K'larvi and bronze Bryaceth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Kalarvi – a young man of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a bronze rider.
Kalarvi was born the son of a modest cotholder at Jessaf Hold, working alongside his widowed father to work their allotted land, and help bring up his young twin siblings, Albon and Gettie. And in early 102, when a green rider, N'jol, and his Kistrith came to Jessaf in search of candidates for Madellon Weyr's hardening clutch, Kalarvi didn't even present himself as a hopeful. Yet it was Kalarvi that Kistrith singled out among all those young people. He almost didn't accept Search – anxious not to abandon his father. But he insisted, revealing that his late wife, Kalarvi's mother, had always dreamed of being a dragonrider – and gifting Kalarvi with her blue feather pendant as a lucky charm.
As a candidate, Kalarvi was assigned a bunkmate – Soburn, an anxious Weyrbred youth with one failed Hatching already haunting him, 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 – Rielat, a self-important apprentice Weaver – who took a firm disliking to Kalarvi! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Kalarvi's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Kalarvi on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Rielat, 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 Kalarvi left, Soburn asked him to find out if H'nar, the young Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing, might currently be seeing someone – or not.
The one-armed green rider
Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Kalarvi was flagged down by M'shen – a green rider with only one arm. But whatever he wanted, Kalarvi never discovered, after making a mean-spirited joke about M'shen's missing hand that – not unreasonably – made the green rider take against him.
Respecting his elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Kalarvi encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Kalarvi to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Kalarvi 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, Kalarvi offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Kalarvi encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Kalarvi – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
Southern comfort
Kalarvi 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 Kalarvi 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 Kalarvi some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Kalarvi 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, Kalarvi 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, Kalarvi 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. Kalarvi 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 Kalarvi a certain confidence in his own prospects!
A rising problem
Kalarvi 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. Kalarvi'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 Kalarvi with the opportunity to show off his 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 Kalarvi 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 Kalarvi 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. Which – mindful of not offending such an important personage of the Weyr – Kalarvi did!
Weyrbrat by name...
A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Rielat had paid to cause Kalarvi trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Kalarvi gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for his reputation!
Backhander backfired
Seeking an easy way to slip into the Hatching Ground for an early peek, Kalarvi 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 Kalarvi hadn't reckoned on H'nar's incorruptible nature. H'nar rejected the money with outrage, and word of Kalarvi's attempt to bribe him made its way back to the Weyrlingmaster!
A shining example
Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Kalarvi was quick to offer assistance to his rider, T'rello. It couldn't hurt to have some close-up experience with a bronze, could it?
Friend request
Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Kalarvi approached the object of his affections – H'nar, Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing – with some circumspection. Still, when questioned, H'nar insisted he had to know who was making enquiries of him. And when he learned the identity of his admirer, he told Kalarvi that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Kalarvi's agile pivot in questioning revealed that a close friend of H'nar's – blue rider M'rany – might be a viable alternative. Thus encouraged, Soburn began to think more positively of life as a dragonrider – even if H'nar would end up being his Wingleader!
A slithery customer
Early in the day, Kalarvi found out about a secret way into the Hatching Ground via storeroom that might allow him 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, he crawled into a confusing maze of passages.
By a stroke of ill luck, Kalarvi strayed into tunnel snake territory! A huge, aggressive, and potently venomous female tunnel-snake guarded the exit to the Hatching ground. Kalarvi was lucky to avoid being bitten. But ultimately he evaded the snake, dodging past it and slipping out onto the Hatching Sands.
Having survived his encounter with the tunnel-snake, Kalarvi approached the clutch – but not stealthily enough! His presence woke Shimpath from her doze, and she and Muzzanth chased Kalarvi off the sands!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Kalarvi had to wait a little while before the black-freckled grey egg Hatched to reveal the deep classic-bronze dragonet who would choose him, naming himself Bryaceth.
A friend in me
And Kalarvi wasn't the only lucky one. To his delight, Soburn also Impressed, becoming the rider of a slender olive-green hatchling, Aeranth.
Whatever happened to Rielat?
Rielat didn't turn up for the pre-Hatching muster, and – Kalarvi's own suspicions notwithstanding – L'stev guessed that he had probably got himself lost trying to sneak into the Hatching Ground through the dangerous ventilation tunnels. Fortunately – Kalarvi supposed – Weyrlingmaster A'len located the missing candidate, but too late for Rielat, who having been found unconscious, was promptly invalided out of standing!
After the Hatching
"Bryaceth" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Kalarvi on his Impression, but it was N'jol, delighted that his most humble candidate had Impressed, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Bryaceth's first meal. That was Kalarvi's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Bryaceth and Aeranth. Soburn also told Kalarvi that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.
It wasn't long before Bryaceth's personality started to become evident. The energetic bronze dragonet, the classic shade of his colour, was unusually forceful even for his colour – promising to be a handful for his rider!
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 brother
Another friend Kalarvi made along the way – a young Holdbred candidate, Nichen, whom Kalarvi had encountered in a hopelessly dishevelled state directly before the Hatching – hailed Kalarvi at the barracks – crediting him with his successful Impression of a moon-blue dragonet, Yooth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Kalarvi and S'burn 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. Kalarvi was proud to introduce Bryaceth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Bryaceth, Kalarvi gave the Weyrleader his own new name: K'larvi, rider of bronze Bryaceth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Bryaceth's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, K'larvi and S'burn 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
K'larvi and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk K'larvi had helped during the day greeted him with warm congratulations as he hunted through the throng – but, at last, he found his family.
K'larvi's father almost couldn't believe his son's good fortune, completely thrilled to be the father of a dragonrider. And he was even more starstruck when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to K'larvi and Bryaceth.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for K'larvi, 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, K'larvi 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 K'larvi's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She cleared up an anomaly with his new name, too. She offered K'larvi 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 Bryaceth.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks , K'larvi 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 K'larvi 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, K'larvi decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though he did give L'stev his new name.
Returning at last to Bryaceth – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a mucky-looking brown dragonet – K'larvi 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 bronze beside him – K'larvi 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 K'larvi's new name?
Find out more about Kalarvi's Impression here. K'larvi and Bryaceth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
K'larvi'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:
THIS MUCH IS TRUE
I squashed the True bug!
Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Bryaceth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS
I haven't been very nice!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Bryaceth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Bryaceth and I disagreed on something quite important!