Meron and green Zapianth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Meline – a young woman of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a green rider.
Meline was born to unusual privilege – a granddaughter of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Meline 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, Meline 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 Meline becoming a candidate – displeased that such a opportunity would ruin his plans for Meline's betrothal to a nephew of Lord Orfen's. But he grudgingly accepted that, as Meline had her majority, she had the right to accept Search. And with Winstone's admonition that she should remember her place as his granddaughter and not make a scene ringing in her ears, Meline left to begin her candidacy at Madellon Weyr.
As a candidate, Meline 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 Meline! Backed up by her crony Cedranne, Auciet became the thorn in Meline's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Erilde and Meline 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 Meline 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, Meline 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 Meline to find it. Despite Meline'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, Meline encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Meline to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Meline duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.
Southern comfort
Meline 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 Meline 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 Meline some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Meline 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, Meline 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, Meline 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
Meline 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. Meline'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 Meline did annoy Soleigh, who wasn't impressed with her for prolonging Maris' binge by bringing her more wine!
Harping on
Meline perhaps overestimated her own competence when it came to a disastrous spell on the Harper dais in the dining hall. Accompanying Weyr Singer Carleah – badly – on the tambourine, she was lucky not to be booed off the stage!
Kitchen diplomacy
Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Meline 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 Meline 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 Meline 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, Meline didn't bring it back – earning the Weyrwoman Second's ire!
Weyrbrat by name...
A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Auciet had paid to cause Meline trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Meline gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for her reputation!
Backhander backfired
Seeking an easy way to slip into the Hatching Ground for an early peek, Meline 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 Meline hadn't reckoned on H'nar's incorruptible nature. H'nar rejected the money with outrage, and word of Meline'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, Meline offered her assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted. Getting some first-hand advice about what it took for T'gala to Impress a blue dragon was an opportunity Meline didn't want to pass up.
Friend request
Seeking knowledge of Erilde's parentage, Meline 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 Meline might construct a story about a long-dead rider. Meline 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!
Wherry bad behaviour
Meline's assorted instances of bad behaviour finally caught up with her. L'stev collared her in the Bowl and gave her an ultimatum – buck up her ideas, or sit the Hatching out. Meline chose the former, and the Weyrlingmaster sent her to do penance in the wherry hatchery – though Meline remained on probation, with one more slip promising to rule her out of standing!
A curious development
Early in the day, Meline 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 glowbaskets, she crawled into a confusing maze of passages.
Meline never made it to the Hatching ground – instead, encountering an unusually intelligent feline in the tunnels. Following it deeper into the ventilation shafts, Meline came across the most unexpected discovery – a hidden room, full of a very peculiar selection of individuals. But she had barely taken stock of her situation before Vanzanth, the Weyrlingmaster's brown, forced his way into the room – ordering Meline out, and commanding her never to speak of the encounter again!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Meline had to wait a little while before the elongated spotted egg Hatched to reveal the pale mint-green dragonet who would choose her, naming herself Zapianth.
A friend in me
And Meline wasn't the only lucky one. To her delight, Erilde also Impressed, becoming the rider of an inquisitive teal-green hatchling, Shaldeth.
Whatever happened to Auciet?
It turned out that making an enemy of Meline was a very poor choice on Auciet's part. For the low, low price of just three marks, Meline had Grimes, the shady fellow loitering near the Gather stalls, spread a series of nasty rumours about Auciet. By the time the Weyrlingmaster mustered the candidate cohort immediately before the Hatching, the damage to Auciet's reputation was done – and she was ejected from the candidate pool without ever setting foot on the Sands!
After the Hatching
"Zapianth" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Meline on her Impression, but it was Garlan, delighted that her risky choice of Winstone's granddaughter had Impressed, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Zapianth's first meal. That was Meline's first opportunity to speak to Erilde, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Zapianth and Shaldeth.
It wasn't long before Zapianth's personality started to become evident. The pale green dragonet had absolutely no hesitation about making her voice – her very loud and strident voice – heard, indicating what a forceful and demanding character she would become.
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 Meline made along the way – a young Weyrbred candidate, Brithie, whom Meline had encountered in a sudden crisis of confidence directly before the Hatching – hailed Meline at the barracks – crediting her with her successful Impression of a tiny bottle-green dragonet, Epatanth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Meline 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. Meline was proud to introduce Zapianth to the Weyrleader – and to give him her full new name: Meron, rider of green Zapianth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Zapianth's and Shaldeth's newborn itchiness, Meron 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
Meron and Erilde soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Meron had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
Lord Winstone, Meron's grandfather, was faint with his praise for his granddaughter's Impression of Zapianth – suggesting that she should have waited for a chance at a queen. The Weyrleaders were swift to insist that Impressing any dragon was a great achievement!
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Meron, 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, Meron 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 Meron'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 Meron some advice about paying attention to her new classmates and surroundings, lest she fall foul of the Weyrlingmaster's penchant for snap quizzes, and made some observations on Zapianth.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks , Meron 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 Meron 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, Meron decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though she did give L'stev her new name.
Returning at last to Zapianth – billeted between Erilde's Shaldeth and a pale green dragonet – Meron 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 – Meron 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 Meron's new name?
Find out more about Meline's Impression here. Meron and Zapianth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Meron'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:
DEED POLL
I changed my name by choice!
Achievement Unlocked:
CEASE AND DESIST
I prevented legal difficulties by changing my name!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Zapianth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS
I haven't been very nice!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Zapianth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Zapianth and I disagreed on something quite important!