Ch'rath and blue Roquath
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Chirath – a young man of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.
Chirath was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Chirath 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, Chirath 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 Chirath becoming a candidate – displeased that such a opportunity would ruin his plans for Chirath's betrothal to a niece of Lord Orfen's. But he grudgingly accepted that, as Chirath 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, Chirath left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.
As a candidate, Chirath 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 Chirath! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Chirath's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Chirath 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 Chirath 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, Chirath 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 Chirath to find it. The quest took Chirath 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, Chirath encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Chirath to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Chirath 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, Chirath offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Chirath encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Chirath – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
A Masterful order
In the dining hall, Chirath 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, Chirath 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. Chirath 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 Chirath a certain confidence in his own prospects!
A rising problem
Chirath 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. Chirath'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 Chirath 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 Chirath 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 Chirath 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 Chirath 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 – Chirath did!
A blue lady
Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Chirath offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.
Friend request
Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Chirath 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 Chirath that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Chirath'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, Chirath visited Madellon's resident barber, Z'fell, for a trim. But he fell foul of the green rider's perverse sense of humour, and came away with a curious cut – short on top, long at the back – that prompted quite a number of odd looks and laughs at his expense!
A Weyrleader's mercy
Early in the day, Chirath 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 Chirath safely to ground level.
Realising that honesty was the best policy, Chirath 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 Chirath the Weyrleader's permission to approach the clutch. He touched one of the eggs, marvelling at its palpable vitality. And something about the green-clouded blue egg made him feel strangely certain that he would Impress later that day.
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Chirath had to wait for every other dragonet to Hatch and choose a rider before the green-clouded blue egg Hatched to reveal the dark steel-blue hatchling who would choose him, naming himself Roquath.
A friend in me
And Chirath 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 – Chirath'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 – Chirath 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
"Roquath" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Chirath 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 Roquath's first meal. That was Chirath's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Roquath and Aeranth. Soburn also told Chirath that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.
It wasn't long before Roquath's personality started to become evident. The dark blue dragonet, among the smallest of his colour, turned out to be of an endearingly shy and modest character, rather requiring of encouragement.
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 Chirath made along the way – a young Holdbred candidate, Nichen, whom Chirath had encountered in a hopelessly dishevelled state directly before the Hatching – hailed Chirath at the barracks – crediting him with his successful Impression of a moon-blue dragonet, Yooth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Chirath 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. Chirath was proud to introduce Roquath to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Roquath, Chirath gave the Weyrleader his own new name: Ch'rath, rider of blue Roquath!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Roquath's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, Ch'rath 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
Ch'rath and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Ch'rath 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, Ch'rath'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 Ch'rath's behalf, but the damage to his relationship with his grandfather was done.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Ch'rath, 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, Ch'rath 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 Ch'rath'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 Ch'rath 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 Roquath.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks , Ch'rath 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 Ch'rath 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, Ch'rath decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Roquath – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – Ch'rath 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 – Ch'rath 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?
Ch'rath and Roquath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Ch'rath'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
Roquath and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED
I pre-Impressed Roquath by touching his egg before the Hatching!
Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE
I've been a very nice person (so far)!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Roquath and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Roquath and I disagreed on something quite important!