Rainy Day Delays

[wolflover1458]

Riverton nodded his agreement. "A small raid would be good. Keep everyone's morale high and get rid of some of that energy they all have before they use it for something less productive." Big raids, or course, would have to wait a bit longer. It wouldn't do to get someone else hurt too badly, and with the attack on Haven, everyone was going to be more watchful. "They might have to be more careful though. If the people at the cotholds heard all about what happened at the Weyr they'll probably be more alert." Not that they weren't alert already, but the fact that they'd killed two Queen dragons would probably scare them.

Of course, fear could work in their favor, and perhaps it would, but Riverton didn't want to be facing an angry mob of cotholders when he realized that it wasn't working for them. While some of them might be scared, some would probably be even more enraged. After all, those cotholders loved the Weyrs. It was a silly thing to do, but if they wanted to think about things the wrong way, so the worse for them. When the Holdless were done with the Weyrs, they would get everyone else to see sense. Until the urgency of that attack wore off, though, they would do better to have a bit more caution in their raids. The last thing they needed was somebody screwing things up because they didn't realize that anything as huge as killing dragons could have an impact on even cotholders. "I'll have to make sure everyone understands just how the cotholders are probably feeling before we go on any actual raids."

[Ise]

Arvid thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“I’ll see about finding a few of the more trustworthy people and have them go scout out some of the cotholds, see if they can’t find one that’s either slacking off or has a weak point. If a dozen people are being sent on little missions it’ll send a message to the rest, get them all to shape up and stay on their best behavior.”
If nothing else, the Holdless were competitive with one another. If one of them had earned the right to go on a mission then they all wanted to go. In many cases their need to compete with each other and prove they were better then someone else hurt them more then helped them, but Arvid planned on using that to help control them a little better.

“If you ask me, you should just send some of the dumber ones into a cothold. If they get themselves killed, good riddance they can serve as an example of what not to do. And if they happen to make it out of there alive, well that’s just wonderful they can be heroes to everyone and they’ll bring me back the things that I need.”
Annnd that was why Arvid wasn’t a leader. She was more then willing to sacrifice a few people to make a point. Heck, she didn’t even need to make a point half the time, she would sacrifice someone if they made the mistake of irritating her one too many times.

[wolflover1458]

As wonderful as it might be to send some of the more annoying Holdless on what would probably be a suicide, Riverton really couldn't do it. Besides the chance one might try and give away the camp's whereabouts to save his own life, it might not help the morale of everyone. Certainly it would tell them to be more careful, but he also didn't need them getting scared and remembering the important mission they were fighting to accomplish. "Spying on a few of the cotholds would be good; try to find one that we could attack safely." It would definitely help everyone feel better, and if it would help Arvid get the injured people healed quicker, than it was definitely something Riverton was prepared to do.

"I don't think we can't not send someone to get themselves killed though. If someone does something ridiculous, maybe, but it wouldn't be the best thing for morale, and it could potentially but the camp as a whole in more danger than we want it in." Riverton hated the fact that someone might be willing to abandon the Holdless just to save them self. It was a greedy, selfish thing to do, and Riverton watched more closely the people that he thought might end up doing that. He gave them plenty of chance to prove that they were truly loyal to the Holdless. If any of them proved to be otherwise, and he found out about it, they would be very unhappy indeed. Riverton was willing to die for the sake of this mission, and he expected everyone around him to feel the same way. They would never succeed unless the Holdless all realized that their mission was more important than each individual one of them.

[Ise]

Morality of the camp was never something Arvid had to worry about. Her main job was to make sure that people who got hurt didn’t die from the wounds, and she liked to think she did a good job. Sure, her bedside manner left something to be desired and she had no qualms against using more violence to keep people in line. A broken finger wasn’t going to kill anyone and it would keep them from doing something too stupid. It was a tough love sort of thing but the Holdless had never coddled one another. Life was harsh and only the strongest of them would survive. If a few of the stupid ones died, Arvid wouldn’t be there to morn them. But Riverton had to think things through a little more then she did. And of course, those dumb ones could be used as canon fodder later. Send them into the Weyr first and let them keep the Shield and any other brave people busy.

“I have a few people in mind to send out. Smarter ones and not children.”
She cocked her head slightly to the side as she thought for a moment.
“There are three cotholds or so within two days of here. They’ve never been too heavily guarded before so if we’re lucky maybe we’ll be able to hit all of them at once. Of course if we do that then it might be a good idea to move the camp. I doubt Refuge would take the news of three places being raided very lightly.”
Her eyes moved to the direction of Refuge Weyr, narrowing slightly as she thought about it. While being able to raid multiple cotholds at once had its risks, it would also be a good way to disgrace the Weyr. And the little holders would probably demand that the Weyr send out guards to help protect them, or maybe even a rider or two. Arvid almost giggled at the thought. It would be nice to force the Weyr into spreading themselves even thinner.
“I’ll make sure some people get sent out today, even if the weather stays like this. Little rain never hurt anyone. Plus a few of them could use a good washing.”

[wolflover1458]

Riverton wasn't sure how he would handle things without a healer that could think. Strange as she could be sometimes, at least Arvid could think. And true, sometimes the things she thought of weren't really the best ideas; that was why she could make a good adviser, even if she wouldn't do to well as a leader. Riverton smiled to himself as he nodded to her in agreement. "Certainly do that. Just make sure you can trust them to be careful." It was nice to think that he could trust Arvid to do just that. There were some people you could tell that too who would still mess it up. Even if she sometimes talked to sticks, or trees, or whatever, they seemed to be giving her good advice.

The problem she really had was her low tolerance for stupidity. Riverton had to have a greater ability to ignore it. Arvid never seemed able to stand anyone who tried to do something dumb. That was part of the reason she made a good healer. Everyone was scared of her. But at least she could get things done. He doubted the Weyr had healers who multitasked as some sort of military figure as well. Arvid was here right now volunteering to do some of his work for him. It seemed rather normal to Riverton, but it suddenly struck him as impressive that, for as much as some people were bound to look down on the Holdless, living in the woods and all, they still had things that even the people at the Weyr weren't smart enough for.

[Ise]

Arvid lacked tact and empathy. But she wasn’t an idiot. She would never be a leader which she was more then ok with. Leaders had to deal with all the meek and the idiots. It would not look good for a leader to want stab half the people that followed her. Even as a healer it was hard for her not to stab some of the Holdless. She hated the dragon riders but she had to give them some credit, their woman actually had respect from the males. Not all the Holdless were so willing to do that. Thankfully, none of them were dumb enough to say anything about women being weaker around her.

Thinking for a moment, Arvid ticked a few names off in her head before nodding to Riverton.
“I have a few in mind. Knowing that you want this done will make sure they put a little extra effort in it as well.”
For once she would actually get to drop Riverton’s name with his permission. She never had a problem using his name to get people to help her out with the little things that needed to be done. ‘Oh Riverton wanted to make sure these herbs got picked today’ or ‘Riverton has to have all these bandages wrapped up by today.’ She also didn’t think that he would have a problem with things like that, if a little name dropping was what it took to get people to work a little harder and faster, then it should be done.
“I’ll send them out tonight and give them a bit of a time limit. While it would be better to let them check out each place for a week, I’d rather not waste that much time.”

[wolflover1458]

Riverton nodded. "The longer they spend out there, the greater their risk of getting caught becomes anyways." Besides, he didn't want to have to wait weeks for any sort of news, and neither did anyone else. While they certainly had the time to spend weeks raiding cotholds if they wanted too, Riverton didn't want to wait too long before planning a larger attack. The Weyrs might become more wary, and they would certainly have more dragons prepared to fight the longer they waited. He wished, once again, that there was an easy way to spy on the Weyrs, but the Dragon Shield made that quite impossible, and every time they sent someone to spy on the Weyr, there was a huge risk involved because there would always be someone on the lookout. It made the planning so much harder that it was the one thing that got Riverton frustrated the most. What they really needed was a good way to spy on the Weyr. But there was no way they could send someone there undercover and expect to hear back often, or at all. And besides that, they would have to resort to spying silently. He almost wished they could take someone from the Weyr hostage and grill them for information. That would be dangerous, maybe impossible, but completely worth it if they could pull it off. With all of the times the Weyrs managed to catch one of the Holdless, Riverton would love to turn the tables on them for a change, and have the upper hand for once.

"As soon as everyone's in fit condition, it'll be a good time to work on something bigger," Riverton said. He had a few plans for 'something bigger' but most of them probably wouldn't work to well. If only the reality of his situation was a bit more in his favor, there was a lot more he could get away with.

[Ise]

“I’ll take them to take no more then a day or two checking the place out. That should be long enough to gather enough useful information for us to work with.”
She thought for a minute, planning things out in her head. She knew who she would ask, and knew where she would send them. While that group was gone she’d work everyone she could get her little hands on. They would be in good shape if everything went well.

“Start making plans for the next thing then. The people who aren’t at top shape aren’t terrible wounded, right now they’re just at risk for reinjuring themselves. Our best warriors are fine, so are our best spies. If things go as expected we should be more or less ready for raiding again by the end of the week.”
She thought it over for a moment before nodding again, yes they would be ready to start stuff again soon. And that would be good, when the Holdless got restless, they were more of a danger to themselves then to anyone else. Only when they were actually working toward their goal were they a force to be reckon with.

[wolflover1458]

Riverton was glad to know that he at least didn't have to worry about hanging around for several weeks before they could do something, although he had the suspicion that, even when everyone was better and ready to try something again, they would still end up sitting here for several weeks or even months, waiting for the opportune moment. That was one other problem that the Holdless had: most of them didn't have the patience to wait around for something grand to happen. With the success of their last raid on Haven, everyone was going to want to do something like that again as quickly as possible. It had been easy with the Haven attack, because they hadn't done anything quite that big before, but now that they had, everyone that had gone, and everyone that hadn't but had wanted too, was going to want to do it again. And that just wasn't how it worked. They had to wait until their target was in the right position for an attack.

"I'm not sure if I'm more worried about having an attack ready before they get to restless, or being able to pull it off before they get to restless. Even if I had everything figured out now, it could still take weeks before the best moment to attack came." All of them could understand having to wait for him to formulate a plan, but not most of them couldn't comprehend waiting around for when their target was most vulnerable. And he highly doubted he wanted to do anything during Winter. It might be the time when the Weyr was weakest, but the Holdless would be weaker as well, and they didn't have all the oppurtunities and luxuries that the people in the Weyr had. If he was going to do something soon, it would probably have to be before winter struck, and he wasn't sure if they could do that or not. If they couldn't, they might not be able to do anything until next year.

[Ise]

Ahh the problems with the Holdless, they were a frightening horde of people when turned against their target. Getting them to that part was the hard part. Arvid was glad she never had to deal with that part. She had the patience to wait and could understand the need for it. But most of the Holdless were about as bright as a dead glow. They always had to be busy with something, even if it was just fighting with each other. Riverton was good at manipulating them most of the time but even he couldn’t always keep them under control.
“Keep them busy, if they’re too busy working they won’t be able to do anything too stupid before the actual raid.”

She frowned a bit and looked in the direction of the Weyr. Small raids on meaningless cot holds would work for now but even that wouldn’t be able to hold the interest of the Holdless for long.
“I hope you see the perfect chance to attack the Weyr soon though. I don’t want to be the one that has to keep telling people that things aren’t quite ready yet.”

[wolflover1458]

"I hope the chance to attack them comes as soon as anyone else, but it can be complicated. The Weyr's going to be more alert; we might have to find a target other than the dragons, since they'll be expecting that." Neither of the Weyrs was going to be dumb enough to just act the same after what had happened at Haven. The dragons would be more vigilant and the Golds would be harder to reach than ever. If they were going to pull something off soon, it probably couldn't be against the dragons. Riverton couldn't be certain, but the riders might even be as hard to reach as their dragons. But the only people that left were random Weyrfolk, and he doubted that would make the kind of impact he wanted to create. There were Candidates too, of course, but the Weyr could easily find people for their deplorable hatchings. There would always be some terribly misguided people willing to have their lives irrevocably ruined by living in a place where people only pretended to care about each and every person living inside. But Riverton had been there once, and he knew that the Weyr wasn't the happy place he thought it had been. And to think that he'd dreamed of being a dragonrider some day! The thought was laughable now, and the Weyrs were finally going to get what was coming to them. Justice was going to be done, and then, perhaps, the memory of his brother could rest.

But he was getting sidetracked. It wasn't the time to think about the past or the future. The past was gone and couldn't be changed, and the future wasn't going to happen unless he focused on the present. The Weyrs had so many advantages in what they were doing that it was hardly fair, but Riverton couldn't let that stop them. With cunning and ferocity, they could win this fight, but patience was a virtue as well. He looked back at Arvid and shrugged. "Don't tell them it's not ready yet then, tell them that patience is a virtue. Half of them probably won't understand and will be back in five minutes asking again." He chuckled to himself at the thought. It was a good thing that he didn't need all of the Holdless to be smart. As long as there were a few smart people to lead them, the rest just needed to be able to carry out orders and things went splendidly.

[Ise]

Arvid tapped her fingers lightly on the table as she tried to think of other things they could go after in the Weyr.
“If you’re just trying to hurt the Weyr you could always go after their food. Kill all their animals and things will become a lot harder for them, if they want to feed their dragons they’ll have to either hunt or demand more from the holds. Or try to poison the lake they use for all their dragons. Though trying to convince the rest of the Holdless to go after something like that will be difficult. They want to go after people and dragons. And once they hit the Weyr, it’ll be hard enough to control them. Last time it was just pointing them in the right direction and letting them go nuts. It was a little more organized then that but by the end of the raid…”
She was sure that Riverton would have some sort of plan when they time came, she just hoped that the Holdless would be willing to go along with it if it didn’t involve slaughtering riders and dragons.

Arvid chuckled a little. She wondered if a majority of the Holdless understood what patience was. The hunters would get it and their best warriors would understand. It would be the younger ones that would have the hardest time accepting this.
“I’ll do what I can to make sure they all stay off your back and give you time figure out your timing and the finer details to your plan. And if any of them do bother you, just let me know and I’ll take care of them personally. I have a few… nastier jobs that I like saving for people like that.”
It was always fun to send the trouble makers out to gather needlethorn spines. Especially if they didn’t know what they were doing.