Le'nox and brown Actinith
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Lennox – a young man of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a brown rider.
Lennox was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Lennox 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, Lennox 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 Lennox becoming a candidate – displeased that such a opportunity would ruin his plans for Lennox's betrothal to a niece of Lord Orfen's. But he grudgingly accepted that, as Lennox had his majority, he had the right to accept Search. And with Winstone's admonition that he Impress a bronze – or a brown at the very least – ringing in his ears, Lennox left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.
As a candidate, Lennox 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 Lennox! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Lennox's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Lennox 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 Lennox 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, Lennox 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 Lennox to find it. The quest took Lennox all over Madellon, from kitchens to lake to infirmary – but in the end he succeeded in reuniting the Weyrwoman's jewellery set, to general acclaim.
Respecting his elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Lennox encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Lennox to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Lennox 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, Lennox offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Lennox encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Lennox – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
Southern comfort
Lennox 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 Lennox 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 Lennox some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Lennox 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, Lennox met his 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, Lennox 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. Lennox even shared the largesse with Zielaph, who then introduced him to Fr'ton – who, having Impressed a bronze in spite of his less than boundless promise, gave Lennox a certain confidence in his own prospects!
Kitchen diplomacy
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Lennox 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 Lennox to find for his warming salve.
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Lennox expressed an interested in looking up some Weyr records, Tarshe offered him the loan of a glowbasket – on the proviso that he return it afterwards. Which – mindful of not offending such an important personage of the Weyr – Lennox did!
A blue lady
Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Lennox offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.
Friend request
Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Lennox 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 Lennox that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Lennox'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!
Hair today
Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Lennox visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of his dignity, Lennox ensured he came away with a cut he actually liked.
A breath of foul air
Setting aside his petty rivalry with Rielat in the face of a genuine emergency, Lennox set about getting Rielat to safety. And on crawling out onto the Hatching Ground, half suffocated himself, he raised the alarm with the Weyrleader before being overcome by the ordeal, and fainting there on the sand.
Lennox woke in the infirmary, and while the Weyrleader and Weyrlingmaster questioned him sternly about his adventures, the fact that Lennox had certainly saved Rielat's life counted in his favour, despite having disobeyed the order not to go meddling in the tunnels.
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Lennox didn't have to wait too long for his date with destiny. The unassuming grey-green egg Hatched out a deep russet-brown dragonet who told Lennox his name was Actinith.
A friend in me
And Lennox wasn't the only lucky one. To his delight, Soburn also Impressed, becoming the rider of a slender olive-green hatchling, Aeranth.
After the Hatching
"Actinith" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Lennox 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 Actinith's first meal. That was Lennox's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Actinith and Aeranth. Soburn also told Lennox that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.
It wasn't long before Actinith's personality started to become evident. The little russet-brown dragonet proved unusually quiet, speaking only seldom, and showing a strong preference for his own company – and his rider's.
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 Lennox 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. Lennox was proud to introduce Actinith to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Actinith, Lennox gave the Weyrleader his own new name: Le'nox, rider of brown Actinith!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Actinith's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, Le'nox 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
Le'nox and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Le'nox 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, Le'nox's grandfather, was grudgingly satisfied with Actinith's colour, if clearly disappointed that his grandson hadn't managed to Impress a bronze – a criticism that the Weyrleaders were quick to cut short in their toast to Le'nox and Actinith.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Le'nox, 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, Le'nox 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 Le'nox's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She cleared up an anomaly with his new name, too. She offered Le'nox some advice about paying attention to his new classmates and surroundings, lest he fall foul of the Weyrlingmaster's penchant for snap quizzes, advised him to report to Master Isnan before returning to the barracks to get his injuries checked again, and made some observations on Actinith.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks (by way of the infirmary, as ordered by Tarshe), Le'nox 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 Le'nox 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, Le'nox decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though he did give L'stev his new name.
Returning at last to Actinith – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – Le'nox 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 – Le'nox 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 Le'nox's new name?
Find out more about Lennox's Impression here. Le'nox and Actinith's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Le'nox'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:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Actinith and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE
I've been a very nice person (so far)!
Achievement Unlocked:
PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY
I returned to the infirmary!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Actinith and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Actinith and I disagreed on something quite important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BFFs
Actinith and Destrath made friends!