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Advanced Red Star Class

Jorina settles into *her* chair near the window, waving a hand to indicate everyone sit if that haven't already done so.
Etteloc walks in and looks around. "This is the vault..."
Etteloc adds, "A firelizard said there was a class here."
Vkaelis slips into a seat, waving towards Jorina before settling down to listen. "You said there was to be a class, ma'am?"
Jolira slips into a seat towards the back, not wanting to be too close to the front one, "What class Riina?"
Rosuma blinks up from her usual stack of papers at the crowd gathering, her eyes note the wave of Jorina's hand, obviously she's in charge of this class...phew... Rosuma settles back to listen quietly. Nope, Rosuma's not here...
Shava finds a seat and takes out a few scraps of hide to take down notes.
Jorina grins, "That woulda been my Timor. He's the best of the three for messengering." she chuckles. "And yes, I'm teaching all y'all about that star. The red one. My favorite one." she grins again, looking around for any flits. Don't wanna scare 'em off.”
Jolira calls to Glowbug, who flies over and lands on her shoulder.
Etteloc nods, and finds a seat.
Jorina pulls out her thick book about the star, just in case she forgets something important. 'Has everyone had the basic astronomy class?"
A few locks of brown hair bob, as Vkaelis shakes her head, "I haven't had the class."
Faeron's sense finally comes back to him as he notices his surroundings, and looks around a bit sheepishly. Play it off, he thinks, they'll all think you were just the first one to reach the class! He smiles to himself glad to have a rationalization.
Jolira nods. She's had them all.
Etteloc shakes her head.
Shava nods, she better had or she wouldn't be a sr. appy now wouldn't she?
Faeron shakes his head "I've never had one class in truth me lady, should I have them first 'n leave ye to the knowledgable?"
Rosuma says nothing, doesn't even move...Nope, not here...
Jorina grins, "Well, since most of y'all've had it, I'll go ahead and start." she loves this class. "First off, does anyone know how long it takes for the Star to circle from Pern to the Oort Cloud back to Pern again?"
Jolira tentatively raises her hand. She can't quite remember...
Faeron says, "200 turns?"
Jorina nods to Jolira, "What do you think?"
Faeron smacks his head as class etiquette comes back to him. argh I’m a fool!
Jolira shrugs, "210?"
Jorina waits to see if there are any more guesses.
Etteloc guesses, "Over 200?"
Jorina grins, "Yes, it's over 200... Anyone think they know it now?"
Shava sees that everyone else has had there guess and gives it a go, “About 250 Turns."
Vkaelis grins, "How about three hundred Turns?" The girl's clueless, but she at least hazards a guess.
Tarinna steps gracefully in from the Main Hall Balcony. Jorina nods to Shava, "Very good! 250 Turns. Remember, fifty of those Turns Thread falls over us and the other 200 are when we have Intervals." she smiles to the newcomer, motioning the girl to sit anywhere.
Tarinna steps in silently and takes a seat behind the others, just listening for now.
Jorina pauses to think of something else to ask. "Does anyone at all know what we think the Oort Cloud is?"
Shava leans back in her chair being quiet until she is either directly asked something or until they get to the advanced part, since she has already taken this class and here for a different part.
Jolira nods, "It's something all around the outer planets that has comets and meteor thingies and Thread in it?" Joli really doesn't know.
"Does it really?" Vkae is full of eagerness to learn, as she blinks at Jolira "I never knew that." Though, the other Apprentice might be wrong.
Jorina looks about, "Any other guesses? It's not that Jolira's wrong, I'd just like as many different things as possible." She settles a bit deeper into her chair, fixing the book in her lap.
Etteloc considers. She decides to stay quiet.
Faeron scratches his head wondering if he should venture a guess.
Faeron shakes his head as he makes his decision. I really have /no/ clue.
Jorina grins, "Y'all can answer! Just venture a guess."
Faeron looks thoughtful. I /can/ make a bad guess though... Faeron says, "Some evil place where Thread grows? Maybe an area Thread consumed?”
Tarinna clears her throat and ventures softly, "is it a cloud of asteroids?"
Shava shakes her head. She's not going to say a thing until Jorina asks her to, or until they get to the advanced Red Star class.
Jorina nods to herself, "I'm going to have to say that you are all right. As far as we know, Thread comes from there, it has asteroids, comets and meteors. But, since our 'viewers aren't quite strong enough, we don't know for sure."
Jolira grins. "I was right!" she chuckles to herself, searching for a notebook to jot that and the rest of the information down. She does so quickly, waiting for the next question.
"Now, this is a 'portant question." Riina waits to make sure *everyone* is paying attention. She found out that some journeymen, the traveling ones, were leaving this out of the class, "What are the StarStones and what do they do?"
Faeron raises his hand ecstatically.
Tarinna raises her hand slowly.
Faeron says, "the StarStones are 3 kinda big stone structures, I know not too much about what they be, but looking at ‘em a certain way ye can see if the Thread is t' fall"
Jorina nods to Tarinna, "What do you say they are?"
Jolira just shrugs. She hasn't learned about these yet.
Etteloc tilts her head to the side. "StarStones?"
Tarinna shrugs a little, "I’m not totally sure, isn’t it a large stone circle that if you look in it shows if threads going to fall soon?"
Jorina nods, "Yes, it does do that. I think we all know that they tell when Thread's gonna fall?" she nods and continues. "It's made up of two pieces, the Finger Rock and the Eye Rock. The Eye Rock's the one with the hole in it. Do y'all know more about the Finger Rock?"
Jolira knits her eyebrows in thought. "Does it point to the Eye Rock?"
Tessa smiles and nods to those she knows as she strides quickly in from the Main Hall Balcony.
Faeron guesses "Ye align the hole in the eye rock with the top of the finger rock when ye look?"
Tessa looks surprised as she walks in and sees all the people. "Is there a class being held?"
Faeron nods to the girl who just walked in "This class be Advanced Red Star me girl"
Jorina motions for Tessa to seat herself as she nods, "That's exactly it Faeron. And you can only see the Star centered in the Eye Rock when a Pass is imminent."
Faeron grins to himself thinking that taking the time to read all of the library books was worth it.
Vkaelis giggles softly, writing in her hide with the busy scratch of stylus as she notes down what Jorina's saying - nodding as some of it makes sense, a bit of comprehension showing in brown eyes.
Jorina thinks of another question, "What exactly does Thread do when it lands on Pern? You can give me any type of area- water, rock, grass, etc."
Tessa nods to the man and sits quietly in a corner, doodling on her hide while she waits for more information.
Tarinna raises her hand, she knows this.
Tessa raises her hand, she has heard this from countless Harper ballads.
Faeron considers the question and raises his hand, thinking he has /some/ idea.
Jorina nods, "Tessa, then Tarinna and then Faeron, okay?"
Vkaelis thinks, voicing her thoughts, "Doesn't it eat away at grass? With rock, it just dies because it can't eat anything, which is why we live in cave-areas, and it drowns in the water. Am I right?"
Shava raises her hand now, thinking that they got to the advanced part now.
Faeron nods "as ye wish Teacher"
Tessa nods as Jorina points to her, "Well it eats anything organic, ie Grass, herdbeasts, even humans. It can only be stopped by metal and stone, and only be killed by fire and water. That's where the dragons come in.”
Jorina nods, "Okay, who was next? Tarinna?"
Tarinna shrugs, "ah, they already said it."
Jorina grins, "Well you coulda said more. Faeron?"
Tessa waves to Keenan and then goes back to writing notes on the hide.
Faeron says, "She's got it all me thinks"
Jolira listens carefully, jotting down something she'd forgotten.
Jorina shrugs, "Anything to add Shava?"
Keenan looks about and gives a questioning look. "What’s going on? I was just about to come play a game of darts."
Shava thinks for a moment then says, "Well, Tessa was right about Thread eating anything organic. Thread is burned up by fire, drowned by water, and it can also freeze in freezing temperature, that's why dragons go ::between:: if they get hit by Thread during a fall."
Tessa smiles at Keenan, "Advanced Red Star Class. You can join if you like."
Jorina smiles up to Keenan from her seat, "I'm teaching all about the Star that's red." no way is she gonna say that name with two fire lizards here. She motions for the apprentice to sit somewhere.
Keenan looks around a bit, then sits against the wall. "I guess I can stay for a bit, if you don't mind."
Jorina nods, "And what are those silver cylinder things that we kill burrowed Thread with after a Fall?"
Vkaelis frowns, "Flamers?" That's what they're called, right?”
Tessa raises her hand high. She knows this after years of ground crew.
Keenan looks at her, "The flamethrowers....umm...with the agenothree...is that right?"
Jorina nods, "Perfect. Flamethrowers that 'throw' agenothree." she tries to think of another 'basic' question before flipping on the Lamp. "Ah, yes, what does the Star look like when we see it through a 'viewer?"
Jolira frowns, "Kinda pinky grey? With masses of those colors?" she forgets...
Faeron shakes his head having no idea whatsoever.
Shava raises her hand, giving it a go.
Jorina nods, "Yes Shava?'
Keenan slides his cloak off and unhooks his viewer and fiddle from his hip and places them next to him on the floor, then begins to pet his ferret.
Frost walks in from the Main Hall Balcony.
Keenan drops Midnight Magic.
Shava says, "Mostly red of course, seems like it moves due to the severe winds and storms, with what a piece of land or something that looks like Nerat peninsula backward?"
Midnight Magic leans into the hand of his owner, then begins to run around him on the floor before curling up next to Keenan.
Tessa grins at the energetic ferret. He's beautiful.
From Tarinna's arms, Onyx mews disdainfully at the ferret.
Midnight Magic looks at the cat and shakes his head, then curls back up and drifts off to sleep, twitching every once in a while.
Jorina smiles, plugging in the cord to her very own special OOC Lamp. The red bubbles begin to flow up and down in side the clear liquid, between the two blackened-caps. (Since we were already into the OOC in your answer, Shava)
Faeron eyes the OOC lamp "So that's how it looks?"
Shava shrugs and starts floating from her chair towards the ceiling, enjoying the OOC atmosphere.
Jorina shakes her head, "No, this is my special OOC Lava Lamp. It means that Shava's answer was a bit OOC, so I'm dealing with it like this. The rest of the class is OOC anyways. (I think Jordana's lamp was an old oil-lamp or something. Or someone's was. I can't remember." she pulls Shava down, "But please don't do stuff like that!"
Shava settles back into her chair smiling, "You're no fun. And sorry about the somewhat OOC answer I had."
Faeron says, "so what does the red star look like through the viewer then?"
Jorina chuckles, "We're just *talking* about OOC stuff... And what we see is masses of grey, light and dark shades, and pinky grey. The stuff kind of sparkles." (Haven't y'all read Dragonsquest? Ch. 13, I think.)
Keenan chuckles and shakes his head, laying a hand on his pet. He isn't scared of the stupid star. Keenan says, "I have I have"
Faeron shakes his head "Nope"
Jolira has read it. Plenty of times. "Isn't it always swirling about with the glints shining in the sun?"
Shava smiles, "I have but I don't have my copy right now. It's on loan to a friend.
Jorina nods, "Well, then, let's continue with our class. What is the surface of the Star like? If y'all know."
Faeron has no idea "too advanced for me"
Tarinna hmms, "isn’t it hot and liquidy?"
Jolira Umms, "Dry, sandy and lots of ravines?" Trying to delve back into All the Weyrs Now...
Keenan says, "It has a lot of sand....and it gets kicked up into storms."
Jorina nods, "Yeah, and the dust is reddish. You also have these gases above, heavier ones on top, lighter ones on bottom which create the winds."
Jorina thinks, "And there's lots of rocks and dust particles in the air, which is mostly hydrogen and helium or something. I can't remember except that they're poisonous to us when mixed. And there is very little, if not any, oxygen."
Jorina shakes her head, "Nope. Not at all. 'Nother thing, Thread ovoids litter the ground, at least the ones that aren't trailed behind the star. They're nothing like what is one Pern, though. Harmless."
Jorina looks around, "There *is* more to teach, but I'm afraid I'm forgetting it. Do y'all have questions for me? I've nearly memorized anything and everything on the star that they mention in the books."
Jolira has no questions...
Tarinna hmms, "how big is it compared to Pern?"
Faeron reading the teacher's guide "What are F'lar's old tables?"
Jorina thinkadillies, "It's smaller? About the size of Mars, I believe. I think that's what Anne modeled it after. And I'm not sure about the tables. As far as I know, we've not figured out how to do those yet, at least, ICly."
Faeron shrugs "was just wondering, it's mentioned in the guide." Faeron can't think of any more questions.
Shava shakes her head, "Nope, no questions here."
Jorina looks around, "Tarinna, Keenan?"
Tarinna shakes her head.
Keenan shakes his head out of his trance..."What?” Keenan says, "sorry...have been reading..."
Keenan says, "I mean what you guys are talking about"
Faeron has a little light bulb appear next to his head "How long once you see the star through the eye rock does it take for it to do the falling thing?"
Faeron says, "err Pass by I mean"
Jorina grins, "I think that'd be the day after that that the first Fall would fall I think. (Is that a little confusing?)"
Faeron surprised "so we can only predict the fall to one day??"
Jorina doesn't know. "I know that once the Star is rested on the Finger Rock, a Pass is imminent and would probably start the next day or later the same day.”
Faeron winces "That's not much time..." Faeron is pretty sure he's out of questions now.
Jorina shakes her head, "But you can see the star in the sky all the time. You just know that a Pass is imminent when it's centered in the Eye Rock, balanced on the Finger Rock."
Faeron ahs "ok i got ya... so we can get the general idea, but only know for sure when it's centered"
Jorina nods, "Right."
Faeron phews, was worried a sec there.
Jolira sorries, "Umm, How long, about, is the trail of Thread?"
Jorina shrugs, "About Fifty Turns long. Can't tell exact distance."
Rosuma hehs...
Jorina shrugs, unplugging her OOC Lava Lamp. "There, that should about wrap that up. Quite a long class." she grins, "No more questions, I hope?"
Rosuma raises her hand.
Faeron shakes his head "None here... I learned a lot =)"
Shava shakes her head, they all asked them for her.
Rosuma waves her hand frantically in the air!!!
Jorina frowns, 'What Rosuma?"
Rosuma drops her hand and smiles ever so sweetly..."Could you repeat everything that was said for me?" ;)
Jorina's jaw drops, "Um, no. No, I don't think so." she stretches the kinks out of her legs, preparing to stand. "You can get it from someone else."
Rosuma grumps...
Jorina grins, "Though I only taught what you should know. Nothing more. Even though I do know a lot more, having been studying up more than usual on it.”