A Politic Letter

Writers: Dana, Devin
Date Posted: 23rd November 2008

Characters: Traelyn, N'vanik
Description: Traelyn helps N'vanik write a letter.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 12, day 12 of Turn 4

N'vanik

"All right, N'vanik.... What do you have so far?" Traelyn asked, sitting down across from him. "Show me."

He slid the letter across the desk.

'To Weyrwoman Tsaera and Weyrleader K'reyel of River Bluff Weyr' One pale brow rose, and she looked up at him.

"What?" he said. "That's a ... good start."

Slowly she pushed the hide back to him, somewhat amused by his defensiveness. "You spelled their names correctly, which is good."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm not good at this stuff. And this is more your area than mine. You know, Candidates and that sort of thing. So I thought we should write it together."

"Mmmm." She would have wanted to see the letter anyway, if he had written it by himself. "Well, you should probably begin the letter by saying: 'We hope both of you and your dragons are in good health.' It's polite."

"Okay." N'vanik wrote it down, hoping his handwriting wasn't too bad.

Traelyn leaned back in her chair, thinking. "We have to broach the subject carefully. We can't be too blunt, but we have to make our point fairly quickly so we're not wasting their time, or ours." All this was obvious, of course, but it was good to think out loud. "We could say... 'We have a favor to ask of you.' Then they won't see it as a demand. If they comply with our request, it will be on their terms." Of course, it would be terrible politics if they _didn't_ comply, but... "Okay, so... 'We have a favor to ask of you. Over the past several months Dolphin Cove has suffered extreme hardships, which have resulted in far too many casualties.'" She nodded at N'vanik. "This is where you could come in with your order to take the younger weyrlings out of the Wings, and that could lead in to how we need older riders to fill those open slots, which we lack."

He wrote what she said and then pulled out a scrap hide to work out his part. "How about ... uh ... 'We have decided to revoke the rule that put fifteen turn olds into the wings, so ..." N'vanik tapped the pen against the desk. "'You can understand that we have, um, an even greater need of riders to fill our ranks'?"

Traelyn nodded. "Yes."

"Okay." He transferred what he'd scrawled down on the scrap to the letter itself. "'So ... we'd really appreciate it if you'd lend us your older Candidates for our Hatching'?" He made a face. That didn't sound quite right.

She snorted, leaning her elbows on the desk. "Read me what we have so far."

"'We hope both of you and your dragons are in good health. We have a favor to ask of you. Over the past several months Dolphin Cove has suffered extreme hardships, which have resulted in far too many casualties. We have decided to revoke the rule that put fifteen turn olds into the wings, so you can understand that we have an even greater need of riders to fill our ranks.'" N'vanik read. "And then there's my awful sentence, which I'm not adding until it's better."

"It still doesn't sound right," she muttered, frowning down at the hide. "This can be our draft hide...we need to make some more changes." She paused for a long moment, thinking. Finally she grabbed another pen off of the table and wrote down: 'We have tried replacing those who have been lost to us with younger riders, but many are still too young to take their place in the fighting Wings.' "This sentence can go between 'casualties' and the one about our decision to revoke the rule. I think it ties it more together...flows better."

"You're _much_ better at this than I am." He smiled a little and then rested his chin in his hand. "We would be grateful if you would allow some of your older Candidates to Stand at our upcoming Hatching?" he suggested.

She nodded slowly, thinking it over. "Yeah, that sounds good. Write that down before we forget." Her eyes flickered to his. "Do you think it'll be obvious to them that any Candidates they do send will have to stay here? They won't be able to transfer until our Wings are replenished?

"Well, if the Candidates don't Impress, they can go back if they want. I want this to be older Candidates getting a few extra chances to Impress, not us just taking Candidates away," he said. "And it might encourage more people to take the chance."

She nodded. "Sorry, that's what I meant. If the Candidates _do_ Impress, they, as riders, won't be able to transfer out until we have full strength again." Shards, they needed every dragonrider. She hoped Nyith's clutch would be numerous. But after such a flight, how could it not be? From her ledge, Nyith smugly agreed, and a half-smile flitted across her lips. "But do you think it'll be obvious to them? Or should we state it?"

He tapped his finger on the desk. "Maybe we'll put it in as something they should mention to the Candidates. Then it won't look like we're telling them something that should be obvious."

"Okay, so.... 'We understand that if you do extend our invitation to the Candidates, it will ultimately be up to them to decide.'" She thought for a moment before continuing, "'With this in mind, they should be reminded that if they do Impress at Dolphin Cove, they will have to stay until our Wings are at their full strength'?"

"Yeah." N'vanik smiled as he wrote it down. "Sounds good."

Crossing one leg over the other, she leaned back once more in her chair and smiled at him. "I think you can come up with a way to close it."

"'Give us your Candidates or else. Love, Dolphin Cove.'" He joked.

She grinned. "How politic."

He returned the smile. "All right. How about ... um ... 'Thank you in advance for your generosity.'"

"Very good. See? It's not too hard."

"Not with the right help," N'vanik said. It wasn't just flattery. He couldn't imagine working this well with anyone else. "How about we finish up and go get lunch?"

"Sure. Want to do the honors of writing it all down on a new hide?"

~ ~ ~

And so the letter read:

To Weyrwoman Tsaera and Weyrleader K'reyel of River Bluff Weyr,

We hope both of you and your dragons are in good health. We have a favor to ask of you. Over the past several months Dolphin Cove has suffered extreme hardships, which have resulted in far too many casualties. We have tried replacing those who have been lost to us with younger riders, but many are still too young to take their place in the fighting Wings.

We have decided to revoke the rule that put fifteen Turn olds into the Wings, so you can understand that we have an even greater need for riders to fill our ranks. We would be grateful if you would allow some of your older Candidates to Stand at our upcoming Hatching. We understand that if you do extend our invitation to the Candidates, it will ultimately be up to them to decide. With this in mind, they should be reminded that if they do Impress at Dolphin Cove, they will have to stay until our Wings are at their full strength.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Weyrwoman Traelyn and
Weyrleader N'vanik, of Dolphin Cove Weyr

Last updated on the November 25th 2008

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A Politic Letter