Al'xander and brown Whymenth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Madellon Weyr for Alexander – a young boy of 13 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.
Alexander was born the son of Wingleader R'yeno and green rider Evie of Madellon Weyr. While he didn't have to be Searched, he was 'given the nod' as a likely dragonrider by the Weyr's most senior retired Search pair – S'rius and his elderly blue Padseth. As a first-time candidate, Alexander looked forward to the Hatching with both excitement and trepidation – half convinced that he would be meeting his own dragon at last; half terrified of failing to meet the standards expected of a Wingleader's son!
As a candidate, Alexander was assigned a bunkmate – Martom, a confident young Weyrbred lad, 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 – Gydeton, the blustering, entitled son of Lord Meturvian of Kellad – who took a firm disliking to Alexander! Backed up by his crony Varell, Gydeton became the thorn in Alexander's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Martom and Alexander on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Gydeton, 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 Alexander left, Martom – keen to prove himself by Impressing on his first attempt – asked him for help procuring some additional confidence in the form of some alcohol.
The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen
Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Alexander 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 Alexander to find it. Despite Alexander's best efforts, though, he didn't manage to complete and return the jewellery set before the Hatching.
Respecting his elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Alexander encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Alexander to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Alexander duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.
Southern comfort
Alexander 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 Alexander 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 Alexander some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Alexander unravelled Archidath's confusing suggestions and got the right packages to the right dragons – without being growled at!
Hot stuff
Madellon's kitchen was the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Alexander to find for his warming salve. Headwoman Crauva handed one over immediately he asked for it, pleased to be helping such an august figure as the old Weyrleader.
A shining example
Coming upon Santinoth – Madellon's biggest bronze – being bathed in the lake, Alexander 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
Given Alexander's age, finding some wine for Martom proved difficult – the Weyr Vintner, Master Saxton, refused to sell it to an underage candidate. His only other alternative was an illicit purchase from the shady figure of Grimes. And L'stev's warning about getting drunk before the Hatching held weight. The Vintner's offering of alcohol-free grape juice gave Alexander an idea – and offering it to Martom, none the wiser for the substitution, still had the desired effect of boosting his confidence before the Hatching – without any unwanted side-effects!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Alexander had an excruciatingly long wait before the unassuming grey-green egg Hatched to reveal the deep russet-brown dragonet who would choose him, naming himself Whymenth.
A friend in me
And Alexander wasn't the only lucky one. To his delight, Martom also Impressed, becoming the rider of a bright golden-bronze hatchling, Kauth.
Whatever happened to Gydeton?
Gydeton's victimisation of Alexander had serious consequences – for Gydeton. Not everyone would have tattled on him the way Alexander did, but his complaints about the other boy, together with L'stev's already thin opinion of Gydeton, had the desired effect. Directly before the Hatching, L'stev ejected Gydeton from the candidate pool!
After the Hatching
"Whymenth" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Alexander on his Impression, but it was old S'rius, delighted to have found yet another weyrling, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Whymenth's first meal. That was Alexander's first opportunity to speak to Martom, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Whymenth and Kauth. Martom also told Alexander that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – M'tom.
It wasn't long before Whymenth's personality started to become evident. The little russet-brown dragonet proved unusually quiet, speaking only seldom, and showing a strong preference for his own company – and his rider's.
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 Alexander made along the way – a young Holdbred candidate, Nichen, whom Alexander had encountered in a hopelessly dishevelled state directly before the Hatching – hailed Alexander at the barracks – crediting him with his successful Impression of a moon-blue dragonet, Yooth!
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Alexander and M'tom 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. Alexander was proud to introduce Whymenth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Whymenth, Alexander gave the Weyrleader his own new name: Al'xander, rider of brown Whymenth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Whymenth's and Kauth's newborn itchiness, Al'xander and M'tom 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
Al'xander and M'tom soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Al'xander had helped during the day greeted him with warm congratulations as he hunted through the throng – but, at last, he found his family.
R'yeno and Evie couldn't have been happier to greet their son as a brown rider for the first time . And when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to Al'xander and Whymenth, R'yeno was delighted to embarrass his son by insinuating that Gryth would be stiffer competition to Muzzanth in Shimpath's next flight.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Al'xander, 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, Al'xander 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 Al'xander's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She offered Al'xander 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 Whymenth.
A close encounter
On his way back to the barracks , Al'xander 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 Al'xander 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, Al'xander decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Whymenth – billeted between M'tom's Kauth and a slender green dragonet – Al'xander 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 brown beside him – Al'xander 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 Alexander's Impression here. Al'xander and Whymenth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Al'xander'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
Whymenth and I make a very strong match!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Whymenth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE
Whymenth and I agreed on something quite important!