Kevara and green Dalanth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Madellon Weyr for Keva – a young woman of 16 Turns, dreaming of becoming a green rider.
Keva was born the daughter of Nelya, a Headwoman's Second at Madellon Weyr. While she didn't have to be Searched, she was 'given the nod' as a likely dragonrider by the Weyr's most senior retired Search pair – S'rius and his elderly blue Padseth. Having been left standing at a Hatching once before, Keva struggled with both her modest upbringing as a Weyr child with no rider blood, and her fear that she wasn't dragonrider material.
As a candidate, Keva was assigned a bunkmate – Erilde, a quiet young woman from the Lower Caverns fearing a second unsuccessful Hatching, who would soon become her closest friend in the Weyr. She also got to know many of her fellow candidates, including the Weyrbred twins Leover and Leoguy; Zielaph, the nephew of a Madellon bronze rider; and Arina, a level-headed young woman from Jessaf who'd stood at the previous Hatching.
But she also made an enemy – Auciet, a snobby and superior Holdbred girl – who took a firm disliking to Keva! Backed up by her crony Cedranne, Auciet became the thorn in Keva's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Erilde and Keva on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Auciet, 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 Keva left, Erilde asked her to make enquiries about any dragonrider heritage she herself might possess, to give her confidence a boost before the Hatching.
The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen
Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Keva 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 Keva to find it. Despite Keva's best efforts, though, she didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.
Respecting her elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Keva encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Keva to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Keva 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, Keva offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Keva encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Keva – especially after she solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
Southern comfort
Keva met G'kalte – a brown rider and Wingsecond, not to mention Weyrwoman Valonna's weyrmate – in the Bowl, and was quickly recruited by him to help with a diplomatic matter. G'kalte had been tasked with delivering two gifts from Valonna to her Southern counterpart Weyrwoman Karika – but he'd been summoned away to collect his own grandmother, Lady Coffleby, for the Hatching.
He asked Keva to figure out which of the seven Southern dragons visiting Madellon were the correct pair to hand over Karika's gifts. And while G'kalte's brown, Archidath, offered Keva some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Keva unravelled Archidath's confusing suggestions and got the right packages to the right dragons – without being growled at!
A Masterful order
In the dining hall, Keva met her 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, Keva 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. Keva even shared the largesse with Zielaph, who then introduced her to Fr'ton – who, having Impressed a bronze in spite of his less than boundless promise, gave Keva a certain confidence in her own prospects!
A rising problem
Keva 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. And while Keva did manage to get G'tron excluded from the flight – not to mention another blue rider, G'pellas, who was needed in the Harper ensemble – she still ultimately failed to reconcile the star-crossed green riding lovers!
Bubbling up
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – proved an irresistable lure for Keva – as well as the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent her to find for his warming salve. But reluctant to actually get her hands dirty by helping, she sneaked in and stole a bubbly pie right from under the Headwoman's nose!
Pie-more
Keva certainly indulged her sweet tooth before the Hatching – laying claim to not one, not two, but three different types of bubbly pie Albeit she stole one of them..
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Keva expressed an interested in looking up some Weyr records, Tarshe offered her the loan of a glowbasket – on the proviso that she return it afterwards. But with one thing and another, Keva 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, Keva offered her assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted. Getting some first-hand advice about what it took for T'gala to Impress a blue dragon was an opportunity Keva didn't want to pass up.
Friend request
Seeking knowledge of Erilde's parentage, Keva visited the Weyr's Archives and sought advice from Weyrwoman Tarshe, the Weyrwoman Second. While Tarshe could find no evidence that Erilde's father had been a dragonrider, she suggested Keva might construct a story about a long-dead rider. Keva delved into Madellon's records and unearthed a brown rider, B'get, deceased some Turns ago, but of the right age to have fathered her friend. Bringing this plausible white lie to Erilde may have been a tad devious – but it had the desired effect on her belief that she could, in fact, possess the ability to Impress a dragon!
A slithery customer
Early in the day, Keva found out about a secret way into the Hatching Ground via storeroom that might allow her 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, she crawled into a confusing maze of passages.
By a stroke of ill luck, Keva strayed into tunnel snake territory! A huge, aggressive, and potently venomous female tunnel-snake guarded the exit to the Hatching ground. Keva was lucky to avoid being bitten. But ultimately she evaded the snake, dodging past it and slipping out onto the Hatching Sands.
Having survived her encounter with the snake, Keva crept closer to the clutch – close enough to touch an egg – before beating a hasty retreat from the Hatching Ground! And something about the white-swirled grey-beige egg made her feel strangely certain that she would Impress later that day.
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Keva had to wait a little while before the white-swirled grey-beige egg Hatched to reveal the dark emerald-green dragonet who would choose her, naming herself Dalanth.
But Dalanth was nearly beaten to Keva by another dragonet – an inquisitive teal-green hatchling who seemed torn between Keva and Erilde. Sensing that she wasn't the best match for her, Keva stepped aside to give Erilde precedence – resulting in her Impression of the little green, Shaldeth.
Whatever happened to Auciet?
Auciet didn't turn up for the pre-Hatching muster, and – Keva's own suspicions notwithstanding – L'stev guessed that she had probably got herself lost trying to sneak into the Hatching Ground through the dangerous ventilation tunnels. Fortunately – Keva supposed – Weyrlingmaster A'len located the missing candidate, but too late for Auciet, who having been found unconscious, was promptly invalided out of standing!
After the Hatching
"Dalanth" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Keva on her Impression, but it was old S'rius, delighted to have found yet another weyrling, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Dalanth's first meal. That was Keva's first opportunity to speak to Erilde, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Dalanth and Shaldeth.
It wasn't long before Dalanth's personality started to become evident. The emerald-green dragonet – the largest of her colour – immediately showed her devious and irreverent character, looking for mischief before she'd even left the Sands.
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 sister
Another friend Keva made along the way – a young Weyrbred candidate, Brithie, whom Keva had encountered in a sudden crisis of confidence directly before the Hatching – hailed Keva at the barracks – crediting her with her successful Impression of a tiny bottle-green dragonet, Epatanth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Keva and Erilde wiped the worst of the blood and sand from their tired new dragonets, the Weyrleader, T'gat, came to inspect both girls' dragonets and to ask after their names. Keva was proud to introduce Dalanth to the Weyrleader – and to give him her full new name: Kevara, rider of green Dalanth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Dalanth's and Shaldeth's newborn itchiness, Kevara and Erilde headed into the girls' 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
Kevara and Erilde soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Kevara had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
Kevara's mother, Nelya, was thrilled by her daughter's Impression – though perhaps not quite as ecstatic as Kevara's younger siblings, Ashi and Halante. As the first dragonrider in the family, Kevara was keenly aware of what it meant to her brother and sister. And when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to Kevara and Dalanth, Valonna was particularly delighted for Nelya – one of her most trusted Headwoman Seconds.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Kevara, 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, Kevara was flagged down by a Weyrbrat, Emry, bringing the message that Weyrwoman Second Tarshe wanted to see her in the Archives.
Setting the record straight
Tarshe, tasked by the Weyrwoman with converting candidate documentation into weyrling records, went through Kevara's background with her – including much of what she had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She offered Kevara some advice about paying attention to her new classmates and surroundings, lest she fall foul of the Weyrlingmaster's penchant for snap quizzes, and made some observations on Dalanth.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks , Kevara 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 Kevara would later realise was firestone, who called her by name – and gave her a curious wooden box.
"The Watchful Queen" by Chris S. Baily
Back at the barracks, Kevara decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Dalanth – billeted between Erilde's Shaldeth and a pale green dragonet – Kevara was too tired to examine the strange wooden box very closely, and put it in her clothes' chest for later examination. But even as she went to sleep – a dragonrider at last, her green beside her – Kevara 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?
Kevara and Dalanth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Kevara'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:
ONE STEVE LIMIT
I avoided duplicating a Dragonchoice character's name!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Dalanth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED
I pre-Impressed Dalanth by touching her egg before the Hatching!
Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE
I've been a very nice person (so far)!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Dalanth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Dalanth and I disagreed on something quite important!