P'ker and brown Dioscorth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Parker – a young boy of 14 Turns, dreaming of becoming a brown rider.
Parker was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Parker 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, Parker 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 Parker 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, Parker left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.
As a candidate, Parker 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 Parker! Backed up by his crony Varell, Gydeton became the thorn in Parker's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Martom and Parker 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 Parker 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, Parker 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 Parker to find it. The quest took Parker 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 infirmary, Parker encountered Kisha – a blind old green rider giving the Weyr's Healers a difficult time about taking her medicine. Kisha challenged Parker to answer three riddles before she would consent to behave. And Parker rose to that challenge – answering all three correctly, and winning Kisha's grudging respect!
Southern comfort
Parker 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 Parker 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 Parker some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Parker 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, Parker 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, Parker 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. Parker 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 Parker a certain confidence in his own prospects!
Kitchen diplomacy
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Parker with the opportunity to show off his work ethic before the Hatching. A round of chores duly pleased Crauva.
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Parker 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. But with one thing and another, Parker didn't bring it back – earning the Weyrwoman Second's ire!
Backhander backfired
Seeking an easy way to slip into the Hatching Ground for an early peek, Parker 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 Parker hadn't reckoned on H'nar's incorruptible nature. H'nar rejected the money with outrage, and word of Parker'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, Parker offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.
Friend request
Given Parker'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 Parker 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, Parker visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of his dignity, Parker ensured he came away with a cut he actually liked.
Wherry bad behaviour
Parker'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. Parker chose the former, and the Weyrlingmaster sent him to do penance in the wherry hatchery – though Parker remained on probation, with one more slip promising to rule him out of standing!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Parker didn't have to wait at all for his date with destiny. The grey-mottled tan egg that Hatched first produced a cool dusty-brown hatchling who spared no time in choosing Parker, naming himself Dioscorth.
A friend in me
And Parker 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?
It turned out that making an enemy of Parker was a very poor choice on Gydeton's part. For the low, low price of just three marks, Parker 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
"Dioscorth" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Parker 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 Dioscorth's first meal. That was Parker's first opportunity to speak to Martom, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Dioscorth and Kauth. Martom also told Parker that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – M'tom.
It wasn't long before Dioscorth's personality started to become evident. The dusty-brown dragonet, while neither the largest nor the most handsome of his colour, proved to make up for both with his calm and helpful character immediately endearing him to all around.
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 Parker 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. Parker was proud to introduce Dioscorth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Dioscorth, Parker gave the Weyrleader his own new name: P'ker, rider of brown Dioscorth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Dioscorth's and Kauth's newborn itchiness, P'ker 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
P'ker and M'tom soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk P'ker 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, P'ker's grandfather, was grudgingly satisfied with Dioscorth'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 P'ker and Dioscorth.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for P'ker, 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, P'ker 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 P'ker'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 P'ker 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 Dioscorth.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks , P'ker 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 P'ker 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, P'ker decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Dioscorth – billeted between M'tom's Kauth and a slender green dragonet – P'ker 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 – P'ker 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?
P'ker and Dioscorth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
P'ker'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
Dioscorth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS
I haven't been very nice!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Dioscorth and I disagreed on something quite important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BROKEN STRINGS
Dioscorth and I disagreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
ENEMY MINE
Dioscorth and Corienth took against each other!