[RUMOR] Wild Fantasies

[Arcane]

P'pin and K'et are at it again, spreading stories that somehow Serapheth used her compulsion to force the whers to attack for...vague, conspiratorial reasons involving demeaning the good names of wherhandlers. That can't be true...can it?

[Windra]

A'ksei clicked his tongue. He leaned into the palm of his hand, waywardly casting a distant gaze to the sky: ever-clouded, today. Much like folk's heads.

"But it's not really ... out of this world, is it?" he mused aloud. "Serapheth is bloody scary. She could absolutely put the pressure n some whers, no doubt."

To his credit, Amishuth looked incredulous from where he bathed in the ... well, not sunlight. The ledge was kind of chilly. At least it wasn't winter anymore. You don't mean that. Tell me you don't mean that.

"Why wouldn't I? Golre's whershit wasn't so long in the distant past that it's become a fairytale to tell bad weyrfolk, right? Inciting whers into becoming aggressive, even towards their handlers ... or to make wild ones pissed off ... That's one heck of a fear tactic."

Far from accusatory, A'ksei's tone was one of admiration.

[Dragon]

Really? Issalle couldn't help it; she snorted. Loudly.

Looking over at the bluerider from Twilight, she raised an elegantly arched eyebrow at him. "Really? You think Serapheth is honest to shards behind that wher attack. Which, of course, means that Tuckal is involved, too. And probably Katelline and Ustreilith, and maybe the Weyrleaders ... you can't keep something like that secret for long, not with how many people would have to know in order to make it work."

At least his dragon seemed more reasonable. Geth was dozing in a patch of warm sunlight and didn't have anything to add to the conversation at the moment, but Salle was a little tempted to wake them. More backup against this fool's certainty of conspiracy would have been nice.

[Grayson]

Ae'flad couldn't help it; she laughed out loud when she heard the rumour.

"I was there when Serapheth hatched, child," she grinned, when the laughing had abated. "If that dragon wanted someone intimidated, she'd do it herself. If she wanted the wherhandlers demoted, she'd get Tuckal to order it done."

The old dragonrider shook her head, still smiling. "You're assuming she cares enough about the wherhandlers to act against them. Why would she? This is her Weyr, and she's the senior queen. Everything she surveys in it is hers, including the whers and their handlers. And us."

[Windra]

A'ksei rolled his eyes at their guff, seeming unaffected by the downplaying of his idea and subtle criticism for his choice in words and defense. "I'm simply stating that if Serapheth wanted to remind others of her dominance, it would be utterly terrifying for her to turn whers against their home. But you're right. She'd do it herself. Can't let somebody else upstage her."

Amishuth did relax, though he could be felt probing his rider's brain for clues to why he would jump against Serapheth like that. Do not trouble me with those ideas. The queen is a beautiful, majestic thing I could never hope to fly! Truly a shame that one bad apple spoiled the bunch!

"You know I'm only suggesting its possibility because so much has been taken for granted recently," the rider chided gently. "Tuckal wouldn't be goaded into doing something against her will even if her dragon demanded it, I'd wager."

[Dragon]

TW: MENTIONED PAST VIOLENCE

"I was there, too," Issalle observed. She had actually been on the sands that day. The Weyrwoman was several turns older than Issalle herself, but they were close enough in age that they'd been candidates together briefly. "Second clutch I stood for." She'd Impressed Geth at her fourth. "Serapheth is ... quite the dragon."

That was an understatement. Issalle was certain that Serapheth's hatching was seared in the memory of anyone who had seen it. She'd attacked Brown Athreth, injured Tuckal, and then brutally gone after the fool candidate who tried to insist she was his.

"No, Serapheth wouldn't be subtle enough for something like that," Salle breathed. "If she wanted to re-prove her position, she'd just ... do it. She wouldn't bother with whers."

[Grayson]

"Exactly," said Ae'flaed, with a nod for Issalle. "Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I've a date with a dragon. The wind's in an unusual quarter, and we're going to play around the high peak, there's a lovely formation you can only really get to with the wind from this angle."

Ready, Hurry-bird?

Always. What was the conversation about?

Serapheth rousing the whers.

Why would Serapheth do that? Hurricath's voice was broadcast to all the riders in the cluster and their dragons, even as her wings kicked up the dust of landing. If she wanted do that, she'd have Golden Ghost working for her and there wouldn't be a wild wher in the whole of Fort.

Hurricath's head craned round to look at the riders, and Ae'flaed grinned up at her green.

"Good point."