R2: Lesson 2

[Ruby]

It was lesson time again. This time, Kemma had cleared most of the desks away, clustering three up front, near her desk. This candidate class was rather small, although considering that there wasn't yet clutch currently on the sands, it wasn't surprising. Well, either way, Kemma thought it was rather silly to spread three students out in a classroom that could hold twenty comfortably. She figured it would be good for the shyer ones too. Today was about ranks, after all, and if a rider was shy around their Wingleader, they could get the whole wing killed by hesitating. The Candidates had better get comfortable with the idea of authority now, before it put them in danger.

After last rotation's confusion, she'd stayed away from inviting ranking riders, as she had last time. That had been more trouble than it was worth, Kemma thought, at least for now. She'd try this lesson out without the rankers, and if it seemed like it worked she'd keep it this way. But if somehing seemed like it was missing... well, she'd make a decision then. Anyway, now all she needed was candidates, and she could begin.

[dragon]

Arriving on time for a change, Cloar made his way into the room. He stopped just inside the doorway, taking in what he could see from there. It was ... vastly different ... from the last time he'd been to a classroom. For one ... all the desks were gone. How ... weird. Someone must have had lots of excess energy and enthusasim to burn off, he thought, to have bothered to move all the desks out just for the heck of moving them out. But then ... he didn't even pretend to understand people's motives about anything.

Moving forward, deeper into the room, he nodded to Kemma with respect, though he uttered only one word: "Ma'am." And then he took himself a seat in one of the chairs by a desk on one side. It allowed him to see the teacher, see the door in his peripheral, and have a wall on one side. He had inherited just a little of - thankfully not all of - his father's paranoya about the weyr, and he wasn't totally comfortable in the place yet. So having a wall on one side while among strangers was a good thing. For now.

Later on he might not care.

Though genuinely curious what was going to be the lesson topic today, Cloar kept his mouth shut. In due time, he'd know. And time would not and could not be stopped ... he was a patient fellow. He just watched Kemma in silence, though continually aware of the doorway. Others would be arriving soon, he knew.

[glamourie]

Roxie preceded Rawign into the classroom. The green firelizard gave a musical flute as she glided in and swept to the far side of the desks, settling on the end opposite Cloar. She circled the desk twice and then flew directly into it, landing head first with a colliding sound like a small rock hitting the surface. Unphased, the green bounced back to her feet and daintily fluttered her wings before chirruping for all to hear, as if to state that she was fine. Once she settled herself, she took to preening. Landing had never been a specialty of Roxie's, and a decent one was a rarity for her. She was just happy she managed to avoid injuring herself. It was an accomplishment, then.

Into the doorway stepped Rawign, who immediately scowled at the lack of desks. Given a choice, he always sat in the back, out of sight. What was the point of him even attending lessons anymore? It felt like one giant waste of time. He wanted so badly to nag at Kemma and insist that he shouldn't have to, but he refrained. If he had to attend, though, could he not be allowed to skulk in the back like he wanted? Grr. Three desks. All right in front of her. Lovely. Just lovely. He brought one hand up to brush through his unevenly sheared hair and glanced onto his shoulder, where Stumpy was perched. The blue nudged his chin encouragingly and he snorted. Ruddy firelizards were completely enthusiastic. If he didn't know any better he would have assumed they missed their three missing companions. He did. Li would've kept him amused throughout a class he shouldn't have had to attend. Beggar would probably have annoyed Kemma. And Ennayoh would've made him hungry. He missed the three of them more than words could describe.

The thought put him in a bad mood as he stalked forward to the desk that Roxie had so neatly snagged for him. Patting her head gratefully, he flopped into the chair and slouched back, arms folding across his chest in what could only be described as a sulk. He was tired, and rightfully so; he'd been up most of the night trying to boil numbweed and despite bathing for a full candlemark, he still smelled funny. Not numbweed, though. No, he smelled like the scented scrubbing salts he'd snagged from Marra, which for some reason had a floral scent he was sure could be blamed on Blossom. Needless to say, Rawign did not enjoy walking around smelling like a bouquet. The first person that commented on it was going to get their drinks spiked with a painfully strong aphrodisiac. He was so not in the mood.

"Roxie, Stumpy, go find somewhere out of the way to perch, would you?" he inquired of his two firelizards, glancing at them in turn. The green gave an indignant shriek, but Stumpy obediently took to wing and flew over to one of the shelves, perfectly content to do as His asked him to. Roxie flew over to his shoulder, vacated by Stumpy, and squawked in defiance before looping her tail around Rawign's neck. He grunted, then glanced at her. "You're lucky I named you before I realized your personality, or you'd be called either Drama, Pain in my Rump, or Noisebox. Possibly Bigmouth. I lean toward that one. You better be quiet throughout the lesson." He just didn't want extra chores. "Okay?"

From the slight chirp Roxie offered in response, Rawign strongly suspected she would make as much noise as she wanted throughout the lesson. Well, goodie. If he got extra chores, he'd just throw a tantrum and make it miserable for everyone. And if he didn't, at least he knew Roxie would make the class worth listening to. He very highly doubted Kemma would.

[Ember]

Ferneth was the last to arrive, noting with amusement that the middle desk was the only one left. He sat down between the other two guys while he nodded at Kemma. Considering that the desks were now full he figured that the rotation would consist only of him and the two others he didn't know by name. One had with him firelizads which were rather good at getting his attention. He still liked them, but Sloth was enough to take care of for the moment.

Sloth, thankfully, had no interest in following Ferny to the meeting, nor did he want to bring a rather...loud pet into a classroom. Sloth had the habit of broadcasting to all nearby and talking a lot. He was the source of both amusement and headaches. In the back of his mind Ferneth could hear the blue chattering amiably to a pillow. Silly 'mandyr. He loved the little creature, no matter how silly or lazy he was.

He forced himself to stop listening to the one sided conversation in his head and pay attention. He was seated directly in front of Kemma so it would be hard not to listen anyways. Ferneth sighed under his breath, glancing at the two on either side of him and at the door one last time before fully settling down. There were obviously no more coming, so Kemma would start soon enough.

[Ruby]

Lesson 2

Shards, this was rare. Everyone was here, and on time! Maybe having a small lesson rotation was the way to go. Kemma nodded to each boy as they took their seats, quietly. Quiet and respect was good, but the Candidates should be getting to know one another. Maybe Kemma would have to plan some sort of mixer... or SOMETHING to get these kids talking. They could be in a wing together sometime in the future, and it would be far easier if they knew eachother already. Well, maybe next time.

"Welcome, Candidates," she began. "We're talking about ranks and responsibilities today, and although last time, I asked some of the ranking members in the Weyr to come and say a bit about their jobs, it honestly turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. They are all very busy, so I decided to forgo it this time. If, at the end of the lesson, you think that meeting some of the higher-ranked people of the Weyr would have been helpful, please let me know.

"So, Ranks and Responsibilities. First and foremost, there are several names you should write down and commit to memory right now: Weyrwoman Shmee of Aslath, Weyrleader Ka'rys of Ciceroth, Jr. Weyrwoman Kaegan of Millieth and Jr. Weyrleader N'tia of Kirayuth. You should also commit to memory Gold Wherhandler Neirin of Neisk, who some of you may recognize from the last Wher hatching. There are other important names, but those are the ones you should unquestionably know. They are the leaders of your Weyr, and if you fail to pay the proper respect to them, you are not only disrespecting them, you are disrespecting the Weyr as a whole, and may be disciplined.

"Unless you reach one of the top ranks, they are always above you and deserve the highest form of respect. Call them by their full title when introducing them, Dragon or Wher included, and call them either by their title or by Sir or Ma'am as appropriate. If they ask for something different, you should comply with their wishes. Basically, their word is law, and they usually have a good reason to ask what they are asking. Assume they do, and if you really want to know, ask your Weyrlingmaster or Wingleader, or me, about it later. We should be able to explain it, and if not, we are in a far better position to question their judgement than you are, or will be for quite some time. Goldriders, potential future Weyrwomen, are trained by the current Weyrwoman in their duties, which are mostly domestic- assigning living quarters, approving leaves, that sort of thing. The Weyrleader is almost always a Rider who was already a Wingleader, and their duties do not change much; they only widen in scope. Instead of leading just one Wing, they are leading the whole Weyr, and are in charge of organizing the training thereof.

"Beyond those ranks, which are gained mostly through the virtue of Impression or flight prowess, there are some that can be earned through merit. These are the ranks of Wingleader, Wingsecond, Weyrlingmaster, Weyrcrafter of various sorts, Searchrider, and, of course, Candidatemaster. Wingleaders and Wingseconds are appointed by the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman, based partially on Dragon color and seniority, and partially on ability. Usually Bronzes and Browns hold those positions, but other colors taking them is not unheard of if they are particularly talented and particularly senior. Weyrlingmaster, Searchrider and Candidatemaster posts are applied for, and selected out of that pool of applicants. Almost always, Candidatemasters and Weyrlingmasters ride the non-metallic colors, although once again, that is not universally true. Weyrcrafters are either Wingriders who rose to Journeyman level in their crafts prior to Impressing, or those who Impressed as Apprentices and went back for more training with the permission of their Wingleader, who usually routes it through the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman.

"Once again, all of these lesser ranks may be considered higher than you, if you are a Weyrling or Wingrider. They should be refered to by their whole title, although the dragon or wher name may be left off. If you gain one of these positions, you gain the privledge of calling lower riders by their names only, although that is usually only invoked within your own wing or among aquaintences. Most higher-level Riders will call their subordinates simply by their title. When addressing people of your own rank, either their full title or their name may be used, although usually simply the name is fine after the first meeting.

"There are also several non-Riding ranks, for those of you that choose to drop out of Candidacy, or who do not impress. The Headman or Headwoman runs the Lower Caverns- they are only slightly subordinate to the Weyrwoman, and a smart Weyrwoman will listen to the Headperson, because it is very likely that they have been doing this job much longer. Their duties overlap, but where the Weyrwoman deals with Riders and Dragons, the Headperson handles the non-Impressed. Whers and Handlers are somewhat autonomous, although they are loosely covered under the Weyrwoman's duties. The Headperson is in charge of the cook staff, the cleaning staff, maintenance staff and the fostering staff, who all have heirarchies of their own, as well as non-Impressed Weyrcrafters. All non-Impressed positions are given based on merit, by the Headperson, who is appointed either by the retiring Headperson, or by the Weyrleaders if there was no sucessor indicated.

"Questions?"

[glamourie]

.. Weyr..crafters... Rawign frowned, listening silently as Roxie curled up in her spot, ignoring everything around her. His gaze lingered on Kemma as she spoke and he considered her statement before glancing at the other two students. But -- there were several names missing. He made a point to remember the weyrleaders and the wingleaders, most positions of importance, but it seemed logical that a few other names would be tacked on as equally important. Like Kalierre. She was the Weyrdragonhealer, and technically the only person at Selenitas capable of putting a dragon back together after they were hurt. He was her apprentice, but that didn't mean much of anything in the scope of things. Her name should have been known, especially to potential future dragonriders. The fact that the candidate master was not making sure that she was respected rather irritated him, and his hand shot up in the air.

"I have questions. And comments."

It was just going to be routine for them, wasn't it? He was sure by the time he was old enough to be kicked out of candidacy, Kemma would want to be rid of him and honestly, Rawign couldn't blame her. He had a problem with authority and simply thrived on disagreeing with people. It wasn't entirely personal.

"The comments would be... shouldn't we know the names of the Weyrlingmasters? And the dragonhealers? Specifically, of Kalierre of Phremath? -- It's inconvenient for people to disrespect her when she's probably the only one who can help most injuries dragons receive. There's a lot of us who are apprentices in dragonhealing but we're not qualified. Is this a lecture given to weyrlings? Probably, but I think her name is one that should come up as important. If any of us manage to impress, and the dragon was hurt, it'd be important we knew who to turn to, who we were addressing, and how to address them. In that instance, would she be called 'Greenrider Kalierre of Phremath' - 'Dragonhealer Kalierre of Phremath' - or simply 'Healer Kalierre of Phremath'?"

Without waiting for a response, Rawign leaned back slightly and quirked his eyebrow. He was being deliberately difficult, but he couldn't stop himself. It was ridiculous that he should have to attend lessons at all. He wouldn't Impress. If Kaegan hadn't asked it, he wouldn't have even considered Standing again. She'd specifically asked, but she didn't tell him to be nice to the candidate master, and he had an ornery streak a dragonlength wide. "I also would like to know why our third goldrider was not listed. Technically Savitri of Hepaticath will - or does - rank us, correct? I ask for my own reference. In terms of healing, she's an apprentice, and I'm a journeyman. Yet she is a goldrider and it is very, very unlikely I'll ever rank her in any of those fields. That said, which of us really ranks the other? Because of her being an apprentice, I'm not sure. Am I supposed to refer to her by title?" He paused, then added, "I think she'd flay me, if the look she gave K'lir at the Gather was anything to judge be. Should we have a contingency plan provided the person we're addressing finds their title particularly loathsome? It's important for us to know."

[Ember]

Ranks? He already knew the names of the important people but knowing his place in the weyr, without a doubt, would be handy. He listened to Kemma but didn't bother taking down notes. She basically just said that candidates had no rank and were simply there until they Impressed or failed to do so. Mention of the Headwoman made Ferneth grin for a moment. So she didn't just order people around? That sure seemed to be her job though. One of the people sitting beside him piped up with some interesting questions by the end of them lesson.

He raised a brow at the good questions coming up, although they were meant just to be bothersome. What did happen with dual ranks? The case of Savitri was an excellent example. Did one simply ignore the lesser rank and treat them according to the highest rank? He refrained from asking his questions as he was sure the answer would come up in Kemma's reply, and if not he would ask then. Ferneth thought of something not asked so he did mention that. "And what about holders? Does a Lord Holder rank a dragonrider? What of the craftsmen too?" He asked, knowing there was limited contact between the three but contact nonetheless.

Ferneth envied Meira's rotation - that was the only other one he knew of at the moment - because they got to actually meet some of the ranking riders and people that are usually busy elsewhere. He glanced at the guys on either side of them, checking the questioning one for his reaction and the other to see if he had anything to add. He ought to learn their names. This whole thing was about ranks and calling people by their name and/or title, right? It would be...homework to learn their's! A personal assignment of sorts. All he really had to do was ask.

[dragon]

Cloar paid attention to everything that Kemma said, hoping that he could remember those names. He wasn't entirely sure he could. So he sat up straighter, rooted in his pockets until he found a wrinkled up peice of parchment he'd been scribbling on earlier in the day. Smoothing it out on the desk before him, he started rooting in his other pocked for the nubby of charcoal he'd been using.

Shards! He should have known to bring writing material to lessons. He knew darned good and well that they'd be covering alot of material that he wasn't going to be able to remember after just one listen.

He finally found his nubby ... unfortuantely it was mostly dust from being in his pocket. But maybe that bigger chunk there would work? He dusted most of the black dust off, smoothed the parchment again, and began writing. Despite the horrid chunk of coal gripped in his fingertips, the penmanship that came out of it was crisp, clear, legible to even those who were only learning to read, and slightly embellished. It wasn't a deliberate embellishment, more subconcious muscle memory than anything else, as that was the style he could write fastest in. And he had alot of names and ranks to scribble down in a hurry, as she rattled them off.

Shards! How did she remember all that, just to rattle them off like that?

And then he paused as he listened to the other two Candidates speak. And then he was back to writing again. He looked like he was totally absorbed in his writing, as if he was oblivious to the talking going on around him. But it was far from true - he was listening intently even as he scribbled most of what he heard. The dragonhealer was indeed a name he felt he ought to know. And ... a third gold?

Wait! He knew that one. Savitri! She'd been making pies the other day... good ones, at that. Right! Someone had mentioned her having a gold. He kicked himself mentally. Idiot! Now knowing what Kemma had just said, he'd gone about handling that meeting ALL wrong.

And then the mention of how Savitri didn't like that ... well! Whew. Maybe he'd gone right just by accident? That was a lucky break indeed. Goodness, but he was lucky he had not had a whole terrible lot of interaction with dragonriders yet!

Lord Holders and Weyrleaders? That was a question indeed, and Cloar intended to pay close attention to it. It seemed that in the Hold proper the Lord Holder would be the ranking official, even if the Weyrleader did run the skies above. But that was just Cloar's idea, and he wanted to know what the answer really was. His charcoal was also poised to jot down and Lord Holder names. He knew of one, but that was simply due to his having been from that area. The others he did not know by rote. If he read them, he might know what Hold they were running.

And he had one other thing he wanted to ask Kemma, but it was not related to this particular lesson at all. So he would wait until after the lesson was over. That was ... if he could remember by the time the lesson was over!

[Ruby]

Kemma grinned, pushing herself up from where she'd been leaning against the front of her desk and folding her hands behind her back before beginning to pace in front of the desk. "Excellent questions, thank you both," she said, fixing each of them in turn with an indulgent, proud smile. Questions meant they were listening, and thinking about what she was telling them, not just sleeping with their eyes open. It also meant that to some degree, they cared. Finally, it was something that helped Kemma- this was only her second lesson rotation, and although she'd taken Candidate lessons far more times than any of these ever had, it had been a while ago. Questions were her own personal check and balance system.

"So, Rawign's..." Kemma started, running over what the boy had asked in her mind. "Weyrlingmasers and Dragonhealers have no bearing on your life at the moment, and it will not be considered rude if you do not know their names. Their knots will be clear enough- address them as Weyrlingmaster, or Dragonhealer, and if they feel that you should know their name, they will provide it. In fact, that goes for anyone- Windriders, Wingseconds, Wingleaders, Lower Caverns folk- anyone whose name you do not know should be addressed by their rank only, whether they rank you or not. But honestly, if you do impress, then you will learn the certainly learn the Weyrlingmasters' names, and most likely the Dragonhealers', as part of your training, as far as I know. If anyone is curious, I can provide you with a list after class, but matching the name to the face might just cause more problems than anything.

"Healer Kalierre is indeed and important name, however, especially for those of you that have draconic creatures already. But once again, her title will suffice. In Kalierre's case, since I believe she is still a Journeyman, in the infirmary technically she should be referred to only as Healer, since she has not taken her Mastery in a particular subject, but Dragonhealer will not offend her, nor anyone else. Both are appropriate titles. Outside the infirmary, Greenrider, Healer or Dragonhealer are all acceptable, although since her craft title gives slightly more recognition, I'd go with that one. Just remember that not everyone is expected to know the names and titles of the entire Weyr, so don't let all this rank talk scare you. Just be polite, read knots, and really you'll be just fine.

"Now for Savitri." Kemma breathed out through her nose, trying not to think about the time she'd overvalued the Goldweyrling and had been gently reprimanded for it. "At the moment, Goldweyrling Savitri ranks you because you are a Candidate and she is a Weyrling, and for no other reason. Well, the Healing rank is an exception, but really Craft ranks for Riders are usually only used when they are practicing their Craft, or if their Craft rank supersedes their Weyr rank. But for a Weyrling from the same clutch, even the smallest Green would be on an equal footing with her. Until a Gold is mature and graduates to a Wing, they are no better than any of their siblings.

"Also remember that these guidelines are for people you do not already know, or do not know well- I would be totally within my rights to call you all by your first names, and you mine. Rawign, it sounds like you and Savitri have a relationship beyond a chance meeting, and so titles may be discarded. Can you imagine if everyone walked around saying 'Candidatemaster Kemma of Green Mellith' all the time? We'd never get anything done. Usually people will provide you with an alternate form- Candidatemaster Kemma, or simply Kemma, is fine by me and Mellith, for instance- especially if they dislike their title. If you use it and they look at you nastily, you may ask for that alternative- certainly better than forgoing a title and having someone's hurt pride to deal with, no?

"And Ferneth. Lord Holders, Weyrleaders and CraftMasters- note that that is NOT the same as a Master Craftsman- are all on equal footing, rank-wise. Sometimes, a Lord Holder- for example, although this applies to all three- will take precedence over a Weyrleader when they are at the Lord Holder's resident Hold, but not always. It depends on whether or not Thread is falling, and what the issue is, etc. Wingleaders are roughly equivalent to Stewards and Master Craftsmen, Wingriders are roughly equivalent to the upper echelon of Holdfolk and Journeyman, and Weyrfolk, including Candidates and Weyrlings, are roughly equivalent to the lower echelon of Holdfolk and Apprentices. Drudges, of course, are equal in all institutions.

"That was quite a bit of information... any other questions? If not, you are all free to go, and may see me any time to ask any questions that have not been answered." Kemma leaned back against her desk again, crossing her arms and relaxing for a moment.

[glamourie]

"What if they don't wear knots?" Rawign countered sweetly with a glance toward his own shoulder. He did not wear knots. Neither candidate not healer; he did not like advertising that he had any kind of rank, little though it was. His opinion was that the people at the Weyr ought to know all the healers by look, not by their rank or title. He likely would have throttled someone if they called him by his title officially, as he thought rank was ridiculous. The purpose of knowing healer names had little to do with rank and more with sense. Common sense dictated one should know who to talk to when they were injured, plain and simple. Knots had little to do with that. "Some people don't wear knots - elective choice. S'rei of Salenth doesn't." He recalled distinctly not recognizing S'rei at a Gather before Aslath's first hatching, and it was embarrassing to realize he'd been speaking to the Weyrleader (at the time) the entire time. No knots. "Ka'rys of Ciceroth also doesn't. A lot of people elect not to wear knots. It seems likely that certain individuals should be remembered more by face than their rank and title. My point is more that title and rank are unnecessary in most situations and using titles explicitly with strangers usually garners the impression of being a suck up rather than trying to be respectful."

The fact that she seemed to think he was friendly with the gold weyrlingrider was comical to him. He'd only spoken to her a few times, one particular instance being when they were making pies. It hardly counted as excessive friendliness. He knew her name because of her being an apprentice. He was a journeyman, it was his job to know who the apprentices were and Rawign was very good at memorizing details like that. He made it a point to know names, particularly of people he needed to deal with often. He kept that thought to himself though.

Instead, he leaned back in the chair and smiled. He was making no effort to hide that his questions were a blatant attempt at being difficult. He was bored. There was only so many times he could sit through candidate lessons (And he'd been through them before, since he'd failed to Impress at several clutches) before he grew tired of hearing the same old thing. Social experiment, one might describe his treatment of Kemma as. He wanted to see how much it took to make her break and/or lose her temper on him. Probably not the wisest course of action considering that she could throw him out of candidacy or give him more chores, but Rawign was not afraid of some greenrider, particularly not when chores didn't frighten him and neither did the idea of being stripped of being a candidate. It wasn't like he expected to Impress any time soon and he was almost old enough for it to no longer be a problem.

"For the record, candidate master," Notice the deliberate use of rank, "to say that I am familiar or on friendly terms with Savitri would be inaccurate. I've met her outside of the infirmary only on two occasions and neither time would I consider it a social experiment. She roped me into helping her with her chores one time, and the other time, two of my firelizards died. No, we're not friends." A hint of ice entered his voice as he spoke, but he smiled nonetheless. "Nor is K'lir her friend; she got quite angry at him for calling her 'goldrider.'" Actually, she probably became angry because of the tone K'lir did it in, but Rawign kept that thought to himself. "K'lir had never met her before then, either. That much I know." He paused, then added, "I still want to know what the contingency plan for that sort of situation is. Just so I don't get into trouble. And to make sure I'm clear -- basically she owns me and can tell me to do whatever she wants so long as it's not in the infirmary? Delightful."

[dragon]

Cloar just watched in silence as Rawign went on with his tirade. There was something wrong with this picture, though he couldn't put his finger on what. This had suddenly gone from a lesson to a challenge of authority and who knew what was fact. None of that boded well. Not if the hierarchy was going to be stable at all.

Cloar wisely decided to stay out of it and keep his mouth shut. Not only did he have not a clue who was being talked about, when, or why, he also was not experienced in how things ought or ought not be.

But if a candidate was allowed to mouth off like that to a superior, it did not speak highly to the chain of command in the weyr to Cloar. Asking honest questions was one thing. But mouthing off was something else entirely - something that Cloar had long ago learned was most time greatly inappropriate. Especially while there were third parties present.