R'gar and blue Apiath

The Road So Far!

It all began at the Harperhall at Kellad Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Ragar – a young man of 18 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.

Ragar was born the son of two Harpers at the Southern Harperhall, Kellad Hold. Surrounded by music, he was apprenticed to the Craft when he came of age. But he never excelled in any discipline, and it seemed as if an unremarkable career as a mid-level journeyman likely lay ahead for him. And then, in early 102, J'kel – a dragonrider of Madellon Weyr – came to Kellad Hold in search of candidates for the new clutch hardening on the Sands of Madellon Weyr. Ragar caught the attention of J'kel's blue Hozrath. And a sevenday later, Ragar arrived at Madellon Weyr, joining the candidate pool for senior queen Shimpath's first clutch by her new mate Muzzanth.

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

Hatching Day

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

Pie denied

Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – proved an irresistable lure for Ragar – as well as the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent him to find for his warming salve. But reluctant to actually get his hands dirty by helping, he tried to sneak a pie – and got caught. Crauva's fire-lizard, Miggsy, sounded the alert, and Crauva sent him packing!

Eggs and baskets

A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Ragar 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, Ragar didn't bring it back – earning the Weyrwoman Second's ire!

A blue lady

Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Ragar offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.

Friend request

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

Early in the day, Ragar 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, Ragar strayed into tunnel snake territory! A huge, aggressive, and potently venomous female tunnel-snake guarded the exit to the Hatching ground. Ragar was lucky to avoid being bitten. But ultimately he evaded the snake, dodging past it and slipping out onto the Hatching Sands.

Having survived his encounter with the snake, Ragar crept closer to the clutch – close enough to touch an egg – before beating a hasty retreat from the Hatching Ground!

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Ragar didn't have to wait too long for his date with destiny. The grey-swirled silvery cream egg Hatched out a very pale moon-blue dragonet who told Ragar his name was Apiath.

A friend in me

And Ragar 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 didn't turn up for the pre-Hatching muster, and – Ragar's own suspicions notwithstanding – L'stev guessed that he had probably got himself lost trying to sneak into the Hatching Ground through the dangerous ventilation tunnels. Fortunately – Ragar supposed – Weyrlingmaster A'len located the missing candidate, but too late for Rielat, who having been found unconscious, was promptly invalided out of standing!

After the Hatching

"Apiath" by Chris S. Baily

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Ragar on his Impression, but it was J'kel, thrilled that Hozrath had finally found a successful candidate after so long without, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Apiath's first meal. That was Ragar's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Apiath and Aeranth. Soburn also told Ragar that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.

It wasn't long before Apiath's personality started to become evident. The moon-blue dragonet, while seemingly reluctant to even leave his egg, showed glimmers of a curiously perceptive and knowing mind beneath his apparent laziness.

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 Ragar 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. Ragar was proud to introduce Apiath to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Apiath, Ragar gave the Weyrleader his own new name: R'gar, rider of blue Apiath!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Apiath's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, R'gar 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

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

R'gar's Harper parents were absolutely delighted to find themselves the mother and father of a blue rider - even though it meant he would be leaving the Harpercraft for good. And they were even more delighted to drink to R'gar and Apiath when the Weyrleaders arrived to toast them!

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for R'gar, 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, R'gar 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 R'gar'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 R'gar 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 Apiath.

A close encounter

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

Returning at last to Apiath – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – R'gar 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 – R'gar 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?

R'gar and Apiath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

R'gar'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

Apiath and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Apiath and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE

Apiath and I disagreed on something quite important!