Eloren and green Cretienth
The Road So Far!
It all began at the Harperhall at Kellad Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Eloren – a young girl of 15 Turns, dreaming of becoming a green rider.
Eloren 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. Eloren caught the attention of J'kel's blue Hozrath. And a sevenday later, Eloren arrived at Madellon Weyr, joining the candidate pool for senior queen Shimpath's first clutch by her new mate Muzzanth.
As a candidate, Eloren 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 Eloren! Backed up by her crony Berrin, Thippia became the thorn in Eloren's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Jopha and Eloren 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 Eloren left, Jopha – whose Impression robe was sadly overlarge for her petite frame – recruited Eloren'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, Eloren 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 Eloren to find it. Despite Eloren's best efforts, though, she didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.
Respecting her elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Eloren encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Eloren to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Eloren duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.
Gifted a small pot of the salve, Eloren offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Eloren encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Eloren – especially after she solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
Southern comfort
Eloren 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 Eloren 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 Eloren some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Eloren 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, Eloren 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, Eloren 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.
A rising problem
Eloren 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. Eloren'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.
A Harper born
Eloren'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 Eloren'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 Eloren 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 Eloren 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 Eloren 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, Eloren 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 Eloren trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Eloren gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for her reputation!
A shining example
Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Eloren was quick to offer assistance to his rider, T'rello. Perhaps Eloren 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, Eloren approached the task of having her robe adjusted with considerable caution. Realising that falsehood would be the wrong approach, Eloren went to Shookana with the truth – and a gift of popcorn. And while Eloren 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!
A breath of foul air
Early in the day, Eloren 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 Eloren soon found herself struggling for breath.
Undeterred, Eloren 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 Eloren from the Sands!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Eloren had to wait a little while before the long pale grey egg Hatched to reveal the light cloudy-green dragonet who would choose her, naming herself Cretienth.
A friend in me
And Eloren 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?
Sadly, there was at least one fly in the numbweed. Thippia Impressed a very vocal mint-green hatchling, making them Eloren and Cretienth's new classmates. (On the bright side, at least Berrin didn't Impress!)
After the Hatching
"Cretienth" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Eloren 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 Cretienth's first meal. That was Eloren's first opportunity to speak to Jopha, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Cretienth and Deimoth.
It wasn't long before Cretienth's personality started to become evident. The cloudy-green dragonet, being a very forthright and direct character, spared no time in making it clear that she wouldn't take any nonsense from anyone – her new rider included!
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 Eloren made along the way – a young Weyrbred candidate, Brithie, whom Eloren had encountered in a sudden crisis of confidence directly before the Hatching – hailed Eloren at the barracks – crediting her with her successful Impression of a tiny bottle-green dragonet, Epatanth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Eloren 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. Eloren was proud to introduce Cretienth to the Weyrleader – and to give him her full new name: Eloren, rider of green Cretienth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Cretienth's and Deimoth's newborn itchiness, Eloren 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
Eloren and Jopha soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Eloren had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
Eloren's Harper parents were absolutely delighted to find themselves the mother and father of a green rider and happier still to learn that Eloren had already brought her musical skills to the Weyr. And they were even more delighted to drink to Eloren and Cretienth when the Weyrleaders arrived to toast them!
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Eloren, 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, Eloren 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 Eloren'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 Eloren 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 Cretienth.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks (by way of the infirmary, as ordered by Tarshe), Eloren 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 Eloren 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, Eloren decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Cretienth – billeted between Jopha's Deimoth and a pretty blue-green dragonet – Eloren 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 – Eloren 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?
Eloren and Cretienth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Eloren'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
Cretienth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
SIXTH SENSE
...what did I just see?
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
Cretienth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Cretienth and I agreed on something quite important!