Upon deeper investigation...

S'dric did not carry with him any preconceptions of what it might be like to follow the lead of a Bronzerider younger than himself on a mission such as this; nor did he mind doing so. Always easy-going and easily adjusted to new situations, he thought more of what they might accomplish on the mission, curious about what they might find. It was odd in the first place, to expect that anyone working inside of a Weyr would be working toward its undoing. Especially since things had been progressing to having Igen ready for riders to populate it by the end of the turn -at least as far as he'd heard. But it could have just been rumour. It didn't matter that much to S'dric when it happened, anyway.

Igen was certainly a different place; though it was located a little north of Fort Weyr geographically, the climate seemed warmer; but perhaps that was because it was more arid? The place certainly didn't seem to get the ample amounts of rain that Fort did.

S'dric would have agreed with Sh'nar that the place felt like a ghost-weyr with no dragons about. It was strangely quiet...strangely empty in that regard.

Apparently both of their dragons had been communicating, because as soon as they'd both dismounted, one took off for one ledge, and the other went to take up post toward the other side of the Weyr to keep watch from an alternate angle. S'dric's head turned momentarily to follow after Nicath.

Let me know if you find anything out of the ordinary while you're up there.

Will do. This spot also gets nice sun. I will enjoy watching for you.

Smiling at that, S'dric had to turn his attention to Sh'nar's question then. He paused first though, for consideration, "Not really. It's a good idea to keep our eyes peeled for any suspicious persons, and I definitely agree that we need to take a look at the supplies that have come in and the time table of when they started tapering off, like you said. It'll be good to find the person in charge of inventory and dealing with the Traders who run the caravans. Maybe there are some connections within the caravans to the group who's been stealing from them. Or maybe there is a trend in exactly what is being stolen, if they happen to leave some things behind. That might provide us with some interesting insight."

He was nodding to Sh'nar before they made their way inside the Weyr, finding themselves quickly greeted by weyrfolk from within, apparently happy to see that there were riders arriving. Dragons were thing that Igen Weyr had not seen in some time.

Sh’nar was used to attention since being Searched, he had his share of people looking at him. He found he enjoyed being the center of attention. Smiling, he had to hand it to the Searchers they were bringing some very beautiful women to this new Weyr. He couldn’t wait to make this place his new home. He did not think S’dric would be coming to Igen but that didn’t mean he had no vested interest here. They were dragonriders and the goal was the same no matter what.

Since they were being greeted, “Hello everyone his voice boomed forward, addressing the large number of people that were gathering. “We are from Forrt Weyr and come on behalf of Senior Weyrwoman Karene.” He was still smiling as charmingly as he could manage, which would probably cause some girl to become completely infatuated in minutes, “My name is Sh’nar of Bronze Cymrioth and my wingman here is S’dric of brown Nicath. We need to speak to whoever handles incoming tithes, if someone doesn’t mind pointing us in that direction…”

Bad idea. He thought as twenty people started talking at the same time. As they began to try to talk over one another, he caught a glimpse of a young woman (of course) who signaled for them to follow her. It could be a trap. She might just be leading them to their death. Hopefully though she was going to take us whwere they needed to go. He shot a glance at S’dric that said to keep on their toes. S’dric was a guard before he was Searched, that was something Sh’nar did know now and he trusted the man would employ his training if needed. And perhaps that was why Karene had truly sent him.

He wanted to hate the Weyrwoman a lot of the time, in fact her disdain for Bronzeriders infuriated him but when she organized missions like this, she did so with intelligence and knowledge of other people’s strengths. She knew more about the people at Fort Weyr than anyone else and it was a bit…surprising. The caverns they walked through were indeed being worked on. Face lifts were in progress but it seemed that the Weyr was coming along well. Something they could report to Karene.

The young woman turned on the way to what seemed would be the Records Room. It should be around here somewhere if old maps were to be believed. (So he studied his future weyr… in detail… what of it?) As they approached, they saw the back of a middle aged man’s head. The woman whispered something in his ear that Sh’nar couldn’t catch before she smiled at both riders, curtsied and left.

“Welcome Dragonriders. I’m Phrean, I’ve been keeping record of the tithes coming in and which have not. I thought your lovely Weyrwoman would be coming to oversee these?” He seemed truly disappointed like his day just crumbled that she wasn’t there herself.

“Pleasure to meet you Phrean, I’m Sh’nar and this is S’dric. Our Weyrwoman is not permitted to travel at this time.” He would not say why but it seemed he had no reason to.

“I’m sure the baby will be fine. He or she should. Weyrwoman Karene is a healthy and strong woman. Tell her I wish her a healthy child and good day. Now to business.” He grinned. “Tell me what is it you really want to know?”

Following the woman to the archives room, S'dric walked alongside Sh'nar, matching his gait perfectly with the other man. He did not speak again until they'd entered the room, and introductions were being made to Phrean.

The Brownrider nodded his greetings to the man whose charge was to care for tithe records and the like. S'dric's eyes turned down to what the man had been bent over, working, briefly before he smiled in a pleasant way to respond with an answer. "We will be sure to pass your greetings along." S'dric was nodding his reassurance.

"The Weyrwoman shares concerns with Telgar's Holder concerning tithes which have gone missing in recent months due to the sporadic raids the trade caravans have been experiencing."  Granted there had only been two or three, come through these parts over the summer months, but they had all been targeted for some reason. The entire supply train hadn't just disappeared from what he'd understood of the earlier briefing, but enough had been taken and with an increase over usual frequency of such an event, that it left cause for investigation.

"We'd like to take some time to look over some of the ledgers you keep with the amounts of incoming tithes, losses, damages, what was supposed to have come in on each of the trains. Also, if there is a schedule of caravan travel for tithes, or through Igen Weyr Pass transporting between Telgar and Igen Territories, we'd like to have a look at that. If there are maps of the surrounding region, those as well."

S'dric tried to be apologetic then, never wishing to impose more trouble than necessary on anyone. "Sorry if it's troublesome. We'll make our review as quickly as possible so that we won't be any more interruption."

S'dric was more concerned about taking a first hand look at the records; questions would come later. If Sh'nar had any immediate questions for Phrean though, he had no qualms with it.

Sh’nar didn’t know if he liked how quick this man was. He supposed it made sense they would put someone quick-witted in charge until such a time when the Weyr was able to support the dragonriders. Still there was something about the man’s manner of addressing the Senior Weyrwoman that made his hair stand on edge. Sh’nar knew he was young, he knew he wasn’t known for being empathetic in the way a bluerider might be, but he tended to trust his gut feelings. Something about this was not quite right.

“Raids, yes, we’ve had some issues but it is widely believed there is much unrest in Telgar Hold, regarding their Holdless population.” He said as he placed one of the records on the table in front of the riders. Phrean seemed to know exactly where each record was that recorded what S’dric had asked for. When he had them all compiled for the riders, he smiled. “I’m not certain how much help these will be, but I’m sure the Weyrwoman is right to leave no stone unturned.” Sh’nar did not believe the words were meant as a compliment. “Anything else we can do for you?” If they had all the records they needed then Sh’nar saw no need for the man to stick around.

Sh’nar answered before S’dric could. Not because he didn’t want S’dric’s opinions out in the open but because he wanted this Phrean guy gone. “Thank you for the help. Now, leave us.” His tone might have been the slightest bit imperious but he hadn’t meant anything by it other than he wanted the man to leave them and that there was no room for negotiating on that account. The last thing he wanted was to have someone reading over his shoulder. Ugh.

He sat down then looking at the pile of records, “Which would you like to start with?” He was thinking they should start with the logs of what was received and when. Then compare them to the schedules and see exactly which supplies were not making it and if they were from a specific part of the Hold. There had to be something going on. Fort always received its tithes, Igen should be no different. If it was the Holdless they would have every right to be angry with the Holds as they would not have protection if Thread should fall.

S'dric wasn't going to argue, but he wondered just why the Bronzeriders was so quick and seeming insistent that the middle-aged man leave the room. Anyway, perhaps he was right to prefer to work alone, without the other man's interference. Just in case.

Thanking the man again before he left, S'dric went with Sh'nar to the records piled up for them. "I suppose I'll help you start sorting through the tithe and inventory records first. I'll start with this month's, if you want to start with the previous."

Sitting in the chair next to Sh'nar, S'dric pulled the records that were labeled for the dates he was interested in and opened the first of them. With an inward sigh to himself, the Brownrider thought that this was about to become a very long and tedious day. But at least it was a break from the usual.



Not long after they got started, the same woman who'd led them there, appeared at the door with a tray of food and drinks. It was going to be a welcome source for their energy over the next few hours.

Sh'nar wasn't accustomed to explaining his actions but he felt in this instance, he should. "We can't trust anyone, till we know what is going on. Not even Phrean." Maybe he was brought up on too many Harper tales but it couldn't hurt to be cautious. At least he didn't think so.

Taking the appropriate records, he began to read. Records were BORING! Was there a reason they couldn't have had the more fun jobs? If there were people working from within the Weyr, then he and S'dric could potentially have the most dangerous job though. Still if that was the case, why send a Wingsecond and a Bronzerider? The greens would have been less imposing.

When the pretty young woman brought them food, he smiled at her and thanked her. But as pretty as she was, she too couldn't be trusted fully. Using the pitcher provided, he poured a glass of water. Then went back to scanning the record in his hand. "Mmm, that is odd." He read both of the places clearly and so voiced what he found to S'dric.

He noted that on two separate occasions tithes coming from the same Hold did not arrive, and thus they were short grains. "This hold, isn't it near where Telgar borders Igen. The same area they claim there are Holdless problems."

They needed to see how far this went back in time...

S'dric didn't find himself as bored as Sh'nar did over the task at hand. Generally S'dric enjoyed more academic pursuits, so it didn't bother him putting his energy into pouring over records like these. If they were lucky, they'd learn something from it. Hopefully they'd find out whether or not there were anyone within the Weyr that could be assisting someone on the outside.

The Brownrider leaned over to take a look at the pages that Sh'nar had indicated, which seemed as though this might lead to irregularities, and with that, S'dric took a fresh piece of parchment and started penning down dates and brief other details which they found notable.

"Yeah. This event here," he pointed to one of the inventories coming up short that Sh'nar had indicated. "seems to coincide with one of the last incidents that the Weyrwoman mentioned."

As they continued their search, the Wingsecond commented. "It looks like prior to late in the spring there weren't any interruptions in tithes. It must have all started then...probably right after the roads cleared of snow. I wonder if we should go back to the previous Turn and see what we can dig up?"

Leaving that questions in the open, it was rhetorical, as S'dric immediately moved to the shelves where the inventory Controller had retrieved the records before them now. His eyes scanning for appropriate dates, the Brownrider took those records with him, back to the table, landing them in a pile between he and Sh'nar.

As they shuffled through the pages, S'dric didn't seem to be coming up with anything new. It appeared as though all of the interruptions in supplies started about half way through the present turn -and they weren't very frequent at first. The raids had been sporadic until more recently. About to close the ledger book in hand to put the oldest records back on the shelf when he happened to tip it upright and as he closed it, caught a familiar scent under his nose. At first he didn't think anything of it, but it suddenly dawned on him what that particular smell came from.

Alerted to the possibility of foul play, S'dric's eyes showed his interest and in a hurry, thumbed the book back open to where it had been. The Brownrider's eyes were intent on those pages, and as he turned them slowly, one by one, he brought the book up to his nose to smell the pages. S'dric turned half way through the book again and then smelled at a few others, then went back to the beginning of the record, squinting his eyes to take a closer look at the writing there.

Opening one of the newer records, he smelled at the pages of one of the newer records as well, and then set them both on the table side by side.

"Sh'nar." It was almost a whisper, and the Wingsecond slid both of the books across the table toward him so that he could be a witness to the evidence too. ...But before he said anything else, S'dric took up the final book of tithing and inventory records to smell at its pages, too.  Then, he was convinced.

Glancing up at the door to make certain it was closed to ears outside, he addressed the Bronzerider quietly. "Smell these pages." Both books he'd scoot toward Sh'nar were indicated. He also pushed the document that the inventory Controller had been working on as they'd come in the room earlier. "Smell them... and then this one."

S'dric wasn't the most brilliant person in the world, but what he lacked in other skills, he could make up for in being observative and generally pretty quick to catch on to things. Since the Brownrider had a habit of writing down musical scores in his spare time, he knew what ink smelled like -not just when it was dry or wet, but depending on the age of it, the difference in its scent. So, as he looked over to Sh'nar, S'dric filled him in. "The records from earlier this turn haven't been altered. The ink on them has an older scent. But here.. smell the pages that were written recently. Now, smell these from late last Turn, not long after Igen started being restored. They smell about the same. Which, I'm assuming, means that someone was expecting for an investigation, and they went back and rewrote the records so that they don't look suspicious.

"The more recent records they probably didn't alter because it was well known that there'd been interruptions in the supplies before they arrived. It would  be suspicious if they did correct them. But if someone's gone back that far -and to that much trouble to completely rewrite them- it's possible that that someone's been working from inside the Weyr all along." Considering those thoughts, he paused briefly, but shortly went on, "Or it could be that someone else may have been working this position before our suspect arrived. We need to get a better idea how long this has been going on." And a better idea of how deep the trechery might reach.

S'dric's eyes rose to meet Sh'nar's. "I wonder how long our man's been working inventory? If he doens't tell us truthfully himself, then someone else might." But since they were here..."We should look into it. We need to take these things with us when we leave, for evidence, and to make sure there's nothing else we missed. But for now, let's question the Controller. Let's invite him back in and see what he tells us on his own. Just play it cool, like we don't suspect much of anything. We can eat while we talk with him so he doesn't feel cornered. He'll be less likely to talk freely if that's the case. But if it becomes necessary...I'm not against applying a little pressure to him, and afterward questioning others."

The records inconsistencies had them reading their eyes to dryness when S’dric finally found out about the smell. Sniffing as the brownrider suggested, Sh’nar scrunched his nose in distaste. “They’ve been tampered with. There is no doubt about that.” He had to agree with the Wingsecond. “Someone is definitely working from the inside, there is no refuting an accusation like this one, not while we have evidence.” And they fully intended on keeping said evidence.

At S’dric’s suggestion, Sh’nar nodded, “There is something about that man that I don’t like. I can’t put my finger on it. But I can certainly be charming on command S’dric.” He smiled, his beautiful white teeth gleaming in the glow-light. This would be fun. “He might have a beautiful daughter…” If you had the ability to charm young ladies, why not use it?

“I suggest we put the records we’re most interested in out of sight. Or he might be quick enough to know we’ve caught on to the tampered records.” Sh’nar took the ones in front of him that were of the most interest, underneath those of less interest. He got up then and went in search of someone who could find Phrean for them. Once he had he walked back to the Record’s Room. Phrean arrived shortly thereafter.

“I was told you were looking for me?” Phrean asked, there was slight concern in his voice but not enough to convince anyone that he was afraid or nervous about what would be revealed. It seemed more like he was a little concerned that something wasn’t to the dragonrider’s tastes.

Sh’nar responded first, his usual charming smile on his face, “Thank you for coming to our aid so swiftly. We were reading your records and just had a couple of questions. Obviously we’re not usually the ones who go through inventory, it’s more the Headwoman and Weyrwoman’s areas of expertise so it could be that we’re just not understanding them properly.” If he had just slightly insulted the man’s position here by calling it a woman’s job Sh’nar did not do it intentionally. Shouldn’t inhibit the man from being honest anyway.

“Of course. How can I help you?” Phrean asked, looking just a little pleased with himself. He seemed truly glad to be useful to the dragonriders. Sh’nar still felt some of his hair stand on end around the man. Whoever he was, Sh’nar wouldn’t allow him to stay at Igen, guilty or not, he wasn’t going to have anyone creep him out at his own Weyr.

S'dric was nodding, agreeing with Sh'nar that they should take caution about the man and perhaps lay the books away somewhere out of sight, which they would take with them. "Yeah. We'll have to get these to the Weyrwoman as soon as we leave here. She'll have an interest in taking a look at these for sure."

The Brownrider chuckled, smiling a little lopsidedly out of amusement when the self-assured Sh'nar seemed confident in his ability to charm said persons they'd be dealing with. And S'dric didn't mind him doing so.


Phrean reappearing before them, S'dric was drinking from the cups brought to them on a tray earlier. Watching and listening to the other two men, he tried to be observant of any behaviour or mannerisms which might further aid in convicting the man of the crime he was suspected, but he didn't seem to want to give any hint of further suspicions, to S'dric looked away, turning to set a near empty cup back down on the table.

When Phrean seemed open for questions, S'dric turned his attention back to the other men, though his question could only be for the caretaker of these records, and his tone was perfectly at ease and conversational. "It looks like the handwriting has changed a bit as we go back in time through the records. Has it been long since you arrived at the Weyr? Was there someone else keeping these records before you?" Of course, for fairness sake, they had to take into account that Phrean might not be their culprit; that someone else could have had his position not long ago. Or perhaps his more frequent arrival could suggest that he'd been purposefully sent here by someone to change things around. In which case, there had not been foul play the entire time, only as of more recently. Hmm.....but either way, did it matter? They still had evidence that there were things going on in the new Igen Weyr which no one back at Fort was going to like the looks of.

No doubt Karene would want to look at everything they found. The woman was paranoid. She never completely trusted anyone to do what was required, except for herself. Bronzeriders were especially inept in her eyes. Might be better if S’dric handed them over to the Weyrwoman and not himself. He waited, watching Phrean’s facial and body expressions as he answered S’dric’s questions.

“Not since the beginning. I’ve been here about a Turn but officially took on this position a few months ago.” He paused, “Yes there was an old woman who wrote the others. Sadly she was having trouble seeing and has since gone completely blind. They did tell me she moved back in with her youngest son somewhere in Telgar Hold. That is about all I know of her.”

It seemed to him the other man was a little nervous at first but grew more confident as he answered. He didn’t like it at all but as he had told S’dric he just didn’t like this man. Sh’nar had another question for him, adding to S’dric’s. “That brings up a question for me as well. It isn’t intended to mean you’ve done anything wrong I’m just a little confused about this.” He was being quite genuine.

“Weyrs are generally run by women. Why isn’t there a woman in this position? Wouldn’t this effectively be the duty of a Headwoman in lieu of a Queenrider?” There should be a woman checking all of this so that she could become headwoman when the Weyr was ready for dragonriders. He waited, watching the other man intently. Sh’nar wanted a reason. A good reason because Belisse would want someone here who already knew some of the transitional things about Igen to be headwoman. She wouldn’t want to have to hunt this man down for that information.

“To be honest good sirs, the women here so far are fairly young and inexperienced. Weyrwoman Karene sent a couple of better options but neither of them made it here. We’ve assumed the worst, that like the supplies they too were attacked to stop Igen Weyr from opening. Weyrwoman Karene said she would be able to send us another via dragonback as soon as she found a replacement.”

Sh’nar wondered if that was why she had started Emerene in training with the Headwoman, then she could send the Headwoman’s assistant here. It still made no sense. “And no one but you and Weyrwoman Karene knew these women were coming?” He asked.

“Not exactly, see we were excited about having them come so, most of the people here knew about them. It would have meant better organization and planning to have someone trained in running the Lower Staff of a Weyr.” He said as if completely unaffected by the questions. It was almost unnerving to Sh’nar. Despite all the man’s normal sounding answers, he felt there was something wrong. He was not a Searchrider, he couldn’t judge people’s feelings as well as they could.

Glancing over at S'dric, he hoped the other man had a better line of questions.

Well, S'dric figured they had proof enough here that there was at least some sign at least that there'd been tampering with the records; surely even more questions would be answered once they could examine them at more length without prying eyes suspected about. And as far as S'dric understood, they weren't really here to examine the state of things otherwise. Surely Karene knew Igen Weyr's situation with a lack of well-organized leadership on site. He didn't feel the need to butt in there. Karene had likely arranged for enough personnel to get done what needed to be done for the the time being. After all, Igen Wehr wasn't supporting a huge population yet.

The Brownrider's expression was appreciative as he smiled between the other two men, "So there hasn't been much turnover in the staff then?" Not really sure their questions would lead to any new information, S'dric wondered if they shouldn't use Sh'nar's marvelous charms to try and weedle anything more out of some women here. Perhaps they would reveal something more. Anyway, the women might have more interest in the caravans, as they brought new goods for purchase, new faces and fresh gossip. Perhaps they should rely on going that route to get the answers they were looking for.


S'dric waited for a moment before adding looking to Sh'nar and adding, "Before we go, why don't we have a better look around. We'll be moving in here soon, anyway."

Sh’nar like the idea of exploring and seeing as S’dric was his higher up…at the moment, he was only too happy to do what the other man wanted. “Yes indeed, we should have a look around.”

Cymrioth could pick out their weyr and make sure Zemarith got one close by. Mm , yes exploring for his own personal gain didn’t bother him a bit though he was fairly certain S’dric was up to something else. They were trying to get away from the prying eyes and ears of the men here and have a look where the women folk spent more of their time.

“Is there anywhere in particular you would like to go first?” He asked S’dric. Weyrs were rather similar in basic structure though they were also different. They should be able to find their way around without much hassle. “We could start with the kitchens?” Was a suggestion, though he figured S’dric had a plan already worked out.

Sh’nar had a feeling the other group was not getting along as well as S’dric and himself were. They sent two hot-headed greenies with the two most elitist and quiet Bronzeriders at Fort. He would have paid good marks to see that quartet work together. He couldn’t wait to hear what S’jiro’s version of the group’s mission would sound like. While that thought amused him, what amused him more was they had the two easy going men working together.

While Sh’nar fully admitted he was ambitious and power hungry, he knew working with other people would get him what he wanted far more quickly than isolating himself entirely. S’dric was the kind of man one wanted to support and in return have support from. Brownriders were often overlooked as they were known to be a little more mellow and less ambitious than Bronzers but there was a power among them as well.

Anyway he and S’dric were going to do better than the others, hence making him a better choice for Igen Weyrleader which was the main goal in the end.

It wasn't with as much plan of purpose as Sh'nar may have thought, that S'dric wanted to visit with the women of the Weyr. What he really had in mind was for Sh'nar to get them talking and if anything happened to come up sounding like a lead, they could dig further. They really didn't have too much to go on as it was. At least nothing terribly difinitive.

With one possible suspect, S'dric wanted to keep an eye on the archivist and see who else he was frequently in contact with, just in case those contacts became additional suspects. He wondered if they should detain the man for further questioning, but the Riders weren't as equipped for those kinds of tasks as a Hold Guard was. In any case, there could have been a harper's apprentice or anyone else who'd snuck in and done the same thing. They should find out. And usually ladies tended to keep tabs on harpers. So they were headed in the right direction. After that, they could visit with the harpers, too, if there were any staffed here already.

Surely there was some sort of guard on duty to protect the Weyrfolk, too? Only, strangely enough, S'dric had not seem many signs that such precautions were taken. Dragonriders themselves were responsible for the safety of the Weyr, but with no Riders present yet, it would be natural for a few additional forces to be required in order to preserve the peace and help moderate disputes. That force seemed to be very light here indeed. So that was someone else they would need to visit -whoever was heading security. If there was anyone who claimed that position here, S'dric mused with a quiet snort. Anyway, S'dric was watching all the usual places where a guard or watch might be present, looking for signs of anyone either spying on them or holding their post; and he was surprised to find little sign of such. It was no wonder then, that trechery was expected here.



As the Bronzeriders made their way to the Weyr Hall and kitchens area, they were met by a great many curious and awed stares by people of all ages -especially the women. Personally S'dric didn't care to be gawked at, so he was glad that Sh'nar was with him, and the skillful harper could absorb all of the attention. S'dric figured that Sh'nar was much more desirable than himself in many ways, and at a time like this, was glad of it. The Bronzerider could keep the attention.

"Where should we start? Weyr Hall? It'll be about meal time." After making it appear as though they were going to simply be attending lunch with the rest of the weyrfolk, they could find out who was in charge of security and head there next. Then, if there was still a need to, they could visit any harpers who might have been frequenting the records room for any reason.

This was going to be a long day for the two of them -he and Sh'nar.