23.Jan.12, 10:51 PM
For a long moment, Allendris could only answer with silence. He stared into the fire, his dark eyes narrowed but seeming to focus on something just beyond the dancing flames. Inside, a silent debate was raging: yes, absolutely, he agreed. The kidnappings were unacceptable. He'd read that in former times there were men and women who would gladly throw aside everything for just the opportunity to Impress a dragon - indeed, there were some who spent their entire childhoods waiting for the honor of a dragonman's call. Search, they'd called it. It had sounded so grand and noble in the songs and stories.
But these were not those times. And this was not Search. It was stealing, kidnapping - plain and simple. Utterly reprehensible.
And yet... he knew the dragonmen had their reasons.
"I think it's not so simple," the glass-smith finally allowed himself to speak, his voice heavy with the weight of his own indecision. It was clear that this was a matter that he still thought about and struggled with daily. But unlike common holder-folk, he'd had a glimpse of what it was like in the upper tiers of Pernese society, now that the dragonriders were gone. Sure, he was just a youngster at Nerat, but he had been observant; and when he recalled those whisperings and gossips he'd overheard as a boy he began to think he understood why the Katila weyrfolk behaved in the secretive way that they did.
"Do you know how rich the Lord Holders and their families have become now with no weyr to tithe? And all the extra land for their people now that their homes are empty of dragons and riders," Allendris began, shaking his head slightly as he idly twisted one of the jeweled rings on his fingers. He was thinking about how even he had benefited from that wealth... as far as his family was concerned, save for the absence of their beloved fire-lizards, the plague had been a good thing. Yet Allendris hardly felt guilty; prospering on the misfortune of others was a common reality of life. "The Lords would not be so happy to hear that they must again share their riches with a society they view as unnecessary and obsolete."
But these were not those times. And this was not Search. It was stealing, kidnapping - plain and simple. Utterly reprehensible.
And yet... he knew the dragonmen had their reasons.
"I think it's not so simple," the glass-smith finally allowed himself to speak, his voice heavy with the weight of his own indecision. It was clear that this was a matter that he still thought about and struggled with daily. But unlike common holder-folk, he'd had a glimpse of what it was like in the upper tiers of Pernese society, now that the dragonriders were gone. Sure, he was just a youngster at Nerat, but he had been observant; and when he recalled those whisperings and gossips he'd overheard as a boy he began to think he understood why the Katila weyrfolk behaved in the secretive way that they did.
"Do you know how rich the Lord Holders and their families have become now with no weyr to tithe? And all the extra land for their people now that their homes are empty of dragons and riders," Allendris began, shaking his head slightly as he idly twisted one of the jeweled rings on his fingers. He was thinking about how even he had benefited from that wealth... as far as his family was concerned, save for the absence of their beloved fire-lizards, the plague had been a good thing. Yet Allendris hardly felt guilty; prospering on the misfortune of others was a common reality of life. "The Lords would not be so happy to hear that they must again share their riches with a society they view as unnecessary and obsolete."
Bronze Weyrling Vyaniorth