Dragondrums - Chapter Three
Apr. 18th, 2021 03:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatLast time, Piemur was a mischievous scamp who tricked his friends out of bubbly pies. He also officially got his new assignment. This time, maybe, we'll get to see how it goes.
Anyway, we rejoin Piemur as he starts adjusting to his new role, including moving from the senior apprentice dormitory to the Drummers' quarters. It's still pretty cramped, though apparently he does have some room for himself. There's a "drum room" nearby, which contains the great metal message-drums, with stools and a worktable. Piemur is told that as newest apprentice, it'll be his job to make sure the message-drums are shiny and polished.
We learn a bit more about drummer customs, such as the fact that the drumheights are always manned except for the four hour "dead time", when the eastern half of the continent is asleep, and the western half is just going to bed. Piemur makes me happy by asking what I'm thinking: what if there's an emergency during that time. Apparently even in the shielded quarters, the drummers will be alerted. Okay.
So Piemur has his first lessons: mostly learning a shit ton of beat measures and practicing them. He's struggling a bit and the next morning is very relieved to see Menolly, who claims to need a messenger and asks to steal Piemur. Apparently this is pretty normal for drum apprentices and the senior who is teaching him (Dirzan), doesn't think anything of it.
Menolly, meanwhile, tells him to wear his riding gear, and is weirdly skeptical of Piemur's skills:
“You said you'd ridden runners?” she asked.
“Sure. I'm herder bred, you know.” He was a bit miffed.
“That doesn't necessarily mean that you've ridden runners.”
“Well, I have.”
“You'll have a chance to prove it,” she said, awarding him a curious smile.
...I know Piemur's a mischievous scamp, but why would he lie about this, Menolly? Besides, I hardly think you've got any place to judge anyone else's unlikely childhood skills. Anyway, they go up to meet the dragon who'll be giving them a ride and I'm gratified to see it's a brown.
Robinton, of course, would never merit less than a bronze, but the kids are less important. I am happy to see that Piemur is suitably awed. He is also envious when Beauty does the cat-head rubbing thing to Menolly.
Oh, I'm wrong. The dragon isn't giving them a ride, it's just there to be majestic. Fair enough. Instead, they ride runner beasts, and Piemur gets the gear in place. In a nice touch, he's not actually trying to be boastful. It really is natural to him, and indeed, he does it right.
Because Piemur is Piemur and not Menolly or Robinton, he's allowed to be flawed and admit, at least to himself, that it's been a long time since he'd ridden, but fortunately the one he's been given is docile with a smooth stride. If it were Menolly or Robinton, they'd have been given the wildest beast in the hold and ridden it perfectly to everyone's amazement. You know that I'm right.
There was a knack of easing yourself on a runner's pad. Piemur found himself almost unconsciously assuming the position; sitting on one buttock, extending his left leg as far as the toe-hold strap would go, while cocking the knee of his right leg firmly against the runner's side. A rider would change sides often in trip. For a girl seahold bred, Menolly rode with the ease of much practice, Piemur noted.
Of course she does.
Though it's not really fair of me to be snarky because Menolly's had a few years now to learn. Piemur thinks about how this "reticent and assured" Menolly on Harper business is very different than the Menolly he usually knows, and especially from the girl he'd first met three years ago.
Anyway, they're waiting for a ship. More than that, we learn, they're waiting for Sebell! Yay, I like Sebell! Piemur learns that Sebell has a runner stabled here as well, and tries to remember how long it's been since he'd seen him in the Hall. When Sebell arrives, he has herbs and a tan, which leads Piemur to conclude that he'd been to the Southern Continent.
Menolly fills Sebell in about Piemur's new status, while Sebell drapes an arm around both Piemur and Menolly's shoulders. Piemur is very good at putting things together:
There was a look on Sebell's face that suggested to Piemur that the companionable arm about his shoulders had been an excuse for the one about Menolly's. The observation cheered Piemur for he knew something no other apprentice did. Maybe not even Master Robinton. Or did he?
I'd be happier about Sebell and Menolly if not for that whole attempted infidelity in White Dragon. Now I just think Sebell deserves better.
That said, I really do think McCaffrey is doing a great job of showing rather than telling for Piemur. He IS very good at putting together details.
Piemur, by the way, is really uncomfortable when they get back to the Hall. He's a good enough rider, but it's been years and this is an eight hour ride. OW. But he gets taken off to the baths, and Silvina actually does her job in this book and comes with numbweed salve to take care of him. He ends up sleeping late the next morning.
Dirzan quizzes him on his drum measures, and Piemur does them perfectly. Apparently he had indeed used a good portion of his eight hours on runner back to memorize them. Sadly, the numbweed wears off and the lesson starts getting agonizing. New animal skin trousers + riding has rubbed "his seat bones" raw. Ow-ow-ow.
But he does have an excuse to see Oldive after lunch. He sees Sebell's herbs there, but sadly does not get any more answers. He does get a cushion and directions to wear softer pants and get a conditioner to soften his new wherhide. (...I feel like maybe Silvina should have thought of that? It's good to know her competence extends only so far.)
Over the next few days, Piemur starts getting a new appreciation for his job. He gets to observe people coming and going from Fort Hold, which appeals to him. The drum messages are tantalizing hints of the outside world, though right now he can only catch a few words. It's infuriating to him and motivates him to learn harder, but this has some side effects:
If his zeal surprised Dirzan, it irritated his fellow apprentices. They presented him with several all too forceful arguments against too much application on his part. Piemur had always relied on being able to outrun any would-be adversaries, but he discovered that there was no place to run to in the drumheights. While nursing his bruises, he stubbornly learned off three more columns, though he kept this private, tempering his recitations to Dirzan. Discretion, he was learning, is required on many different levels.
Six days later, he's told to take a message to a minehold. His pants are softer, and the trip is only 2 or 3 hours. The miner is rather surprised to see a boy on this errand, but Piemur notices something odd: the man scowls as he sees dragons in the sky.
More than that, the Miner kind of rushes him into the shed to tend his beast while shoving a sack into his hands. Piemur gets the hint to stay out of sight, and gets himself to a position to eavesdrop.
It's T'RON. I'd say hello, T'ron, but you're a dick! Piemur recognizes him by Fidranth, who has a sear scar on his rump, and by his arrogant swagger. Piemur glances in the sack he was given: stones: four of which are cut and polished. Apparently those are used in the badges for Masters of the Craft. Piemur wonders if Sebell will be walking the tables as a master soon.
Piemur decides it's a good time to be sneaky. He slips the cut stones into his boots. He doesn't think that T'ron will physically search him, but he's being careful. He also turns over his sack to make sure it doesn't show the miner's mark and takes off and folds his jacket to hide the harper badge. It's just in time, as T'ron confronts him.
“You there!” The peremptory tone irritated Piemur. N'ton never spoke like that, even to a kitchen drudge.
“Sor?” Piemur unbent and stared around at the Oldtimer, hoping his anxious expression masked the anger he really felt. Then he glanced apprehensively at the Miner, saw a harsh wariness in the man's eyes and added in his best hillhold mumble, “Sor, he was that sweated, I've had a time cleaning him up.”
“You've other work to do,” said the Miner in a cold voice, jerking his head toward the cothold.
T'ron and the Miner head out, and Piemur is quite pleased with himself. He continues to play at being a miner's apprentice and gets a chance to overhear more: basically T'ron is here for sapphires and is irked at the low yield. He ends up getting only six medium-to-small ones before leaving in a huff.
After he's left, the Miner is very pleased at Piemur's cleverness. And the other miners are happy that they'd saved so much of their work. They are a little concerned that T'ron will be back to demand more. Instead, the Miner says they'll be closing up shop tomorrow. He doesn't elaborate on why, and Piemur figures it's a craft secret. He does tell the Miner that he has to inform Master Robinton, but the Miner is fine with that and the chapter ends not too long after that.
When McCaffrey brings her A-game, she does good work. And Dragondrums is definitely a highlight. It reminds me of Dragonsong, but with the added bonus that it doesn't feel like the world exists only to revolve around the lead character. Menolly is the better musician, sure, but Piemur is the better observer, and because of that and his curiosity, he sees more of the world around him than she does. And therefore, it feels more alive. And as I mentioned earlier, I like that she doesn't go out of her way to constantly TELL us that Piemur is a clever kid. Instead, she lets him show us. A lot. And it's much more fun.
Anyway, we rejoin Piemur as he starts adjusting to his new role, including moving from the senior apprentice dormitory to the Drummers' quarters. It's still pretty cramped, though apparently he does have some room for himself. There's a "drum room" nearby, which contains the great metal message-drums, with stools and a worktable. Piemur is told that as newest apprentice, it'll be his job to make sure the message-drums are shiny and polished.
We learn a bit more about drummer customs, such as the fact that the drumheights are always manned except for the four hour "dead time", when the eastern half of the continent is asleep, and the western half is just going to bed. Piemur makes me happy by asking what I'm thinking: what if there's an emergency during that time. Apparently even in the shielded quarters, the drummers will be alerted. Okay.
So Piemur has his first lessons: mostly learning a shit ton of beat measures and practicing them. He's struggling a bit and the next morning is very relieved to see Menolly, who claims to need a messenger and asks to steal Piemur. Apparently this is pretty normal for drum apprentices and the senior who is teaching him (Dirzan), doesn't think anything of it.
Menolly, meanwhile, tells him to wear his riding gear, and is weirdly skeptical of Piemur's skills:
“You said you'd ridden runners?” she asked.
“Sure. I'm herder bred, you know.” He was a bit miffed.
“That doesn't necessarily mean that you've ridden runners.”
“Well, I have.”
“You'll have a chance to prove it,” she said, awarding him a curious smile.
...I know Piemur's a mischievous scamp, but why would he lie about this, Menolly? Besides, I hardly think you've got any place to judge anyone else's unlikely childhood skills. Anyway, they go up to meet the dragon who'll be giving them a ride and I'm gratified to see it's a brown.
Robinton, of course, would never merit less than a bronze, but the kids are less important. I am happy to see that Piemur is suitably awed. He is also envious when Beauty does the cat-head rubbing thing to Menolly.
Oh, I'm wrong. The dragon isn't giving them a ride, it's just there to be majestic. Fair enough. Instead, they ride runner beasts, and Piemur gets the gear in place. In a nice touch, he's not actually trying to be boastful. It really is natural to him, and indeed, he does it right.
Because Piemur is Piemur and not Menolly or Robinton, he's allowed to be flawed and admit, at least to himself, that it's been a long time since he'd ridden, but fortunately the one he's been given is docile with a smooth stride. If it were Menolly or Robinton, they'd have been given the wildest beast in the hold and ridden it perfectly to everyone's amazement. You know that I'm right.
There was a knack of easing yourself on a runner's pad. Piemur found himself almost unconsciously assuming the position; sitting on one buttock, extending his left leg as far as the toe-hold strap would go, while cocking the knee of his right leg firmly against the runner's side. A rider would change sides often in trip. For a girl seahold bred, Menolly rode with the ease of much practice, Piemur noted.
Of course she does.
Though it's not really fair of me to be snarky because Menolly's had a few years now to learn. Piemur thinks about how this "reticent and assured" Menolly on Harper business is very different than the Menolly he usually knows, and especially from the girl he'd first met three years ago.
Anyway, they're waiting for a ship. More than that, we learn, they're waiting for Sebell! Yay, I like Sebell! Piemur learns that Sebell has a runner stabled here as well, and tries to remember how long it's been since he'd seen him in the Hall. When Sebell arrives, he has herbs and a tan, which leads Piemur to conclude that he'd been to the Southern Continent.
Menolly fills Sebell in about Piemur's new status, while Sebell drapes an arm around both Piemur and Menolly's shoulders. Piemur is very good at putting things together:
There was a look on Sebell's face that suggested to Piemur that the companionable arm about his shoulders had been an excuse for the one about Menolly's. The observation cheered Piemur for he knew something no other apprentice did. Maybe not even Master Robinton. Or did he?
I'd be happier about Sebell and Menolly if not for that whole attempted infidelity in White Dragon. Now I just think Sebell deserves better.
That said, I really do think McCaffrey is doing a great job of showing rather than telling for Piemur. He IS very good at putting together details.
Piemur, by the way, is really uncomfortable when they get back to the Hall. He's a good enough rider, but it's been years and this is an eight hour ride. OW. But he gets taken off to the baths, and Silvina actually does her job in this book and comes with numbweed salve to take care of him. He ends up sleeping late the next morning.
Dirzan quizzes him on his drum measures, and Piemur does them perfectly. Apparently he had indeed used a good portion of his eight hours on runner back to memorize them. Sadly, the numbweed wears off and the lesson starts getting agonizing. New animal skin trousers + riding has rubbed "his seat bones" raw. Ow-ow-ow.
But he does have an excuse to see Oldive after lunch. He sees Sebell's herbs there, but sadly does not get any more answers. He does get a cushion and directions to wear softer pants and get a conditioner to soften his new wherhide. (...I feel like maybe Silvina should have thought of that? It's good to know her competence extends only so far.)
Over the next few days, Piemur starts getting a new appreciation for his job. He gets to observe people coming and going from Fort Hold, which appeals to him. The drum messages are tantalizing hints of the outside world, though right now he can only catch a few words. It's infuriating to him and motivates him to learn harder, but this has some side effects:
If his zeal surprised Dirzan, it irritated his fellow apprentices. They presented him with several all too forceful arguments against too much application on his part. Piemur had always relied on being able to outrun any would-be adversaries, but he discovered that there was no place to run to in the drumheights. While nursing his bruises, he stubbornly learned off three more columns, though he kept this private, tempering his recitations to Dirzan. Discretion, he was learning, is required on many different levels.
Six days later, he's told to take a message to a minehold. His pants are softer, and the trip is only 2 or 3 hours. The miner is rather surprised to see a boy on this errand, but Piemur notices something odd: the man scowls as he sees dragons in the sky.
More than that, the Miner kind of rushes him into the shed to tend his beast while shoving a sack into his hands. Piemur gets the hint to stay out of sight, and gets himself to a position to eavesdrop.
It's T'RON. I'd say hello, T'ron, but you're a dick! Piemur recognizes him by Fidranth, who has a sear scar on his rump, and by his arrogant swagger. Piemur glances in the sack he was given: stones: four of which are cut and polished. Apparently those are used in the badges for Masters of the Craft. Piemur wonders if Sebell will be walking the tables as a master soon.
Piemur decides it's a good time to be sneaky. He slips the cut stones into his boots. He doesn't think that T'ron will physically search him, but he's being careful. He also turns over his sack to make sure it doesn't show the miner's mark and takes off and folds his jacket to hide the harper badge. It's just in time, as T'ron confronts him.
“You there!” The peremptory tone irritated Piemur. N'ton never spoke like that, even to a kitchen drudge.
“Sor?” Piemur unbent and stared around at the Oldtimer, hoping his anxious expression masked the anger he really felt. Then he glanced apprehensively at the Miner, saw a harsh wariness in the man's eyes and added in his best hillhold mumble, “Sor, he was that sweated, I've had a time cleaning him up.”
“You've other work to do,” said the Miner in a cold voice, jerking his head toward the cothold.
T'ron and the Miner head out, and Piemur is quite pleased with himself. He continues to play at being a miner's apprentice and gets a chance to overhear more: basically T'ron is here for sapphires and is irked at the low yield. He ends up getting only six medium-to-small ones before leaving in a huff.
After he's left, the Miner is very pleased at Piemur's cleverness. And the other miners are happy that they'd saved so much of their work. They are a little concerned that T'ron will be back to demand more. Instead, the Miner says they'll be closing up shop tomorrow. He doesn't elaborate on why, and Piemur figures it's a craft secret. He does tell the Miner that he has to inform Master Robinton, but the Miner is fine with that and the chapter ends not too long after that.
When McCaffrey brings her A-game, she does good work. And Dragondrums is definitely a highlight. It reminds me of Dragonsong, but with the added bonus that it doesn't feel like the world exists only to revolve around the lead character. Menolly is the better musician, sure, but Piemur is the better observer, and because of that and his curiosity, he sees more of the world around him than she does. And therefore, it feels more alive. And as I mentioned earlier, I like that she doesn't go out of her way to constantly TELL us that Piemur is a clever kid. Instead, she lets him show us. A lot. And it's much more fun.