N'var and brown Heliath
The Road So Far!
It all began at the Harperhall at Kellad Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Kalnivar – a young boy of 15 Turns, dreaming of becoming a brown rider.
Kalnivar was born the son of two Harpers at the Southern Harperhall, Kellad Hold. Surrounded by music, he was apprenticed to the Craft when he came of age. But he never excelled in any discipline, and it seemed as if an unremarkable career as a mid-level journeyman likely lay ahead for him. And then, in early 102, J'kel – a dragonrider of Madellon Weyr – came to Kellad Hold in search of candidates for the new clutch hardening on the Sands of Madellon Weyr. Kalnivar caught the attention of J'kel's blue Hozrath. And a sevenday later, Kalnivar arrived at Madellon Weyr, joining the candidate pool for senior queen Shimpath's first clutch by her new mate Muzzanth.
As a candidate, Kalnivar was assigned a bunkmate – Martom, a confident young Weyrbred lad, 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 – Gydeton, the blustering, entitled son of Lord Meturvian of Kellad – who took a firm disliking to Kalnivar! Backed up by his crony Varell, Gydeton became the thorn in Kalnivar's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Martom and Kalnivar on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Gydeton, 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 Kalnivar left, Martom – keen to prove himself by Impressing on his first attempt – asked him for help procuring some additional confidence in the form of some alcohol.
The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen
Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Kalnivar 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 Kalnivar to find it. The quest took Kalnivar 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, Kalnivar encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Kalnivar to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Kalnivar 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, Kalnivar offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Kalnivar encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Kalnivar – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
Southern comfort
Kalnivar 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 Kalnivar 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 Kalnivar some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Kalnivar 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, Kalnivar 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, Kalnivar 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.
A rising problem
Kalnivar 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. Kalnivar'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.
A Harper born
Kalnivar's Harper training came in handy when Carleah, the Weyr Singer, asked him to play a set with her ensemble in the dining hall. They played to a rapturous reception that gave Kalnivar's confidence – and his mark purse – quite a boost!
Kitchen diplomacy
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Kalnivar with the opportunity to show off his work ethic before the Hatching. A round of chores duly pleased Crauva, albeit cut short, literally, by the slip of a knife that sent Kalnivar to the infirmary with a slice to be stitched up. And the kitchen was also the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Kalnivar 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 Kalnivar 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 – Kalnivar did!
Weyrbrat by name...
A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Gydeton had paid to cause Kalnivar trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Kalnivar gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for his reputation!
A blue lady
Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Kalnivar offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.
Hair today
Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Kalnivar visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of his dignity, Kalnivar ensured he came away with a cut he actually liked.
A breath of foul air
Early in the day, Kalnivar found out about a secret way into the Hatching Ground via storeroom that might allow him 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, he crawled into a confusing maze of passages. The route he chose turned out to be thick with choking toxic fumes from Madellon's volcanic foundation, and Kalnivar soon found himself struggling for breath.
Undeterred, Kalnivar pushed through the discomfort, and emerged shortly onto the Hatching Sands. But he wasn't quiet enough. Shimpath, dozing only very lightly, awoke, and she and Muzzanth chased Kalnivar from the Sands!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Kalnivar had an excruciatingly long wait before the very large dark grey egg Hatched to reveal the deep turned-earth brown dragonet who would choose him, naming himself Heliath.
A friend bereft
But to Kalnivar's dismay, Martom wasn't as fortunate. No dragonet showed an interest in him, and he was left among the candidates remaining unmatched at the end of the Hatching.
Whatever happened to Gydeton?
Quite simply, none of the dragonets seemed to want Gydeton – he was left standing. Although Kalnivar did wonder if his own deep turned-earth brown Heliath might have glanced, however briefly, in Gydeton's direction, and what might have been had he not chosen him...
After the Hatching
"Heliath" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Kalnivar on his Impression, but it was J'kel, thrilled that Hozrath had finally found a successful candidate after so long without, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Heliath's first meal. That was the first moment Kalnivar had truly grasped that Martom wasn't going to be a weyrling alongside him – a truth that hit hard. In Martom's absence, Chiliam – the highborn lad from Kellad, who'd Impressed a dusty-brown dragonet, Destrath, and who now styled himself Ch'liam – was a welcome friendly face.
It wasn't long before Heliath's personality started to become evident. The substantial dark-brown dragonet – chunkier than any other hatchling – had a stolid, non-nonsense character to match, speaking his mind without hesitation or tact.
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 Kalnivar and Ch'liam 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. Kalnivar was proud to introduce Heliath to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Heliath, Kalnivar gave the Weyrleader his own new name: N'var, rider of brown Heliath!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Heliath's and Destrath's newborn itchiness, N'var and Ch'liam 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
N'var and Ch'liam soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk N'var had helped during the day greeted him with warm congratulations as he hunted through the throng – but, at last, he found his family.
N'var's Harper parents were absolutely delighted to find themselves the mother and father of a brown rider and happier still to learn that N'var had already brought his musical skills to the Weyr. And they were even more delighted to drink to N'var and Heliath when the Weyrleaders arrived to toast them!
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for N'var, 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, N'var 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 N'var'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 N'var 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 Heliath.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks (by way of the infirmary, as ordered by Tarshe), N'var 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 N'var 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, N'var decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though he did give L'stev his new name.
Returning at last to Heliath – billeted between Ch'liam's Destrath and a bright bronze dragonet – N'var 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 – N'var 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 N'var's new name?
N'var and Heliath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
N'var'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:
APOSTROPHE NOW
I love the smell of elision in the morning!
Achievement Unlocked:
DEED POLL
I changed my name by choice!
Achievement Unlocked:
CEASE AND DESIST
I prevented legal difficulties by changing my name!
Achievement Unlocked:
ONE STEVE LIMIT
I avoided duplicating a Dragonchoice character's name!
Achievement Unlocked:
THEY'RE DEAD, DAVE
I changed my name to respect the deceased!
Achievement Unlocked:
COMPUTER SAYS NO
I changed my name from something unacceptable!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Heliath and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
INSULT TO INJURY
I Impressed the dragon that my rival coveted!
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
Heliath and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Heliath and I agreed on something quite important!
Achievement Unlocked:
ENEMY MINE
Heliath and Sespanath took against each other!