On the Docks

Writers: Chelle, Paula
Date Posted: 21st January 2016

Characters: Relik, Tamah
Description: The seacrafters have a chat.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 3, day 22 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Solieira

The Hatching had been eventful to say the least. Relik had slept the night
down in the cabin of his vessel before waking early in the morning for
breakfast. He scrabbled a meal together from bread, cheese, meat, and some
fruit he'd had stowed. Klah topped it off, never hard to brew as long as one
could start a proper warming fire. Satisfied, he threw a tunic on and walked
onto the docks, thinking Tamah would be in his office by then. All around
him, he heard a few shout "Master on deck!" Acknowledging the respect given,
he nodded at them all and even yelled back at a few he knew and had trained
over the turns.

Tamah hadn't actually gotten _in_ to his office, he was leaning to the door,
talking with two dock workers. "Make sure the perishable goods are unloaded
first and taken to the Weyr as soon as possible," he instructed them. When
Relik approached, he straightened his back a bit. "Off to work you, you
two," he dismissed the workers.

"Harbormaster, how is the day passing? Good winds?" Relik gave a sailor's
greeting, sparing a glimpse at the sky, before his eyes came to rest on
Tamah. He stopped walking, but he didn't go inside the man's office just
yet. He relished the outside, used to being on the deck of a ship for so
long. The wind cooled him down, despite the heat. It had took a toll on his
skin though, over the turns.

"Aye, it's fair weather," Tamah replied. "What can I do for you, Master
Relik?" he asked and gestured the man to step in if he so wanted. He
wouldn't mind if they stayed outside either.

"I was here for the Hatching and thought I'd come by before I caught the
wind. Make sure you have enough crew here and see if there were any
problems. Any apprentices need promoting or ready for their turn on the
water? We've got a couple berths for smart lads on a few ladies I can think
of. And how's things going with the Weyr?" Tamah's harbor was technically
Weyr territory. However since it was managed by the seacraft, that made it
fall under Relik's control to a degree since it was in his hall's territory.
And the Master would not let the dragonriders have any excuse to say he and
his were falling down on the job.

"If I need more crew, I just ask the Headwoman to assign me a few more
candidates," Tamah replied. "Most of the jobs here don't need much of a
training. Strong back and arms are enough." He had rather peculiar position,
being contracted to the Weyr. Most weyrfolk didn't even realize he still was
part of the Hall's ranks too. "As for the promotions, the younger lads are
vying to Impress so they're not very
eager to leave for a ship period. There's few of the older ones though.
There's also younger journeymen who are ready for something more challenging
than tithe-runs," Tamah continued. "I have good relationships with the
Weyrfolk." He was weyrbrat himself after all and weyrmated to a greenrider.

"Give me the list and we'll see if I can get them reposted. There's always
some room." Relik wasn't in a hurry to move anywhere just then. It was a
nice morning and it wasn't near the heat of the day yet. "What sort of
hurricane plan do you operate here?" He had been trying to visualize it in
his mind, but he wasn't exactly sure. If there was advance notice the boats
could just sail down the coast to a more sheltered inlet. That left the
docks and a few other buildings like the sheds. Some of them held supplies
in them till they were moved over to the Weyr itself.

"We have a local pod of dolphins that usually give us warning in good time.
Then it's just battering down hatches, tying down everything and moving
people inside the cliff. Then we just hope for the best. Those ships who
can, try to sail out of the way. The port is too open to be good place to be
during a storm," Tamah replied. It was one of the drawback of River Bluff's
port. The location had been picked up for dragons, not for the ships. The
whole port was sort of an afterthought.

"They should have built the buildings here on stilts to help the storm
surge." The wind could still tear them apart of course. "Maybe a future
project. There aren't that many buildings to elevate after all." Shrugging,
since it was only half his duty, Relik thought about how much that might
cost.

"Not actually very high on the Weyr's list of things-to-do," Tamah said with
some sarcasm. As long as the tithe-ships came in, nobody cared.

"Well as harbormaster, it's your duty to bring it to their attention." Relik
certainly didn't want to have to deal with it. It was the Weyr who would
have rebuild everything if it was wiped out after all. They couldn't blame
him or his folk as long as they warned them.

"I have. I just wait for the storm that damages the port so badly that the
ships can't use them. Perhaps then they will listen to me. When their
bellies are empty," Tamah replied. "So far, things have worked out just
fine. The port's been here for generations."

"Mm well I need to resupply before heading back." His personal sailing yacht
wasn't the large vessel he favored when it was his family and himself
traveling on hall business. This was a smaller boat that could travel
quickly up and down the coast as he needed but really only had quarters for
two people. He could man it completely by himself.

"Of course, what do you need? We have some basic stuff here at the storage,
rest you can get from the Headwoman," Tamah replied.

"Just some non-perishables and fruit. Freshwater. The usual. It's not a long
journey." Relik would go back to the Weyr if he needed to but he'd much
rather just get stocked and be off if there was no need.

Tamah nodded. "I think we have those." He gestured to two dock workers, both
candidates based on their knots, to come over. He told them to get whatever
Master Relik needed for him.

"Aye well I'll be off soon then. Let me know if anything comes up." Relik
followed the young ones, mentally cataloguing his list of needs.

Last updated on the January 26th 2016

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