K'rien and bronze Kamsinth

The Road So Far!

It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Kahrien – a young boy of 14 Turns, dreaming of becoming a bronze rider.

Kahrien was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Kahrien didn't scramble for the attention of the young Search rider, Garlan, who came to Jessaf in early 102 seeking candidates for Madellon Weyr's latest clutch. But as a scion of the Hold, Kahrien was among the party welcoming the green rider to Jessaf – and, in due course, became the focus of her dragon Hushith's attention. Lord Winstone wasn't enthusiastic about Kahrien becoming a candidate – while conceding that he could spare a younger grandchild. And with Winstone's admonition that he Impress a bronze – or a brown at the very least – ringing in his ears, Kahrien left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.

As a candidate, Kahrien was assigned a bunkmate – Martom, a confident young Weyrbred lad, who would soon become his closest friend in the Weyr. He also got to know many of his fellow candidates, including the Weyrbred twins Leover and Leoguy; Zielaph, the nephew of a Madellon bronze rider; and Chiliam, a good-natured highborn lad from Kellad.

But he also made an enemy – Gydeton, the blustering, entitled son of Lord Meturvian of Kellad – who took a firm disliking to Kahrien! Backed up by his crony Varell, Gydeton became the thorn in Kahrien's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Martom and Kahrien on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Gydeton, the pair joined the rest of the candidates for a morning lecture. The Weyrlingmaster, L'stev, gave the whole cohort – increased by three late Searchees to a total of thirty-five – strict instructions about pre-Hatching preparations, including eating, drinking, bathing – and in some cases, getting a decent haircut – and then turned the group loose for the morning. Before Kahrien left, Martom – keen to prove himself by Impressing on his first attempt – asked him for help procuring some additional confidence in the form of some alcohol.

The one-armed green rider

Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Kahrien was flagged down by M'shen – a green rider with only one arm. But whatever he wanted, Kahrien never discovered, after making a mean-spirited joke about M'shen's missing hand that – not unreasonably – made the green rider take against him.

Respecting his elders

In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Kahrien encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Kahrien to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Kahrien duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.

Gifted a small pot of the salve, Kahrien offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Kahrien encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Kahrien – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!

A Masterful order

In the dining hall, Kahrien met his fellow candidate Zielaph, who'd been tasked by his somewhat dim uncle, bronze rider Fr'ton, with delivering a complicated drinks order to a group of Master Crafters. Zielaph had information about their names, beverages, crafts, and fire-lizards – but not in any sensible order!

Sadly, though, Fr'ton's garbled instructions proved too convoluted for even Kahrien to follow, and the drinks order went rather wrong!

A rising problem

Kahrien encountered both Soleigh, whose green Bristath was preparing to rise near the lake, and her weyrmate Maris, who was getting very drunk in the dining hall on account of her fears that Soleigh was having an affair with a blue rider, G'tron. Kahrien's intervention successfully got rid of G'tron, whose Imdoth was very sweet indeed on Bristath, from the mating flight – not to mention G'pellas, another blue rider, needed in the Harper ensemble – and reconciled the two green riders. Even if Kahrien did annoy Soleigh, who wasn't impressed with him for prolonging Maris' binge by bringing her more wine!

Hot stuff

Madellon's kitchen was the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Kahrien to find for his warming salve. Headwoman Crauva handed one over immediately he asked for it, pleased to be helping such an august figure as the old Weyrleader.

Overkeen to get his hands on the last bubbly pie in the dining hall, Kahrien took it – forcibly – from a small child. Not the nicest thing to do – but mmm, pie...

Eggs and baskets

A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Kahrien expressed an interested in looking up some Weyr records, Tarshe offered him the loan of a glowbasket – on the proviso that he return it afterwards. Which – mindful of not offending such an important personage of the Weyr – Kahrien did!

Weyrbrat by name...

A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Gydeton had paid to cause Kahrien trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Kahrien gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for his reputation!

A shining example

Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Kahrien was quick to offer assistance to his rider, T'rello. It couldn't hurt to have some close-up experience with a bronze, could it?

Wherry bad behaviour

Kahrien's assorted instances of bad behaviour finally caught up with him. L'stev collared him in the Bowl and gave him an ultimatum – buck up his ideas, or sit the Hatching out. Kahrien chose the former, and the Weyrlingmaster sent him to do penance in the wherry hatchery – though Kahrien remained on probation, with one more slip promising to rule him out of standing!

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Kahrien had to wait for every other dragonet to Hatch and choose a rider before the purple-speckled cream egg Hatched to reveal the bright golden-bronze hatchling who would choose him, naming himself Kamsinth.

With friends like these...

But Kahrien's Impression of Kamsinth came at a cost – to Martom. Kamsinth had looked like he was about to choose Martom before Kahrien pushed in front of him – claiming the bronze for himself. It would turn out to be a critical blow to Martom's confidence. No other dragonet took an interest in him, and he was ultimately among the candidates left standing.

Whatever happened to Gydeton?

It turned out that making an enemy of Kahrien was a very poor choice on Gydeton's part. For the low, low price of just three marks, Kahrien had Grimes, the shady fellow loitering near the Gather stalls, spread a series of nasty rumours about Gydeton. By the time the Weyrlingmaster mustered the candidate cohort immediately before the Hatching, the damage to Gydeton's reputation was done – and he was ejected from the candidate pool without ever setting foot on the Sands!

After the Hatching

"Kamsinth" by Emily Holland

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Kahrien on his Impression, but it was Garlan, delighted that her risky choice of Winstone's grandson had Impressed, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Kamsinth's first meal. That was the first moment Kahrien had truly grasped that Martom wasn't going to be a weyrling alongside him – a truth that hit hard. In Martom's absence, Chiliam – the highborn lad from Kellad, who'd Impressed a dusty-brown dragonet, Destrath, and who now styled himself Ch'liam – was a welcome friendly face.

It wasn't long before Kamsinth's personality started to become evident. The bright-bronze dragonet, while the smallest of his colour, demonstrated an exceptional degree of self-possession and independent thought – not shy to push himself forward, or make his opinion heard.

With both dragonets full to bursting with fresh meat, the newly minted dragonpairs left the Hatching sands for their new home: the weyrling barracks.

Meeting the Weyrleader

As Kahrien and Ch'liam wiped the worst of the blood and sand from their tired new dragonets, the Weyrleader, T'gat, came to inspect both boys' dragonets, to ask after their names – and to ask the two new weyrlings how they should now be called. Kahrien was proud to introduce Kamsinth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Kamsinth, Kahrien gave the Weyrleader his own new name: K'rien, rider of bronze Kamsinth!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Kamsinth's and Destrath's newborn itchiness, K'rien and Ch'liam headed into the boys' barracks to claim the billets that would be theirs for the next Turn. Choosing adjacent cots, the two new weyrlings got their dragonets settled on the couches that they would take months to grow into. But there was no time for them to sit and admire their new dragons. The Weyrlingmaster soon came along to give them their new weyrling shoulder-knots, before chivvying them off to the Hatching feast!

The Hatching feast

K'rien and Ch'liam soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk K'rien had helped during the day greeted him with warm congratulations as he hunted through the throng – but, at last, he found his family.

Lord Winstone, K'rien's grandfather, was very pleased indeed to be able to boast to all and sundry that his grandson had Impressed a bronze, although he still managed to find fault with Kamsinth for failing to be the largest dragonet in the clutch – a criticism that the Weyrleaders were quick to cut short in their toast to K'rien and his bronze.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for K'rien, and it came as a relief when the Weyrlingmaster ordered all the new weyrlings back to the barracks for a good night's sleep. But en route to bed, K'rien was flagged down by a Weyrbrat, Emry, bringing the message that Weyrwoman Second Tarshe wanted to see him in the Archives.

Setting the record straight

Tarshe, tasked by the Weyrwoman with converting candidate documentation into weyrling records, went through K'rien's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She offered K'rien some advice about paying attention to his new classmates and surroundings, lest he fall foul of the Weyrlingmaster's penchant for snap quizzes, and made some observations on Kamsinth.

A close encounter

On his way back to the barracks , K'rien had two peculiar encounters – first, with Tarshe's queen, Berzunth, who seemed quite agitated by one of the visiting dragons on the Rim; and then with a mysterious hooded figure, smelling strongly of what K'rien would later realise was firestone, who called him by name – and gave him a curious wooden box.

"The Watchful Queen" by Chris S. Baily

Back at the barracks, K'rien decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.

Returning at last to Kamsinth – billeted between Ch'liam's Destrath and a slender green dragonet – K'rien was too tired to examine the strange wooden box very closely, and put it in his clothes' chest for later examination. But even as he went to sleep – a dragonrider at last, his bronze beside him – K'rien was struck with a deep sense of foreboding. Who was the mysterious dragonrider in the hooded cloak? And what was the significance of the strange wooden box?

Find out more about Kahrien's Impression here. K'rien and Kamsinth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

K'rien's achievements

Achievement Unlocked:
CARRY ON WAYWARD SON

I travelled The Road So Far!

Achievement Unlocked:
OUR ROB, OR ROSS

I received a mysterious box!

Achievement Unlocked:
A HORSE WITH A NAME

I have a name and it's a good name and I don't need to fix my name. Probably.

Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG

Kamsinth and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS

I haven't been very nice!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Kamsinth and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Kamsinth and I agreed on something quite important!