H'tiro and brown Haistulth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Hadatiro – a young boy of 15 Turns, dreaming of becoming a brown rider.
Hadatiro was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Hadatiro 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, Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro becoming a candidate – while conceding that he could spare a younger grandchild. And with Winstone's admonition that he Impress a bronze – or a brown at the very least – ringing in his ears, Hadatiro left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.
As a candidate, Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro! Backed up by his crony Varell, Gydeton became the thorn in Hadatiro's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Martom and Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro 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, Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro to find it. The quest took Hadatiro 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, Hadatiro encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Hadatiro to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Hadatiro 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, Hadatiro offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Hadatiro encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Hadatiro – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
Southern comfort
Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Hadatiro 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, Hadatiro 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, Hadatiro 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. Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro a certain confidence in his own prospects!
A rising problem
Hadatiro 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. Hadatiro'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.
Kitchen diplomacy
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro 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 Hadatiro 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 – Hadatiro did!
A shining example
Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Hadatiro 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
Given Hadatiro's age, finding some wine for Martom proved difficult – the Weyr Vintner, Master Saxton, refused to sell it to an underage candidate. His only other alternative was an illicit purchase from the shady figure of Grimes. And L'stev's warning about getting drunk before the Hatching held weight. The Vintner's offering of alcohol-free grape juice gave Hadatiro an idea – and offering it to Martom, none the wiser for the substitution, still had the desired effect of boosting his confidence before the Hatching – without any unwanted side-effects!
Hair today
Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Hadatiro visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of his dignity, Hadatiro ensured he came away with a cut he actually liked.
Wherry bad behaviour
Hadatiro'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. Hadatiro chose the former, and the Weyrlingmaster sent him to do penance in the wherry hatchery – though Hadatiro remained on probation, with one more slip promising to rule him out of standing!
A slithery customer
Early in the day, Hadatiro 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, Hadatiro strayed into tunnel snake territory! A huge, aggressive, and potently venomous female tunnel-snake guarded the exit to the Hatching ground. Hadatiro 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, Hadatiro crept closer to the clutch – close enough to touch an egg – before beating a hasty retreat from the Hatching Ground!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Hadatiro 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 Haistulth.
A friend in me
And Hadatiro wasn't the only lucky one. To his delight, Martom also Impressed, becoming the rider of a bright golden-bronze hatchling, Kauth.
Whatever happened to Gydeton?
Quite simply, none of the dragonets seemed to want Gydeton – he was left standing. Although Hadatiro did wonder if his own deep turned-earth brown Haistulth might have glanced, however briefly, in Gydeton's direction, and what might have been had he not chosen him...
After the Hatching
"Haistulth" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Hadatiro 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 Haistulth's first meal. That was Hadatiro's first opportunity to speak to Martom, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Haistulth and Kauth. Martom also told Hadatiro that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – M'tom.
It wasn't long before Haistulth'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.
Big brother
Another friend Hadatiro made along the way – a young Holdbred candidate, Nichen, whom Hadatiro had encountered in a hopelessly dishevelled state directly before the Hatching – hailed Hadatiro at the barracks – crediting him with his successful Impression of a moon-blue dragonet, Yooth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Hadatiro and M'tom 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. Hadatiro was proud to introduce Haistulth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Haistulth, Hadatiro gave the Weyrleader his own new name: H'tiro, rider of brown Haistulth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Haistulth's and Kauth's newborn itchiness, H'tiro and M'tom 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
H'tiro and M'tom soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk H'tiro 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, H'tiro's grandfather, was grudgingly satisfied with Haistulth'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 H'tiro and Haistulth.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for H'tiro, 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, H'tiro 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 H'tiro'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 H'tiro 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 Haistulth.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks , H'tiro 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 H'tiro 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, H'tiro decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though he did give L'stev his new name.
Returning at last to Haistulth – billeted between M'tom's Kauth and a slender green dragonet – H'tiro 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 – H'tiro 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 H'tiro's new name?
Find out more about Hadatiro's Impression here. H'tiro and Haistulth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
H'tiro'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:
THIS MUCH IS TRUE
I squashed the True bug!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Haistulth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
INSULT TO INJURY
I Impressed the dragon that my rival coveted!
Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS
I haven't been very nice!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Haistulth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Haistulth and I agreed on something quite important!