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Rayinte and Wrath's Weyr - Vacant Weyr

Characters: Ray and Wrath
Rank: weyrwoman and Queen dragon, otherwise unknown and unknowable
Location: No Weyr

Current Status:
Apparently lost in between somewhere.

They were practicing betweening times, and must have made a mistake. That, at least, is what the Weyrleaders decided amongst themselves at the meeting held after the search.

The search itself and the fact that Wrath and Ray had gone missing were kept very quiet, known only to the rider who first noticed their absence and the Weyrleaders of all the Weyrs. They knew they couldn't keep it secret forever, but it was highly disturbing, to "lose" a queen like that, without a trace. Especially considering that even unconscious, the other queens would have been able to locate Wrath.

And if nobody called the Mourning for Wrath, if none of the dragons keened with her loss, then obviously, Ray also had to be alive, wherever she was. The dragons could only tell that somewhere in time, Wrath was alive, and they only knew that on the vaguest of instinctive levels.

. . .

One unresolved question, in a sea of confusion was Isskio. The flit went wild, but stayed at Fort Weyr, accepting food from time to time, but also randomly harassing people, dragons, and other flits. Repeated orders from dragons of all colors had little effect on the tiny queen, whose memory seemed damaged somehow.

She seemed content, however, to remain, and at times would seem to be waiting for something...

Gradually, however, rumors began to surface. The Harper Hall had agreed to remain silent on the subject, respecting the Weyrs and their long-standing alliance. But secrets, especially such big ones as a lost Queen, travel by many paths, and before long the entire Northern Continent was abuzz with speculation. The Green Queen had been, in her time, somewhat notorious.

Unable to keep the story bottled up, the Weyrleaders permitted the Harper Hall to spread official word of the situation.

Wrath and her rider had vanished, but were believed to be still alive.

Somewhere.

But wiser souls knew, it was more likely that they were alive somewhen.

--------------------

Their weyr remained vacant for some time, in the hope that they might return. As time passed, however, Ray's possessions were put into storage, much to the distress of Isskio, who behaves protectively of the place, chasing away most who would visit.

Fire lizards seem to live forever, and are impossible to catch or hold captive. But for now, with the Weyr underpopulated, it seemed unlikely anyone would be needing one junior queen's weyr.

Character Profile: Rayinte

Physical Description
Hair:
Color: light grayish blonde
Texture: Thick, frizzy, fluffy
Style: Just past the shoulders. Often worn in a ponytail at the nape of her neck.

Eyes: Grayish-blue

Body:
Height: 5'8" (173cm)
Weight: 140-160 lbs (64-73 kg)
Body Type: Hourglass, with leanings toward pear.

Clothing
Standard: Usually runs around in wherhide pants of varying shades, off-white linen long-sleeved shirts, and often a brownish-grayish leather vest.
Flying: Plain brown wherhide flying gear.
Fancy: She avoids wearing fancy clothing at all costs, though as a concession to her rank as a queenrider, has acquired a simple dark blue dress with full skirts, long, loose sleeves, and a tailored bodice, with almost no embroidery. She occasionally is wrestled into fancier clothing, including a olive/green/bronze dress with metallic gold embroidery, which closely matches Wrath's hide.

Personality:
When she's tired, Rayi is a grouch. She is often tired. Her sense of humor is wry, sometimes self-mocking, frequently corny, and usually obscure.

Otherwise, she's not terribly good at expressing her deeper emotions, and often manages to completely evade even acknowledging them. In casual encounters, she gets along fairly well, but she rarely makes long-term friendships. When she does, it's primarily because the other person does all the effort of keeping in touch.

Since bonding with first Isskio, then Wrath, she's become more aware of her emotional needs, but still prefers to avoid socializing with other people.

Ray's also pretty stubborn. She holds grudges and can stay angry at a person for a long time if they don't make an effort to apologize.

When acting in a position of authority, she expects her orders to be carried out to the letter. She'll accept questions and clarifications, and even excuses if she feels they are valid, except during emergencies. She'll often make idle threats that sound horrible... and given her sense of humor, nobody's really sure if she means it or not. So far she's never had to carry through on one of those threats, however ... that is subject to change.

Ray hates initiating social contact. Given the choice, she'd take all of her meals alone in her Weyr; such isolation is discouraged among ranking riders, so she frequently seeks quiet corners where she can be seen, and trusts to her grouchy reputation to keep people from bothering her. However, she's been known to give good advice and can be an entertaining conversationalist when the mood so strikes her.

Common Knowledge:
- All appearance details
- Originally from Telgar Weyr
- Has a strange sense of humor
- Is rather scary sometimes
- Has a taste for very bad wines
- Sometimes short-tempered
- Is the rider of the "Green Queen"

Uncommon Knowledge:
- Has a taste for vinegary wine (the cooking staff are aware, people she drinks with regularly, and people she's told)
- Has a soft spot for browns, and also appreciate greens and blues, but she isn't especially fond of bronzes. This sometimes, but doesn't always, hold true to the riders.

Isskio

Appearance:
Color: Bright gold
Size: Her wingspan is about as long as Ray's outstretched arms, with her body length (tail included) is a bit shorter than that.
Accessories: To assist in flit identification, Isskio frequently wears a somewhat faded black wherhide collar around her neck, to which a message capsule can be attached. Somewhat vain, as all gold flits are, she also enjoys wearing the occasional ribbon, usually in blue or green, either around her neck or around her tail.

Personality:
Isskio's an average happy-go-lucky flit. She's very much attached to her person (Ray) and to her Big Sister (Wrath), and also likes her People Friends and Big Friends. The only times she doesn't like sitting on Ray's shoulder is when Ray is even more grouchy than usual, usually when Wrath is proddy or when Ray is under a lot of stress.

Unfortunately for Isskio, Ray is the sort of person who seems to be a stress magnet. Occasionally Isskio tries being supportive, a quiet, undemanding presence on Ray's shoulder. This tactic usually works; with Isskio present, Ray is less likely to hurt people, and also less likely to say or do things that she'll regret later.

Isskio knows that Ray adores her, and also knows that other people admire and adore Queen flits. She's shameless about exploiting their admiration of her, and never wants for attention. If she senses that Her Person is meeting someone new, Isskio will often make an appearance, because she knows that she, in all of her adorableness, makes a good impression, and she sometimes helps Ray make a good impression too.

Antics
((day of Earthquake at Benden Weyr))
- Wrath rises in the morning, fairly early.
- Wrath is caught by Pericolath.
- Ray eats a late breakfast with P'las.
- Beriadi resigns, making Ray the new Weyrwoman.
- Ray offers to take P'las on a tour.
- An earthquake hits.
- Ray sprains her ankle badly.
- Chaos.
- More chaos.
- Even more chaos.
- Netesath and Beriadi were trapped in a cave-in.
- After making sure the two were treated and doing well, Ray had her ankle examined.
- The healer gave Ray a concoction which knocked her out.
- Ray is put to bed by K'makin.

Antics
- Ray scolds a former Benden Weyrbrat-turned-Fort Candidate, Davit, for releasing a live, burning wherry into the Kitchens. He is assigned additional duties and lessons.
- Ray meets with Weyrwoman Tolara, regarding the Wings and the placement of the Benden Riders within Fort's Wings.
- New Wing Assignments have been posted in the Lower Caverns.
- Ray looks for R'ign, to discuss the Candidates and the possibility of making Benden's former Headwoman, Shadill, into the Candidate Master.

Antics
- Tolara has her baby.
- Ray gets tipsy, secures supply of her nasty vinegary wine
- Ray meets a Candidate, former Benden Weyrbrat Talen.

Action
Isskio tugs on Ray's hair. Ray rolls over, burying her face into a cushion and batting at the flit with one arm. "Scram," she mutters, trying to pull her sleeping furs over her head without including the flit.

Isskio tugs again, and sends an image of the something big and yellowy-green. "Whaah?" Ray turns onto her side and stares at the little queen. The image is a bit clearer this time, it's Wrath ... Wrath.

"What about Wrath?" She groans, as Isskio can't quite explain, but conveys a strong sense of urgency. Sighing, Ray rolls onto her back. Wrath, what's wrong with Isskio?

There was no response from the Queen. Alarmed, Ray sits up. Wrath? She can tell that her dragon is awake, but ... doesn't seem to be responding. Ray flops out of her bed, tripping over her sleeping furs as usual, and staggers out into Wrath's area. There's no sign of the Queen.

Isskio, pleased with herself for getting her person's attention, lands sedately on Ray's shoulder as the young woman leans against the arch between her part of the weyr and Wrath's, struggling to figure out what's up. Isskio hums to herself, a happy, self-satisfied sound, and Ray suddenly is aware of a slightly different vibration in the air.

Recognizing it immediately, she runs out of the weyr, only taking enough time to cram her feet into a pair of soft boots before dashing down the stairs and across the weyrbowl to the Hatching grounds.

Action
Ray arrives in her weyr, then begins tossing clothing aside as she rushes through Wrath's room, her sleeping area, and then dives into the large heated pool with a squeal of delight. Almost immediately, she's joined by Isskio, and the little queen's chirps echo sharply in the stone room.

She wastes no time in scrubbing her grime-coated limbs with soapsand, then scrubbing Isskio, who is much cleaner, but loves bathing anyways. After several rinses, she feels adequately clean and just soaks a bit, until a questioning thought from Wrath prompts her to climb out and dry off.

After toweling off her hair, she gets a bottle of oil and a soft rag and works on Isskio. The queen flit had already suffered a wealth of attention these past few days, as in fits of boredom, Ray would oil anything and everything in sight. Several wild flits had their patchy spots taken care of--as long as Ray did the work near the Weyrbol entrance to the hatching grounds, Wrath didn't notice the presence of the flits.

But this oiling is mostly for show, so Ray takes special care to coat every inch of the very much spoiled Isskio.

At some point over the past few days, that irksome creature from the Weavercrafthall had Ray's new dress delivered, as it was laid out on the bed. She scrutinizes it, then looks at Isskio, who chirps questioningly.

"Horrid, isn't it?" The flit blinks a few eyelids, then looks at the dress again.

Pretty?

... Peh. The little thing had no taste. Sighing, Ray wrings out her hair, then after running a comb through it a few times, ties it back with a plain leather thong. She squirms into the dress, complaining about the buttons and fastenings, and the pointless lacings, then wraps her regular leather belt around her waist. She adjusts her belt pouch, then sticks her feet into her regular shoes and after offering a forearm to Isskio, she prepares to leave, her riding jacket and helmet looking out of place over the garish dress.

I have arranged for your transportation to the Gather.

Lovely.

A brown dragon lands on the ledge, but it's not Nakoreth. Ray doesn't know the rider, but he offers her an arm up. He's got his gather finery on under his riding leathers too, which makes her feel somewhat better. "Thanks for the ride," she says conversationally. He smiles and shrugs as he helps her settle onto the brown's neck.

The brown takes off from the ledge, leaping up into the air instead of dropping off like most dragons tend to do. Expecting the drop, she nearly bangs her head on the rider behind her.

Going between without Wrath was disconcerting, but the brown was fairly adept at it, and the landing proceeded without issue.

After dismounting, Ray removes her helmet and jacket, and one of several youngsters apparently on duty, takes them and gives her a small square wooden token with a number carved on it. She tucks it into her beltpouch, and looks at the crowd that begins just before her.

She adjusts the damned dress nervously.