There is 1 message in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. [DL-W] Measuring Up
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 21:04:35 -0800 (PST)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-W] Measuring Up
Dalmar
Morning, Day 18
/snip from Morgie's post/
"Dalmar!" Faylen squealed excitedly. "I need you're expertise."
"Oh, is something wrong with Shyla?"
"No, no... actually the opposite. I think something wonderful has
happened.
"What then?"
"This morning, I went to put her saddle on her, and it was a bit...
snug. Dalmar," Faylen beamed, "I don't know if it's my imagination,
but I
think she's grown!"
"Crowded in here, too." someone said just then.
She turned and faced the man named Bubba. Again she tried to feel his
emotions, and again she came up blank. She fought against the disquiet
rising from the emotional silence, trying to maintain her composure.
"I said, It's crowded in here, too," Bubba repeated.
"Yes... " Faylen trailed off. "It always is crowded in the dining
hall."
Faylen then turned back to Dalmar, "If you could look into the matter
and give me your opinion, I'd really appreciate it."
/end snip/
Dalmar nodded to the young queenrider. "Of course, I'd be glad to
have a look at her. It wouldn't take but a few moments, if you've got
time now and can have Shyla meet us at the clinic."
Dalmar and Faylen walked the relatively short distance to the clinic,
to find that Shyla had used her wings to get there ahead of them.
"She's looking healthy," he commented to Faylen. "You obviously take
very good care of her!"
"Oh...thank you," said Faylen, seeming a bit surprised at the
compliment.
*And a good morning to you, Shyla!* Dalmar told the waiting queen.
*Your rider says you've gotten a bit bigger.*
<Well, my saddle is a bit tight,> Shyla admitted. <Could I be
growing?>
"Could she be growing again?" Faylen asked at the same moment.
Dalmar laughed. "I can answer both your questions in just a moment,"
he said to the queenrider, and then said the same thing telepathically
for Shyla. Then he spoke again to the queen. *Come inside with me,
and we'll check you out!*
Faylen and Dalmar walked in through the large entrance, with the
queen right behind. Dalmar directed Faylen to lie down on the smooth
stone floor just inside, and then walked over to his desk. "Could you
please hold this?" he asked Faylen, holding out a long tape-measure.
Then he took out a piece of white chalk. "We could measure her while
she's lying there, but there's an easier way. He broke the piece of
chalk in half and handed one to Faylen, then walked over to where Shyla
waited, and told her to stretch out to her full length on the floor.
*And hold very still!* he told her. *Or this won't work.*
<Okay,> the queen agreed.
"We just need to trace around her," he told Faylen. "Then, once we
have her outline on the floor, we can measure that. Much easier than
trying to measure an actual dragon - at least for getting approximate
figures. I have her last set of measurements here, and if we see that
anything has changed noticeably, we can decide if we need to do some
more thorough measuring."
Dalmar led Faylen over to Shyla's nose, and bent down. "We'll start
here, and go around her," he said. "I'll take the left side, you take
the right, and we'll meet at her tail."
The tracing took just a few moments, though occasionally either
Dalmar or Faylen would have to remind Shyla to keep still. Dalmar also
had her spread her wings briefly and touch their tips to the floor so
he could make chalk marks to measure her wingspan. When they were
done, Dalmar had Shyla get up and step out of the outline. Where she
had lain was now the white outline of a dragon.
"Now we measure," Dalmar told Faylen. He had Faylen hold onto one
end of the measuring tape, while he measured first her length and then
her width. For the width, they actually took three different
measurements, one each at the shoulders, waist, and hindquarters.
When they were done, Dalmar took his newly written figures and
compared them to those he'd previously recorded for Shyla. "Well,
she's definitely had some growth," he told Faylen. "See how the new
length measurement compares with the old?" Faylen nodded, and Dalmar
compared the rest of the figures. "However, one thing...her width
seems to have increased pro****tionately just a bit more than her
length."
"What does that mean?" Faylen asked.
"Well," said Dalmar, "It could mean that she's put on a bit of weight
in addition to the growth spurt. If that's the case, we might need to
restrict her diet for awhile. One problem with queens is that since
they don't fly with the patrol wings, they don't get as much exercise."
Shyla seemed a bit indignant at Dalmar's suggestion. "I am sure that
I am as slender as always," she told him primly.
"She may have also moved just enough while we were tracing her to
throw off the measurements," Dalmar said. "A couple of inches here or
there makes a big difference. I'm sure the length is right, but we
could run the tape measure around her to recheck the girth. If our
measurements were over, then you can take her out for an extra-big
breakfast to celebrate her growing!"
(Tag Morgie)
Submitted by:
John
AKA Dalmar the Dragonhealer
Whiteriver Warren
Summary: Morning, Day 18 - Dalmar and Faylen measure Shyla to see if
she has grown, as Faylen thinks. Dalmar determines that she has, but
notes that they may need to take more detailed measurements to
determine if the queen has gained any weight.
|
