Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Months of 1,266
- B’dir was quite excited to be getting closer and closer to his first trip to Varlada. We were heading to Kirengar to get three 7” fire pearls, but in our Carindi clothing because we could blend in more easily that way. B’dir got brought up to speed about what we knew of Kirengar.
- We planned to leave for Varlada in 11 sevendays time.
- I got things started for a lab on Mountain View for the firestone research and any Elixir crafting help.
- Five sevendays later, the weyrlings were let out into the Living Caverns
- A party was held for Jayvin, Senesta and T’vin’s son, who was already a whole 1 Turn old.
- Five more sevendays passed. The weyrlings were starting to be let out for longer spans of time without their dragons glued to their sides.
- There was a Search for Marakith’s clutch. She laid 22 eggs but no Queen egg.
- ‘Zana, who has been keeping an eye on the skies with the farviewer, told us that the Archer’s Bow was close to hitting the Brazier. The starsmiths at Mountain View asked how close we wanted to push things, because the window for being able to travel to Varlada was regrettably narrow. We’ll be leaving in the third week of the Eighth month, when the jump would take around two-and-a-half minutes.
- N’lan came up with a timepiece that wouldn’t freeze (hopefully) in the lengthy time between, so we could get a more accurate count of how long it took.
- With less fanfare than our first trip, we left Pern for Varlada, the dominion of Kirengar, the village of Zellai, where we hoped to meet with our contact, Lorekeeper Jianya.
- We arrived from our long journey between into an area with high plateaus, deep river valleys and craggy stone pillars breaking up the rolling, misty plains. There were snow-capped mountains to the east, and a large body of water to the west.
- Dew had formed on the extremities of the dragons.
- We were able to get fairly close to the ground without being spotted, thanks to the mist. On the first tier of a multi-tiered plateau, we spotted the village.
- I saw a clever-looking device that looked like it was meant to ferry goods up and down.
- There were boats on the water, with… what appeared to be living quarters on them? The sails looked like they might imitate a dragon’s wing when unfurled.
- Because of the uneven terrain, the dragons needed to drop us off like they do on the hatching sands.
- People headed into their houses and opened the windows to watch after we landed. We expected a headman to show up, as that’s the way these things usually went. After waiting some time, we heard squeaky noises in the distance and headed over to check it out.
- A hastily put up market had sprung up… because we must be here to trade? A local money exchanger named Seo offered his help translating. He knew the trade language, which was better than nothing. He wore a dark grey tunic and floppy pants with interlocking fish on them.
- We wandered about, seeing what interesting wares we could find to bring back.
- There was some shouting, and with gestures, the townsfolk herded us to an area they were clearly setting up while the others distracted us with the impromptu market. There were paper lanterns and there was food cooking. It felt more like a proper Ista welcome and instantly put me more at ease. We were then lead into a restaurant.
- K’brin speculated the headman would come after we’d been fed.
- The people we saw were a bit shorter on average than the Pernese. Black straight hair seemed common, they had less body hair and sturdy hips.
- Approached by a woman with thick, curly hair and open sleeves with swirly tattoos. She introduced herself as Lorekeeper Jianya, who served Duke Korkoon of Sukorai city.
- She sat with us, and when we asked about privacy (referring to the family that ran the restaurant), she commented that they would die before revealing secrets – their honor is their life, the restaurant was their life.
- Jianya said the people of the village had been told of the heresy of those claiming to be from other worlds. This unsettled me. Had word of our travels spread, then? She would test our loyalty in the morning, to see what was in our hearts, then we could proceed.
- We were shown guest quarters for the evening. I went with K’brin for a short time to wander around, but as soon as he heard music coming from inside a house, he stopped to listen. If I knew him, and I did, he’d have written it down as best as he was able once he had time.
- Valenth told K’brin that he’d seen many firelizards – they were trying to catch fish jumping out of the water.
- ‘Mala and M’din reported that there were no locks on doors and little leather. ‘Zana noticed that nothing was square, not even buildings.
- Large, mean geese were brought to feed the dragons. They reminded me of wherries in their demeanor. I told Selenath to chew extra hard.