T'ton and brown Jaylath

The Road So Far!

It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Thuton – a young man of 18 Turns, dreaming of becoming a dragonrider.

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

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

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Thuton 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 Thuton 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

Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Thuton was flagged down by M'shen – a green rider with only one arm. But whatever he wanted, Thuton 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, Thuton encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Thuton to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Thuton duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.

A Masterful order

In the dining hall, Thuton 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, Thuton 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. Thuton 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 Thuton a certain confidence in his own prospects!

Hot stuff

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

Weyrbrat by name...

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

At the lake, T'rello – the rider of the biggest bronze at Madellon, Santinoth – asked for Thuton's help in bathing his gargantuan dragon. Thuton, reluctant to get wet, refused – earning T'rello's disdain, and a blot on his reputation!

Friend request

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

Wherry bad behaviour

Thuton'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. Thuton chose the former, and the Weyrlingmaster sent him to do penance in the wherry hatchery – though Thuton remained on probation, with one more slip promising to rule him out of standing!

A slithery customer

Early in the day, Thuton 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, Thuton strayed into tunnel snake territory! A huge, aggressive, and potently venomous female tunnel-snake guarded the exit to the Hatching ground. Thuton 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.

But the snake's venom had done its work, and Thuton collapsed trying to reach the eggs, waking up in the infirmary.

The Hatching

But when it came to the Hatching, Thuton had a less than ordinary experience. While trying to sneak into the Hatching Ground for a surreptitious look at the eggs, he disturbed an immense, highly venomous tunnel-snake. He survived the encounter, but not without a cost – he was bitten. Seeking immediate aid from the Weyr Healer, Isnan, saved his life – but got him invalided out of the Hatching and confined to the infirmary. But an earlier conversation with a veteran blue rider, S'rius, gave Thuton the notion that he might still be able to Impress – if he could just reach the Sands in time. He staggered from his sickbed, across the Weyr, and onto the Sands – just in time to Impress the very last dragonet, a brown who named himself Jaylath.

Whatever happened to Rielat?

Sadly, there was at least one fly in the numbweed. Rielat Impressed an impressively proportioned indigo-blue hatchling, making them Thuton and Jaylath's new classmates. (On the bright side, at least Kestor didn't Impress!)

After the Hatching

"Jaylath" by Emily Holland

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

It wasn't long before Jaylath's personality started to become evident. The little russet-brown dragonet proved unusually quiet, speaking only seldom, and showing a strong preference for his own company – and his rider's.

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 Thuton 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. Thuton was proud to introduce Jaylath to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Jaylath, Thuton gave the Weyrleader his own new name: T'ton, rider of brown Jaylath!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Jaylath's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, T'ton 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

T'ton and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk T'ton 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, T'ton's grandfather, was grudgingly satisfied with Jaylath'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 T'ton and Jaylath.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for T'ton, 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, T'ton 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 T'ton'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 T'ton 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 Jaylath.

A close encounter

On his way back to the barracks (by way of the infirmary, as ordered by Tarshe), T'ton 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 T'ton 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, T'ton decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though he did give L'stev his new name.

Returning at last to Jaylath – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – T'ton 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 – T'ton 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 T'ton's new name?

Find out more about Thuton's Impression here. T'ton and Jaylath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

T'ton'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:
THIS MUCH IS TRUE

I squashed the True bug!

Achievement Unlocked:
OPPOSITES ATTRACT

I make quite a strange match with Jaylath!

Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS

I haven't been very nice!

Achievement Unlocked:
PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY

I returned to the infirmary!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Jaylath and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Jaylath and I agreed on something quite important!

Achievement Unlocked:
BFFs

Jaylath and Destrath made friends!