Lizbet and green Garenth
The Road So Far!
It all began at Madellon Weyr for Lizbet – a young woman of 17 Turns, dreaming of becoming a dragonrider.
Lizbet was born the daughter of Nelya, a Headwoman's Second at Madellon Weyr. While she didn't have to be Searched, she was 'given the nod' as a likely dragonrider by the Weyr's most senior retired Search pair – S'rius and his elderly blue Padseth. Having been left standing at a Hatching once before, Lizbet struggled with both her modest upbringing as a Weyr child with no rider blood, and her fear that she wasn't dragonrider material.
As a candidate, Lizbet 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 Lizbet! Backed up by her crony Cedranne, Auciet became the thorn in Lizbet's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.
Hatching Day
The dragons' hum woke Erilde and Lizbet 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 Lizbet 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, Lizbet 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 Lizbet to find it. The quest took Lizbet 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.
Respecting her elders
In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Lizbet encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Lizbet to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Lizbet 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, Lizbet offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Lizbet encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Lizbet – especially after she solved all three of her fiendish riddles!
A rising problem
Lizbet 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. Lizbet'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 Lizbet 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 Lizbet 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 Lizbet 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 – Lizbet did!
Weyrbrat by name...
A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Auciet had paid to cause Lizbet trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Lizbet 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, Lizbet 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 Lizbet didn't want to pass up.
Friend request
Seeking knowledge of Erilde's parentage, Lizbet 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 Lizbet might construct a story about a long-dead rider. Lizbet 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, Lizbet visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of her dignity, Lizbet ensured she came away with a cut she actually liked.
A breath of foul air
Early in the day, Lizbet 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 a glowbasket, she crawled into a confusing maze of passages. The route she chose turned out to be thick with choking toxic fumes from Madellon's volcanic foundation, and Lizbet soon found herself struggling for breath.
Undeterred, Lizbet pushed through the discomfort, and emerged shortly onto the Hatching Sands. But she wasn't quiet enough. Shimpath, dozing only very lightly, awoke, and she and Muzzanth chased Lizbet from the Sands!
The Hatching
When it came to the Hatching, Lizbet had to wait a little while before the long pale grey egg Hatched to reveal the light cloudy-green dragonet who would choose her, naming herself Garenth.
A friend in me
And Lizbet 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 Lizbet and Garenth's new classmates. (On the bright side, at least Cedranne didn't Impress!)
After the Hatching
"Garenth" by Emily Holland
The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Lizbet on her Impression, but it was old S'rius, delighted to have found yet another weyrling, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Garenth's first meal. That was Lizbet's first opportunity to speak to Erilde, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Garenth and Shaldeth.
It wasn't long before Garenth's personality started to become evident. The cloudy-green dragonet, being a very forthright and direct character, spared no time in making it clear that she wouldn't take any nonsense from anyone – her new rider included!
With both dragonets full to bursting with fresh meat, the newly minted dragonpairs left the Hatching sands for their new home: the weyrling barracks.
Meeting the Weyrleader
As Lizbet 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. Lizbet was proud to introduce Garenth to the Weyrleader – and to give him her full new name: Lizbet, rider of green Garenth!
Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Garenth's and Shaldeth's newborn itchiness, Lizbet 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
Lizbet and Erilde soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Lizbet had helped during the day greeted her with warm congratulations as she hunted through the throng – but, at last, she found her family.
Lizbet's mother, Nelya, was thrilled by her daughter's Impression – though perhaps not quite as ecstatic as Lizbet's younger siblings, Ashi and Halante. As the first dragonrider in the family, Lizbet was keenly aware of what it meant to her brother and sister. And when the Weyrleaders came to drink a toast to Lizbet and Garenth, Valonna was particularly delighted for Nelya – one of her most trusted Headwoman Seconds.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Lizbet, 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, Lizbet 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 Lizbet'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 Lizbet 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 Garenth.
A close encounter
On her way back to the barracks , Lizbet 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 Lizbet 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, Lizbet decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.
Returning at last to Garenth – billeted between Erilde's Shaldeth and a very large green dragonet – Lizbet 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 – Lizbet 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?
Lizbet and Garenth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!
Lizbet'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:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG
Garenth and I complement each other!
Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE
I've been a very nice person (so far)!
Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY
Garenth and I agreed on something very important!
Achievement Unlocked:
BUM NOTE
Garenth and I disagreed on something quite important!