Br'lonno and blue Fragarith

The Road So Far!

It all began at Jessaf Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Brelonno – a young man of 16 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.

Brelonno was born to unusual privilege – a grandson of Winstone, Lord of mighty Jessaf Hold. Brelonno 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, Brelonno 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 Brelonno becoming a candidate – while conceding that he could spare a younger grandchild. And with Winstone's admonition that he Impress a bronze – or a brown at the very least – ringing in his ears, Brelonno left to begin his candidacy at Madellon Weyr.

As a candidate, Brelonno 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 Brelonno! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Brelonno's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Brelonno 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 Brelonno 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 and the thieving queen

Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Brelonno 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 Brelonno to find it. The quest took Brelonno all over Madellon, from kitchens to lake to infirmary – but in the end he succeeded in reuniting the Weyrwoman's jewellery set, to general acclaim.

Respecting his elders

In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Brelonno encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Brelonno to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Brelonno 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, Brelonno offered it to old S'rius, who was equally appreciative of the gift. And while Kisha, the blind old green rider Brelonno encountered in the infirmary, would have nothing to do with one of R'hren's concoctions, she too grew to approve of Brelonno – especially after he solved all three of her fiendish riddles!

Southern comfort

Brelonno 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 Brelonno 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 Brelonno some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Brelonno 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, Brelonno 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, Brelonno 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. Brelonno 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 Brelonno a certain confidence in his own prospects!

A rising problem

Brelonno 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. Brelonno'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. Even if Brelonno did annoy Soleigh, who wasn't impressed with him for prolonging Maris' binge by bringing her more wine!

Kitchen diplomacy

Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Brelonno with the opportunity to show off his work ethic before the Hatching. A round of chores duly pleased Crauva, and earned him a selection of goodies warm from the oven.. And the kitchen was also the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Brelonno to find for his warming salve.

Pie-more

Brelonno certainly indulged his sweet tooth before the Hatching – laying claim to not one, not two, but three different types of bubbly pie Albeit he stole one of them..

Eggs and baskets

A visit to the Archives led to a meeting with Tarshe, Madellon's Weyrwoman Second. When Brelonno 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. But with one thing and another, Brelonno didn't bring it back – earning the Weyrwoman Second's ire!

Weyrbrat by name...

A run-in with a Weyrbrat – Terzon, whom Rielat had paid to cause Brelonno trouble – resulted in an unfortunate public incident. All too aware of being shaken down, Brelonno 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, Brelonno 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 Brelonno hadn't reckoned on H'nar's incorruptible nature. H'nar rejected the money with outrage, and word of Brelonno's attempt to bribe him made its way back to the Weyrlingmaster!

A blue lady

Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Brelonno offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.

Friend request

Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Brelonno 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 Brelonno that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Brelonno'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!

Hair today

Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Brelonno visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of his dignity, Brelonno ensured he came away with a cut he actually liked.

Wherry bad behaviour

Brelonno's assorted instances of bad behaviour finally caught up with him. L'stev collared him in the Bowl and gave him an ultimatum – buck up his ideas, or sit the Hatching out. Brelonno chose the former, and the Weyrlingmaster sent him to do penance in the wherry hatchery – though Brelonno remained on probation, with one more slip promising to rule him out of standing!

A curious development

Early in the day, Brelonno 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 glowbaskets, he crawled into a confusing maze of passages.

Brelonno never made it to the Hatching ground – instead, encountering an unusually intelligent feline in the tunnels. Following it deeper into the ventilation shafts, Brelonno came across the most unexpected discovery – a hidden room, full of a very peculiar selection of individuals. But he had barely taken stock of his situation before Vanzanth, the Weyrlingmaster's brown, forced his way into the room – ordering Brelonno out, and commanding him never to speak of the encounter again!

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Brelonno didn't have to wait too long for his date with destiny. The gleaming blue egg Hatched out a bright indigo-blue dragonet who told Brelonno his name was Fragarith.

A friend in me

And Brelonno 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?

It turned out that making an enemy of Brelonno was a very poor choice on Rielat's part. For the low, low price of just three marks, Brelonno had Grimes, the shady fellow loitering near the Gather stalls, spread a series of nasty rumours about Rielat. By the time the Weyrlingmaster mustered the candidate cohort immediately before the Hatching, the damage to Rielat's reputation was done – and he was ejected from the candidate pool without ever setting foot on the Sands!

After the Hatching

"Fragarith" by Emily Holland

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Brelonno on his Impression, but it was Garlan, delighted that her risky choice of Winstone's grandson had Impressed, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Fragarith's first meal. That was Brelonno's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Fragarith and Aeranth. Soburn also told Brelonno that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.

It wasn't long before Fragarith's personality started to become evident. The big indigo-blue dragonet, the largest of his colour, showed his alert and serious nature from the beginning, demonstrating a high degree of focus for a blue.

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 Brelonno 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. Brelonno was proud to introduce Fragarith to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Fragarith, Brelonno gave the Weyrleader his own new name: Br'lonno, rider of blue Fragarith!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Fragarith's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, Br'lonno 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

Br'lonno and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk Br'lonno had helped during the day greeted him with warm congratulations as he hunted through the throng – but, at last, he found his family.

Lord Winstone, Br'lonno's grandfather, was highly displeased that his grandson had only managed to Impress a blue – against his strict warning that nothing less than a brown would suffice. The Weyrleaders were quick to step in on Br'lonno's behalf, but the damage to his relationship with his grandfather was done.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Br'lonno, 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, Br'lonno 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 Br'lonno'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 Br'lonno 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 Fragarith.

A close encounter

On his way back to the barracks , Br'lonno 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 Br'lonno 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, Br'lonno decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.

Returning at last to Fragarith – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a bright bronze dragonet – Br'lonno 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 blue beside him – Br'lonno 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?

Br'lonno and Fragarith's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

Br'lonno'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

Fragarith and I make a very strong match!

Achievement Unlocked:
SNAKES AND SNAILS

I haven't been very nice!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Fragarith and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Fragarith and I agreed on something quite important!