Main Hall ~*~ WoodCraft Hall(#14592RJMs)
-- Insert Main Hall Description Here ---

Krystyna looks up and smiles "Hello ma'am.

Dione comes in, a bulging carisak over one shoulder. She's dressed warmly for the Woodcraft's chilly spring. Seeing Krystyna, she smiles, "Hiya, Krystyna. Ready to learn?"

Krystyna smiles "Yes ma'am. Can I help you carry that? It looks heavy.

Dione oohs and hands the bag over, "I knew there was a reason I liked having apprentices around." She smiles, "Thank you."

Krystyna smiles "Where would you like me to put this?" She takes the carisak from Dione.

Dione chuckles as she pulls out a pair of light gloves, "Didn't you hear? We're going on a short hike. What better way to learn then get out there and do it."

Dione looks Krystyna over, "Are you dressed warmly enough? It's a bit chilly out there." Yes, Dione has been spoiled in Boll for the last several years.

Krystyna looks at Dione and nods "That will be so much better than sitting in a classroom. I am ready to go when you are. I will be warm enough."

Dione nods, "Very well. Let's get a move on." She tromps through towards the back porch.

You push past the simple door, heading out onto the Back Porch.

Back Porch ~*~ WoodCraft Hall(#14593RJs)
-- Insert Back Porch Description Here ---

Krystyna steps in from the Main Hall.

Dione takes a deep breath of the chill air, "Oh, what a beautiful day. Perfect."

You take the three steps down from the Back Porch and cross the cleared ground to the Meadow.

Meadow
--Insert Meadow Description Here --

Krystyna takes the three steps down from the Back Porch of the WoodCraft and crosses the cleared space, entering the Meadow.

Dione looks up at the clouds, "This shouldn't take more than two hours or so. I think we'll beat the worst of the weather." With that she sets out a good steady clip, heading into the trees.

You turn walking northwest down the tree lined path into the forests Hardwood Groves.

Hardwood Grove
--Insert Hardwood Grove Description Herre --

Krystyna walks in from the stone-lined path which leads to the Meadow behind the Hall.

Krystyna smiles as she enjoys the walk.

The beginnings of the grove soon give way to the interior. Large trees tower over the two hikers. Sounds don't get very far. Even the sound of snow crunching underfoot is muffled. Dione continues hiking, covering quite a bit of ground. She glances back once and smiles, seeing that Krystyna is keeping up.

Krystyna follows Master Dione. She looks at the scenery as she keeps pace with the Master.

Dione finally seems to reach her destination - or at least the first one. She stops next to a particularly huge tree and puts one hand on the trunk, looking upwards.

Dione gestures to Krystyna to come up next to her, "Here, feel this bark."

Krystyna feels the tree.

You say "This is a skybroom. I assume you've at least seen it's wood?" She smooths her hand over the dark, rough and furrowed bark."

Krystyna nods as she feels the texture of the tree.

Dione speaks softly to the blue firelizard on her shoulder. He immediately launches himself upwards, wingbeats sounding loud in the stillness. He disappears for a moment in the upper branches. There's a loud rustling and crackling then the blue returns, clasping a long twig in his front talons.

Krystyna looks at the twig.

Dione smiles and thanks the blue, taking the twig. She hands it to Krystyna, "I'm going to show you a bunch more so remember which is which as we go." This particular twig has the beginnings of the rough bark and ends in a small crown of tufted needles.

Dione lets the apprentice look that over for a minute then adds, "Do you know what kind of wood Skybroom gives us?"

Krystyna says "Hard wood?"

Dione nods, "Very very hard wood. Skybroom is used for those projects that require the hardest. I'm sure you'll find out quickly as a carver that it's very difficult to work. Usually reserved for furniture, doors, even the masts for ships."

Krystyna nods as she listens to the Master.

Dione doesn't spend any more time on that one. She steps off the path, plowing through the melting drifts. After moving several steps closer to the stream, ducking around trunks and dodging branches, she stops next to a much smaller tree with similar looking bark, "See how similar this is?"

Krystyna examines the bark "Yes ma'am."

Dione nods, "This is cottonwood. It's hard to mistake it for skybroom at any time, despite the similar bark." She points up at the branches, heavy with buds. "Instead of needles, it has leaves." Another errand for Tarn. The blue zips up, snags a twig and drops it by Krystyna before returning to Dione's shoulder. "Feel the bud. Sticky."

Krystyna takes the twig and feels the bud.

Dione waits for a moment then she hmms, "Oh. Here's where the wood I brought comes in handy. Set the bag down for a moment."

Krystyna sets the bag down where Master Dione indicated.

Dione opens the bag and, after a moment of rooting around, comes back up with two blocks of wood. One of these is dark and heavy while the other is much lighter, both in color and weight. She holds them out to Krystyna with a grin, "One's skybroom, the other cottonwood. Which do you think is which?"

Krystyna looks at the blocks of wood. "Would the dark and heavy one be Skybroom? It is dense wood if I remember correctly."

Dione nods, "Exactly. Cottonwood is much easier to work with but it isn't as tough either." She puts the blocks back in the bag and looks around, "Let's see...What next?"

Dione hmms, "You like carving...Rowan next." She starts moving through the woods again.

Krystyna picks up Master Dione's bag and follows her.

Dione stops again, this time by a slender tree with smooth bark. Hanging from the upper branches are several clusters of red berries, "All carvers love Rowan."

Krystyna looks at the tree that Master Dione stopped by.

Dione reaches up and snaps off a sample herself this time. She hands the rather nondescript twig to Krystyna, "Do you remember what the leaves look like on this one? They won't be out for another few sevendays at this rate."

Krystyna takes the twig. "No ma'am. I don't remember.

Dione sighs, "What are they teaching here these days?" She chuckles, "I'm just kidding, Krystyna. They are about this long and are made up of several smaller leaves that come out either side of the main leaf stem." She draws a sketch in the air with her hands. "Rather feathery looking, I've always thought. They're pretty easy to identify in any season. In summer, you can look at the leaves and in winter, the berries. Which are not good to eat by the way." She rattles on just a little.

Dione finally stops and smiles a little sheepishly at Krystyna, "Anyway, on to the next tree." She jumps over a fallen log then inches carefully down a slight slope covered with ice and snow.

Dione calls back, "Still warm enough?"

Krystyna calls out "Yes ma'am." She follows the Master.

Dione nods then makes her way almost back to the path. She stops in a clearing that holds a medium sized tree. If the branches spread out more instead of reaching sharply upwards for light, they would have formed a largy canopy. Dione humms softly to herself and crouches down to dig under the snow for a minute.

Dione finds something, brushes off the snow and sets it to one side, then continues brushing snow away from the bottom of her hole. Finally, she smiles and pulls out a handful of dry orange, brown, and red leaves. She picks up the first item then stands and turns to Krystyna, "An oak tree. We use more oak than almost any other wood around here. They have very distinctive leaves." She holds out the handful of leaves, "Mostly shaped something like these."

Dione says "Another quiz. Oak is a hardwood, has a nice color, is dense and somewhat tough to work. What do you think we use it for?"

Krystyna looks at the Master and thinks... "Furniture and flooring?"

Dione smiles, "Good. The winecraft is always wanting wine barrels too. I remember one of the older masters telling me as an apprentice that he helped build a vat for them too. Have you seen those? They're huge." She holds out her other hand, "An acorn. Good for decorations."

Krystyna looks at the acorn in the Master's hand.

Dione chuckles, "I'm sure you've seen these before. At least, I would hope." She pockets the acorn and winks, "Now on to my personal favorite...I wish they'd grow down by Boll."

Dione turns then pauses, "If you have any questions about any of these, just ask. No standing on ceremony out here."

Krystyna smiles "Yes ma'am.

Dione continues then. She makes her way back to the path, "This is the last one for today." She starts hiking further along the path, around a corner, down another straight stretch, then around another curve.

Krystyna follows Master Dione down the path.

Dione smiles and runs up to the trunk of another towering tree - or as close as she can get to it. Large roots angle upward to meet the main trunk, several feet above the master's head. The thick bark has deep furrows running straight up the trunk, making the tree seem even taller. "Deal! Here, let me see the sack again."

Krystyna puts the sack down by the Master.

Dione puts her nose close to the bark of the Deal, motioning for Krystyna to do the same. It smells like cold, damp wood. Not very impressive. Eyes sparkling, Dione reaches into the bag and pulls out another block. Taking out her beltknife, she shaves a generous sliver off the side of the block then drops it back in the bag.

Krystyna smells the bark as instructed.

Dione now holds the sliver of wood out to the apprentice, "Now this one." The sliver has a rich aromatic scent - much better than the bark.

Krystyna smells the sliver of wood as instructed. "Much better smell."

Dione laughs, "To say the least! This is the best smelling wood we've got. In my opinion anyway. You have to be careful what you use it for though. It doesn't dry very well so isn't much good for carving." She smacks her hand against the bark and smiles, "But plain or with a finish on it, it is the most beautiful wood for furniture or panelling. Just lovely. And the scent is an added bonus. Holders love it. Really freshens up those stuffy inner rooms."

Krystyna nods as she listens to Master Dione.

Dione sighs happily then oopses! "I almost forgot to get you a twig. This isn't a hardwood either. You'll see." She sends Tarn upwards one last time. He arrows back quickly and drops the twig into Dione's hands.

Dione holds the twig out to Krystyna, "See? It doesn't have leaves like the others we've seen. Or needles like Skybroom." She pulls off a tiny green end-piece, "Instead, it's got these. They're overlapped, like scales." She turns the twig over then turns her head to kiss Tarn's nose, "Oh, you're smart. You remembered." She looks back at Krystyna and points out the woody rose-like cone, "And that's the cone. Easy to identify."

Krystyna nods as she studies the twig.

Dione chuckles, "So. Now that you've heard my spiel. Any questions?"

Krystyna smiles "Not now as you gave me a lot of information to think about. I am sure I will come up with some questions for my instructors here at the hall though."

Dione grins, "Good. They need to keep their memories sharp." She moves past, back onto the trail, "Serve them right if they don't get out here enough."

Krystyna picks up the sack and follows Master Dione.

Dione is still keeping up the energetic pace she started out with. Her cheeks are flushed and rosy now though and her breath steams up in the chill air, "See? Told you it'd be perfect weather for this."

Krystyna smiles "It truly is. I enjoy getting out for hikes these days."

You travel south, heading for the main Grounds.

Entrance Area and Grounds ~*~ WoodCraft Hall(#319RJs)
--Insert Entrance Area and Grounds Desccription Here --

Krystyna walks out of the quiet Hardwood forest.

Dione nods, "This is the part I miss most when I'm in Boll. It's hard to get a good hike in when it's so hot."

Krystyna nods in agreement "That is true but at Boll you do have wonderful weather for swimming."

Dione smiles, "That we do. Did you have fun down there?"

Krystyna smiles "Yes I did. I stayed there for a short while before apprenticing here. So I enjoyed being back and seeing my friend Lyxia."

You push open the gate, stepping into the WoodCraft Courtyard.

CourtYard ~*~ WoodCraft Hall(#550RJs)
-- Insert Courtyard Description Here ---

Krystyna walks in from the grounds.

Dione ahs, "I didn't realize you'd already been down there. Not too many have." She pauses by the gather tent, "Here, I can take the bag now. I have to check on a few things in here." She smiles at you, "Good job out there."

Krystyna smiles as she hands the bag to Master Dione. "I love to sketch down there too. I really spent a lot of my free time sketching. I almost decided to stay there with Lyxia but then I came up here for Master Malia and Craft Second Qinan's handfasting. I then stayed and decided to apprenitice."

Dione nods, taking the bag, "Well, perhaps you'll get posted nearby when you make journeyman." A smile, "You never know."

Krystyna nods in agreement.

Dione grins, "Well, then. I'll see you at dinner."

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