V'ter and brown Cicutath

The Road So Far!

It all began at Madellon Weyr for Vanter – a young man of 16 Turns, dreaming of becoming a brown rider.

Vanter was born the son of Wingleader R'yeno and green rider Evie of Madellon Weyr. While he didn't have to be Searched, he 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, Vanter wrestled with the fear that he wouldn't live up to his rider parents' expectations a second time.

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

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Vanter 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 Vanter 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, Vanter 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 Vanter to find it. Despite Vanter's best efforts, though, he didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.

Respecting his elders

In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Vanter encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Vanter to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Vanter 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, Vanter offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Vanter encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Vanter – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!

Southern comfort

Vanter 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 Vanter 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 Vanter some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Vanter unravelled Archidath's confusing suggestions and got the right packages to the right dragons – without being growled at!

Kitchen diplomacy

Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Vanter 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 Vanter to find for his warming salve.

A shining example

Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Vanter was quick to offer assistance to his rider, T'rello. It couldn't hurt to have some close-up experience with a bronze, could it?

Friend request

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

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Vanter didn't have to wait too long for his date with destiny. The grey-mottled tan egg Hatched out a cool dusty-brown dragonet who told Vanter his name was Cicutath.

A friend in me

And Vanter 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?

Sadly, there was at least one fly in the numbweed. Rielat Impressed an impressively proportioned indigo-blue hatchling, making them Vanter and Cicutath's new classmates. (On the bright side, at least Kestor didn't Impress!)

After the Hatching

"Cicutath" by Chris S. Baily

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Vanter on his Impression, but it was old S'rius, delighted to have found yet another weyrling, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Cicutath's first meal. That was Vanter's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Cicutath and Aeranth. Soburn also told Vanter that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.

It wasn't long before Cicutath's personality started to become evident. The dusty-brown dragonet, while neither the largest nor the most handsome of his colour, proved to make up for both with his calm and helpful character immediately endearing him to all around.

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 Vanter made along the way – a young Holdbred candidate, Nichen, whom Vanter had encountered in a hopelessly dishevelled state directly before the Hatching – hailed Vanter at the barracks – crediting him with his successful Impression of a moon-blue dragonet, Yooth!

Meeting the Weyrleader

As Vanter 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. Vanter was proud to introduce Cicutath to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Cicutath, Vanter gave the Weyrleader his own new name: V'ter, rider of brown Cicutath!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Cicutath's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, V'ter 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

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

R'yeno and Evie couldn't have been happier to greet their son as a brown rider for the first time . And when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to V'ter and Cicutath, R'yeno was delighted to embarrass his son by insinuating that Gryth would be stiffer competition to Muzzanth in Shimpath's next flight.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for V'ter, 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, V'ter 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 V'ter'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 V'ter 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 Cicutath.

A close encounter

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

Returning at last to Cicutath – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a bright bronze dragonet – V'ter 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 brown beside him – V'ter 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?

V'ter and Cicutath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

V'ter'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

Cicutath and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE

I've been a very nice person (so far)!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Cicutath and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Cicutath and I agreed on something quite important!