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i_read_what2022-04-21 11:16 pm
kalinara) wrote in i_read_what2022-04-21 11:16 pm
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern - Chapter Twelve
Last time, some douchebag rediscovered time travel far too easily for my taste. I can accept that it will be plot relevant (though I STILL think it actually makes what I remember of the ending completely avoidable - we'll see when we get there), I still think it trivializes Lessa's discovery to have K'lon figure it out so fucking easily. Hmph.
Oh, hey, remember Tolocamp? He was that dude in Ruatha who was a bit of a thorn in Alessan's side by wanting to leave to see to his own Hold, but was somewhat useful in keeping people managed. And remember how McCaffrey basically squandered that bit of nuance by telling us that he stayed in his apartments, presumably ignoring his actual duties, and also not giving a shit that his wife and at least some of his daughters are dead?
He's in this chapter. Let's see if McCaffrey can make him worse.
Capiam's the viewpoint character here. He's hanging around with Tolocamp. There's the announcement of Orlith's clutch - twenty-five, and Tolocamp is acting "exaggeratedly mournful" about it.
To be fair, that does sound smaller than most of the clutches mentioned in the Ninth Pass books, which probably reinforces the idea that the Ninth Pass dragons are bigger and more impressive than the prior generations.
Capiam thinks it's pretty good though, especially with a queen egg. Apparently there are smaller clutches toward the end of a Pass.
Tolocamp has an opinion about Weyr matters, which is interesting:
“Moreta really must not permit Kadith to fly Orlith again. Sh’gall was so ill.”
We return again to the idea that a Weyrwoman influences her dragon's choice. We also return to the idea that this is a fucking stupid way to determine leadership. Also, Tolocamp, Sh'gall is a tool but it's none of your business who Moreta or Orlith decide to bang.
Well, I guess it IS his business who's in charge of the Weyr. It's just really skeevy that McCaffrey has linked the two concepts.
Anyway, the gist of this scene is that Tolocamp is dolefully concerned about Weyr matters, while Tirone (Masterharper) and Capiam are like "actually, those fuckers are doing their jobs, unlike you, so maybe you should mind your own business."
This leads to some back and forth, where Tolocamp decides to be a hypocrite and accuse the riders of bringing illness to the Weyrs and Holds by flying here and there. Um, dude, I seem to recall you breaking quarantine to go from VERY plague stricken Ruatha to Fort yourself.
The real issue though is that there's an encampment of sick people outside Fort Hold's walls, that Tolocamp is refusing to shelter or provide medication to, despite having a big storeroom of it that had been prepared by his "lost Lady". (Who, if you recall, he left to die in Ruatha.)
Capiam ruthlessly suppressed his irritation. “Lord Tolocamp, we need those supplies—”
A mean look narrowed Tolocamp’s eyes. “For Ruatha, eh?”
“Other holds besides Ruatha have needs!” Capiam spoke quickly to allay Tolocamp’s suspicions.
“Supplies are the responsibility of the individual holder. Not mine. I cannot further deplete resources that might be needed by my own people.”
So yeah, Tolocamp is even worse than he sounded before. Nice of him to get snippy about sharing supplies with the people he abandoned. He flatly refuses to give any of the stored medication:
“If the Weyrs, stricken as they are, can extend their responsibilities in the magnificent way they have, beyond the areas beholden to them, then how can you refuse?” Tirone’s deep voice rang with feeling.
“Very easily.” Tolocamp pushed his lips out. “By saying no. No one may pass the perimeter into the Hold from any outlying area. If they don’t have the plague, they have other, equally infectious, diseases. I shall not risk more of my people. I shall make no further contributions from my stores.”
But Capiam isn't without his own recourse and...whoa. He decides to withdraw his healers from Fort Hold entirely. Tirone backs him up: craftsmen, including healers and harpers, are under their Hall's jurisdictions. They're not subjects to the Hold.
I can see why this is an effective power play, and it serves Tolocamp himself right, but what about his people? It's not their fault that their Lord is a nuance-less asshole.
Anyway, Capiam and Tirone are heading out, discussing logistics (Capiam doesn't think Tirone should withdraw his Harpers, and instead he should stay with them and guide Capiam's folk from within. But per Tirone, the Harpers are basically all in the camp already.) They're interrupted by a new person who will be significant later:
The men whirled toward the woman’s voice. The speaker emerged from the shadow of a doorway. She was one of the three remaining Fort daughters, a big-boned girl with large brown eyes well-spaced in an intelligent but plain face. Her thick black hair was pulled severely back from her face.
“I have the storeroom keys.” She held them up.
This lady is Nerilka, and since I'm aware of Ms. McCaffrey's bibliography, I know she's going to get her own book pretty soon. She was involved in the creation of the medications and has decides that she has the right to offer Capiam "the products of [her] own labor", on the condition that she gets to come with them.
It doesn't sound like Nerilka is a healer in any official capacity, but she and her mother and sisters may be something like the equivalent of midwives or nurses to Capiam's physicians. She's been vaccinated already, thanks to her position, and there are some political reasons that she wants to leave.
We were told at the beginning of the chapter that Tolocamp has already gotten married again (Jesus Christ, dude. It's been a fucking week?!), and we hear a bit more about the wife: younger than Nerilka, and Tolocamp had hypocritically permitted her and her family to enter the Hold from "the fire-heights" while leaving healers and harpers to die outside.
Nerilka doesn't get along with the new wife and may still hold a bit of a grudge for the fact that her dad left her mom and sisters to die in Ruatha. Which fair enough. And the storerooms do sound pretty fucking impressive:
Capiam had known that Fort Hold’s storage rooms were ample, but he had not been beyond the dispensary. They were standing on a wide tier, balustraded from the vast, dark interior, with steps leading down to the main floor. He could hear the slither and rustle of tunnel snakes fleeing the sudden light. Capiam saw shelves, reaching, it seemed, to the high vaulted ceiling. Barrels and crates and drying racks, were ranged in rows and dusty ranks. He had the impression of staggering resources and doubly condemned Tolocamp’s parsimony.
“Behold, Master Capiam, the produce of my labors since I was old enough to snip leaf and blossom or dig root and bulb.” Nerilka’s sarcastic voice was intended for his ears only. “I won’t say I have filled every shelf, but my sisters who have predeceased me would not deny me their portions. Would that all of these hoarded supplies were usable, but even herbs and roots lose their potency in time. Waste, that’s the bulk of what you see, fattening tunnel snakes. Carry-yokes are in the corner there, Sim. You and the others, take up the bales.” She spoke in a pleasant authoritative tone, gesturing to the drudges. “Master Capiam, if you do not mind—that’s the fellis juice.” She pointed to a withy-covered demijohn. “I’ll take this.” She lifted the bulky container by its girth strap. In her other hand, she swung a pack over one shoulder. “I mixed fresh tussilago last night, Master Capiam. That’s right, Sim. On your way now. We’ll use the kitchen exit. Lord Tolocamp has been complaining again about the wear on the main hall carpets. It’s as well to comply with his instructions even if it does mean extra lengths for the rest of us.” She covered the glowbaskets.
Nerilka has some drudges help carry out the burdens. I...hope the drudges had a choice in the matter. I'd really like McCaffrey to clarify the position of drudges in this society. Are they servants, with pay and some rights? Or are they slaves? Lessa was certainly the latter, but she was also serving Fax, who was a monster anyway.
I'm not really okay with the good guys keeping slaves, McCaffrey, so I'd really appreciate a clarification on this matter.
Anyway, they head out. Nerilka locks the storeroom back up and keeps her set of keys. (A set that neither Tolocamp nor his new wife know about.) Capiam spares a moment to reflect on the family:
Capiam followed. The docility of the Fort daughters had been the source of ribaldry at the Halls whenever Lady Pendra had invited unmarried men of rank to the Hold. Nerilka, Capiam was chagrined to remember, was one of the oldest of the eleven daughters, though she had two full elder brothers, Campen and Mostar, and four younger. Lady Pendra had been constantly pregnant, another source of indelicate comment among the apprentice healers. It had never occurred to Capiam—and certainly not to his shameless juniors—that the Fort Horde had any wits or opinions of their own. In Nerilka, rebellion was full blown.
Poor Lady Pendra.
To his credit, Capiam is concerned about Nerilka facing her dad's wrath for all this, but Nerilka seems to be okay with the risk. And she definitely seems to be enjoying the escape. She tells us that Tolocamp has been telling everyone in the Hold that everyone is dying at the camp. Apparently it's a "belated attempt on his part to prevent the exodus".
You know you're a bad leader if people are willing to go out into the plague itself to avoid you.
But anyway, some of the medicine is delivered to the camp, and Capiam goes off to his own Hall to see about sending the rest to Ruatha.
We change scenes to Fort Weyr, where Moreta and Leri are discussing draconic medical care. Moreta is once again riding Leri's Holth to High Reaches to see to the injured queen, Tamianth. Moreta still feels like she's betraying Orlith, who is sleeping now but had seemed perfectly okay with the switch last chapter. Holth is also very reassuring.
I remember F'lar and Lessa's reaction to Brekke flying Ruth, and I wonder how much of the implicit taboo is more about the riders being squeamish instead of the dragons themselves. There does seem to be an implied intimacy there.
When Moreta goes to see Tamianth, her rider, Falga, keeps feverishly asking for water, but refusing when it's brought to her. Moreta is the only person with a working brain and realizes that Falga isn't the one who needs the water, Tamianth does. They fetch some. Moreta is frustrated and dismayed. She can't keep coming over to this Weyr because of their oversights.
That's a fair complaint. Really, someone ought to have figured this out ages ago. Poor sick dragon.
And of course, Ms. McCaffrey wants us to know that the Weyrwoman in charge of Falga's care, Diona, is nowhere near the healer Moreta is. Also, she has an annoying saccharine voice. Of course she does.
It's worse though. Because Tamianth's apparently also bleeding to death. Crap. In a moment of sympathetic insight, Moreta realizes that she's partly to blame. She'd known that High Reaches was in a chaotic state, and that the healers are inexperienced when it comes to dragon injuries, the riders are exhausted. She'd assumed the wound was properly cared for, but she hadn't checked.
I think Moreta's being too hard on herself, but it's fair to note that these folk are having genuine difficulty. It's not just incompetence.
Unfortunately, they're going to have to perform surgery. (The healer with her, Pressen, notes that surgery isn't his specialty, but he's assisted and will do so now. Aw. I like when people step up.)
So. Surgery. I'm not going to recap it, but suffice to say, Moreta's very good. She remembers how her dad used to talk and explain when he cared for injured runner beasts, and she tries to do the same for Pressen. Fortunately, more folk come with water. (We learn that S'ligar is "down with a touch of the plague, despite the vaccine" which is sad. Hopefully he'll recover. I like him.)
Oh, okay, interesting. Pressen is happy to hear that he's gotten the makings of a good "Weyr healer". It sounds like that's an official position in this Pass. That's a good fucking idea. (And explains Berchar's presence too.) I don't recall seeing anyone who fit that description in the Ninth Pass stories.
I like these little differences. It makes sense that Weyr culture would change over the centuries. If anything, I think there's too little change between the societies of Moreta's time and the societies of Lessa's time. We're talking about more than a thousand years!
Diona, of course, continues to be useless, wringing her hands at the thought of taking some of her own dragon's ichor (...it's a medical thing) for Tamianth. Diona's dragon, on the other hand, is fine with it. Because Diona looks even stupider that way, of course. I wonder if McCaffrey names these characters after people she doesn't like. It'd explain a lot.
Oh, and we have a new winner for stupidest dragonrider name. "Cr'not". How do you even fucking pronounce that.
You know, if you can't think of any contraction names that we can actually pronounce, you can always recycle them, McCaffrey. I'd avoid F'lar or F'nor, for obvious reasons, but there are less important characters who could have a namesake or two. Or, you could have the name contractions be a more recent invention!
So anyway, Tamianth improves. Moreta leaves them with better instructions this time. Basically teamwork. Pressen can get and apply the ichor, but won't be able to see when it's necessary. But rider Cr'not can figure that part out. (Why not Cr'on? If you have to do this? That's actually something a human can say!)
So they head back to Fort Weyr to end the chapter.
Oh, hey, remember Tolocamp? He was that dude in Ruatha who was a bit of a thorn in Alessan's side by wanting to leave to see to his own Hold, but was somewhat useful in keeping people managed. And remember how McCaffrey basically squandered that bit of nuance by telling us that he stayed in his apartments, presumably ignoring his actual duties, and also not giving a shit that his wife and at least some of his daughters are dead?
He's in this chapter. Let's see if McCaffrey can make him worse.
Capiam's the viewpoint character here. He's hanging around with Tolocamp. There's the announcement of Orlith's clutch - twenty-five, and Tolocamp is acting "exaggeratedly mournful" about it.
To be fair, that does sound smaller than most of the clutches mentioned in the Ninth Pass books, which probably reinforces the idea that the Ninth Pass dragons are bigger and more impressive than the prior generations.
Capiam thinks it's pretty good though, especially with a queen egg. Apparently there are smaller clutches toward the end of a Pass.
Tolocamp has an opinion about Weyr matters, which is interesting:
“Moreta really must not permit Kadith to fly Orlith again. Sh’gall was so ill.”
We return again to the idea that a Weyrwoman influences her dragon's choice. We also return to the idea that this is a fucking stupid way to determine leadership. Also, Tolocamp, Sh'gall is a tool but it's none of your business who Moreta or Orlith decide to bang.
Well, I guess it IS his business who's in charge of the Weyr. It's just really skeevy that McCaffrey has linked the two concepts.
Anyway, the gist of this scene is that Tolocamp is dolefully concerned about Weyr matters, while Tirone (Masterharper) and Capiam are like "actually, those fuckers are doing their jobs, unlike you, so maybe you should mind your own business."
This leads to some back and forth, where Tolocamp decides to be a hypocrite and accuse the riders of bringing illness to the Weyrs and Holds by flying here and there. Um, dude, I seem to recall you breaking quarantine to go from VERY plague stricken Ruatha to Fort yourself.
The real issue though is that there's an encampment of sick people outside Fort Hold's walls, that Tolocamp is refusing to shelter or provide medication to, despite having a big storeroom of it that had been prepared by his "lost Lady". (Who, if you recall, he left to die in Ruatha.)
Capiam ruthlessly suppressed his irritation. “Lord Tolocamp, we need those supplies—”
A mean look narrowed Tolocamp’s eyes. “For Ruatha, eh?”
“Other holds besides Ruatha have needs!” Capiam spoke quickly to allay Tolocamp’s suspicions.
“Supplies are the responsibility of the individual holder. Not mine. I cannot further deplete resources that might be needed by my own people.”
So yeah, Tolocamp is even worse than he sounded before. Nice of him to get snippy about sharing supplies with the people he abandoned. He flatly refuses to give any of the stored medication:
“If the Weyrs, stricken as they are, can extend their responsibilities in the magnificent way they have, beyond the areas beholden to them, then how can you refuse?” Tirone’s deep voice rang with feeling.
“Very easily.” Tolocamp pushed his lips out. “By saying no. No one may pass the perimeter into the Hold from any outlying area. If they don’t have the plague, they have other, equally infectious, diseases. I shall not risk more of my people. I shall make no further contributions from my stores.”
But Capiam isn't without his own recourse and...whoa. He decides to withdraw his healers from Fort Hold entirely. Tirone backs him up: craftsmen, including healers and harpers, are under their Hall's jurisdictions. They're not subjects to the Hold.
I can see why this is an effective power play, and it serves Tolocamp himself right, but what about his people? It's not their fault that their Lord is a nuance-less asshole.
Anyway, Capiam and Tirone are heading out, discussing logistics (Capiam doesn't think Tirone should withdraw his Harpers, and instead he should stay with them and guide Capiam's folk from within. But per Tirone, the Harpers are basically all in the camp already.) They're interrupted by a new person who will be significant later:
The men whirled toward the woman’s voice. The speaker emerged from the shadow of a doorway. She was one of the three remaining Fort daughters, a big-boned girl with large brown eyes well-spaced in an intelligent but plain face. Her thick black hair was pulled severely back from her face.
“I have the storeroom keys.” She held them up.
This lady is Nerilka, and since I'm aware of Ms. McCaffrey's bibliography, I know she's going to get her own book pretty soon. She was involved in the creation of the medications and has decides that she has the right to offer Capiam "the products of [her] own labor", on the condition that she gets to come with them.
It doesn't sound like Nerilka is a healer in any official capacity, but she and her mother and sisters may be something like the equivalent of midwives or nurses to Capiam's physicians. She's been vaccinated already, thanks to her position, and there are some political reasons that she wants to leave.
We were told at the beginning of the chapter that Tolocamp has already gotten married again (Jesus Christ, dude. It's been a fucking week?!), and we hear a bit more about the wife: younger than Nerilka, and Tolocamp had hypocritically permitted her and her family to enter the Hold from "the fire-heights" while leaving healers and harpers to die outside.
Nerilka doesn't get along with the new wife and may still hold a bit of a grudge for the fact that her dad left her mom and sisters to die in Ruatha. Which fair enough. And the storerooms do sound pretty fucking impressive:
Capiam had known that Fort Hold’s storage rooms were ample, but he had not been beyond the dispensary. They were standing on a wide tier, balustraded from the vast, dark interior, with steps leading down to the main floor. He could hear the slither and rustle of tunnel snakes fleeing the sudden light. Capiam saw shelves, reaching, it seemed, to the high vaulted ceiling. Barrels and crates and drying racks, were ranged in rows and dusty ranks. He had the impression of staggering resources and doubly condemned Tolocamp’s parsimony.
“Behold, Master Capiam, the produce of my labors since I was old enough to snip leaf and blossom or dig root and bulb.” Nerilka’s sarcastic voice was intended for his ears only. “I won’t say I have filled every shelf, but my sisters who have predeceased me would not deny me their portions. Would that all of these hoarded supplies were usable, but even herbs and roots lose their potency in time. Waste, that’s the bulk of what you see, fattening tunnel snakes. Carry-yokes are in the corner there, Sim. You and the others, take up the bales.” She spoke in a pleasant authoritative tone, gesturing to the drudges. “Master Capiam, if you do not mind—that’s the fellis juice.” She pointed to a withy-covered demijohn. “I’ll take this.” She lifted the bulky container by its girth strap. In her other hand, she swung a pack over one shoulder. “I mixed fresh tussilago last night, Master Capiam. That’s right, Sim. On your way now. We’ll use the kitchen exit. Lord Tolocamp has been complaining again about the wear on the main hall carpets. It’s as well to comply with his instructions even if it does mean extra lengths for the rest of us.” She covered the glowbaskets.
Nerilka has some drudges help carry out the burdens. I...hope the drudges had a choice in the matter. I'd really like McCaffrey to clarify the position of drudges in this society. Are they servants, with pay and some rights? Or are they slaves? Lessa was certainly the latter, but she was also serving Fax, who was a monster anyway.
I'm not really okay with the good guys keeping slaves, McCaffrey, so I'd really appreciate a clarification on this matter.
Anyway, they head out. Nerilka locks the storeroom back up and keeps her set of keys. (A set that neither Tolocamp nor his new wife know about.) Capiam spares a moment to reflect on the family:
Capiam followed. The docility of the Fort daughters had been the source of ribaldry at the Halls whenever Lady Pendra had invited unmarried men of rank to the Hold. Nerilka, Capiam was chagrined to remember, was one of the oldest of the eleven daughters, though she had two full elder brothers, Campen and Mostar, and four younger. Lady Pendra had been constantly pregnant, another source of indelicate comment among the apprentice healers. It had never occurred to Capiam—and certainly not to his shameless juniors—that the Fort Horde had any wits or opinions of their own. In Nerilka, rebellion was full blown.
Poor Lady Pendra.
To his credit, Capiam is concerned about Nerilka facing her dad's wrath for all this, but Nerilka seems to be okay with the risk. And she definitely seems to be enjoying the escape. She tells us that Tolocamp has been telling everyone in the Hold that everyone is dying at the camp. Apparently it's a "belated attempt on his part to prevent the exodus".
You know you're a bad leader if people are willing to go out into the plague itself to avoid you.
But anyway, some of the medicine is delivered to the camp, and Capiam goes off to his own Hall to see about sending the rest to Ruatha.
We change scenes to Fort Weyr, where Moreta and Leri are discussing draconic medical care. Moreta is once again riding Leri's Holth to High Reaches to see to the injured queen, Tamianth. Moreta still feels like she's betraying Orlith, who is sleeping now but had seemed perfectly okay with the switch last chapter. Holth is also very reassuring.
I remember F'lar and Lessa's reaction to Brekke flying Ruth, and I wonder how much of the implicit taboo is more about the riders being squeamish instead of the dragons themselves. There does seem to be an implied intimacy there.
When Moreta goes to see Tamianth, her rider, Falga, keeps feverishly asking for water, but refusing when it's brought to her. Moreta is the only person with a working brain and realizes that Falga isn't the one who needs the water, Tamianth does. They fetch some. Moreta is frustrated and dismayed. She can't keep coming over to this Weyr because of their oversights.
That's a fair complaint. Really, someone ought to have figured this out ages ago. Poor sick dragon.
And of course, Ms. McCaffrey wants us to know that the Weyrwoman in charge of Falga's care, Diona, is nowhere near the healer Moreta is. Also, she has an annoying saccharine voice. Of course she does.
It's worse though. Because Tamianth's apparently also bleeding to death. Crap. In a moment of sympathetic insight, Moreta realizes that she's partly to blame. She'd known that High Reaches was in a chaotic state, and that the healers are inexperienced when it comes to dragon injuries, the riders are exhausted. She'd assumed the wound was properly cared for, but she hadn't checked.
I think Moreta's being too hard on herself, but it's fair to note that these folk are having genuine difficulty. It's not just incompetence.
Unfortunately, they're going to have to perform surgery. (The healer with her, Pressen, notes that surgery isn't his specialty, but he's assisted and will do so now. Aw. I like when people step up.)
So. Surgery. I'm not going to recap it, but suffice to say, Moreta's very good. She remembers how her dad used to talk and explain when he cared for injured runner beasts, and she tries to do the same for Pressen. Fortunately, more folk come with water. (We learn that S'ligar is "down with a touch of the plague, despite the vaccine" which is sad. Hopefully he'll recover. I like him.)
Oh, okay, interesting. Pressen is happy to hear that he's gotten the makings of a good "Weyr healer". It sounds like that's an official position in this Pass. That's a good fucking idea. (And explains Berchar's presence too.) I don't recall seeing anyone who fit that description in the Ninth Pass stories.
I like these little differences. It makes sense that Weyr culture would change over the centuries. If anything, I think there's too little change between the societies of Moreta's time and the societies of Lessa's time. We're talking about more than a thousand years!
Diona, of course, continues to be useless, wringing her hands at the thought of taking some of her own dragon's ichor (...it's a medical thing) for Tamianth. Diona's dragon, on the other hand, is fine with it. Because Diona looks even stupider that way, of course. I wonder if McCaffrey names these characters after people she doesn't like. It'd explain a lot.
Oh, and we have a new winner for stupidest dragonrider name. "Cr'not". How do you even fucking pronounce that.
You know, if you can't think of any contraction names that we can actually pronounce, you can always recycle them, McCaffrey. I'd avoid F'lar or F'nor, for obvious reasons, but there are less important characters who could have a namesake or two. Or, you could have the name contractions be a more recent invention!
So anyway, Tamianth improves. Moreta leaves them with better instructions this time. Basically teamwork. Pressen can get and apply the ichor, but won't be able to see when it's necessary. But rider Cr'not can figure that part out. (Why not Cr'on? If you have to do this? That's actually something a human can say!)
So they head back to Fort Weyr to end the chapter.