Jun. 2011: 255.2.13 – 255.4.15

What better than to have a pair of the best seats at the final of the Badminton tournament? To have them free, of course – or at least, for only the price of a lottery ticket. Concerned townsfolk are sponsoring a lottery to raise money for relief work among the refugees. Tickets cost half a mark and are on sale at a stall in the bazaar.

Early afternoon on the 5th day of month 3, year 255 AL, Eteth’s clutch of fourteen hatched safe and sound, finding their lifemates quickly. There were no serious injuries save a minor clawing and some hatchlings bumping into each other. The clutch was male heavy, contrary to expectations – in addition to the new queen Isth who impressed to Nance of Riverside, there were two bronzes, four browns, three blues and only four greens. The scarcity of greens meant that a majority of the girls who stood went home empty handed although one blue did impress to a young woman. The following names were written in the Azov Weyr records:

PC:

Nance and gold Isth

A’rist (Aeriste) and bronze Isolath

K’per (Keppler) and bronze Chutzpath

V’ris (Varis) and brown Kraelth

Henri and blue Vareth

J’zon (Jase) and blue Josith

NPC:

S’bien (Sabien) and brown Raketh

T’lorn (Trelorn) and brown Morrowith.

Y’niz (Yanizl) and brown Sulserauth

G’lail (Gilail) and blue Cicadith

T’osi (Teodosio) and green Marabuth

Himbera and green Smezaruuth

Melanie and green Kirmath

C’ces (Cerces) and green Catrianth

The badminton tournament has started. There are two separate competitions, the amateur tournament and the advanced category. With so many new residents to try their skill, the early rounds are taking quite a while, with matches continuing from early morning until well into the evening. The finals are due at the end of the month.

It’s reported that the raffle for a pair of the best seats at the advanced final is doing well, and tickets are still available in the bazaar.

From a glut to scarcity: with most of the third wave farms having sold off their herds earlier this summer for cheap, there’s now little of it to be had at the markets. Fresh meat is priced out of the range of most residents, though preserved meat like jerky and sausage can still be found on budget for the moment. The rise in beef and mutton prices has also caused wherry to rise, though fresh fish remains affordable. This is a huge problem for dragonriders who live without Weyr support who naturally need to buy live animals to feed their lifemates. Some turn to hunting, while others are opting to move back to the Weyr full time.

Master Baker Joehann has been sentenced by the courts to serve a year’s hard labor for the assault and battery of his wife to be served out in a coastal cotton farm. In response, the bakers of Xanadu have quietly granted his daughter Journeywoman Cherrie independent practitioner status to run their family stall and stripped Joehann of his rank.

It has been a busy summer and fall for the Weyrs. All four Weyrs have or had clutches on the sands. Ierne’s junior rose, as did both of Ongola’s junior queens. They were followed by Maori junior Haratath in her maiden flight which was won by former college student M’chell’s Quevenoth. The average number of eggs per clutch has risen to about twelve. No queen has yet surpassed sixteen, the current record.

Xanadu Town was shaken the night of the 21st, third month of year 255 AL by the keen of mourning dragons and firelizards. After the chaos, some facts appear clear in the morning: the victim was Asha Freeman, older sister of Talib Freeman, and rider of green Meloth of Maori Weyr. Her body was found in the Craft Quarter, a tight warren of streets where dragons often cannot fit to follow their lifemates and thus the perfect place to kill one. Although any number of people saw the body, the rumors cannot agree on an official cause of death – some say she was knifed in the back, and others that she had her throat slit and the knife was left as a symbol.

Although no rider has been murdered on Pern in decades, the crime is always treated as a double homicide and comes with a minimum penalty of exile during Pass, and a maximum sentence of being left out for Thread during Fall.

One other thing seems abundantly clear: a dead Maori rider in Azov Coverage Area means that the Weyrleaders will be getting involved. Some riders have already been heard to mutter about the likelihood of an emergency Weyr Council meeting.

By the 1st of fourth month, a few things have become clearer in the murder of Asha Freeman. Suspicion now firmly rests on the Maori Weyrleaders G’bel and Nashita, who have come forward with a will they claim is more current – and which leaves her land to the Weyr. The late Asha had been holding onto thirty acres of choice land in the adjacent Mexico Valley and her original will leaves it all to Talib. Everyone knows that the Maori Weyrleaders are greedy for land, and wasn’t that a Maori Weyr beltknife that had done the rider in? Serious charges indeed.

A Weyr Council has been called at Maori for the 21st of Fourth Month, which may not be in time to settle the unrest in Maori Coverage Area. Stakeholder Thomas Sullivan of Hawaii River Hold, scheduled to evacuate during the final evacuation in month ten has announced his refusal to participate until Maori Weyr is stripped of its holdings and the land redistributed to refugees. He has sent riders on horseback to the neighboring stakeholds, Thessaly and Roma. All three hold seats on the Colonial Council Board.

Notice was made during the morning drills that Xanadu Wing has another wingsecond: Tori and Vitanith have been promoted. The Wing has been growing with the slow resettling of evacuated riders as the new weyrs are built on Connell Square. Some say a second wingsecond was long overdue, but the more malicious rumors wonder what’s wrong with the wing’s bronze and brownriders that Wingleader S’tig promoted a greenrider.