T'ekka and blue Tamarth
The Road So Far!
It all began at the Harperhall at Kellad Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Temekka – a young girl of 13 Turns, dreaming of becoming a green rider.
Temekka was born the daughter of two Harpers at the Southern Harperhall, Kellad Hold. Surrounded by music, she was apprenticed to the Craft when she came of age. But she never excelled in any discipline, and it seemed as if an unremarkable career as a mid-level journeyman likely lay ahead for her. 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. Temekka caught the attention of J'kel's blue Hozrath. And a sevenday later, Temekka arrived at Madellon Weyr, joining the candidate pool for senior queen Shimpath's first clutch by her new mate Muzzanth.
As a candidate, Temekka 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 Temekka! Backed up by her crony Berrin, Thippia became the thorn in Temekka's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Jopha and Temekka 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 Temekka left, Jopha – whose Impression robe was sadly overlarge for her petite frame – recruited Temekka'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, Temekka 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 Temekka to find it. The quest took Temekka all over Madellon, from kitchens to lake to infirmary – but in the end she succeeded in reuniting the Weyrwoman's jewellery set, to general acclaim.
Respecting her elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Temekka encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Temekka to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Temekka duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.
Southern comfort
Temekka 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 Temekka 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 Temekka some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Temekka unravelled Archidath's confusing suggestions and got the right packages to the right dragons – without being growled at!
A Harper born
Temekka's Harper training came in handy when Carleah, the Weyr Singer, asked her to play a set with her ensemble in the dining hall. They played to a rapturous reception that gave Temekka's confidence – and her mark purse – quite a boost!
Kitchen diplomacy
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Temekka with the opportunity to show off her 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 Temekka 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 Temekka expressed an interested in looking up some Weyr records, Tarshe offered her the loan of a glowbasket – on the proviso that she return it afterwards. But with one thing and another, Temekka didn't bring it back – earning the Weyrwoman Second's ire!
Weyrbrat by name...
A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Thippia had paid to cause Temekka trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Temekka gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for her reputation!
A blue lady
Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Temekka offered her assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted. Getting some first-hand advice about what it took for T'gala to Impress a blue dragon was an opportunity Temekka didn't want to pass up.
Friend request
Knowing of Jopha's chequered history with Shookana, mistress of the Weyr's mending room, Temekka approached the task of having her robe adjusted with considerable caution. Realising that falsehood would be the wrong approach, Temekka went to Shookana with the truth – and a gift of popcorn. And while Temekka doubted if Shookana and Jopha will ever be friends, the restoration of her Hatching robe to a suitable length did a great deal for her self-confidence!
Hair today
Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Temekka visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of her dignity, Temekka ensured she came away with a cut she actually liked.
A Weyrleader's mercy
Early in the day, Temekka found out about a secret way into the Hatching Ground via storeroom that might allow her 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, she crawled into a confusing maze of passages. By chance, she found a way onto the Hatching Ground – onto a very high ledge! Calling down for help was the only option, and a welcome – if embarrassing – lift down from Muzzanth himself returned Temekka safely to ground level.
Realising that honesty was the best policy, Temekka apologised to the Weyrleader for intruding – and was surprised to find T'gat remarkably sanguine about it, reminiscing about his own youthful journey through the passages. And a polite request granted Temekka the Weyrleader's permission to approach the clutch. She touched one of the eggs, marvelling at its palpable vitality. And something about the grey-swirled silvery cream egg made her feel strangely certain that she would Impress later that day.
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Temekka had an excruciatingly long wait before the grey-swirled silvery cream egg Hatched to reveal the very pale moon-blue dragonet who would choose her, naming himself Tamarth.
A friend in me
And Temekka wasn't the only lucky one. To her delight, Jopha also Impressed, becoming the rider of a big emerald-green hatchling, Deimoth.
Whatever happened to Thippia?
For Thippia, getting on Temekka's bad side proved to be an exceptionally poor choice. Temekka dosed Thippia'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, Thippia was in considerable distress. Unable to bear the burning sensation in her nether regions, she fled the Hatching Sands – squandering her chance at Impression!
After the Hatching
"Tamarth" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Temekka on her 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 Tamarth's first meal. That was Temekka's first opportunity to speak to Jopha, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Tamarth and Deimoth.
It wasn't long before Tamarth's personality started to become evident. The moon-blue dragonet, while seemingly reluctant to even leave his egg, showed glimmers of a curiously perceptive and knowing mind beneath his apparent laziness.
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 Temekka and Jopha wiped the worst of the blood and sand from their tired new dragonets, the Weyrleader, T'gat, came to inspect both girls' dragonets – and in particular to remark upon Temekka's unusual Impression of a blue. T'gat further enquired if Temekka would like to elide her name, as T'gala had done, or not. Temekka took up the opportunity to rename herself, and after a brief conference with Tamarth, Temekka gave the Weyrleader her new name – T'ekka, rider of blue Tamarth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Tamarth's and Deimoth's newborn itchiness, T'ekka and Jopha 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
T'ekka and Jopha soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk T'ekka had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
T'ekka's Harper parents were absolutely delighted to find themselves the mother and father of a blue rider and happier still to learn that T'ekka had already brought her musical skills to the Weyr. And they were even more delighted to drink to T'ekka and Tamarth when the Weyrleaders arrived to toast them!
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for T'ekka, 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, T'ekka 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 T'ekka'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 T'ekka 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 Tamarth.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks , T'ekka 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 T'ekka 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, T'ekka decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Tamarth – billeted between Jopha's Deimoth and a pale green dragonet – T'ekka 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 blue beside her – T'ekka 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?
T'ekka and Tamarth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
T'ekka'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:
MIRROR IMAGE
Tamarth and I match perfectly!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED
I pre-Impressed Tamarth by touching his egg before the Hatching!
Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE
I've been a very nice person (so far)!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Tamarth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Tamarth and I agreed on something quite important!
Achievement Unlocked:
ENEMY MINE
Tamarth and Chanth took against each other!