Geran and green Aperath
The Road So Far!
It all began at the Healer Hall at Blue Shale Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Gerah – a young woman of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a green rider.
Gerah was born the daughter of two Master Healers at the Southern Healerhall, Blue Shale Hold. She was treating minor injuries even before she was formally apprenticed to the Craft. But frustration with the drudgery of the long apprenticeship made Gerah an undistinguished crafter, lacking the focus or passion demanded by the Healerhall. And then, in early 102, brown rider P'lian came to the Healer Hall complaining of frostbitten fingers. Gerah was assigned to treat the minor condition. But P'lian's Sparth – despite his colour, a budding Search-sensitive dragon – insisted that Gerah was a likely sort for candidacy. And a sevenday later, Gerah arrived at Madellon Weyr, joining the candidate pool for senior queen Shimpath's first clutch by her new mate Muzzanth.
As a candidate, Gerah was assigned a bunkmate – Erilde, a quiet young woman from the Lower Caverns fearing a second unsuccessful Hatching, 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 – Auciet, a snobby and superior Holdbred girl – who took a firm disliking to Gerah! Backed up by her crony Cedranne, Auciet became the thorn in Gerah's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Erilde and Gerah on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Auciet, 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 Gerah left, Erilde asked her to make enquiries about any dragonrider heritage she herself might possess, to give her confidence a boost before the Hatching.
The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen
Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Gerah 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 Gerah to find it. Despite Gerah's best efforts, though, she didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.
A Masterful order
In the dining hall, Gerah met her 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, Gerah 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. Gerah even shared the largesse with Zielaph, who then introduced her to Fr'ton – who, having Impressed a bronze in spite of his less than boundless promise, gave Gerah a certain confidence in her own prospects!
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Gerah 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, Gerah didn't bring it back – earning the Weyrwoman Second's ire!
Friend request
Seeking knowledge of Erilde's parentage, Gerah visited the Weyr's Archives and sought advice from Weyrwoman Tarshe, the Weyrwoman Second. While Tarshe could find no evidence that Erilde's father had been a dragonrider, she suggested Gerah might construct a story about a long-dead rider. Gerah delved into Madellon's records and unearthed a brown rider, B'get, deceased some Turns ago, but of the right age to have fathered her friend. Bringing this plausible white lie to Erilde may have been a tad devious – but it had the desired effect on her belief that she could, in fact, possess the ability to Impress a dragon!
Hair today
Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Gerah visited Madellon's resident barber, Z'fell, for a trim. But she fell foul of the green rider's perverse sense of humour, and came away with a curious cut – short on top, long at the back – that prompted quite a number of odd looks and laughs at her expense!
A breath of foul air
Early in the day, Gerah 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. The route she chose turned out to be thick with choking toxic fumes from Madellon's volcanic foundation, and Gerah soon found herself struggling for breath. And then she came across Auciet – having apparently followed Gerah into the passageways – lying unconscious and insensible in the fume-filled tunnel.
Setting aside her petty rivalry with Auciet in the face of a genuine emergency, Gerah set about making Auciet stable – glad for the Healer kit she always carried with her. And on crawling out onto the Hatching Ground, half suffocated herself, she raised the alarm with the Weyrleader before being overcome by the ordeal, and fainting there on the sand.
Gerah woke in the infirmary, and while the Weyrleader and Weyrlingmaster questioned her sternly about her adventures, the fact that Gerah had certainly saved Auciet's life counted in her favour, despite having disobeyed the order not to go meddling in the tunnels.
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Gerah had to wait a little while before the blotchy pale turquoise egg Hatched to reveal the bright olive-green dragonet who would choose her, naming herself Aperath.
But Aperath was nearly beaten to Gerah by another dragonet – an inquisitive teal-green hatchling who seemed torn between Gerah and Erilde. Sensing that she wasn't the best match for her, Gerah stepped aside to give Erilde precedence – resulting in her Impression of the little green, Shaldeth.
After the Hatching
"Aperath" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Gerah on her Impression, but it was P'lian, ecstatic that Sparth's very first Search had yielded an Impression, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Aperath's first meal. That was Gerah's first opportunity to speak to Erilde, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Aperath and Shaldeth.
It wasn't long before Aperath's personality started to become evident. The rather slender olive-green dragonet demonstrated an immediate haughty pride in herself – and in her rider.
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 sister
Another friend Gerah made along the way – a young Weyrbred candidate, Brithie, whom Gerah had encountered in a sudden crisis of confidence directly before the Hatching – hailed Gerah at the barracks – crediting her with her successful Impression of a tiny bottle-green dragonet, Epatanth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Gerah and Erilde wiped the worst of the blood and sand from their tired new dragonets, the Weyrleader, T'gat, came to inspect both girls' dragonets and to ask after their names. Gerah was proud to introduce Aperath to the Weyrleader – and to give him her full new name: Geran, rider of green Aperath!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Aperath's and Shaldeth's newborn itchiness, Geran and Erilde 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
Geran and Erilde soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Geran had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
Geran's father, a loud man in normal times, was positively bellowing with pleasure at Geran's Impression – albeit with a certain disappointment that his daughter wouldn't be continuing in the Healercraft. And he embarrassed both his daughter, and his long-suffering wife, still further when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to Geran and Aperath – remarking, very loudly, on the parentage of Valonna's soon-to-arrive first baby!
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Geran, 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, Geran 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 Geran's background with her – including much of what she had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She cleared up an anomaly with her new name, too. She offered Geran some advice about paying attention to her new classmates and surroundings, lest she fall foul of the Weyrlingmaster's penchant for snap quizzes, advised her to report to Master Isnan before returning to the barracks to get her injuries checked again, and made some observations on Aperath.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks (by way of the infirmary, as ordered by Tarshe), Geran 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 Geran 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, Geran decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though she did give L'stev her new name.
Returning at last to Aperath – billeted between Erilde's Shaldeth and a very large green dragonet – Geran 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 green beside her – Geran 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 Geran's new name?
Geran and Aperath's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Geran'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 NOPE
I (don't) love the smell of elision in the morning!
Achievement Unlocked:
ONE STEVE LIMIT
I avoided duplicating a Dragonchoice character's name!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Aperath and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY
I returned to the infirmary!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Aperath and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Aperath and I disagreed on something quite important!