Pr’nne and blue Cadetiath
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Perianne – a young woman of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.
Perianne was born the daughter of a modest cotholder at Jessaf Hold, working alongside her widowed father to work their allotted land, and help bring up her young twin siblings, Albon and Gettie. And in early 102, when a green rider, N'jol, and his Kistrith came to Jessaf in search of candidates for Madellon Weyr's hardening clutch, Perianne didn't even present herself as a hopeful. Yet it was Perianne that Kistrith singled out among all those young people. She almost didn't accept Search – anxious not to abandon her father. But he insisted, revealing that his late wife, Perianne's mother, had always dreamed of being a dragonrider – and gifting Perianne with her blue feather pendant as a lucky charm.
As a candidate, Perianne 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 Perianne! Backed up by her crony Cedranne, Auciet became the thorn in Perianne's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Erilde and Perianne 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 Perianne 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, Perianne 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 Perianne to find it. Despite Perianne's best efforts, though, she didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.
A rising problem
Perianne 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. Perianne'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 Perianne did annoy Soleigh, who wasn't impressed with her for prolonging Maris' binge by bringing her more wine!
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Perianne 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. Which – mindful of not offending such an important personage of the Weyr – Perianne did!
A blue lady
Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Perianne 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 Perianne didn't want to pass up.
Friend request
Seeking knowledge of Erilde's parentage, Perianne 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 Perianne might construct a story about a long-dead rider. Perianne 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!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Perianne 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 her, naming himself Cadetiath.
A friend in me
And Perianne wasn't the only lucky one. To her delight, Erilde also Impressed, becoming the rider of an inquisitive teal-green hatchling, Shaldeth.
Whatever happened to Auciet?
Sadly, there was at least one fly in the numbweed. Auciet Impressed an unusually aggressive grass-green hatchling, making them Perianne and Cadetiath's new classmates. (On the bright side, at least Cedranne didn't Impress!)
After the Hatching
"Cadetiath" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Perianne on her Impression, but it was N'jol, delighted that his most humble candidate had Impressed, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Cadetiath's first meal. That was Perianne's first opportunity to speak to Erilde, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Cadetiath and Shaldeth.
It wasn't long before Cadetiath'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 sister
Another friend Perianne made along the way – a young Weyrbred candidate, Brithie, whom Perianne had encountered in a sudden crisis of confidence directly before the Hatching – hailed Perianne at the barracks – crediting her with her successful Impression of a tiny bottle-green dragonet, Epatanth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Perianne 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 in particular to remark upon Perianne's unusual Impression of a blue. T'gat further enquired if Perianne would like to elide her name, as T'gala had done, or not. Perianne took up the opportunity to rename herself, and after a brief conference with Cadetiath, Perianne gave the Weyrleader her new name – Pr’nne, rider of blue Cadetiath!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Cadetiath's and Shaldeth's newborn itchiness, Pr’nne 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
Pr’nne and Erilde soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Pr’nne had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
Pr’nne's father almost couldn't believe his daughter's good fortune, completely thrilled to be the father of a dragonrider. And he was even more starstruck when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to Pr’nne and Cadetiath.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Pr’nne, 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, Pr’nne 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 Pr’nne's background with her – including much of what she had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She cleared up an anomaly with her new name, too. She offered Pr’nne 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 Cadetiath.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks , Pr’nne 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 Pr’nne 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, Pr’nne decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though she did give L'stev her new name.
Returning at last to Cadetiath – billeted between Erilde's Shaldeth and a very large green dragonet – Pr’nne 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 blue beside her – Pr’nne 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 Pr’nne's new name?
Pr’nne and Cadetiath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Pr’nne'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:
DEED POLL
I changed my name by choice!
Achievement Unlocked:
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Cadetiath and I make a very strong match!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Cadetiath and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Cadetiath and I agreed on something quite important!