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A brown spiraled down from the sky, landing neatly a short distance away so as not to kick up dust on anyone. As Rugarth trotted over to the rest of the dragons, C'per surveyed the scene. He noted that all the other traditional colors were present besides brown. Just as well he'd arrived then, to let the Canidates see the full spectrum. It seems the children had already begun to speak, so perhaps he was a bit late. But he and C'per had just come off watch, and Rugarth insisted his rider return to his weyr to change into a clean set of riding leathers. They had first impressions to consider, after all, especially since Rugarth was the father of the upcoming clutch.

Rugarth stopped a respectful distance from Banshidheth and laid down, so as not to loom. Good day, Banshidheth. You look well, he said to the queen. He had not earned the right act either possessive nor too familiar, but a polite greeting never went amiss. To the other dragons he said, And good day to you all, as well.

C'per slid from his dragon and moved to stand in front of the brown. "Hello, Councillor Savarah, goldrider Anali." The title Weyrwoman no longer applied, but goldrider was a simple fact and ought to be socially permissible even in the Wherhold, as long as it wasn't flaunted. He nodded politely to each of the other riders, then turned his attention to the Candidates. He stood at attention, hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed them.

Where some of the other candidates were speaking up or making themselves known, Avalinia was doing quite the opposite. She stood towards the back, peeking around some of the others to look at the great gold that lay before them. She was... so big! Ava had never seen a dragon of this size up close until just recently. It still amazed her at how large the dragon kind could get. But Banshideth was the first gold she'd seen up close.

Swallowing to keep from drawing the gold's eye, she inched forward to squeeze between a couple people in order to hear what rider Savarah had to say better. Of course, having her ask for each of them to introduce themselves had Ava going pale and pretending she hadn't heard this part.

Savarah smiled a little bit though it wasn't clear quite what had amused her.

"Thank you all," she said with a clap of her hands once it seemed as though everyone who was going to speak up had done so. "Now you all know why you're here today so let's not delay; this will be one of your last chances to ask any questions you might have about dragons, hatchlings, hatching etiquette, and so on before Banshidheth's clutch." She inclined her head slightly at the gold and her rider at this point before turning back to the class. "There is such a thing as a stupid question but I'd rather you ask it than have you not know when you need to, I won't have any sympathy for anyone who gets themselves mauled because they behaved badly at the hatching. So," she made a sweeping gesture to her fellow riders, "who would like to ask the first question of my comrades?"

Symphonth replied to the larger female with a slight incline of her head.

Rugarth, Erinaeth. Banshidheth's greetings remained short, even for the brown who had caught her, but though her words were very few, her tone was warm.

"Good afternoon, C'per," Anali replied with a nod and pleasant smile. She could have done without being addressed as 'goldrider' in front of a group, but opted not to correct him and thereby look nitpicky, or like she was trying too hard.

She observed Jameson's reaction to her with interest. He'd gone awfully quiet, hadn't he? And stared at her quite intently. Not used to being contradicted, she assumed. She shrugged off the look he was giving her and turned her attention to Savarah, then to Vos.

"Atypicals were not hatched at Telgar, so I cannot tell you what to expect." A pause, and she looked to Arlii and added, "Though I do look forward to learning."

She would leave that answer to the crimsonrider, and was curious as to which rider or riders would answer Vos' other question, and how. She had given her own thoughts on the matter when speaking to Jameson, and would not reiterate them. Talking too much could be taken as a sign of self-importance, which wouldn't do.

Vee grinned back at Vos before speaking up with; "Yeah, crimson rider, I want to know about that too." She lifted her spear off the ground just a little for a moment to further call attention to herself. "I heard you have to carry them around for ages and loads of them die before they reach adulthood, is that true?" She somehow suspected that it had been exaggerated but she wanted to know anyways. "Somebody said that clutches aren't as big if browns father them, is that true too?" she added after a momentary pause, addressing the riders in general now. "Seems like bull to me but you said we could ask anything."

Kylerr stood silently toward the back of the group, listening to the questions and feeling out the other Candidates before him. There was a rising and falling of energy that balanced out interestingly, this Jameson on one end, the ones from Malvren on the other, the riders on yet another.

His mind and eyes wandered over to the dragons, not having seen so many this close up. He moved on to look at the blue rider, standing nonchalant near his dragon, and smiled. The rider seemed preoccupied, but the way he carried himself was so different from what he was used to seeing around the weyr, and someone not that much older than Kylerr, too! He shook it off and turned to listen back to the others.

He shifted the lute strapped to his back to be more comfortable and tucked back behind his ear and shoulder a long lock of his hair that had strayed. He didn't feel particularly lacking in information regarding Standing or Riderhood, but getting to hear from riders and others from outside Benden weyr firsthand was fascinating.

With the first of Vos's questions answered, C'per decided to chime in on the next one. It was a reasonable question for a Candidate, if perhaps a slightly greedy one. But it seemed a bit of a jab at the overconfident boy, so it would do to help drill into the young ones that nobody was ever assured of Impressing. He stood at attention as if giving a report as he began.

"There is no one things that causes a dragonet to chose a rider. In general they seek a compatible personality, but what they consider compatible is not always obvious, and there are likely factors only they know. Many of you have heard that there are dragons who can sense a person's potential to Impress, usually referred to as Searchdragons. Even the riders of those dragons don't really know what makes their dragon decide a person is suitable or not.

"There are, however, things that make it far less likely to Impress any dragon, namely being of unsound mind or body. A dragon, especially a very young one, is very receptive to changes in their rider's emotions and general mental state. For weyrling dragons, sudden changes in their rider's mind or emotions can confuse them and has the potential to frighten them into going between permanently. This is why weyrling riders are restricted from engaging in actions that could cause sudden changes to emotions, such as drinking alcohol. Hatchlings can sense if a person is prone to such rapid or erratic changes in mental state, or is otherwise not mentally capable of handling another mind being connected to their own, and will generally not chose them.

"Likewise, hatchlings will not chose someone who is physically unable to care for them. Being a rider is a physically demanding task. A rider must be able to wash and oil their dragon, care for any injuries their dragons may develop, feed them as weyrlings, maintain their riding straps, and during a Pass, train to fight Thread. Anyone who has a physical handicap that will impair their ability to effectively do any of these things is likely to be passed by."

C'per mentally reviewed the information he had delivered and decided it was sufficient. If any other riders had further information to add on the matter, he expected they would do so.

"There will be a Touching," Savarah replied to Fadrin with a small nod, "it's just as you've heard, a chance to get to know the eggs a little and for them to get to know you. It's believed that doing this might make it easier for dragons to find their riders quickly as they already have an idea of the minds they're going to find when they break shell. I did say it was the last chance, last formal chance I should have said other than briefings on behavior before the Touching and the Hatching itself. If you think of something after this that you don't know your candidatemasters are always available to answer your questions.

"C'per is right," she continued though she kept her attention on the class without a glance at the brown rider. "Nobody really knows why dragons chose as they do, only that both parties always feel that their match is perfect. That's not to say bondmates never argue or disagree, only that both parties love one another unconditionally and know that their love is returned. You're never alone when you are bonded to a dragon."

Symphonth rumbled softly as her rider spoke and though she didn't move to give any physical gesture of affection her eyes whirled brighter blue.

"I've only seen two brown sired clutches in my lifetime," Savarah added as an afterthought, nodding to Anali. "Neither had a gold and both were quite small but clutches in general were smaller at the time; further from a pass and of course the golds were still suffering from fertility problems back then too. As Anali says we shall have to wait and see."