G'nat and blue Tyomath

The Road So Far!

It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Gunnat – a young boy of 14 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.

Gunnat was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Gunnat 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, Gunnat 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 Gunnat becoming a candidate – while conceding that he could spare a younger grandchild. And with Winstone's admonition that he Impress a bronze – or a brown at the very least – ringing in his ears, Gunnat left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.

As a candidate, Gunnat was assigned a bunkmate – Martom, a confident young Weyrbred lad, 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 – Gydeton, the blustering, entitled son of Lord Meturvian of Kellad – who took a firm disliking to Gunnat! Backed up by his crony Varell, Gydeton became the thorn in Gunnat's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Martom and Gunnat on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Gydeton, 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 Gunnat left, Martom – keen to prove himself by Impressing on his first attempt – asked him for help procuring some additional confidence in the form of some alcohol.

The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen

Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Gunnat 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 Gunnat to find it. Despite Gunnat's best efforts, though, he didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.

Weyrbrat by name...

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

A blue lady

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

Friend request

Given Gunnat's age, finding some wine for Martom proved difficult – the Weyr Vintner, Master Saxton, refused to sell it to an underage candidate. His only other alternative was an illicit purchase from the shady figure of Grimes. And L'stev's warning about getting drunk before the Hatching held weight. The Vintner's offering of alcohol-free grape juice gave Gunnat an idea – and offering it to Martom, none the wiser for the substitution, still had the desired effect of boosting his confidence before the Hatching – without any unwanted side-effects!

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Gunnat had to wait a little while before the gleaming blue egg Hatched to reveal the bright indigo-blue dragonet who would choose him, naming himself Tyomath.

A friend in me

And Gunnat wasn't the only lucky one. To his delight, Martom also Impressed, becoming the rider of a bright golden-bronze hatchling, Kauth.

Whatever happened to Gydeton?

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

After the Hatching

"Tyomath" by Emily Holland

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Gunnat 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 Tyomath's first meal. That was Gunnat's first opportunity to speak to Martom, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Tyomath and Kauth. Martom also told Gunnat that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – M'tom.

It wasn't long before Tyomath's personality started to become evident. The big indigo-blue dragonet, the largest of his colour, showed his alert and serious nature from the beginning, demonstrating a high degree of focus for a blue.

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 Gunnat and M'tom 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. Gunnat was proud to introduce Tyomath to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Tyomath, Gunnat gave the Weyrleader his own new name: G'nat, rider of blue Tyomath!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Tyomath's and Kauth's newborn itchiness, G'nat and M'tom 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

G'nat and M'tom soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk G'nat 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, G'nat'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 G'nat's behalf, but the damage to his relationship with his grandfather was done.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for G'nat, 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, G'nat 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 G'nat'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 G'nat 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 Tyomath.

A close encounter

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

Returning at last to Tyomath – billeted between M'tom's Kauth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – G'nat 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 – G'nat 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?

Find out more about Gunnat's Impression here. G'nat and Tyomath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

G'nat'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

Tyomath and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS

I haven't been very nice!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Tyomath and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE

Tyomath and I disagreed on something quite important!