Who

Eryzz, Ginger

What

Eryzz supervises candidates who have come to dust the Archives, but it's amazing what you can find on the shelves.

When

It is afternoon of the fourth day of the fifth month of the fourteenth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Archive Library, Southern Weyr.

OOC Date 27 Jun 2018 23:00

 

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Archive Library

Where once books reigned supreme, this open space is now dominated by a stalwart skybroom reaching to the sky through a broken ceiling. What was once evidence of collapse is now ornately carved with engraved ivy, matched by a clever contraption of stone that allows the gap to be closed in inclement weather. A small garden occupies the space around the tree-trunk, all manicured bushes and flowering shrubbery enclosed by a grated gutter. The walls are lined with bookcases, while a spiral staircase leans on the western wall to wind upwards to the second level. Tucked in the corners and scattered in the main areas are tables and chairs, cafe-style, and comfortably worn overstuffed armchairs. It is the perfect place for individuals to gather, to enjoy the offerings of the food-cart or a spirited conversation.


With the autumn weather only marginally cooler than the summer, Eryzz is happy that his work mostly keeps him confined to the Archive Library. It's cool, and quiet. Although right now, he's got his hands a bit full with a Candidates who are supposedly here to do some deep cleaning of the shelves. Layers of dust have collected in some of the more esoteric sections, and all the books and records must be removed first. So here's Eryzz, hovering over and wincing when the records are being haphazardly piled on the floor with no rhyme or reason, "C'mon people," he says in an exasperated, but hushed, voice, "Remember what I told you, only work small sections at a time, and keep the records in order when you move them. I don't need candlemarks of extra work re-organizing this whole section." With a huff that sends the long fringe of coal black hair falling over his eye out of his field of vision, he narrows grey eyes as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Ginger is one of those candidates. She does't look overjoyed about it. She's arrived carrying a basket containing cleaning gear: a couple of dusters of the usual variety, and a bundle of finely shredded rag bound onto to a stick - very handy for hard-to reach places, if not as good as an actual feather duster. But that's now on the floor under the table she's using, because the dusting isn't yet happening. She's started emptying a shelf, though, and is carefully transferring the items to the table, keeping them in order. "Yes, Journeyman. Ah, is this supposed to be here?" She holds up a bound volume that's already in her hands. "Only, so far, this shelf all looks like harper stuff, but this one's wingleaders' reports from turn 2 of the Pass."

"Here let me see," Eryzz says as he wanders towards Ginger and squints down at the record she is holding up. "Hmm, you're right that is in the wrong section. Good catch. Just put any eroneous records…" he trails off as eyes scan the room and he spots one of the wheeled carts used when shelving. In a few quick strides, he brings it closer to the stacks being worked on, "Right here, I'll have an apprentice put them back in their correct spots. Thanks for catching that." Lifting his voice only marginally to the rest of the group, "You hear that? if you come across a record that doesn't belong, please don't put it back, And if you're not sure, just ask like…ummm…." his brows furrow slightly as he looks back at Ginger, clicking his fingers in her direction as if that might jog his memory, "I wanna say Greta?" he finally manages, his statement more of a question.

"Ginger, journeyman. The hair's a bit of a giveaway." But then, there's no real reason why he would know her, and she doesn't seem inclined to say more. She carries the misplaced book over to the trolley and lays it carefully down before returning to her shelf-emptying. It's less than a minute before she pauses again, this time to pick up one of her dusters. There's a large spinner behind the books, and she entices it onto the cloth prior to moving it away from the scene of operations. Unfortunately, she's taken all of two steps when the candidate on the next shelf sees what she's carrying, and screams.

"Ginger right! I should have known that. I'll get your names straight sooner or later," Eryzz replies with palm to his forehead as if knocking the memopry in place. Maybe he should have gotten them to do more than name themselves once when they arrived. "Well Ginger, carry on," and the Harper Journeyman turns his attention to a boy who has found a prime example of one of Southern's infamous romance novels, his eyes wide as he nudges his friend to take a look. It's while trying to guide them back to the task at hand that he nearly jumps out of his skin at the scream. Spinning on the spot, he looks about frantically until he sees Ginger with her spinner. "Oh for the love of baby dragons," he mutters with a roll of his eyes before turning sharply at the screamer, "If you can't deal with spinners, just do yourself a favor and go now and get assigned another chore, because those little guys love it in here." he says it maybe a little harsher than he could have, but this is a library and screaming has no place here.

"And think of all the nasty little critters they eat," Ginger adds, but the younger girl really doesn't look convinced. In fact, she eyes the spinner, eyes the journeyman, takes him at his word, and bolts. Ginger sighs. "Sorry about that. I guess I get to do her shelf too." She finds a corner for the spinner and dislodges it from the duster to take up residence there, before returning to her work. Still, she can't resist asking, "So, does anything else live in here? Tunnelsnakes? I bet there's all sorts of pests would chew on old hide."

"One down…" Eryzz mutters under his breath before turning with an approving nod in Ginger's direction, "You are correct Candidate. They are actually beneficial in a place like this." Leaning back against the table, he props himself up on his hands and nods slowly at Ginger, "Oh yes, tunnelsnakes are always a threat in a place like this. But enough of us Harpers have firelizards and they are set to keep watch." He points up to a green perched on the upper most shelf, peering down curiously at all the activity in the stacks, "That's my Spike, but if you just look around, you'll see others perched all over the library. Not that I've heard of one coming in since I've been posted here, and that's been almost a Turn now."

"Oh, you weren't here for the last big outbreak, then." Ginger nods her understanding. "They got all over the place then, but that was more than a turn ago. Good idea to use the firelizards. You must have yours well trained, though: I don't know if my Walnut would have the patience for sitting watching for hours." Her Walnut is nowhere to be seen, so she explains, "He likes to be out and doing. I suspect he goes fishing when he gets sick of watching me work. Not that I want him round the forge anyway." She picks up the next large and weighty tome, reads the spine, and then transfers it to the table.

Eryzz shudders at the idea of an outbreak of tunnersnakes, "Thank Faranth I wasn't here for that." He casts grey eyes up to the green who has obviously gotten bored with all the activity and curled up for a nap instead. "It's a work in progress, she's only just seven months old now, and as you can see, doesn't have the greatest attention span.." he trails off with a sign, "I wouldn't trade her for anything, but I'm hoping to get at least a brown or bronze as well, I hear they are much easier to train." After a pause to mentally rouse the little green, who merely repositions herself to show him her back. "Of course firelizard eggs aren't cheap…" he trails off almost as an afterthought. Then something Ginger said finally penetrates his consciousness, "Oh? You a Smith then? Or were before the whole Candidacy thing?"

"I've had mine two turns now." Ginger returns to her shelf. "He's great at messages and that sort of thing, but I've never tried him with guarding anything." She nods enthusiastically "I'm a Smith apprentice, yes. But I live here, so I'll be back at it right away if I don't Impress this time. I can't wait." That sounds wrong. "I mean, I'm really wanting this bit to be over so I'm either one thing or the other, not waiting." She has to open the next huge book to decide what it is, but it's one for the table, not the trolley.

"We're still working on messages," Eryzz says with a bit of a smirk before he nods at Ginger's reponse, "Must be good to have something to go back to, y'know, in case…but yeah, I could see the waiting being really hard. Do they even give you any idea of how long there's left?" Hold-bred and Harper craft-trained, there's still a lot Eryzz doesn't know about the Weyr. The first Hatching he had ever seen was Rhiscorath's just a few months ago. "You seem old hat at this, done it before?" it's not immediately apparent whether the Harper means the cleaning or the standing.

"Several sevendays," Ginger says glumly. "I wish I hadn't been searched so early. Last time I only had a few days of it - and, yes I've done it before. Enough times that I don't know what all these chores are supposed to be doing for me any more. It's not like I haven't done it all before." The next item Ginger picks up is a slim unlabelled volume, which she opens to the title page - except there isn't one. As an afterthought, she adds, "Except for stuff like the obstacle course - that was good, and I can see the point in getting candidates fit." Her eyes drop to the book again, but the first page tells her nothing, so she opens it at random in the middle and reads. Her eyebrows shoot skywards, she closes the book hastily and steps away from the shelves. Another trip to the trolley is in order, apparently - or if there's a possibility that this piece of literature might be 'harper stuff', she's definitely not going to ask.

"There's gotta be a reason for it though," Eryzz pipes up reasonably enough, "From the little bit I've gleaned in my short time here, are that riders a emminently practical, I can't see them doing something like that without a reason." He shrugs his shoulders before taking a moment to examine the rest of the Candidates who are all more or less working industriously. His grey eyes turn back in time just in time to see Ginger snap the book closed, a knowing smirk on his face. "One of those was it? I swear, I've never seen so many bawdy stories in one place since moving here. And I would swear more show up every seven."

"Oh, no! Not one of those!" Ginger sounds properly contemptuous. "Can't imagine what people see in those, but someone's writing those ones now, and they're stories. This was old, and more… insert tab A into slot B to produce result C sort of stuff. With diagrams." And it's now safely on the trolley, where one of the harper apprentices is eyeing it curiously but not quite daring to pick it up in sight of the journeyman. If he - or Eryzz - does, it will be revealed to be a document of, shall we say, an instructional nature.

Eryzz doesn't need instruction in that area, thank you very much, but he does side-eye the encroaching apprentice and sends him scurrying off with one scowled look. Out of pure curiosity, not necessity, the journeyman saunters over nonchalantly as he lifts the cover of the book, and peruses it idly. "Hmmm, nice illustrations, who drew them?" he leans over and squints to try and make out the miniscule signature next to the drawing as if it were no more risque than a still-life. "If you think something like this is bad, when I was instructed in sketching, we had to draw nude models. A bunch of fifteen turn olds in a room with one naked lady and I think there was a bowl of fruit there too…" he trails off thoughtfully before shaking his head to clear it, "Anyway, it could have been a contest for who blushed the darkest."

Ginger chuckles at the thought of all those blushing harper apprentices. "I think I'll stick to drawing plans, thank you. And I bet your model wasn't showing all she'd got the way the people in those diagrams do. Or…" But Ginger's disgust is complete: she just shakes her head and turns back to the shelf to straighten a harmless set of ballads, muttering, "It can't be all it's cracked up to be if people need to contort themselves like that to make it interesting." Fortunately, her face is hidden as she gives her attention to picking up a new set of books to move to the table.

"Ok, so it was a bit more tasteful than this," Eryzz replies as he tilts his head first one way the other, with a quizzical look on his face as if he's trying to figure out which way the picture is supposed to be facing, before absently going on, "The Master finally gave up and arranged the fruit in strategic places…I think I still have those sketches somewhere," he muses almost to himself. Then he hears a CRASH behind him, and snaps his gaze to where a candidate had been trying to carry too many records at once with predictable results. With a roll of his eyes to Ginger, he leaves the girl to her work, trusting her at least not to need as much supervision as those he is chasing after with his best angry face, a lecture just waiting on his lips. At least it should be supper soon.

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