Weyr Games {Open; everyone encouraged}

[Or'west]

To keep his riders sharp and their skills honed, the Weyrleader encouraged recreational activities that did just that, whether personal or organized. To this end, the Weyrleader organized a three-day game competition that included a small marks pot of 25 marks for the winner, and 15 marks for the runner up, with all participants receiving a commemorative muffin baked especially for the occasion. Open to anyone 13 turns or older, the games included several rounds of obstacle courses, weight-lifted competitions, and a contest for the "best artwork made from debris you found on the beach".

Yesterday was the first day. Two dragonriders walked away as the winners, set to advance to the third day's "Finals". Today's games included the popular event The Steeple Chase.

The Steeple Chase

The current event was, for unfathomable reasons lost in time, called "the Steeple Chase". It involved participants of various weight categories, bags weighing up to 200 pounds, and an arena about 100 paces from one end to the other. Participants divided into weight categories, heavy-, medium-, and light- with the females given the option to compete with only-females or against males. The weight of the bags used in each round depended on the individual participant's weight class with light-weight using two 140 pound bags and one 160 pound bag, medium-weight using two 160 pound bags and one 180 pound bag, and the heavy-weight participants using two 180 pound bags, and one 200 pound bag.

Participants carried three bags - one at a time - to an H-shaped barrier roughly in the middle of the arena. They then lifted each bag over the horizontal bar of the "H". When they'd pushed all three bags over the bar, they carried them, again one at a time, the rest of the way across the arena. Then, they reversed the process, carrying the bags back to the "H", pushing them over, and so on.

This was one of the most popular events, and so, with the larger turn out, Or'west organized it into four rounds. Three of the rounds included individual participants racing against the clock, but no one else. They only had to cross the course once within the given time. The final round was a race with participants going back and forth as many times as possible within the given amount of time, and racing against each other. The winner of each heat had to do it again until only three remained. The winner of this final heat was the winner of the Steeple Chase Race competition.

[Ja'ryns]

As of two days ago, Ja'ryns was the medical staff for White Sands Weyr. Until the Weyr had another Healer for the humans, he had to do both positions. Now it was on him to request a new Healer, and writing to the Hall meant telling them about Master Lyxias' final fate as well as providing an updated list of the deceased. Oh, and the recipe for the salve in case this ever happens again.

Knowing how difficult it was to find any crafter willing to come here, Ja'ryns simply assumed he'd be the sole Healer of a Journeyman or higher rank for at least several months. He inherited Altair and Minerva as apprentices. It didn't change his relationship with Altair relationship too much. Although familiar enough with Minerva's work ethic (lazy, a little slow) that he didn't have to do research on her, for Altair he needed to go through Lyxias' notes as well as ask Healer Hall about the boy's official healing training. Ja'ryns had asked Altair initially but the lad only gave him the vague answer of "Some, I guess." Which wasn't enough for Ja'ryns to figure out if he counted as an intermediate or advanced apprentice.

This morning he sent Rokai and Jarinn out on important missions - to spread the salve to the rest of the archipelago. Rokai took a runner to cover Essal Island and Jarinn, escorted by greenrider Jasmine, took the other islands. Ja'ryns could have used Altair and Minerva to assist him, but he opted to ensure the two went to Candidate lessons instead.

He had plenty of work to do to keep him occupied all day and into the night, but between the Candidate lessons and Rokai and Jarinns off on their vital mission, Ja'ryns had no apprentices for now. There was more salve to make, the other half of the healers' hall to organize, sick rooms to clean, stock to take (it'd been depleted in their rush to provide as much salve as possible), and a whole slew of other minor details. He'd rather do all the physical work as a team.

That left only writing the message to Healers' Hall. The first he'd put off for two days too long, and drafted it during breakfast, then sent Dusty with the message not long after Rokai left via runnerbeast and Jarinn left on Jindyth's back. But his mind lingered on yesterday's potential tragedy and he decided to cheer himself up prior to diving into mindless paperwork and tedious tasks. So, he decided to go to the games. He only planned to spectate but didn't completely dismiss the idea of participating. If someone encouraged him, he'd join some event or another. When he first arrived, he chose a spot to watch and stood there more mindlessly staring off into space lost in thought about all the stuff he had to do than watching.

[B'rioth]

B'rioth and No'lan wandered through the small crowd. They passed within earshot of Ja'ryns while the brownrider was in the middle of a sentence. His gaze was on the Steeple Chase set-up, and not really paying attention to anyone else around them except No'lan. "...at last Summer's Gather. I'm sure those sandbags from last summer looked smaller. I wonder what our esteemed Weyrleader made the maximum weight? Whatever it is, it'll be heavier than the sandbags at the hold," B'rioth said with a scoff. "I participated in one of the unofficial events, and afterward, there was a huge debate about whether or not I should be allowed to win. The half-baked holdfolk thought somehow I had an advantage because I could use T'wenth's strength as my own or some nonsense. What a ridiculous notice." He shook his head.

[N'olan]

"Oh, yes, I recall that event," No'lan said with a nod. He walked in stride with the brown rider, his brows lifted in curiosity as B'rioth revealed the story from last summer. "What happened?" He asked almost in time with B'rioth continuing his story. The bronzerider clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "What a terrible thing to do and you're right, it is a ridiculous notion. If I could tap into anything Kal can do, I'd choose flight instead of strength. Oh well. How did the debate end - oh look! There's Ja'ryns. Maybe he'll know." No'lan altered his course to veer toward Ja'ryns. He stopped in front of his friend. "Good morning, Ja'ryns. These games look like fun. Do we register with you?"

[Ja'ryns]

His mind was still off somewhere else Ja'ryns didn't notice when the others approached until No'lan spoke. Belatedly, he realized that his friend spoke to him, and Ja'ryns turned, initially with a glazed expression that looked a bit like he was in the middle of a conversation with Zayreth. Ja'ryns blinked. He smiled at his friends. "No. I only just arrived. You should look for Or'west. Me entering?" Ja'ryns' shrugged. "I don't know. I hadn't thought much about it."

[B'rioth]

"Oh, that's true, he organized it, I should have thought of that. I think I saw him over there." B'rioth agreed with a short laugh and a flip of his hand in the general direction of "over there". "Don't know if you're going to enter huh? Well, come with us and think about it. Is Ariana going to be here?" B'rioth swung his arm around Ja'ryns' shoulder and tugged on him to follow them. He half-turned to look at No'lan, "All right, you heard the man, let's find the Weyrleader."

[N'olan]

"By all means, do come with us." No'lan waved Ja'ryns on to encourage him though it appeared that B'rioth gave Ja'ryns little choice in the matter. At B'rioth's question about the Weyrwoman, No'lan glanced side-long at him. "We should all enter and test our mettle against each other. It will be amusing, to say the least. Though, if Johnorris enters, we're all doomed." To which the others laughed.

[Allegra]

Allegra had wandered over with several other weyrfolk to watch the set up for the Steeple Chase. She idly considered signing up for the event.

Why would you want to do that? Dulcith’s judgemental voice asked her rider.

Why not? Allegra mentally replied. I hauled firestone with the rest of the men back home in the mines. I can keep up with the boys here. I’m even better than a lot of them! I think I would make a good showing.

I think your time would be better spent doing almost anything else. Came a droll reply.

Allegra rolled her eyes and turned her head. Her blue fire lizard, who seemed to enjoy riding on her shoulder, chirped in annoyance at the movement. “You can shush,” she said to him as her eyes aligned on Bronzeriders Ja’ryns, N’olan and Brownrider B’rioth. She stared at the trio for a moment, as she remembered Johnnorris’ suggestion of helping out Master Ja’ryns. He always seemed busy, and as the highest rank healer now she couldn’t blame him. But, maybe he wouldn’t want to be bothered with talk of work when he was obviously relaxing. On the other hand, he might appreciate the offer--

Oh, just go talk to him! Dulcith interrupted her train of thought. Besides, that’s a much better use of your time. Oreolith isn’t a bad looking brown, but Kaloraynth is a fine looking bronze. The green’s voice grew more sultry as she spoke of the male dragons.

As if either of them would chase you, Allegra scoffed.

And why wouldn’t they? She retorted, sitting up from the ledge where she sat sunning. Her hide gleamed with health and the regular oilings Allegra gave her. She held her head up proudly.

Allegra rolled her eyes again. Oh, of course m’lady. My mistake, she said, her tone dripping with a sarcasm that her dragon easily ignored. But, she walked over toward the three riders anyway. As he mother would say, no time like the present.

“Excuse me Master Ja’ryns?” she asked as she walked up to the bronzerider. “Do you have a moment?”

[B'rioth]

Of the trio, B'rioth was the first to respond to Allegra. He half-turned to include her in the men's circle and with a smile and a hand sweep, gestured for her to join them. "Fair skies, Allegra! It is a gorgeous -" when it became apparent that she wanted to talk to Ja'ryns, the brownrider cut his words short to give the two a chance to talk about whatever caused the Weyrling to approach them.

[N'olan]

N'olan nodded a greeting to Allegra, but otherwise, stayed silent for now. Although he knew her by name and face, he didn't have much direct contact with her. The Flight Second gave her a sweeping appraisal. He didn't know the Weyrling well, only through the reports that G'naro gave him and the other wingleaders. They'd discussed where to place her when she graduated in a few months, ultimately deciding to try her in the Mid-Level flight to bolster the ranks.

[Ja'ryns]

Upon hearing the girl's greeting, Ja'ryns turned around nearly simultaneously with B'rioth and his greeting too wound up almost in sync with B'rioth's words. "Hello, Allegra, fair skies." He chuckled and glanced at the brownrider then back to the Weyrling. The bronzerider waved his friends away with a quick, "I'll catch up if you two want to go." Taking a step toward her to separate himself from the others, he added, "What can I help you with?"

[Ariana]

Most days, there was one of three places anyone could find the Weyrwoman, her office, the hatching sand, or the starcrafters' hall. Busy with the duties of running the weyr, but for those who had managed to catch her outside of those areas might have guessed she stayed in those places due to the heat. She was a northern afterall and this was her first summer in the islands. It wasn't just the heat but the humidity that made working during the day near unbearable for her.

It was only at the behest of her dragon thinking she was cooking herself staying near these extremely hot sands that Ariana begrudgingly headed outside to the games. Still fairer of skin than the residents, Ariana had on a long sleeve shirt over a shorter one. Others were gathering for the steeplechase, she could see the trio and Allerga not too far off.

[Allegra]

“No, please,” Allegra said to N’olan and B’rioth. “I didn’t mean to disturb you and this won’t take long. It's nothing serious.” She didn’t want them to leave because of her. She smiled at the Bronze and Brown rider good-naturedly, though it may have broadened unconsciously just a little more for B’rioth. “Master Ja’ryns, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help you?” she asked, looking at Ja’ryns. “I’m finding myself with more time on my hands after Weyrling classes, and I don’t really have a craft. I’d be happy to help with anything you needed.”

[B'rioth]

B'rioth chuckled at their simultaneous greetings. He returned Allegra's broader smile in kind, his eyes gleaming with the prospect of a new friend. His gregarious nature took over once more as he began to talk to her in earnest and waved off her concerns. "Nonsense, you're not disturbing us, is she N'olan? See, Ja'ryns agrees. The more the merrier! Are you - " But, Allegra's attention was on Ja'ryns now and the brown rider stopped talking so the two could conduct their conversation. He angled his body to include her in their small circle.

[N'olan]

Though initially he had intended on moving away, the Weyrling's soft urging compelled him to stay his ground and wait for them to finish. N'olan smiled at Allegra in return. "B'rioth's right," N'olan reassured in a quiet tone. "You're not disturbing us." His brows jumped at her question and his dark gaze slid toward Ja'ryns as his fellow bronzerider replied to the Weyrling's question.