A Bucket of Painted Rocks (1/2)

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 26th November 2025

Characters: N'vanik, C'nal
Description: A group of angry holders arrive at Dolphin Cove to complain about the "firelizard eggs" they paid for.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 11 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: C'pier, Iskara and Cosani (under fake names)
Notes: Follow up to "The Great Firelizard Egg Swindle"

N'vanik

Trader wagons arriving at Dolphin Cove were a common enough occurrence, but given the recent events the guards diligently examined the goods and checked the credentials of every person in the group before they were allowed to approach the Weyr. Most of the visitors were part of the same family and were familiar faces, but this time there were passengers, which was more unusual. They were holders, respectably dressed if travel-weary, and one of them was carrying a large basket filled with sand.

"We want to see the Weyrleader," the leader demanded. He was a middle-aged man with steward's knots, in a tunic which had once been elegant but had suffered from weather and the dust of the road, but his eyes burned with righteous anger.

"You can't just walk in here and see him. Not without an appointment," the senior guard replied, frowning. "What's your business?"

"We've been robbed," the holder responded, articulating his words with an impressive level of self-importance and haughty disdain.

"Robbed?" He glanced at the nearest trader, who shrugged. "Shouldn't you report that to your Lord Holder?"

"It was a dragonrider." The man drew himself up, trembling with outrage. "_Two_ dragonriders."

The guard looked doubtful. Dragonriders stealing? It seemed unlikely. This wasn't Dragonsfall, where they let all sorts of holdless riff-raff onto the Sands. However, he kept his thoughts to himself, and waved over the dragonrider on duty.

C'nal came over with a frown. "Is there a problem?"

"These visitors are asking to see the Weyrleader, sir. They say a dragonrider stole something?"

"Dragonriders don't steal," the brownrider said, glaring at the holders.

"These ones did. They cheated us out of a considerable sum of marks." The steward puffed his chest up like an angry wherry, his eyes narrowed. "We want justice."

C'nal crossed his arms. "Exactly how did these riders cheat you?"

"We'll explain that to the Weyrleader," the man replied with a disdainful curl of his lip. He eyed C'nal with suspicion.

"You think I'm going to allow you to see the Weyrleader when I don't know what this is about?" C'nal said. "For all I know, this is some plot to murder him."

"Murder him? We aren't the criminals here." The holder's desire for retribution outweighed the affront, though, and he gestured to the man carrying the basket to step forward. "The dragonriders claimed to have discovered a clutch of firelizard eggs on our land, so we gave them a generous reward for their trouble. But several months passed, and the eggs showed no signs of hatching, even though we followed all their instructions and kept them warm by the hearth. Eventually we decided to take a closer look, and found...well, you can see for yourself." He brushed away the top layer of sand in the basket, revealing a curved shape covered in flaking gold paint.

A prank then. The sight of a painted _rock_ being passed off as a firelizard egg made C'nal's lips twitch just the tiniest amount. But the fact the holders had paid marks for this did indeed elevate this from a joke to a crime. Perhaps, just perhaps, this could have been the work of weyrlings or younger riders. "Do you know the names of these riders?"

"They were a young man and a girl. I don't recall her name - Karrin? Kelin?" His black look promised vengeance. "But the boy was called Ç'pier."

"C'pier?" N'vanik was definitely going to want to hear about this. "Hold on." C'nal's gaze unfocused as he spoke with his brown and then waited for a response. "The Weyrleader will see you in half a candlemark."

"You can wait over here." No matter how entertaining their story, the guard didn't entirely trust the holders, so he indicated a place near the unloading wagons where he could keep an eye on them until the dragonrider returned to conduct them to the Weyrleader. They didn't look best pleased at having to wait, but kept their mouths shut.

Once the Weyrleader confirmed that he was ready, C'nal went to escort the holders to his office. The brownrider stayed, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, just in case there was trouble.

"Holders, welcome to Dolphin Cove." N'vanik's gaze moved from face to face, trying to get a read on them. "You say C'pier sold you fake firelizard eggs?"

"As you can see, Weyrleader." The steward gestured to the man carrying the basket. The gold-painted 'egg' was still visible, along with a few more lumps beneath the surface of the sand. "He told us they found these in our territory, and brought them to us in return for a consideration. We did everything as he told us, but they never hatched."

"He--he sold you painted _rocks_ as firelizard eggs?" N'vanik said. The audacity of it was impressive. And more than a little funny. It would have been a lot funnier if C'pier wasn't involved. "When was this? And how much did you pay him?"

"It was in month four. We waited a good while for them to hatch, and then it took time to arrange for our journey here. I wouldn't trust dragon transport after this," the holder replied darkly. "As for payment, I gave them seven marks. _Each_."

Fourteen marks? Yikes. That was a tidy sum for a bit of painting and some fast talking. N'vanik wished he'd thought of that when he'd . . . no, focus. "Right, you said there were two dragonriders. Did you get a name for the other one?"

"I don't remember exactly. It was that Ç'pier that did most of the talking. It began with a K, I think. She was a young woman. Early twenties, both of them."

N'vanik wrote the information quickly on a scrap of hide. Who had C'pier dragged into this scheme? "Maybe I can make him tell me who it is was when I get him in here to explain himself."

The holder nodded sharply, anticipating the dire consequences awaiting Ç'pier and his accomplice with satisfaction. "Thank you, Weyrleader. It's good to know that there's some honesty left at the Weyr."

"If you wouldn't mind waiting, I'm going to have a discussion with C'pier about this." The Weyrleader's tone made it clear it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. "Leave me one of these 'eggs' and you can hold onto the rest for now." So there would be no worry about the Weyr confiscating their only proof.

"Of course." The man lifted the "gold egg" out of the basket and brushed away grains of sand from its surface, then set it down on the Weyrleader's desk. "Remember, it was fourteen marks he owes us. Plus travel expenses."

"Oh, he'll pay," N'vanik said.

Last updated on the December 30th 2025

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A Bucket of Painted Rocks (1/2)