Plans and more Plans

Writers: Eimi, Suzee
Date Posted: 27th October 2011

Characters: Morin, Bryvin
Description: The new Lord Holder meets with his Steward
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 4, day 4 of Turn 6

Bryvin

"Right, Bryvin, sit down," Morin said, looking up from the map he had
spread out on his table. He wasn't much for pleasantries, not when his
mind was in business mode. Grabbing the edge, he began carefully
rolling it as he switched gears in his head. "Where are we on finishing
that road to Salt Spring Hold? I don't want it just passable, I want it
comfortably navigable by mid month 5."

He'd come immediately when he was summoned and brought all his notes
so he could respond to anything the Lord might like to discuss. He
consulted his notes and his finger ran down the margin. "Oh here it
is," he murmured, the cleared his throat. "We're running three teams
through various stages of the project." His writing was difficult for
others to read but he could decipher the shorthand quite easily.

"We have one team working on the pass through the mountains. They're
excavating the grade there to make sure that not only runners but
laden carts will have no issues with it." He nodded his eyes darting
up to look at the top of Morin's head where he bent over the map. He
reached out and pointed. "That's here."

"The second team is leveling out the path from here to the mountains
and the third from Salt Spring to meet team one. Here. The quarries
are turning out gravel for us to pave the last portions where the
roads meet just before Sunstone."

Morin nodded his acceptance of that answer, but he certainly wasn't
pleased though through no fault of the Steward. They were going over
the mountain that Morin had hoped to just go through, but he couldn't
get a mining team in time for the job. At least not and do it right.
The last thing he would have wanted was to usher his guests through a
shoddy tunnel! **One day**, he thought, tapping the peak he was
determined to eventually bore through. "Very well."

It was time to move on. "Could we secure fireworks for the last day? I
don't just want a few, I want the sky full of them."

Byvin was actually pleased with his next bit of news. "Yes," he said.
"I had a talk with the Master who put on the display for Lord
Corowal's birthday celebration at the gather. We'll have him and his
crew to put on an even better display than he did for Emerald Fall's
gather."

That actually made Morin grin. "Excellent. Very good. And where will
they be launched from? They'd be best over the water, but I can't put
any boats into danger." Fireworks and wooden ships would not be a good
combination.

"Well, I was going to scout around the bay area to see what would be
best but figured we might be able to put a float out by the
Sunstones."

Morin stood up straight, his eyes still on Bryvin's map as he shook his
head. His finger moved to cover the spot where the Sun Stones stood.
"No. I already thought of that. Too close. One errant rocket and
either our shipyards, our lumber stocks, or our harbor would be in
flames. Besides, some ships will have to anchor in the bay. No, I
think..." His finger moved to the Big Island in their harbor, "Either
light them off from the top of the mountain here, or," it traveled to
the mouth of the river, "here, from the far shore. Rivers are water,
too. And we might even be able to put some barges out there for our
guests to watch from. How about that?"

Bryvin moved around the table so he was looking at the layout from the
same angle as the Lord Holder. He nodded. "About here would be good,"
He pointed to a spot on the island where the land was rather elevated
but level and completely visible from the rest of the bay. "I can have
a team over there to scout it out this afternoon."

"Good," Morin nodded. "And figure out what the best place to watch the
fireworks would be. I want a place close enough that it's impressive,
far enough to be safe, and with enough space for the guests to be
comfortable."

"Right, moving on," Morin said, changing gears yet again. He reached
for a hide that had been pushed off into a corner. On it were several
shield shaped designs that had been painted on. "These are some
possible crests that I drew up last night. Take a look and tell me what
you think."

Bryvin bent over the table to look at them closely. After looking at
them each in turn he finally pointed to one. "I like this one. I like
how it includes the sun between the stones." He nodded and smiled.
"Which one do you like?"

"I like the sun, too. But there are more. Ideas just keep coming to
me." He reached over and pulled out another sheet with shields painted
on it, very similar to the first but with subtle variations. "It's so
hard to choose." Which was especially frustrating for Morin,
considering how quickly he could usually make important decisions.

"Oh, this one is nice." He pointed to the one where the sun had been
changed to yellow along with the waves and the outline. He nodded.
"They really are excellent."

Morin nodded, agreeing that he did like that one quite a bit. The
triangular crest was split into two sections. The bottom was green and
represented the sea which was so important to their Hold's economy.
Jutting up was the outline of the two sun stones in their harbor, also
in the same green. The top, or sky portion, was a bright reddish-orange
color. Both the green and red could be found in the Hold's native sun
stones. Separating them, outlining the horizon and the sun stones was a
golden color, which was also used to create waves on the green sea, and
a round sun between the stones. "I do like that one," Morin agreed.
"But what about this one. It's almost the same, just with the sun
coming up from the horizon and it's reflection on the water." He
pointed to a shield that was much the same, save that the yellow sun was
split on the dividing line, the bottom being red, as were the waves. "I
thought it might conjure the image of a new day."

"It really does." He looked at it closely. "But honestly," he said.
"It's a tough call. They're both great." He looked back and forth
between the two again. "Yeah, hard to choose."

Well, Morin had figured that out already! What kind of advice was that?
Oh well, this was why he was a Lord Holder and Bryvin a Steward. "All
right, well, I'll look at it a bit more later." He set the drawings
aside. "Right. Boat races. Do we have a course picked out? What
about that Master Shipwright from Opal Cove? Is he coming?" Morin was
not above poaching the best craftsmen for his own Hold, and right now
what he needed was the best team of racing boat builders and designers
on Pern. He was determined to have their boats be as infamous as Amber
Hill's runners.

"We successfully motivated the Master Shipwright to come for a visit.
We have plush accommodations for him within easy distance of the
boatyards. We've also got some 'entertainment's arranged should he be
so inclined." He reached out to tap a spot on the map of the bay. "The
course for the boat race starts and ends here." He indicated a place
easily viewable from most of the castle and harbor areas. "It goes out
here past the inner margin of the island then past the lighthouse," He
swept his arm back. "Around the opposite side of the island and back."

"Good. Send invitations to any teams from other Holds signed up to come
any time they like to practice the course. We'll give them full
hospitality. I don't want anyone crying that our sailors had an
advantage." He wanted to win, but he wanted it to be a clean and
decisive victory. There was no glory otherwise. "How many teams do we
have so far?"

"Yes M'Lord," the steward responded quietly. "There are 6 confirmed
and another 10 outstanding shows of interest. I have runners out to
see if we can pull a confirmation from any of the outstanding bids."

"Good. Find some honest men to man the betting stalls. Do _not_ let
Fymer put his name on the list," he ordered, giving his Steward a
knowing look. "That's like put an alcoholic in charge of serving the
wine. If he tries, bring it to my attention immediately and I will deal
with it."

"Yes M'Lord," he said biting his lips to hide a smile. The harper's
proclivities were normally at Morin's disposal but there were some
times you didn't put the canine to guard the egg fowl.

"Right, anything else for now?" Morin was sure that was enough for the
moment. There would be a lot more decisions that would need to be made
in the coming days, so he was sure he would be seeing his Steward again
before the day was through.

"Nothing major," he replied. He was working on some details of the
festivities but didn't have any progress to share there as yet.

Last updated on the December 16th 2011

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