P'rume and blue Cubilith
The Road So Far!
It all began at the Healer Hall at Blue Shale Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Parume – a young woman of 16 Turns, dreaming of becoming a dragonrider.
Parume was born the daughter of two Master Healers at the Southern Healerhall, Blue Shale Hold. She was treating minor injuries even before she was formally apprenticed to the Craft. But frustration with the drudgery of the long apprenticeship made Parume an undistinguished crafter, lacking the focus or passion demanded by the Healerhall. And then, in early 102, brown rider P'lian came to the Healer Hall complaining of frostbitten fingers. Parume was assigned to treat the minor condition. But P'lian's Sparth – despite his colour, a budding Search-sensitive dragon – insisted that Parume was a likely sort for candidacy. And a sevenday later, Parume arrived at Madellon Weyr, joining the candidate pool for senior queen Shimpath's first clutch by her new mate Muzzanth.
As a candidate, Parume 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 Parume! Backed up by her crony Cedranne, Auciet became the thorn in Parume's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Erilde and Parume 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 Parume 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, Parume 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 Parume to find it. The quest took Parume 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.
Disrespecting her elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Parume encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. But they got off to a poor start – Parume had unwittingly taken a redfruit without permission – and furthermore lied about it when challenged by the old bronze rider. The scrumping alone might not have turned R'hren against Parume – but the literal red-handed lie did!
A Masterful order
In the dining hall, Parume 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, Parume 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
Parume 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. Parume'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 Parume with the opportunity to show off her work ethic before the Hatching. A round of chores duly pleased Crauva.
Overkeen to get her hands on the last bubbly pie in the dining hall, Parume took it – forcibly – from a small child. Not the nicest thing to do – but mmm, pie...
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Parume 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, Parume 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 Parume trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Parume gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for her reputation!
A blue lady
Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Parume 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 Parume didn't want to pass up.
Friend request
Seeking knowledge of Erilde's parentage, Parume 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 Parume might construct a story about a long-dead rider. Parume 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!
Hair today
Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Parume visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of her dignity, Parume ensured she came away with a cut she actually liked.
Wherry bad behaviour
Parume'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. Parume chose the former, and the Weyrlingmaster sent her to do penance in the wherry hatchery – though Parume remained on probation, with one more slip promising to rule her out of standing!
A curious development
Early in the day, Parume 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.
Parume never made it to the Hatching ground – instead, encountering an unusually intelligent feline in the tunnels. Following it deeper into the ventilation shafts, Parume 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 Parume out, and commanding her never to speak of the encounter again!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Parume had an excruciatingly long wait before the yellow-green craggy-textured egg Hatched to reveal the light sky-blue dragonet who would choose her, naming himself Cubilith.
A friend in me
And Parume 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?
Sadly, there was at least one fly in the numbweed. Auciet Impressed an unusually aggressive grass-green hatchling, making them Parume and Cubilith's new classmates. (On the bright side, at least Cedranne didn't Impress!)
After the Hatching
"Cubilith" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Parume on her Impression, but it was P'lian, ecstatic that Sparth's very first Search had yielded an Impression, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Cubilith's first meal. That was Parume's first opportunity to speak to Erilde, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Cubilith and Shaldeth.
It wasn't long before Cubilith's personality started to become evident. The big sky-blue dragonet demonstrated an enormous desire to please, making him an especially endearing character.
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 Parume made along the way – a young Weyrbred candidate, Brithie, whom Parume had encountered in a sudden crisis of confidence directly before the Hatching – hailed Parume at the barracks – crediting her with her successful Impression of a tiny bottle-green dragonet, Epatanth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Parume 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 in particular to remark upon Parume's unusual Impression of a blue. T'gat further enquired if Parume would like to elide her name, as T'gala had done, or not. Parume took up the opportunity to rename herself, and after a brief conference with Cubilith, Parume gave the Weyrleader her new name – P'rume, rider of blue Cubilith!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Cubilith's and Shaldeth's newborn itchiness, P'rume 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
P'rume and Erilde soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk P'rume had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
P'rume's father, a loud man in normal times, was positively bellowing with pleasure at P'rume's Impression – albeit with a certain disappointment that his daughter wouldn't be continuing in the Healercraft. And he embarrassed both his daughter, and his long-suffering wife, still further when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to P'rume and Cubilith – remarking, very loudly, on the parentage of Valonna's soon-to-arrive first baby!
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for P'rume, 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'rume 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 P'rume'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 P'rume 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 Cubilith.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks , P'rume 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'rume 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, P'rume decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Cubilith – billeted between Erilde's Shaldeth and a very large green dragonet – P'rume 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 blue beside her – P'rume 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 Parume's Impression here. P'rume and Cubilith's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
P'rume'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:
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Cubilith and I make a very strong match!
Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS
I haven't been very nice!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Cubilith and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Cubilith and I agreed on something quite important!