B'zen and brown Tecoth

The Road So Far!

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

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

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

Hatching Day

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

A Masterful order

In the dining hall, Blitzen 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, Blitzen 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.

Eggs and baskets

A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Blitzen 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. But with one thing and another, Blitzen didn't bring it back – earning the Weyrwoman Second's ire!

A shining example

Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Blitzen 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?

Friend request

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

Early in the day, Blitzen 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 chance, he found a way onto the Hatching Ground – onto a very high ledge! Calling down for help was the only option, and a welcome – if embarrassing – lift down from Muzzanth himself returned Blitzen safely to ground level.

Realising that honesty was the best policy, Blitzen apologised to the Weyrleader for intruding – and was surprised to find T'gat remarkably sanguine about it, reminiscing about his own youthful journey through the passages. And a polite request granted Blitzen the Weyrleader's permission to approach the clutch. He touched one of the eggs, marvelling at its palpable vitality.

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Blitzen had to wait a little while before the very large dark grey egg Hatched to reveal the deep turned-earth brown dragonet who would choose him, naming himself Tecoth.

A friend in me

And Blitzen 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?

Rielat's victimisation of Blitzen had serious consequences – for Rielat. Not everyone would have tattled on him the way Blitzen did, but his complaints about the other boy, together with L'stev's already thin opinion of Rielat, had the desired effect. Directly before the Hatching, L'stev ejected Rielat from the candidate pool!

After the Hatching

"Tecoth" by Emily Holland

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

It wasn't long before Tecoth's personality started to become evident. The substantial dark-brown dragonet – chunkier than any other hatchling – had a stolid, non-nonsense character to match, speaking his mind without hesitation or tact.

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 Blitzen 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. Blitzen was proud to introduce Tecoth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Tecoth, Blitzen gave the Weyrleader his own new name: B'zen, rider of brown Tecoth!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Tecoth's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, B'zen 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

B'zen and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk B'zen 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, B'zen's grandfather, was grudgingly satisfied with Tecoth's colour, if clearly disappointed that his grandson hadn't managed to Impress a bronze – a criticism that the Weyrleaders were quick to cut short in their toast to B'zen and Tecoth.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for B'zen, 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, B'zen 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 B'zen'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 B'zen 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 Tecoth.

A close encounter

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

Returning at last to Tecoth – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – B'zen 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 brown beside him – B'zen 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?

B'zen and Tecoth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

B'zen'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:
BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Tecoth and I make a very strong match!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Tecoth and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Tecoth and I agreed on something quite important!