An Important Announcement (Everyone welcome)

D'ren stood, oddly more confident now that all eyes were on him. He felt unnatural in his nice clothing, but for the time being, it wasn't becoming of him to be one of the masses. The very fact the he was dressed differently had an effect. His only concern was that the unpleasant heat might make him sweat, which of course would make him look nervous.

After cracking a pleasant but serious smile, he continued. "First," he said, "I want to thank you all for taking the time to come this evening. A formal bulletin will be posted Weyrwide tomorrow, but this is the sort of news that I feel is best heard directly." His voice was firm and carried well, though he was unaccustomed to using it in such a way. He expected they would be unaccustomed to hearing it as well.

"Before I make any official announcements, I want to start by squashing a few rumors that are drifting around," he continued. "First of all, there has been no sign of the plague. Any stories you hear about illness and recurrence just that, stories." That was perhaps his least favorite rumor on a practical level. The sexual ones embarrassed him more, of course, but sex was just sex. Plague rumors could start a panic. "...Nor have we been discovered by northerners. We are safe here, and we will continue to be safe for the foreseeable future."

Outside, Ronarth crooned.

The Weyrleader inhaled deeply and dove into the next portion of his speech, allowing only a moment of pause for the crowd to absorb his reassurances. He stood with his naturally strong posture, soft eyes slowly scanning the mass of faces looking to him. "However, we have had some issues regarding our search practices that need to be addressed," he said. "Our policy has been to limit the number of potential candidates searched from each region and limit the overall number of candidates brought in to one per month. This is to ensure secrecy and protect us from discovery," he continued. "These last few months...those numbers have been skewed."

"Too many candidates have been brought in recently, and some of those brought have been too prominent to go missing without being noticed." He paused. Like Master crafters and Lord Holder's fosterlings he thought. "As of right now, searches are being halted until at least the beginning of winter, at which point we will re-evaluate our position."

The next part was what had him worried."Furthermore, it's come to our attention that the majority of our new candidates are rather unhappy to be here. They have homes, families, and lovers back home who they miss, and who will miss them. Candidates, I hear your complaints. I understand, and I agree that the practice of stealing people from their lives is barbaric." His brows furrowed. "However! There are no alternate options for the time being. As Weyrleader, I hold responsibility for your situation, but I also am obligated to find a better way as soon as possible. A better way that won't compromise the Weyr."

"Therefore, it's been decided that from now on, female candidacy will be strictly limited. Fewer women will be permitted to stand for hatchings and are instead encouraged to contribute to the native Katilan population through childbearing. I understand that this is a distasteful situation, but hear me out. Isolated as we are, we need young humans just as badly as we need young dragons."

"But we cannot continue stealing, nor can we hope to build a viable population by kidnapping alone. If the native population grows, we should be able to phase out searching and take most of our candidates from the native Katilan population. Kidnapping will have to continue to provide the Weyr with necessary crafting skills, but a native population can be trained in such crafts by the ones we already have."

"This is not an overnight solution, but I believe it will be the first step towards creating a viable, self-sufficient population that will one day be able to return to the north. Think of the pain that will be spared for those we would otherwise take by force, and think of our own increased security."

"Ladies, you will not be excluded entirely. I haven't decided what method will be used to restructure our candidate groups, but an announcement will be made once I have. Please understand that this is not intended to slight you, but like so many hard decisions we make, it's intended to protect the well-being of the Weyr. While regrettable, this decision is final."

He motioned to the entire crowd. "Thank you all for your attention. I hope you enjoy the rest of your meals. If anyone wishes to ask me questions, I'm available," he said as he seated himself again. In accordance with his plan to conduct himself in a more leader-like manner tonight, he would make them come to him.

It was nice to have that over with. D'ren had never felt so terrible about getting his way before.