Post by Kit on Feb 3, 2011 2:11:23 GMT -5
Searching and Candidacy
So now you know all the places where your candidate can live, how do you become a candidate? Well, the Searchdragons make their rounds every year, visiting every hold, even the smallest, and the craft complex. They don't have an appointed time, the riders feeling that surprise works better to catch those children that might have been hidden away. Candidates must have started puberty, for the simple reason that any latent empathy one might have does not become ripe until this time, and that is when the dragon can sense it. Most Candidates will not be older than eighteeen Turns, but as the weyr is desperate, they will take the occasional person up until age twenty-one for males and twenty-five for females.
So say you are of that age and you want to be Searched. Well, the dragon will come on its yearly rounds and get all the age appropriate children to line up and their dragon, usually a blue or white and sometimes a green, will give everyone a sniff and tell the rider which, if any, are suited for Candidacy. Or one might just be flying over by chance, as happens occasionally, and could Search someone they sensed that way, though it is rare. The weyrleaders try to rotate which dragon visit which holds, as the Searchdragons are not perfect and one may sense what another may have missed. If the dragon Searches you, the rider will ask you to come to the weyr. You can always refuse, but then they will try their hardest to convince you, since candidates are so hard to find. If you agree, you will be given a few hours, or maybe a day, depending on the situation, to gather your things and say goodbye to your family.
Well, what if your parents don't want you to go? Tough luck for them. If you agree, than the Searchrider is obligated to take you, regardless of parental approval, and most will do so openly. The shortage of candidates is well known and a rider will feel nothing but scorn for parents that won't do their duty. Dragonriding is a huge honor to the average pernese, and the few dissenters will not be tolerated. With particularly troublesome parents, that bring out weapons and such, the weyr will arrange to have you kidnapped during the night, but only if you wish it. They will communicate by firelizard. The weyr is a safe place for all, and many an abused child has found a haven in their caverns.
Once you are Searched, you will be given a Search token. It is a wooden disk with the weyr insignia on one side and the special sign that is the Searchrider's personal sigil. This is just in case you refuse, or decide not to come right away (say you want to make journeyman first or wait till your mother has the new baby..whatever) this token will get you conveyance to the weyr from any rider, should you encounter one, and passage through the gate into the weyr bowl, if you come by more conventional means. Since the war, security is a little tighter and not just anyone is allowed in the weyr just to look around. So you have your Search token and you have arrived at the weyr, what do you do? Well, the Searchrider will probably take you to the Candidate Master's office. If you come without the Searchrider, then you'll have to flag down someone nice looking and they'll take you to his office. The Candidate Master will ask you some questions about your age, your life, your interests, what craft you have, if any, and then he'll issue you some white robes for the Hatching, some Candidates knots, and a couple outfits for every day wear, if you don't have any. Candidates live a very simple life. You will have two changes of clothes for every day wear, and one set of Gather clothes, plus your Hatching Gear and leather shoes or boots. You can have some personal items, like tools for your craft, and trinkets, but anything the Candidate Master considers valuable, dangerous, or superfluous will be taken away and he will lock it up until you either Impress or renounce your Candidacy. Then he'll show you to your new room in the Infirmary. That's right, the Infirmary. After Cloudlung, all Candidates must spend one sevenday in quarantine under the Healer's care, then they'll be allowed to move into the Barracks.
The Candidate Barracks is separated from the rest of the weyr, attached by a normally locked door to the Hatching Grounds and another door to the lower caverns which is only locked at night. The Barracks is large enough to hold 60 Candidates, thirty girls, and thirty boys. It is not very private, as there are no doors. The rooms are divided by short divider of stiff fabric on either side, and open on the front, giving some small measure of privacy for the shy. Each room contains one bunk bed, you'll have to fight with your roommate for the top bunk, and you each have a chest (unlocked) for all your clothes and things, a desk, and a couple of shelves. Boys and girls are separated by a door that is locked after curfew and each area has communal bathing rooms and a latrine.
Candidates have a strict schedule, to get them used to the discipline of weyrling life. They wake up at first candlemark (one hour past dawn) and have one mark to dress, bathe and eat breakfast. Then its off to chores for two marks, and then lessons until midday. Then they have an hour to eat, and hang around, then two more marks of lessons and then either chores or work in their craft for three more marks. The they have another hour to change, bathe, and/or clean their room before dinner. After dinner is free time until dusk, Curfew is at sunset, then its one hour till lights out. Every seventh day is a rest day, though you're still expected at meals and to finish anything from the weeks lessons you haven't done. Morning lessons are about the weyr, dragons, and Impression and afternoon lessons are either taken in your specific craft, or are general instruction given by a harper. The Candidate Master will decide which one you will take based on your craft and the level of general knowledge you posses. Candidates are allowed to have sexual relationships, if they can find the time and the privacy, but females should note that you will be examined by a Healer one day before the Hatching is expected. No pregnant Candidate will be allowed to Stand. A young dragon is too much work to add a baby onto the pile. Candidates are also allowed pets, but only firelizards will be allowed in the barracks. Canines, felines, and the occasional runner will be kept in the kennels or the stable. Rule breaking (not showing up for chores or lessons, sneaking out after curfew, breaking curfew, disrespect to riders, bullying and the like) will usually be punished by extra chores, frequently, latrine duty. Only severe misbehavior will result in not allowing the candidate to Stand.
Impression Day
Hatching day will come about one month after the clutch was laid, which would be about a month and a half after the Flight. It usually happens in the morning. Suddenly, all the dragons and firelizards in the weyr will wake up, and start to hum. Its a soothing hum, sort of a welcoming sound. The candidates will all be woken, and told to bathe and dress in their Hatching robes. Candidates will go onto the Sands barefoot. Take note that the Sands are very hot! This tradition persists because it is assumed that is keeps the Candidates from trying to fake out the dragonets, it exposes their true nature. If you're thinking about your feet hurting, you're not trying to be something you're not, supposedly. So the Candidates are dressed in their robes, they are given a light breakfast and ushered out onto the Sands, where the Eggs are beginning to rock. The rest of the Weyr (everyone goes to Hatchings) and the family of the Candidates, and the Lord Holder and Craftmasters, are all sitting in Stands raised above the Sand. There is even Stands (rock ledges) for the dragons.
Once the Eggs begin to Hatch, everything is chaos. Baby dragonets are unsteady on their feet, clumsy, and rather dangerous, they will not hesitate to claw anyone in their way. Candidates have been killed, purely by accident, and so have other hatchlings. The little dragons wander around, creeling, until they find their lifemate. The speak into the new dragonriders mind, speaking their name and often, the desire to be fed. Dragons come out of their shells ravenous. The new rider is called a weyrling, and they are escorted to buckets of meat where they are taught how to feed and oil their dragonet. Then they are escorted to the weyrling barracks, where the new dragon usually falls asleep. The weyrlings are allowed to attend the Hatching Feast, but they usually go to bed soon after their dragon, maybe talking to their family and eating a bit. Its an exhausting day, the Hatching can take six marks..sometimes longer. Any Candidates who do not Impress are taken back to the candidate barracks, where one of the assistants consoles them, and then they go out to the Feast too.
So now you know all the places where your candidate can live, how do you become a candidate? Well, the Searchdragons make their rounds every year, visiting every hold, even the smallest, and the craft complex. They don't have an appointed time, the riders feeling that surprise works better to catch those children that might have been hidden away. Candidates must have started puberty, for the simple reason that any latent empathy one might have does not become ripe until this time, and that is when the dragon can sense it. Most Candidates will not be older than eighteeen Turns, but as the weyr is desperate, they will take the occasional person up until age twenty-one for males and twenty-five for females.
So say you are of that age and you want to be Searched. Well, the dragon will come on its yearly rounds and get all the age appropriate children to line up and their dragon, usually a blue or white and sometimes a green, will give everyone a sniff and tell the rider which, if any, are suited for Candidacy. Or one might just be flying over by chance, as happens occasionally, and could Search someone they sensed that way, though it is rare. The weyrleaders try to rotate which dragon visit which holds, as the Searchdragons are not perfect and one may sense what another may have missed. If the dragon Searches you, the rider will ask you to come to the weyr. You can always refuse, but then they will try their hardest to convince you, since candidates are so hard to find. If you agree, you will be given a few hours, or maybe a day, depending on the situation, to gather your things and say goodbye to your family.
Well, what if your parents don't want you to go? Tough luck for them. If you agree, than the Searchrider is obligated to take you, regardless of parental approval, and most will do so openly. The shortage of candidates is well known and a rider will feel nothing but scorn for parents that won't do their duty. Dragonriding is a huge honor to the average pernese, and the few dissenters will not be tolerated. With particularly troublesome parents, that bring out weapons and such, the weyr will arrange to have you kidnapped during the night, but only if you wish it. They will communicate by firelizard. The weyr is a safe place for all, and many an abused child has found a haven in their caverns.
Once you are Searched, you will be given a Search token. It is a wooden disk with the weyr insignia on one side and the special sign that is the Searchrider's personal sigil. This is just in case you refuse, or decide not to come right away (say you want to make journeyman first or wait till your mother has the new baby..whatever) this token will get you conveyance to the weyr from any rider, should you encounter one, and passage through the gate into the weyr bowl, if you come by more conventional means. Since the war, security is a little tighter and not just anyone is allowed in the weyr just to look around. So you have your Search token and you have arrived at the weyr, what do you do? Well, the Searchrider will probably take you to the Candidate Master's office. If you come without the Searchrider, then you'll have to flag down someone nice looking and they'll take you to his office. The Candidate Master will ask you some questions about your age, your life, your interests, what craft you have, if any, and then he'll issue you some white robes for the Hatching, some Candidates knots, and a couple outfits for every day wear, if you don't have any. Candidates live a very simple life. You will have two changes of clothes for every day wear, and one set of Gather clothes, plus your Hatching Gear and leather shoes or boots. You can have some personal items, like tools for your craft, and trinkets, but anything the Candidate Master considers valuable, dangerous, or superfluous will be taken away and he will lock it up until you either Impress or renounce your Candidacy. Then he'll show you to your new room in the Infirmary. That's right, the Infirmary. After Cloudlung, all Candidates must spend one sevenday in quarantine under the Healer's care, then they'll be allowed to move into the Barracks.
The Candidate Barracks is separated from the rest of the weyr, attached by a normally locked door to the Hatching Grounds and another door to the lower caverns which is only locked at night. The Barracks is large enough to hold 60 Candidates, thirty girls, and thirty boys. It is not very private, as there are no doors. The rooms are divided by short divider of stiff fabric on either side, and open on the front, giving some small measure of privacy for the shy. Each room contains one bunk bed, you'll have to fight with your roommate for the top bunk, and you each have a chest (unlocked) for all your clothes and things, a desk, and a couple of shelves. Boys and girls are separated by a door that is locked after curfew and each area has communal bathing rooms and a latrine.
Candidates have a strict schedule, to get them used to the discipline of weyrling life. They wake up at first candlemark (one hour past dawn) and have one mark to dress, bathe and eat breakfast. Then its off to chores for two marks, and then lessons until midday. Then they have an hour to eat, and hang around, then two more marks of lessons and then either chores or work in their craft for three more marks. The they have another hour to change, bathe, and/or clean their room before dinner. After dinner is free time until dusk, Curfew is at sunset, then its one hour till lights out. Every seventh day is a rest day, though you're still expected at meals and to finish anything from the weeks lessons you haven't done. Morning lessons are about the weyr, dragons, and Impression and afternoon lessons are either taken in your specific craft, or are general instruction given by a harper. The Candidate Master will decide which one you will take based on your craft and the level of general knowledge you posses. Candidates are allowed to have sexual relationships, if they can find the time and the privacy, but females should note that you will be examined by a Healer one day before the Hatching is expected. No pregnant Candidate will be allowed to Stand. A young dragon is too much work to add a baby onto the pile. Candidates are also allowed pets, but only firelizards will be allowed in the barracks. Canines, felines, and the occasional runner will be kept in the kennels or the stable. Rule breaking (not showing up for chores or lessons, sneaking out after curfew, breaking curfew, disrespect to riders, bullying and the like) will usually be punished by extra chores, frequently, latrine duty. Only severe misbehavior will result in not allowing the candidate to Stand.
Impression Day
Hatching day will come about one month after the clutch was laid, which would be about a month and a half after the Flight. It usually happens in the morning. Suddenly, all the dragons and firelizards in the weyr will wake up, and start to hum. Its a soothing hum, sort of a welcoming sound. The candidates will all be woken, and told to bathe and dress in their Hatching robes. Candidates will go onto the Sands barefoot. Take note that the Sands are very hot! This tradition persists because it is assumed that is keeps the Candidates from trying to fake out the dragonets, it exposes their true nature. If you're thinking about your feet hurting, you're not trying to be something you're not, supposedly. So the Candidates are dressed in their robes, they are given a light breakfast and ushered out onto the Sands, where the Eggs are beginning to rock. The rest of the Weyr (everyone goes to Hatchings) and the family of the Candidates, and the Lord Holder and Craftmasters, are all sitting in Stands raised above the Sand. There is even Stands (rock ledges) for the dragons.
Once the Eggs begin to Hatch, everything is chaos. Baby dragonets are unsteady on their feet, clumsy, and rather dangerous, they will not hesitate to claw anyone in their way. Candidates have been killed, purely by accident, and so have other hatchlings. The little dragons wander around, creeling, until they find their lifemate. The speak into the new dragonriders mind, speaking their name and often, the desire to be fed. Dragons come out of their shells ravenous. The new rider is called a weyrling, and they are escorted to buckets of meat where they are taught how to feed and oil their dragonet. Then they are escorted to the weyrling barracks, where the new dragon usually falls asleep. The weyrlings are allowed to attend the Hatching Feast, but they usually go to bed soon after their dragon, maybe talking to their family and eating a bit. Its an exhausting day, the Hatching can take six marks..sometimes longer. Any Candidates who do not Impress are taken back to the candidate barracks, where one of the assistants consoles them, and then they go out to the Feast too.