C'vero and green Mivith
The Road So Far!
It all began at Madellon Weyr for Calveron – a young man of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a green rider.
Calveron was born the son of Nelya, a Headwoman's Second at 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, Calveron struggled with both his modest upbringing as a Weyr child with no rider blood, and his fear that he wasn't dragonrider material.
As a candidate, Calveron 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 Calveron! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Calveron's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Calveron 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 Calveron 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, Calveron 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 Calveron to find it. Despite Calveron'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, Calveron encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Calveron to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Calveron duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.
Southern comfort
Calveron 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 Calveron 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 Calveron some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Calveron 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, Calveron 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, Calveron 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. Calveron 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 Calveron a certain confidence in his own prospects!
Bubbling up
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – proved an irresistable lure for Calveron – as well as the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent him to find for his warming salve. But reluctant to actually get his hands dirty by helping, he sneaked in and stole a bubbly pie right from under the Headwoman's nose!
Pie-more
Calveron certainly indulged his sweet tooth before the Hatching – laying claim to not one, not two, but three different types of bubbly pie Albeit he stole one of them..
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Calveron 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 – Calveron did!
Backhander backfired
Seeking an easy way to slip into the Hatching Ground for an early peek, Calveron encountered H'nar – Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing – on guard at the entrance. It may have seemed like a good idea to offer him a few marks for safe passage – but Calveron hadn't reckoned on H'nar's incorruptible nature. H'nar rejected the money with outrage, and word of Calveron's attempt to bribe him made its way back to the Weyrlingmaster!
A blue lady
Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Calveron offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.
Friend request
Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Calveron 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 Calveron that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Calveron'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!
Wherry bad behaviour
Calveron's assorted instances of bad behaviour finally caught up with him. L'stev collared him in the Bowl and gave him an ultimatum – buck up his ideas, or sit the Hatching out. Calveron chose the former, and the Weyrlingmaster sent him to do penance in the wherry hatchery – though Calveron remained on probation, with one more slip promising to rule him out of standing!
A slithery customer
Early in the day, Calveron 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.
By a stroke of ill luck, Calveron strayed into tunnel snake territory! A huge, aggressive, and potently venomous female tunnel-snake guarded the exit to the Hatching ground. Calveron was lucky to avoid being bitten. But ultimately he evaded the snake, dodging past it and slipping out onto the Hatching Sands.
Having survived his encounter with the snake, Calveron crept closer to the clutch – close enough to notice something very peculiar – an extra, twenty-first egg! Intrigued, he sneaked close enough to examine the strange, yellow, somewhat waxy-looking egg, before beating a hasty retreat from the Hatching Ground.
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Calveron had to wait a little while before the white-swirled grey-beige egg Hatched to reveal the dark emerald-green dragonet who would choose him, naming herself Mivith.
But Mivith was nearly beaten to Calveron by another dragonet – a slender olive-green hatchling who seemed torn between Calveron and Soburn. Sensing that she wasn't the best match for him, Calveron stepped aside to give his friend precedence – resulting in Soburn's Impression of the little green, Aeranth.
Whatever happened to Rielat?
For Rielat, getting on Calveron's bad side proved to be an exceptionally poor choice. Calveron dosed Rielat's clean underfurs with hotfruit before the Hatching, and for once, the admonition to always put on clean underpants turned out to have very negative consequences. It took a little while for the hotfruit to take effect, but by the time the candidates reached the Hatching Sands, Rielat was in considerable distress. Unable to bear the burning sensation in his nether regions, he fled the Hatching Sands – squandering his chance at Impression!
After the Hatching
"Mivith" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Calveron 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 Mivith's first meal. That was Calveron's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Mivith and Aeranth. Soburn also told Calveron that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.
It wasn't long before Mivith's personality started to become evident. The emerald-green dragonet – the largest of her colour – immediately showed her devious and irreverent character, looking for mischief before she'd even left the Sands.
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 Calveron 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. Calveron was proud to introduce Mivith to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Mivith, Calveron gave the Weyrleader his own new name: C'vero, rider of green Mivith!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Mivith's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, C'vero 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
C'vero and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk C'vero had helped during the day greeted him with warm congratulations as he hunted through the throng – but, at last, he found his family.
C'vero's mother, Nelya, was thrilled by her son's Impression – though perhaps not quite as ecstatic as C'vero's younger siblings, Ashi and Halante. As the first dragonrider in the family, C'vero was keenly aware of what it meant to his brother and sister. And when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to C'vero and Mivith, Valonna was particularly delighted for Nelya – one of her most trusted Headwoman Seconds.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for C'vero, 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, C'vero 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 C'vero'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 C'vero 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 Mivith.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks , C'vero 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 C'vero 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, C'vero decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though he did give L'stev his new name.
Returning at last to Mivith – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – C'vero 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 green beside him – C'vero 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 C'vero's new name?
C'vero and Mivith's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
C'vero'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
Mivith and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
SIXTH SENSE
...what did I just see?
Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS
I haven't been very nice!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Mivith and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Mivith and I disagreed on something quite important!