futurology | [Video; UN: lessaofpern]

[Lessa has set her jaw as she looks into the projection of the network, grey eyes sparkling with unaffected warmth as she considers this strangely intuitive communication system. How like speaking to dragons it feels, and how strange.]

Good morning. I hope all of that merry-making last night didn't leave any of you completely indisposed, as I believe that we have a lot of work to tackle in the coming days.

I am Lessa of Pern. I am the senior Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr, Ruathan by blood, and rider to Golden Ramoth. Though it means little to those not from Pern, I can assure you that I have earned every last of those titles, and though I acknowledge that this team is a company of equals, I think we can all admit that if we want to find ourselves home sooner, we could stand to delegate and specialize to our strengths... not all of us want to retire to sandy beaches we know will decay into abandon!

I'd like to speak with those of you who are versed in ALASTAIR's values and practices, and those of you who have spoken with the Nalawi at length and have learned anything more than what we have been given prior to our arrival. Locations, traditions, values, any records that can be used to track the progress of this island's troubles... it could all be valuable.

[She affects to toss a lock of fine black hair from her face, thinking herself particularly clever for re-enacting the kind of proud-chested talk that her weyrmate has employed in the past.]

Please join me for a mug and a plate in the lower room of the inn. I'm looking forward to meeting you in person so that we can consider our options going forward together.

[Before she shuts her communication down, the proud, slight smile brightens suddenly with a kind of abandoned amusement, like she's come out of a spotlight on a stage... and that's because she has. Lessa has never been in a position where she could stand up and take singular charge before, and the thought that she might be able to now is a heady feeling. Watch her sit rigidly in the tavern of the Inn from the time the broadcast is over until the moment someone approaches; she's going to be on the edge of her seat expecting the outpouring of earnest team-members coming forward to hand her clues to go gallivanting off on.]

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Sullivan?

[That catches Lessa's attention.]

Riza Hawkeye mentioned your name with respect--please, come as soon as you're able, Green Witch.

[She'll refrain from using 'Lord'; where she's from that parses about as well as the fact that Sieglinde is barely more than a child.]

Riza is an intelligent, sound minded woman- it is good you have spoken to her already. I shall make my way there, then.

["Green Witch" was the title most of her village women had called her by anyway, so she's no problem with it- instead nodding and turning off her video feed.

Though she actually leaves for the inn common room promptly, it takes her far longer than it should to make the distance- but she could hope this Lessa simply thought her quite busy. At barely four feet high herself, the architecture and furniture used by the Nalawins was actually quite suitable- she doesn't need to duck or cramp down to move, but her movements are swaying and unsteady despite, her feet bound by a practice unfamiliar to most she's met, three inches long and some, swaddled in sweet smelling bandages and hidden away by stockings, the ankle-length dresses she wore, and the tiny custom heels. For balance correction more than support, she navigated with a cane purchased from a local.]

Lessa of Pern, rider to Golden Ramoth?

[It's easy to pick ALASTAIR recruits out of this crowd, as opposed to Chantes.]

It is I, Sieglinde Sullivan. I apologize for my delay.

[Out of courtesy, she arranged herself to balance properly enough for a small curtsy.]

[It becomes apparent immediately when Sieglinde spots Lessa where her rider title comes from. Ramoth is curled up beside the table, more a size to carry a Lord of Wolfssclucht than a Weyrwoman of Benden. Her entire body glistens like a living, metallic statue under the gentle light of the tavern. Lessa, being only a foot taller than her guest, pushes her chair away to give an appropriate bow to the girl.]

Sieglinde, Lord Witch? No apology is necessary. Please sit! I have heard that you may have some grasp of the sciences that might aid us in ruling out whether our Nalawi goddess is, perhaps, more an interaction between the volcanic eruptions of this island and the people who appear to benefit from them, than a living creature.

[No need to beat around the bush; the girl seems interested in jumping right in and Lessa is more than happy to do so.]

[Once Sieglinde straightens back up with a little wobble she's quick to accept Lessa's offer to dispense with the formalities and take her seat, clambering into it somewhat awkwardly before she adjusted her skirts and lay her wooden cane across her lap. The motion was made a bit difficult by the fact that she kept trying to steal glances at what by all appearances seemed to be a golden dragon beside the table.

That couldn't be Ramoth, could it? The woman had implied she rode astride it, and physically that wouldn't work out, would it? With a body that size the wingspan would have to be approximately that, and even with that sort of li-

Sieglinde shook her head quickly, trying not to get distracted. Focus.]

I may just, Lady Lessa.

[Titles were tricky things- hopefully that would do for the other woman.]

What some people call "science" and others call "magic" can be one and the same or distinct forces depending on the world, and that is where the trickiness of it all lies, but. I have indeed begun to carry out experiments to attempt to determine this very thing. I was not permitted to perform an autopsy in order to find out if the Nalawi have an organ of some kind to process energies of which we may not be aware, but to begin with I am examining the volcanic rock for any micro signatures out of the ordinary.

[Despite her age she handled topics like dissection without a blink- though she did lower her voice slightly. They were in a Nalawin business, after all.]

You were not permitted? Why not?

[Lessa, having apparently settled her beef with Sieglinde's slight, wobbly frame and age before it could begin to moo, is and always will be more interested in the facts. Without her weyrmate to privately judge other leading experts, she has nobody to exchange knowing--or questioning--looks. It's probably for the better.

Ramoth, apparently nearly dozing, blinks her heavy outer eyelids half open to regard the child with sparkling blue and green eyes. It doesn't seem like she's focusing, but then with eyeballs more like a dragonflies than a reptilian predator's, it's hard to tell.]

I could not tell you- I mean, it's not exactly surprising, I suppose, since we did just arrive and there are relatives to be upset and funerals to be conducted, but.

[Sieglinde waved a hand, slightly frustrated with things like Common Human Decency and Morals when it came to scientific discovery just sitting there and waiting to be explored... But they were hardly in a position to try and upset the native population by potentially violating their religious beliefs or sanitary customs, so she had relented.]

It leaves the rocks and water to be tested, and experiments that can be conducted if native volunteers can be found... I imagine if it has to do with potentially getting their "Gifts" back they may be cooperative...

[Despite her best efforts to focus, though, Sieglinde cannot help but keep looking at the golden dragon- altogether a different sort from the last dragon she'd seen, and those eyes...]

That is not... Ramoth, is it?

[Lessa, distracted from Sieglinde's train of conversation by mention of her dragon, fondly reached out a hand to scratch at Ramoth's eye ridge.]

She is at that. Forgive us, she isn't at her full size. ALASTAIR did something horrific when we first arrived.

[Both Lessa and Ramoth seem displeased: the human by her harsh scowl, Ramoth by the latent flicker of orange that rippled across her eyes.] She was the largest dragon on Pern, able to clutch forty eggs in a go. I've been assured that there is no 'worry' of that here, though Ramoth has been displeased since our arrival.

You mean... miniaturizing her? Why would they do that if they wish for us to be a powerful force, I wonder... though I suppose a behemoth of a dragon isn't very subtle, is it...

[The phrasing "something horrific" sounded awful, but the implication didn't match with her perceptions, leaning Sieglinde to lean over her chair in order to try and get a better look, gaze critical as she took visual measurements.

She hadn't intended to be the one asking questions, but with the door opened... curiosity won out.]

How long is she supposed to be, snout to tail? What about wingspan? And the size of a dragon egg? Do these dragons produce eggs that aren't inseminated, like chickens?

[Not realizing Ramoth was more intelligent than one could expect from a well-trained steed or hound, Sieglinde simply fired questions at Lessa, somewhat easily distracted by fascination offered in front of her.]

[Video; UN: lessaofpern] | Rallying the wings

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