K'ran and blue Tramelth

The Road So Far!

It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Kirran – a young man of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a dragonrider.

Kirran was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Kirran 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, Kirran 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 Kirran becoming a candidate – displeased that such a opportunity would ruin his plans for Kirran 's betrothal to a niece of Lord Orfen's. But he grudgingly accepted that, as Kirran 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, Kirran left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.

As a candidate, Kirran 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 Kirran ! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Kirran 's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Kirran 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 Kirran 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, Kirran 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 Kirran to find it. Despite Kirran 's best efforts, though, he didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.

Respecting his elders

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

Southern comfort

Kirran 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 Kirran 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 Kirran some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Kirran 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, Kirran 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, Kirran 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.

Hot stuff

Madellon's kitchen was the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Kirran 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.

At the lake, T'gala – the only female blue rider on Pern – asked for Kirran 's help in bathing her big Southern blue, Heppeth. Kirran , reluctant to get wet, refused – earning T'gala's dislike, and a blot on his reputation!

Friend request

Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Kirran 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 Kirran that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Kirran '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!

A breath of foul air

Early in the day, Kirran 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. The route he chose turned out to be thick with choking toxic fumes from Madellon's volcanic foundation, and Kirran soon found himself struggling for breath.

Undeterred, Kirran pushed through the discomfort, and emerged shortly onto the Hatching Sands. But he wasn't quiet enough. Shimpath, dozing only very lightly, awoke, and she and Muzzanth chased Kirran from the Sands!

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Kirran didn't have to wait at all for his date with destiny. The pearl-green egg that Hatched first produced a deep midnight-blue hatchling who spared no time in choosing Kirran , naming himself Tramelth.

A friend in me

And Kirran 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?

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

After the Hatching

"Tramelth" by Chris S. Baily

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Kirran 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 Tramelth's first meal. That was Kirran 's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Tramelth and Aeranth. Soburn also told Kirran that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.

It wasn't long before Tramelth's personality started to become evident. The big midnight-blue dragonet showed an immediate desire to show off and preen – not surprising given his handsome colour and conformation!

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

Big brother

Another friend Kirran made along the way – a young Holdbred candidate, Nichen, whom Kirran had encountered in a hopelessly dishevelled state directly before the Hatching – hailed Kirran at the barracks – crediting him with his successful Impression of a moon-blue dragonet, Yooth!

Meeting the Weyrleader

As Kirran 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. Kirran was proud to introduce Tramelth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Tramelth, Kirran gave the Weyrleader his own new name: K'ran, rider of blue Tramelth!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Tramelth's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, K'ran 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

K'ran and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk K'ran 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'ran'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 K'ran's behalf, but the damage to his relationship with his grandfather was done.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for K'ran, 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'ran 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'ran'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'ran 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 Tramelth.

A close encounter

On his way back to the barracks , K'ran 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'ran 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'ran decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.

Returning at last to Tramelth – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a bright bronze dragonet – K'ran 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 – K'ran 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?

K'ran and Tramelth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

K'ran'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

Tramelth and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Tramelth and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Tramelth and I agreed on something quite important!