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 Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 6:58 am
L'thor gave a snort of amusement and shook his head. "No need to worry, I had finished eating and moved onto the stage of drinking excessive quantities of wine. You're welcome to hang about here a bit longer if you're done with your duties... I suppose while your here we could start taking a look at riding straps; my spare set needs some maintenance." He didn't have any hide scraps for Veyes to have a go on today, but he could show him the harness in detail, and demonstrate the stitching.
"Hatching feasts are good," Raith commented sleepily to her rider. "The hatchlings must get to know one another as well as Theirs. They must start to... Oh, you know," she gave a mental shrug, "to work in a group... No, just to be a group to start with. Dear me, my mind is too clouded with sleep to be talking."
So saying, the green shifted slightly on her sandy couch, and L'thor was aware of her drifting off once more. Yes. Start learning how to be a group, so they could learn how to be a wing. A much kinder first lesson than the candidates were getting. He couldn't imagine how furious he would be if he had been on of those candidates who had not been at the lake, or if he had been one of the ones at the lake who hadn't stolen for that matter. Physical violence would not have been his way of dealing with it. Oh no, he would have been far more vicious. Words had always been his best weapons. He would have torn the ones who took that wine to shreds...
Would he have forgotten, forgiven? Perhaps. It was quite hard to put himself in the place of those who were suffering unfairly; he'd never been brilliant at seeing other people's point of view... He suspected, however, that while he would not remain savage with them forever, he would not become the best of friends with any of them, and he would have brought the incident up at choice moments in turns to come. A week of latrine duty wasn't all that bad, he supposed, but that wasn't the point; it was the principle of it. He would probably have kept the same contempt for the candidate master as for the perpetrators, but hating that man as well wouldn't reduce the amount of loathing he had for the thieves. It was easier for him, uninvolved in the situation, to sit back and say Veyes and Firyal had just been behaving like stupid - very stupid - kids. Closer to the situation, he knew he would not be able to summon such calm.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 8:47 am
Veyes nose wrinkled just a hair at the thought of the wine but didn't say anything about that instead his eyes widen at the thought of looking at RIDING STRAPS! "Oh please could we?!!" That may have been the most lively he had been in days as he wrung his hands in almost giddy excitement. "I'd love to get started on that!"
The thought of learning exactly how the straps worked and how they should be made very much appealed to the boy who had devised his own from watching a dragon in the distance. Sure, it didn't quite match at the time but it fit the draftbeast pretty well. However, he wanted to learn what it took to make one for a dragon.
This opportunity pushed everything else aside that had happened in the past few days, he almost felt like a normal person even if only for a short while - not the plague that everyone was making him into.
"Maybe I can finally learn exactly what I didn't get right from the set I tried to make. What do I need to do?" He said with a brigther smile on his face that seemed more relaxed and less angsty. Mostly, he needed things to get him back on track with his goals and this would be a good start.
Overall, he wasn't a bad kid, just made a bad choice. It was more unfortunate that the discipline wasn't designed to bring positive results or improve cohesiveness of the whole. Maybe it would create small pockets of groups that would work together against the ones called criminal but it certainly wouldn't teach trust, compassion or any positive virtue. It was doubtful that Z'nal's discipline had taught Veyes anything more than "don't take stuff" It certainly wasn't teaching him to "act like a wing" if anything, it had taught him, that the less he had to do with the others the better.
At the very least, it taught him that some dragon riders weren't good men - compassionless and cruel.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 9:00 am
L'thor lifted Rust out of his lap and set the small flitt down on his bed. Where to start? "Well, let's see then..." He headed over to where Raith's harnesses hung and took them down. "First of all," he went on as he moved over to the table and set the harnesses down, "you can take a look at this one here." He pushed one of the harnesses across the table and went to fetch the leather roll that held his harness repair kit.
"Just take a look at how it goes together for now, and I'll show you some stitching on this one in a minute." Showing how to do repairs for now seemed like the best idea; fixing and maintaining was a lot easier than making a new harness. It looked pretty simple of course; just a few leather straps sewn and buckled together. In practice, you had to be very precise. No rider could ever really make harnesses for another; you had to know exactly how big to make them, and you had to know your own and your dragon's individual preferences. The basic design was always the same of course but there were places where things could be altered slightly to fit different builds of dragon and rider.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 9:08 am
Veyes walked over to the table and gingerly picked up the harness then looked at it carefully as he rolled it over in the palm of his hand. His eyes examined every inch of the harness looking at the length of the leather, its thickness, where the signs of wear were and how the stitches were placed.
"So you said awhile back that every rider makes their own and customizes it for their dragon. What did you do with these to customize them for Raith?" he asked as he looked at how the buckles were placed. Yes, he had done a few things wrong to be certain but the basic idea was still in tact. Of course if he were to get a dragon, he'd probably have to do a lot of measuring to fit it. Certain things were starting to click as his imagination rolled in to compare the first model he had built with what he had here in front of him.
"How did you measure out Raith to create these?" That was an important questions because there were probably important places to watch for on a dragon as far as movement in the straps and so things weren't too tight. It was then he realized that a young dragon might need quite a few straps. He smiled a little and thought that L'thor probably had "baby riding straps" hidden somewhere in this room as a fond memory of days gone past.
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 8:27 am
L'thor sat down at the table and unrolled his tools; a sharp little knife, several thick metal needles, lots of thick tough thread. Picking up his spare harnesses, he set about testing the stitching on all of the joins. "Nothing too special," he said with a nod, "for her length she's quite slender so compared to most green harnesses hers look slightly elongated. Some dragons find the way a standard set of straps go over the shoulder uncomfortable so that is sometimes changed. If a dragons neck ridges would get in the way of a standard design, again that needs working around. Usually though, like for Raith, harnesses will only differ in length and width."
He found a place on the harness where the stitching gave slightly and lent across the table to show it to Veyes. "Here, the stress has made the stitching stretch. This seam hasn't been fixed often so I don't need to replace the portion of the harness. Some people pick out stressed stitching but I prefer not to, I just added extra over the top." Taking and threading a needle with deft hands, L'thor set about putting more stitches around the weakened area. "At least three rows of stitches is normal for making harnesses," he said as he worked, "but four or five or even six can be done on areas that get stressed a lot. What I generally do for places like that, here for instance," he indicated a spot, "is three rows, then a small gap, then three more. That way if the leather itself tears around some of the stitches, it might not tear all the way."
That had happened once, though admittedly he'd been new at making his own straps - still a weyrling - but the experience had rattled him enough to make him adopt his own way of doing things. He'd been lucky; Raith's speed and agility had allowed her to swoop down and catch him before he long before he would have hit the ground but it was an unforgettable experience for all that she'd grabbed him quickly. For all he knew his method was actually no better, no more likely to keep him attached to Raith, but it made him feel better and that seemed like a worthwhile reason enough to keep doing it his way.
"We use tape measures to work out how big harnesses need to be," he went on with a grin. "Had an apprentice tailor in my weyrling class who was a bit smug about being able to do it straight off. Took the rest of us a while to get proficient at it. Once your dragon is mature though you don't need to measure them anymore; you have the sizes of all the different pieces you need fixed firmly in your head. After a few turns you can almost cut the pieces by eye, but I measure them every time to be sure. Nothing worse than making up a whole harness and then finding out it doesn't fit!"
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 10:48 am
Veyes pulled the other chair close and watched ever move that L'thor made, "So Raith is a little longer in body. I see. Mmm...but other dragon need adjustments for other areas. I guess the larger bronze, brown and gold have a different set of needs." He tucked that information away and considered the different dragons he had seen and realized it was going to be difficult to figure out what a future dragon would need until it was standing right in front of you.
His eyes focused in on the harness' problems and examined the stretching. "So how many times do you stitch over the top of it before you decide it needs to be replaced? I'm guessing that you get better leather for the riding straps than the stuff coming off of the herdbeasts in the meat locker." He couldn't imagine that leather working at all unless he tripled the leather then stitched it as a small pad. Obviously he was going to have to practice his sewing.
"Three rows to six rows depending on the stress. Ok." He stared on with eager eyes watching L'thor as he sewed a few repairs. Every moment he was trying to embed each movement into his brain. "I guess I am going to have to practice my mending skills. I'm not a tailor but my Mother taught me basic mending so I hope I can catch on. However, cutting leather to size, I'm really going to have to work at because I've not done that but...I'm sure I can learn."
He nodded as L'thor continued to talk and smiled just a little, "I bet you could almost do this all with your eyes closed." He giggled mirthfully as if the rest of the bad day had slipped away; his mind was totally enchanted from watching L'thor work. He wanted to give it a try but didn't want to mess up anything L'thor used on a regular basis. "I guess I'll sort of be like that tailor only it will be the meat cutting that I'll excel at. But I really want to get good at making straps. How long did it take you to learn how to make them well??"
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 8:16 am
L'thor grinned at that and nodded agreement. "I almost can, yes! Fixing harnesses and even making brand new ones is second nature to me after all this time. I don't think it took me all that long to get good at it once Raith had finished growing. I suppose I was about this competent within a turn or so? Honestly I don't really recall though." The thick needle moved on through the leather, and L'thor paused for a moment to squint at the straps.
"Humm, thought there was a crack in it there, but it's just dirt," he said, brushing it away and moving on with his sewing. "Yes though, the big dragons need far wider straps in proportion to the length... It depends really, how many times I'll just repair. Sometimes I can repair a seam a good ten times and it'll still be firm and safe enough, but sometimes if I get a not so great bit of leather, or if we've been really acrobatic, a section or two will need to be replaced after only one or two mendings. Bad leather is fairly unusual though; a big part of the tithes we get from tanners is good quality leather for making our riding straps."
Finishing the seam he was working on, L'thor tied off the thread and cut off the excess with a sharp little knife. "It's always nice to have something you can do competently from the start," he chuckled as he set about checking the other seams. "I picked up on most things quite fast, but I was never one of the ones who already knew exactly what he was doing when a set of lessons started." That had been alright though; his special thing had been his pair of lovely flitts, and of course his sweet charming nature. Haha! L'thor grinned to himself as he recalled the tussles for dominance among the new riders.
He hadn't seen too much of that from other clutches, either because he wasn't close enough to see, or just because there had been several very contentious characters in his weyrling class. Three bronzes, all convinced they were the best and that everyone should listen to them. He'd had a wonderful time antagonizing them, and secretly took credit for their eventual friendship. They'd had no choice but to band together in an attempt to defeat him! No such luck boys, no such luck. He had to admit that none of them were total fools, but equally none of them had been able to match his wit, or allowed to just beat the living daylights out of him.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 9:05 am
Veyes focused on every stitch L'thor made while he talked. This was so much better than the overcrowded candidate classes because he actually got some personal attention. His finger ran across sections of the straps to get a feel for the handiwork there as L'thor continued his work. "I guess that's enough time to learn how to make the straps well. Mm..so it all depends on the leather, the way your dragon wears out the straps and how you ride. Guess it's a lot like saddles." Now saddles he understood a little better but he only stitched up repairs on very few occasions considering Ruatha hold had plenty of men to do it right.
"Well then, I guess that's not what the herd beast leather I used to skin from the beast in the meat locker. They'd had spotty skin at best." He guessed that leather went to other things which didn't require as much stress and now he realized he'd have to get some better scraps from some where to practice. "Maybe if there's a gather I can pick up some leather...and maybe a needle and heavy thread so I can practice."
He leaned a little closer to inspect L'thor's progress taking in each movement and motion, "So do you tuck in the final knot in between the leather so it doesn't rub Raith? Well I want to know as much as I can before I get to Weyrlings lessons. It's really hard for me sometimes to feel like I can ask questions and stuff in this class. There so many people. I guess Weyrling lessons would be smaller but...well I guess it depends on the teacher." He had to say he didn't ever want to ask the Candidate master, Z'nal any questions if he could avoid it. Fortunately, if he did impress, he'd get a new teacher but that may not bode any better depending on who was chosen. "What was your Weyrling Master like?"
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 9:26 am
L'thor nodded. "The final knot can either go between the layers, or stay on the outside. Either works fine, but the former looks neater. Not that anyone ever really sees your riding straps, but some people are fussy about it all the same... Is a bit like saddles," he went on with a grin, setting the straps down and getting to his feet again, "just a bit more... extreme." Chuckling at the thought of a runner wheeling and looping around in the air, L'thor moved across the cavern to another handy little alcove. After grabbing a large pot out of it, he returned to the table.
"Grease," he explained as he opened it, "very important. The cold of between dries leather out terribly so working grease into the straps after every flight is a must. You can give me a hand with this bit if you like, just get some grease and rub it into the leather until it's shiny... Between dries everything out for that matter, so when you're doing a lot of hops you and your dragon will need a good oiling afterward. A lot of riders pay less attention to themselves than their mounts; you can tell which ones," L'thor grinned, "the ones with nasty dry skin!" He wouldn't be seen dead with skin looking like cracked old parchment, but then he was an extremely vain person. Hehe. "Mmm, yes though, get yourself some leather if you've the marks to spare but I've plenty of needles you can borrow, and thread is dirt cheap so you can borrow that too."
If Veyes did Impress - when Veyes Impressed! - he would certainly shine in lessons with all this advance teaching! As a generally well behaved lad in addition, he would probably get on alright with the weyrlingmaster. "My weyrlingmaster..." L'thor paused in the action of rubbing grease into the straps and grinned. "He was a stiff old wherryhead. He didn't like me very much, because though I was a smart lad, I had a smart mouth as well. I got quite a lot of punishment duties from him, I can tell you! Never could resist making that biting comment... Still," he gave a softer smile, "he was a good man, and a good teacher. Got the job done, made sure everyone knew what they were about by the end of a class, and was never impatient if people didn't get it first time, second time, third time... Humm, yes, for all his stiffness I did quite like the man."
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 6:28 pm
Veyes smirked and in his own mind imagined something similar..flying runner beasts! Now that would be a really crazy thing! Or even putting a saddle on a dragon which when he thought about it, probably could be designed if there were a few modifications made. However, he guessed that something like a saddle might have been a precursor to the early straps being that people usually took old designs and worked up to something more suitable. "I wonder if riding straps originated out of saddle..." he said in a thoughtful voice as he tried to keep himself from further drifting away with the crazy idea.
But then, he realized L'thor had got up and his eyes shifted to follow him. "Oh so just like saddle soap." he said as L'thor returned. "Oiling a saddle is just as important too so I bet I'll do pretty good with this part." As soon as he got an old rag, he dipped it into the grease and started working on the straps like he would a saddle at home. Even application along with deep strokes until the leather warmed up to accept the oil in.
He paused for a brief moment and studied his work then reapplied anywhere that absorbed the oil fully because that was where the driest spots were. "Well...um...after the lice problem, I've been a lot better about taking care of myself and umm...well since you've been letting me bathe up here at times...umm...I really like your bath oil." L'thor had been a life saver as far that went because sometimes the dorm was way too busy and rarely one could get a moment's peace for all the comings and goings. "I really do appreciate it." he said again never in his own mind being able to say thank you quite enough. L'thor was his best mentor...and friend in the grand scheme of things.
Looking over his work once again, he finally handed what he had done to L'thor to make sure he had done right. Everyday he was realizing that some of his life lessons at the farm were actually useful for this particular life if he were lucky enough to impress. "Your mouth hasn't changed much!" His grin broadened when he teased the man. "I bet he'd be proud of what you can do now. You're a pretty good teacher, L'thor." Veyes wished he could say the same thing about his candidate master, but some how he just didn't get that impression.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 7:28 am
L'thor, momentarily distracted by the task of oiling the straps, made a vague noise in the back of his throat. "What? Oh, yes, I suppose riding straps might have been like saddles once upon a time. I imagine if they ever were the design changed fast; a solid structure would keep the dragon from twisting its neck about. It would have been a different shaped saddle to a runner's one if there ever were more saddle like things, too; have to fit in between the neck ridges."
L'thor accepted the straps as Veyes handed them to him, nodding approval at the work, and then gave a slight shake of his head. "Think nothing of it; you using the bath up here doesn't put me out at all, and I'm glad it's been such a help to you. I never did like the candidate baths myself; before I came here I was used to washing in rivers mostly, a different place each day so there was no chance for anything to get disgusting like a poorly cleaned bathing room can." The hot water had been a nice novelty at first, but that had soon worn off. Damp towels left everywhere, water sloshed about, dropped soap on the floor... Ew. Not nice at all. Fastidious L'thor gave a slight shudder before pushing the thoughts of nasty bathrooms away.
"I like to think he would be," he said with a smile and a nod, "and I'm glad you think I'm a good teacher! Don't know what I'd be like with a whole class though. Haha. The slackers would probably hate me and come up with nicknames like Dark Lord of the b***h Lands." People who wouldn't apply themselves when it was time to work annoyed him no end. There was a time for play, L'thor knew that well and sharding well enjoyed kicking back when off duty, but when it was time to work you knuckled down and got on with it, or you should at any rate.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:33 am
Veyes thought more about what L'thor had responded with and could see what he meant about how a saddle might not have worked nearly as well. For a few moments, he tried to make the innovations in his head as if he could imagine a timeline of changes and pondered in his imagination what the progress might have been like. "I guess you're right. Mmm...I think when I have time some turns in the future, I might try to make a saddle that would work. Just something I am curious about. The innovation that would have happened to move from a saddle to straps." His imagination started pulling apart the saddle in his mind but really he'd have to have a dragon around to line up his ideas. Yes, that would require a lot more work but this was how new ideas were born; by grasping at the old and weaving new possibilities.
He was pleased that L'thor approved of his oiling job and took up another section and started the process all over again. "Thanks. Before here I was used to washing in small round tub at the Farm by myself so yeah, the candidates' bath hasn't been really been great. I guess the only thing I can say is that the water is warmer here and I don't have to haul it!"
He smiled a bit as L'thor talked about what he'd be like as a candidate master. "Dark Lord of the b***h Lands?" then he laughed, "Oh I have a feeling you would go crazy with all these candidates then. They'd really annoy you and you'd be grumpy all the time. Nah...you don't need to deal with candidates." He could indeed imagine L'thor as the bitchiest candidate master on Pern . Every candidate would be doing double duty with lessons because L'thor would never be satisfied with some of the lazy bums. And so the Dark Lord, dressed in black leathers and hair whipping in the wind would stand above the bowl guiding the masses to the greater good...What a sight it would be. Oh yes, and of course, the Weyr would have to be led by Conomor and his great Gold Dragon...Gildenath. He smiled in quiet satisfaction as another part of his story was slowly coming together.
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:47 am
He couldn't imagine why Veyes was so hell bent on making a saddle when straps worked perfectly, but there was no harm in tinkering in your spare time. Perhaps he himself was just not curious enough about how things might once have been... though why things should have started with a saddle to begin with he had no idea. Well, it didn't matter, if Veyes enjoyed playing about with the idea then that was all well and good. So long as he didn't try to being his contraptions drilling, he doubted anyone else would mind either.
"I'll be interested to see whatever weird things you manage to come up with Veyes," L'thor said with a grin, hoping that the lad ended up with a patient dragon that wouldn't mind being fitted up with a new invention every other sevenday.
"I'd probably be grumpy whenever I had to see the little tailforks," he agreed with a grin, "or maybe more... incandescent with rage. Don't worry though! Dark Lord L'thor still knows how to kick back and throw a good party when he doesn't have to deal with lazy and or stupid candidates. He gambles on occasion, dances when the mood takes him, and laughs often. Any candidates seeing him off duty would be shocked at how different he becomes when his time is his own!"
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 9:46 am
Veyes could never leave well enough alone. His ideas and visions blazed through his head like lightning; striking down on the earth then spreading all about until it either took shape or disappeared until the next wild insight. Yes, he had to give the saddle a try...one day.
His imagination nimbly stood the Dark Lord L'thor in front of a class of fearful candidates and for once some of the others who had been rude to him over the latrines were now cleaning them! No wait, cleaning latrines wasn't a valuable lesson...no they'd all learn to cut meat for their dragons whether the liked it or not. Enough meat to feed the Weyr times 2! Yes, L'thor was a taskmaster of immense proportion in his dreams! He giggled as the thought amused him even more.
"I'm sure the Dark Lord L'thor would be quite a Master of his Domain. Then those bronze riders would learn to respect greens for sure!" He knew that would probably make L'thor's grin broader as he set down the fully oiled strap he was working on. "You'd either be very popular or the most hated rider in the Weyr...but I bet you'd be effective."
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 10:20 am
L'thor cackled evilly. "Oh yes, they'd learn a bit of respect alright or I would tear them to shreds with my legendary tongue. I expect me being me I might manage to be both the most popular and the most hated, if I really worked at it. An even split," he made a slicing gesture with one hand, "half the Weyr adoring me, the other abhorring me." Still grinning and chuckling to himself, L'thor gave the riding straps one last look over before rising to return them to their peg.
"And that's mending straps," he said as he returned to the table and dropped down into his chair. "Mending is fairly simple to get the hang of, but making new is harder. Knowing exactly where to join the pieces together to get a symmetrical harness, and of the right shape, is difficult to being with. Marking where all your joins are going to be takes forever at first, and mistakes are extremely commonplace. Still though, like I say once your dragon is finished growing you get the hang of it fairly swiftly." He had felt as though he never would for a very long time, hadn't noticed himself improving each time until he saw the new weyrlings' attempts at making straps. That had made him feel much better about his own abilities, and within a season or so of that realization the whole process had become as simple as snapping his fingers.
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