Adrienne and green Dunaliath
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Adrienne – a young girl of 13 Turns, dreaming of becoming a green rider.
Adrienne was born to unusual privilege – a granddaughter of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Adrienne 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, Adrienne 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 Adrienne becoming a candidate – while conceding that he could spare a younger grandchild. And with Winstone's admonition that she should remember her place as his granddaughter and not make a scene ringing in her ears, Adrienne left to begin her candidacy at Madellon Weyr.
As a candidate, Adrienne was assigned a bunkmate – Jopha, a mischievous young Weyrbred girl prone to getting herself into trouble, 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 – Thippia, a foul-mouthed girl from the Seacraft – who took a firm disliking to Adrienne! Backed up by her crony Berrin, Thippia became the thorn in Adrienne's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Jopha and Adrienne on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Thippia, 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 Adrienne left, Jopha – whose Impression robe was sadly overlarge for her petite frame – recruited Adrienne's help in getting it adjusted by her nemesis Shookana in the mending room.
The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen
Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Adrienne 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 Adrienne to find it. Despite Adrienne's best efforts, though, she didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.
Kitchen diplomacy
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Adrienne with the opportunity to show off her work ethic before the Hatching. A round of chores duly pleased Crauva.
A shining example
Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Adrienne was quick to offer assistance to his rider, T'rello. Perhaps Adrienne was never going to Impress a bronze – but it couldn't hurt to have some hands-on experience!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Adrienne had to wait for every other dragonet to Hatch and choose a rider before the pearlescently pink egg Hatched to reveal the deep bottle-green hatchling who would choose her, naming herself Dunaliath.
A friend bereft
But to Adrienne's dismay, Jopha wasn't as fortunate. No dragonet showed an interest in her, and she was left among the candidates remaining unmatched at the end of the Hatching.
Whatever happened to Thippia?
Sadly, there was at least one fly in the numbweed. Thippia Impressed a very vocal mint-green hatchling, making them Adrienne and Dunaliath's new classmates. (On the bright side, at least Berrin didn't Impress!)
After the Hatching
"Dunaliath" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Adrienne on her Impression, but it was Garlan, delighted that her risky choice of Winstone's granddaughter had Impressed, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Dunaliath's first meal. That was the first moment Adrienne had truly grasped that Jopha wasn't going to be a weyrling alongside her – a truth that hit hard. In Jopha's absence, Arina, who'd Impressed a cloudy-green dragonet, Chanth – was a welcome friendly face.
It wasn't long before Dunaliath's personality started to become evident. The bottle-green dragonet – by some margin the smallest hatchling of the clutch – had a nervous and wary personality to match, startling at everything and everyone.
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 Adrienne and Arina 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. Adrienne was proud to introduce Dunaliath to the Weyrleader – and to give him her full new name: Adrienne, rider of green Dunaliath!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Dunaliath's and Chanth's newborn itchiness, Adrienne and Arina 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
Adrienne and Arina soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Adrienne had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
Lord Winstone, Adrienne's grandfather, was faint with his praise for his granddaughter's Impression of Dunaliath – suggesting that she should have waited for a chance at a queen. The Weyrleaders were swift to insist that Impressing any dragon was a great achievement!
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Adrienne, 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, Adrienne 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 Adrienne'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 Adrienne 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 Dunaliath.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks , Adrienne 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 Adrienne 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, Adrienne decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Dunaliath – billeted between Arina's Chanth and a pretty blue-green dragonet – Adrienne 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 – Adrienne 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?
Adrienne and Dunaliath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Adrienne'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:
OPPOSITES ATTRACT
I make quite a strange match with Dunaliath!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Dunaliath and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Dunaliath and I agreed on something quite important!