K'mar and blue Cheloth

The Road So Far!

It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Kalmar – a young boy of 13 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.

Kalmar was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Kalmar 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, Kalmar 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 Kalmar 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, Kalmar left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.

As a candidate, Kalmar 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 Kalmar! Backed up by his crony Varell, Gydeton became the thorn in Kalmar's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Martom and Kalmar 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 Kalmar 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

Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Kalmar was flagged down by M'shen – a green rider with only one arm. But whatever he wanted, Kalmar never discovered, after making a mean-spirited joke about M'shen's missing hand that – not unreasonably – made the green rider take against him.

Respecting his elders

In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Kalmar encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Kalmar to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Kalmar duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.

A rising problem

Kalmar 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. Kalmar'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. Even if Kalmar did annoy Soleigh, who wasn't impressed with him for prolonging Maris' binge by bringing her more wine!

Hot stuff

Madellon's kitchen was the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Kalmar to find for his warming salve. Headwoman Crauva handed one over immediately he asked for it, pleased to be helping such an august figure as the old Weyrleader.

Eggs and baskets

A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Kalmar 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 – Kalmar did!

Weyrbrat by name...

A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Gydeton had paid to cause Kalmar trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Kalmar 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, Kalmar offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.

With friends like these...

But seeking wine for Martom's consumption proved difficult – and illicit. Saxton, the Weyr Vintner, refused to sell alcohol to Kalmar – an underage candidate. An alternative presented itself in the form of Grimes, offering wine to anyone with the marks to pay for it. Kalmar duly purchased a murky looking vintage, and gave it to Martom. But Grimes' dubious wine would prove more bane than boon. Martom became quite intoxicated – and when L'stev discovered his condition, he immedately washed Kalmar's friend and bunkmate out of candidacy!

The Hatching

Disaster almost struck during the Hatching when Kalmar – following some dubious advice about attempting to force a dragonet to choose him – put him self in the path of a less than receptive green hatchling. The green, clearly objecting to being crowded, lashed out at Kalmar – slicing his arm. Luckily for Kalmar, the mauling wasn't a fatal one – though it could have been, as an irate L'stev told him when patching up the injury on the spot. Even more luckily, the incident didn't deter another dragonet – the blue who Hatched from the grey-swirled silvery cream – from choosing Kalmar and naming himself Cheloth!

Whatever happened to Gydeton?

It turned out that making an enemy of Kalmar was a very poor choice on Gydeton's part. For the low, low price of just three marks, Kalmar had Grimes, the shady fellow loitering near the Gather stalls, spread a series of nasty rumours about Gydeton. By the time the Weyrlingmaster mustered the candidate cohort immediately before the Hatching, the damage to Gydeton's reputation was done – and he was ejected from the candidate pool without ever setting foot on the Sands!

After the Hatching

"Cheloth" by Chris S. Baily

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Kalmar 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 Cheloth's first meal. That was the first moment Kalmar 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 Cheloth'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 Kalmar 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. Kalmar was proud to introduce Cheloth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Cheloth, Kalmar gave the Weyrleader his own new name: K'mar, rider of blue Cheloth!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Cheloth's and Destrath's newborn itchiness, K'mar 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

K'mar and Ch'liam soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk K'mar 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, K'mar's grandfather, was highly displeased that his grandson had only managed to Impress a blue – against his strict warning that nothing less than a brown would suffice. The Weyrleaders were quick to step in on K'mar's behalf, but the damage to his relationship with his grandfather was done.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for K'mar, 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, K'mar 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 K'mar's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She offered K'mar 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 Cheloth.

A close encounter

On his way back to the barracks (by way of the infirmary, as ordered by Tarshe), K'mar 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 K'mar 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, K'mar decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.

Returning at last to Cheloth – billeted between Ch'liam's Destrath and a bright bronze dragonet – K'mar 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 blue beside him – K'mar 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?

Find out more about Kalmar's Impression here. K'mar and Cheloth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

K'mar'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:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG

Cheloth and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS

I haven't been very nice!

Achievement Unlocked:
PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY

I returned to the infirmary!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Cheloth and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Cheloth and I agreed on something quite important!