins at the blue's rider, wondering how she'll handle this rather interesting question.

Riyth tilts his head back at Thistia, seeming to mimic her actions. Is he wondering what had gotten her so intrested? Jozzie looks from the apprentice, to her dragon. "You want to comission her? For what?" Jozzie asks her lifemate. She also spares one towards Lyria's. They are both schemeing something, she can feel it. "No, he doesn't eat people." Jozzie replies.

Lyria shakes her head,"No, no I think the firestone will be all..." SHe pauses to converse with Rilskiath. "Alright, alright. Comission...Yes. What was that you wanted?" Glance to the brown, an eyebrow to the blue,"Ah. He says he would like to comission one of her. The one who kept walking in and out." A pause. A thought over what she just said. "You want to comission /what/, Ski? You can't comission a /person/..." Look is shared with Jozzie,"Dun ask me..."

"Good good good. And--no, I'm sorry. You're not taking her back with you. We need all the apprentices we can get here at the hold. Kaspar doesn't let us have too many since we're not a main hall, so there's no way I'm going to let you take one of our better apprentices!" Jossie declares, "I'm putting my foot down! You riders take all the good ones we have... like Tamber for instance! You're /not/ taking another one! You'll have to put up a fight with our craftmaster if you're so determined!" Oh yeah, she can see where they're getting at. She's seen it one too many times before. "Commissions for people. Pfft."

Thistia blinks, puzzled. She looks up at the dragons, trying to hide the hopeful look in her eyes as she hears Lyria. She settles for just giggling, sure she sound quite silly. She bites her tongue, looking sidelong at the Apprentice Master as she holds back a sharp response, eyes turning pleadingly to the riders. If the dragons want her, she's more than happy to go...really..