S'torm and blue Gaceath
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Windstorm – a young man of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a bronze rider.
Windstorm was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Windstorm 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, Windstorm 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 Windstorm becoming a candidate – displeased that such a opportunity would ruin his plans for Windstorm's betrothal to a niece of Lord Orfen's. But he grudgingly accepted that, as Windstorm had his majority, he had the right to accept Search. And with Winstone's admonition that he Impress a bronze – or a brown at the very least – ringing in his ears, Windstorm left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.
As a candidate, Windstorm was assigned a bunkmate – Soburn, an anxious Weyrbred youth with one failed Hatching already haunting him, 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 – Rielat, a self-important apprentice Weaver – who took a firm disliking to Windstorm! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Windstorm's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Windstorm on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Rielat, 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 Windstorm left, Soburn asked him to find out if H'nar, the young Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing, might currently be seeing someone – or not.
The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen
Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Windstorm was flagged down by M'shen – a green rider with one arm, a fire-lizard queen – and a problem. His queen, Squiffy, had stolen several pieces of the Weyrwoman's jewellery, and hidden it around the Weyr. M'shen recruited Windstorm to find it. The quest took Windstorm all over Madellon, from kitchens to lake to infirmary – but in the end he succeeded in reuniting the Weyrwoman's jewellery set, to general acclaim.
Respecting his elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Windstorm encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Windstorm to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Windstorm 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, Windstorm offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Windstorm encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Windstorm – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
Southern comfort
Windstorm met G'kalte – a brown rider and Wingsecond, not to mention Weyrwoman Valonna's weyrmate – in the Bowl, and was quickly recruited by him to help with a diplomatic matter. G'kalte had been tasked with delivering two gifts from Valonna to her Southern counterpart Weyrwoman Karika – but he'd been summoned away to collect his own grandmother, Lady Coffleby, for the Hatching.
He asked Windstorm to figure out which of the seven Southern dragons visiting Madellon were the correct pair to hand over Karika's gifts. And while G'kalte's brown, Archidath, offered Windstorm some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Windstorm unravelled Archidath's confusing suggestions and got the right packages to the right dragons – without being growled at!
A Masterful order
In the dining hall, Windstorm 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!
Luckily for him, Windstorm solved the puzzle of Fr'ton's confusing notes adeptly, delivering the correct drinks to the correct Masters, and earning a handsome tip in the process. Windstorm even shared the largesse with Zielaph, who then introduced him to Fr'ton – who, having Impressed a bronze in spite of his less than boundless promise, gave Windstorm a certain confidence in his own prospects!
A rising problem
Windstorm 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. Windstorm'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 Windstorm did annoy Soleigh, who wasn't impressed with him for prolonging Maris' binge by bringing her more wine!
Kitchen diplomacy
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Windstorm with the opportunity to show off his work ethic before the Hatching. A round of chores duly pleased Crauva. And the kitchen was also the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Windstorm to find for his warming salve.
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Windstorm 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 – Windstorm did!
Weyrbrat by name...
A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Rielat had paid to cause Windstorm trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Windstorm gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for his reputation!
A blue lady
Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Windstorm offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.
Friend request
Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Windstorm approached the object of his affections – H'nar, Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing – with some circumspection. Still, when questioned, H'nar insisted he had to know who was making enquiries of him. And when he learned the identity of his admirer, he told Windstorm that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Windstorm's agile pivot in questioning revealed that a close friend of H'nar's – blue rider M'rany – might be a viable alternative. Thus encouraged, Soburn began to think more positively of life as a dragonrider – even if H'nar would end up being his Wingleader!
Hair today
Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Windstorm visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of his dignity, Windstorm ensured he came away with a cut he actually liked.
A slithery customer
Early in the day, Windstorm found out about a secret way into the Hatching Ground via storeroom that might allow him a sneaky peek at the eggs before the Hatching. Successfully entering the combination to the lock on the storeroom door, and suitably equipped with a glowbasket, he crawled into a confusing maze of passages.
By a stroke of ill luck, Windstorm strayed into tunnel snake territory! A huge, aggressive, and potently venomous female tunnel-snake guarded the exit to the Hatching ground. Windstorm was bitten – badly – and immediately felt the effects of the snake's paralysing venom. But ultimately he evaded the snake, dodging past it and slipping out onto the Hatching Sands.
Recognising the severity of his condition, Windstorm decided not to risk approaching the clutch, and went instead directly to the infirmary to be treated with antivenin.
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Windstorm didn't have to wait too long for his date with destiny. The gleaming blue egg Hatched out a bright indigo-blue dragonet who told Windstorm his name was Gaceath.
A friend in me
And Windstorm wasn't the only lucky one. To his delight, Soburn also Impressed, becoming the rider of a slender olive-green hatchling, Aeranth.
Whatever happened to Rielat?
Quite simply, none of the dragonets seemed to want Rielat – he was left standing. Although Windstorm did wonder if his own bright indigo-blue Gaceath might have glanced, however briefly, in Rielat's direction, and what might have been had he not chosen him...
After the Hatching
"Gaceath" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Windstorm 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 Gaceath's first meal. That was Windstorm's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Gaceath and Aeranth. Soburn also told Windstorm that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.
It wasn't long before Gaceath's personality started to become evident. The big indigo-blue dragonet, the largest of his colour, showed his alert and serious nature from the beginning, demonstrating a high degree of focus for a blue.
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 Windstorm and S'burn 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. Windstorm was proud to introduce Gaceath to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Gaceath, Windstorm gave the Weyrleader his own new name: S'torm, rider of blue Gaceath!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Gaceath's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, S'torm and S'burn 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
S'torm and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk S'torm 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, S'torm's grandfather, was highly displeased that his grandson had only managed to Impress a blue – against his strict warning that nothing less than a brown would suffice. The Weyrleaders were quick to step in on S'torm's behalf, but the damage to his relationship with his grandfather was done.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for S'torm, 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, S'torm 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 S'torm's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She cleared up an anomaly with his new name, too. She offered S'torm some advice about paying attention to his new classmates and surroundings, lest he fall foul of the Weyrlingmaster's penchant for snap quizzes, advised him to report to Master Isnan before returning to the barracks to get his injuries checked again, and made some observations on Gaceath.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks (by way of the infirmary, as ordered by Tarshe), S'torm 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 S'torm 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, S'torm decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though he did give L'stev his new name.
Returning at last to Gaceath – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a bright bronze dragonet – S'torm 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 blue beside him – S'torm was struck with a deep sense of foreboding. Who was the mysterious dragonrider in the hooded cloak? What was the significance of the strange wooden box? And how had the stranger known S'torm's new name?
S'torm and Gaceath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
S'torm'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:
APOSTROPHE NOW
I love the smell of elision in the morning!
Achievement Unlocked:
DEED POLL
I changed my name by choice!
Achievement Unlocked:
CEASE AND DESIST
I prevented legal difficulties by changing my name!
Achievement Unlocked:
ONE STEVE LIMIT
I avoided duplicating a Dragonchoice character's name!
Achievement Unlocked:
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Gaceath and I make a very strong match!
Achievement Unlocked:
INSULT TO INJURY
I Impressed the dragon that my rival coveted!
Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE
I've been a very nice person (so far)!
Achievement Unlocked:
PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY
I returned to the infirmary!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Gaceath and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Gaceath and I agreed on something quite important!