Seta and blue Ronanth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Gnitseta – a young girl of 15 Turns, dreaming of becoming a queen rider.
Gnitseta was born to unusual privilege – a granddaughter of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Gnitseta 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, Gnitseta 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 Gnitseta becoming a candidate – while conceding that he could spare a younger grandchild. And with Winstone's admonition that she should remember her place as his granddaughter and not make a scene ringing in her ears, Gnitseta left to begin her candidacy at Madellon Weyr.
As a candidate, Gnitseta 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 Gnitseta! Backed up by her crony Berrin, Thippia became the thorn in Gnitseta's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Jopha and Gnitseta 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 Gnitseta left, Jopha – whose Impression robe was sadly overlarge for her petite frame – recruited Gnitseta'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, Gnitseta 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 Gnitseta to find it. Despite Gnitseta's best efforts, though, she didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.
Respecting her elders
In the infirmary, Gnitseta encountered Kisha – a blind old green rider giving the Weyr's Healers a difficult time about taking her medicine. Kisha challenged Gnitseta to answer three riddles before she would consent to behave. And Gnitseta rose to that challenge – answering all three correctly, and winning Kisha's grudging respect!
Southern comfort
Gnitseta 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 Gnitseta 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 Gnitseta some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Gnitseta 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, Gnitseta 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, Gnitseta 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. Gnitseta 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 Gnitseta a certain confidence in her own prospects!
Eggs and baskets
A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Gnitseta 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 – Gnitseta did!
Weyrbrat by name...
A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Thippia had paid to cause Gnitseta trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Gnitseta gave the kid a shove – in front of a number of witnesses – doing nothing for her reputation!
Friend request
Knowing of Jopha's chequered history with Shookana, mistress of the Weyr's mending room, Gnitseta approached the task of having her robe adjusted with considerable caution. Realising that falsehood would be the wrong approach, Gnitseta went to Shookana with the truth – and a gift of popcorn. And while Gnitseta 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!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Gnitseta had an excruciatingly long wait before the grey-swirled silvery cream egg Hatched to reveal the very pale moon-blue dragonet who would choose her, naming himself Ronanth.
A friend in me
And Gnitseta 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?
Thippia didn't turn up for the pre-Hatching muster, and – Gnitseta's own suspicions notwithstanding – L'stev guessed that she had probably got herself lost trying to sneak into the Hatching Ground through the dangerous ventilation tunnels. Fortunately – Gnitseta supposed – Weyrlingmaster A'len located the missing candidate, but too late for Thippia, who having been found unconscious, was promptly invalided out of standing!
After the Hatching
"Ronanth" by Chris S. Baily
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Gnitseta 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 Ronanth's first meal. That was Gnitseta's first opportunity to speak to Jopha, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Ronanth and Deimoth.
It wasn't long before Ronanth's personality started to become evident. The moon-blue dragonet, while seemingly reluctant to even leave his egg, showed glimmers of a curiously perceptive and knowing mind beneath his apparent laziness.
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 Gnitseta made along the way – a young Weyrbred candidate, Brithie, whom Gnitseta had encountered in a sudden crisis of confidence directly before the Hatching – hailed Gnitseta at the barracks – crediting her with her successful Impression of a tiny bottle-green dragonet, Epatanth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Gnitseta 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 in particular to remark upon Gnitseta's unusual Impression of a blue. T'gat further enquired if Gnitseta would like to elide her name, as T'gala had done, or not. Gnitseta elected not to elide her name – content to remain Seta, rider of blue Ronanth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Ronanth's and Deimoth's newborn itchiness, Seta 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
Seta and Jopha soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Seta 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, Seta's grandfather, was outraged by his granddaughter's highly irregular Impression of a blue dragon – calling her aberrant. The Weyrleaders were quick to take Seta's part, but the damage to her relationship with her grandfather was done.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Seta, 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, Seta 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 Seta'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 Seta 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 Ronanth.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks , Seta 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 Seta 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, Seta decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger – though she did give L'stev her new name.
Returning at last to Ronanth – billeted between Jopha's Deimoth and a pale green dragonet – Seta 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 – Seta 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 Seta's new name?
Find out more about Gnitseta's Impression here. Seta and Ronanth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Seta'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:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Ronanth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Ronanth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Ronanth and I agreed on something quite important!
Achievement Unlocked:
ENEMY MINE
Ronanth and Chanth took against each other!