Inhabitants of Dragonhope Weyr

SmithCrafter Tameshal and Master Miner S'vax




Smithcraft Master Tameshal


When you enter the low, back-weyr cavern where the smith craft is celebrated, you notice that it is remarkably clean and bright. There are dark spaces beyond the open work room, and strange noises accompanied by a steaming smoke from one.

"Um, is it supposed to be doing that?" You ask someone, and the woman wearing the craft Master's badge approaches.

"Of course it is," she says, calmly. "That's our newest excavation."

You peer around but she stands in your way. "But it's smoking!" You say, and she nods again.

"I know. My name is Tameshal, I'm the master crafter in here." She looks you over, up and down. "When I tell you it's supposed to be smoking, you ought to believe me.

The attractive but serious woman has a strong bearing, and her eyes are as sharp as the tools which cut the surrounding dark rock. You finally admit that it's all right if you don't get a look at those elusive excavation tools.

"I've been here all my life," Tameshal says, distracting you as a pair of Journeymen walk by with something snaked between them. "In fact, I'm a descendant of the first Crafters who excavated these weyrs!" She waves her hand, and in the corner of your eye you see there are two more strange tools headed into that new room. Tameshal laughs and spins you to the other direction. "But unless you're a crafter yourself, none of these things will really be of any interest to you. Perhaps you might want to meet my husband S'vax."

"You're married to a rider?" You ask, surprised.

She only smiles, widely. "You'll see," she says.

She pats your shoulder and calls over one of the Journeymen, who begins to show you the different stones which they often find while excavating in this solid mountainside. Gems, ores and much marble can be gathered from the weyr's mines. "In fact," he explains, "we often export some of these stones and gems to the Holds and other Weyrs, in trades. It's a good bargain, since we get much of our grains and vegetables from holds below the weyr. It's good to give them something in return, don't you think?"

You agree, still curious, but you head down to the other crafters to look at the metal works, mining, and engineering areas, or back to the Nexus.


Minecraft Master S'vax



"It's hard to believe a mine crafter is also a dragonrider," you comment, and the extremely tall and dark man smiles. His teeth are bright against his skin. Tameshal's husband seems very familiar.

"You find it hard to believe that the son of a bronze rider has a dragon of his own?" S'vax comments, and suddenly you realize that he's S'xon's oldest son! Embarrassed, you try to apologize but he waves his long hand.

"No, don't worry about it," he tells you. "Come, see the mine with me. Then maybe we could go up on Horuth to see the outer digs."

"...Could we really?" You ask, astonished. This is the first time in the weyr that you've been offered a ride on a dragon here!

"Perhaps, if Horuth is willing. He's a great lazy beast." S'vax laughs, with a brief pause when his dragon is clearly chastising him. "No, really you are. Just like your father."

You guess that his father is the huge bronze in the weyrleader's weyr...

S'vax leads you though the darker areas that the mine encompasses. The miners have made it as safe as possible, but you are still asked to wear a hard-metal hat, and not to touch anything. The walls may crumble, and it does feel a little claustrophobic, even for a person who has lived in a weyr all their life... The walls almost seem to surround you more like a tomb rather than the more comfortable upper areas, a stone womb. You seek an exit rather sooner than you thought you would but S'vax still offers to let you come up with him. You take him up on it later.

For now, you head back to the Nexus.