Jieshmoll and green Niaceth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Madellon Weyr for Jieshmoll – a young girl of 15 Turns, dreaming of becoming a dragonrider.
Jieshmoll was born the daughter of Nelya, a Headwoman's Second at Madellon Weyr. While she didn't have to be Searched, she was 'given the nod' as a likely dragonrider by the Weyr's most senior retired Search pair – S'rius and his elderly blue Padseth. As a first-time candidate with no dragonrider blood, Jieshmoll looked forward to the Hatching with both excitement and trepidation – fearing she might not have what it takes to Impress, but hoping beyond hope that she would!
As a candidate, Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll! Backed up by her crony Berrin, Thippia became the thorn in Jieshmoll's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Jopha and Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll left, Jopha – whose Impression robe was sadly overlarge for her petite frame – recruited Jieshmoll'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, Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll to find it. The quest took Jieshmoll 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, Jieshmoll encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Jieshmoll to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Jieshmoll duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.
Southern comfort
Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Jieshmoll 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, Jieshmoll 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, Jieshmoll 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. Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll a certain confidence in her own prospects!
A rising problem
Jieshmoll 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. Jieshmoll'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 Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll 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. Which – mindful of not offending such an important personage of the Weyr – Jieshmoll did!
A shining example
Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Jieshmoll was quick to offer assistance to his rider, T'rello. Perhaps Jieshmoll was never going to Impress a bronze – but it couldn't hurt to have some hands-on experience!
Friend request
Knowing of Jopha's chequered history with Shookana, mistress of the Weyr's mending room, Jieshmoll approached the task of having her robe adjusted with considerable caution. Realising that falsehood would be the wrong approach, Jieshmoll went to Shookana with the truth – and a gift of popcorn. And while Jieshmoll 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, Jieshmoll visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of her dignity, Jieshmoll ensured she came away with a cut she actually liked.
A breath of foul air
Early in the day, Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll soon found herself struggling for breath.
Undeterred, Jieshmoll pushed through the discomfort, and emerged shortly onto the Hatching Sands. But she wasn't quiet enough. Shimpath, dozing only very lightly, awoke, and she and Muzzanth chased Jieshmoll from the Sands!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Jieshmoll had to wait a little while before the spotted green and cream egg Hatched to reveal the vivid sea-green dragonet who would choose her, naming herself Niaceth.
A friend in me
And Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll's bad side proved to be an exceptionally poor choice. Jieshmoll 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
"Niaceth" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Jieshmoll on her Impression, but it was old S'rius, delighted to have found yet another weyrling, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Niaceth's first meal. That was Jieshmoll's first opportunity to speak to Jopha, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Niaceth and Deimoth.
It wasn't long before Niaceth's personality started to become evident. The sea-green dragonet – ambiguously coloured at first glance, but unequivocally female when asked – proved to have a particularly playful and fun-loving outlook on life.
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 Jieshmoll made along the way – a young Weyrbred candidate, Brithie, whom Jieshmoll had encountered in a sudden crisis of confidence directly before the Hatching – hailed Jieshmoll at the barracks – crediting her with her successful Impression of a tiny bottle-green dragonet, Epatanth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Jieshmoll 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 to ask after their names. Jieshmoll was proud to introduce Niaceth to the Weyrleader – and to give him her full new name: Jieshmoll, rider of green Niaceth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Niaceth's and Deimoth's newborn itchiness, Jieshmoll 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
Jieshmoll and Jopha soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Jieshmoll had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
Jieshmoll's mother, Nelya, was thrilled by her daughter's Impression – though perhaps not quite as ecstatic as Jieshmoll's younger siblings, Ashi and Halante. As the first dragonrider in the family, Jieshmoll was keenly aware of what it meant to her brother and sister. And when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to Jieshmoll and Niaceth, Valonna was particularly delighted for Nelya – one of her most trusted Headwoman Seconds.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Jieshmoll, 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, Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll'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 Jieshmoll 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 Niaceth.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks (by way of the infirmary, as ordered by Tarshe), Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll 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, Jieshmoll decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Niaceth – billeted between Jopha's Deimoth and a pretty blue-green dragonet – Jieshmoll 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 – Jieshmoll 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 Jieshmoll's Impression here. Jieshmoll and Niaceth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Jieshmoll'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
Niaceth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE
I've been a very nice person (so far)!
Achievement Unlocked:
PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY
I returned to the infirmary!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Niaceth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Niaceth and I disagreed on something quite important!