|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 3:04 am
A dragon never comes into the world but that they aren’t greeted by singing, an almost tangible outpouring of love for their children - though no one but dragonkin and the incredibly rare sensitive can hear the other notes in the song. As it has been every time before, so it is now.
It was mid-afternoon when the dragons started to sit up and hum, singing from the heights and from the bowl and from wherever they might be. It started so quietly, so subtly that listeners might have been forgiven for thinking it was all in their head, but as more voices joined the song it was undeniable: Sereth’s clutch was cracking its shells.
The crowd in the Cavern was notably free of dignitaries: the recent incident had won the Weyr few friends, and High Reaches Hold had made their disapproval plain by failing to even so much as send a representative. However, the Lady Regent Tanathi of Tillek was once again in evidence, making her support for the Weyr clear as crystal. Wingleader Ko'ren appeared to be flirting with her as they sat down, resplendent in boots tipped with jewel-encrusted clips.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 3:05 am
[ the eggs ]
The eggs in this clutch are far smaller than a 6th Pass candidate will be used to, the gold egg for example is perhaps half the size of the last Queen egg seen on High Reaches sands. The size of the eggs given in the descriptions below is relative to the rest of the clutch. There are 29 eggs in total in this clutch, 22 of them are NPC eggs which cannot be Impressed here.
The Cunning Tactician Egg - Green Kakuseith to Nimian
This tiny egg sits right at the back but thanks to its fiery shell - smokey grey at the tip then flecked with reds, oranges, yellows, and blue-white at its base - it is hard to miss all the same. The little thing has a sort of attentive air about it, almost as though it's watching over its siblings.
- written for you by Muffin/Tawny
The Very Best Egg - Gold Huanth to Zennaren
The massive gleaming golden egg sits proudly in front of the bulk of its siblings, just behind the impatient hero. It leans forward and slightly to one side and as a candidate draws near they may begin to feel a surge of excitement that is not entirely their own....
- written for you by Tawny
The Impatient Hero's Symphony Egg - Blue Sylvarath to Lex
This smallish egg is a uniform bright red and situated at the front of the clutch as it is it tends to draw the eye. The little thing is tilted forwards, towards the entrance to the Sands as though it is eager to encounter questing hands.
- written for you by Tawny
The Massing Force Egg - Bronze Turiath to ???
This borderline huge pale grey egg sits at the back of the main cluster of the clutch. It is bolt upright and when a candidate touches the shell they will first get the impression of a soldier standing alert but at rest, watching them closely but without initial hostility.
- written for you by Tawny
Crystal Clear Egg - Blue Lyrieth to Shiloh
This mid sized egg gleams in the light as if every ray is refracted back from within it and tinted a brilliant blue. Getting near it requires one to pick their way through the rest of the clutch, though there is a little circle of sand around it as though no other eggs wish to get too close.
- written for you by Con
Luck of the Dice Egg - Blue Taroth to ???
This small egg is lying on its side. It appears to be speckled with dots, almost like the sides on a dice. Is there a clacking sound as you approach it, or is that just in your head?
- written for you by Con
Butterfly Wings Egg- Blue Vermellath to Seragee
There’s a smell of copper around this large egg, which is a magnificent scarlet about it’s top, and black beneath. It stands a little apart from the rest of the clutch, though whether that reflects anything about the egg or whether it’s Sereth’s reaction to it is unclear.
- written for you by Con
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 4:07 am
Sereth had been kind enough to give Nersha warning the minute she began to hum for her clutch. This gave the woman adequate time to get into her chosen outfit, prep her face and hair and swiftly make her way to the hatching sands as people were beginning to file in. Being she was not Weyrmistress she couldn't get away with dressing as finely as she would have back home, but then again she didn't have things as fine as she did back home anyway. Still she looked presentable and her dress choice wasn't going to smother her along with the heat in the cavern. Kaius stayed quiet in her hands, the brown was revealing himself to be a shy little thing. Nersha had taken him to a healer to be looked over and his chances for full mobility didn't look good. He'd get stronger with age, but wouldn't be able to manage the skill of flight his kin were known for.
Looking up Sereth rumbled happily as her rider took her seat. They were ready, despite all these obvious attempts to sabotage her clutch they were healthy, strong and about to meet the world. Her welcoming hum rang through the cavern, while privately she sent waves of comfort and love over the clutch. They could finally break out of their eggs and find that one person meant for them. Sereth knew they could find them, she would be here every step of the way. They could call on her any time and she would help them should they need it. They were not alone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 6:43 am
When he caught the sound of Sereth's voice on the air Regulith barely gave his rider time to scramble onto his back before he plunged off their ledge, taking up the call as he plunged.
L'mia listened to the humming with her eyes closed and a huge grin plastered across her face. It was different to her own time, bigger throats gave a deeper thrum and as more and more dragons took up the call it almost seemed to shake her bones. Why had dragons grown larger over the turns? She wished she could answer that question, it felt as though if she could she would uncover something deep about the nature of their great protectors. Then again that could just be her over romanticizing it, she was a Harper and knew the tendency.
Regulith dropped his rider off at the entrance to the cavern before hopping back into the air to glide to the back of the Sands, where he landed neatly. The eggs were magnificent, and Sereth was magnificent, and the young bronze reached out to the clutch and the gold to let them know this. he sent to his Queen alone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 6:56 am
When the humming started the candidates were in the middle of combat practice, which saw more advanced students using practice blades while the less experienced worked on unarmed techniques.
"Alright!" Venk wasted no time, and his voice carried well thanks to turns of practice. "Everyone return your weapons. Junior candidates head to the stands, senior candidates with me!" Orders given the candidatemaster headed towards the hatching cavern.
Once just outside he turned to face his charges. The bright smile and warm enthusiasm that had suffused him before the Touching was absent, he looked older and tired again as he had when Hiraeth's clutch had lain on the Sands. "I want everyone on their best behavior," he said firmly, hands clasped behind his back perhaps to stop himself from fidigiting. "These hatchlings will be smaller than most of you are used to but that doesn't mean they can't hurt you, so remember the rules and..." Venk smiled then but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Some of you will be riders very soon but whether you Impress or not I want you to know that I am proud of each and every one of you. Now, go on in and best of luck to you all."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 7:03 am
Nimian would have flung his practice blade in excitement if he could. Such behavior, however, would not look that highly upon him, so he reigned in his eagerness and placed the weapon he was using back where it belonged. Being excited was all well and good, but that didn't mean he shouldn't let it overwhelm him. He needed to be as presentable as possible. This was one of the days he had been looking forward to for a long time, and with a gold on the Sands the stakes we even higher. He wanted to make Shylla proud, though he knew she would be, no matter what sort of dragon he Impressed.
His nerves seemed to creep up on him the closer and closer he got to the Sands. Eggs were hatching -- he should be happy. Everyone else was, but he still couldn't help but feel a little hesitant about things. There were only so many eggs compared to all of the candidates. Maybe this time wouldn't be his time? But no, he couldn't think like that. He was psyching himself out before the first egg even hatched. "Just breathe, and be patient," he told himself as he walked into the stands and got into position. "Everything will be ok."
He got into position on the Sands after he said that, and then waited to see which egg would hatch first. It was no or never.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 7:32 am
The noise was like nothing he had ever experienced before. It made the hair on the back of his neck and his arms stand up, made his skin prickle with more than just the sweat of exertion. Biran returned his practice blade and headed towards the stands, caught somewhere between excitement and... and... what? Something else, a coldness or a hollowness inside. This was it, a dragon hatching and he was going to witness it from near the front of the stands with the other junior candidates. And somebody who should have witnessed it with him would not, and others who should have been on the Sands were not and never would be again. That explained it then. Was it right to be excited? Was it wrong to allow the shadow of what had happened to darken the day? He always seemed to have more questions to himself than he had answers these days.
As he entered the hatching cavern his excitement grew a little brighter, from the place he took in the stands he could see the eggs clearly for the first time and they were incredible! One of them might choose him.
There was more to see than the eggs however; Biran turned his attention to the area of the stands reserved for the high folk and guests of honour. There was Tanathi, not much of a surprise that she was present, and nor was it a surprise that his own Hold was not represented. He had known they weren't coming but his heart still sank a little, it wasn't as though he was Standing this time... would they have come even if he was? More questions.
Shaking his head slightly Biran turned his gaze back onto the eggs and tried to put other thoughts out of his head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 7:37 am
Calanoth, the big softie he was, was listening intently for the first signs of the activity at the clutch and barely two seconds after Sereth and Regulith started up the call he added his voice to the mix. The brown lumbered up from his ledge and called to his rider below. The eggs are hatching! he bugled with delight before dropping from the height and spiralling down towards where Z'fer and Zen had been watching the candidates wrap up their practice in a hurry.
"C'mon brat. Hatching time." He elbowed her with a grin and dropped a hand on her shoulder forcibly turning her body towards where Calanoth was finding a place to land. Already the candidates had almost vacated their practice grounds.
Zen allowed herself to be steered even as she fumed with confusion. How did they all know? She'd heard Calanoth bugle and some of the other dragons were restless but that could be anything... but as she touched Calanoth's side she felt it. The bone-deep vibrations that were slowly building into an audible sound. As Z'fer helped her up onto Calanoth's back her eyes widened in awe. The entire weyr was on the move now as dragons poured into the hatching grounds. She gripped the soft bright hide beneath her tightly, heart in throat as Calanoth swooped effortlessly into the dark cavern with seemingly little care about the others flying around him.
As soon as he found a place to land Zen slid off his neck and bolted for the Stands. "I'm gonna find a spot up front!" She declared even as she weaved among people and further away from her brother.
Z'fer rolled his eyes and turned his attentions higher, seeking out any of his wingmates. I'll be glad when we take her home tomorrow. Pops was right. She's exhausting and I've got enough on my mind without a brat tagging around.
Calanoth chuckled as he settled onto a perch high in the cavern. I like her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 9:28 am
People were still filing into the stands when the first egg cracked open; it would probably be little surprise to the candidates who had attended the Touching that it was The Impatient Hero's Symphony.
The small bright red egg gave an especially violent twitch that caused it to topple over and sent cracks racing across its surface. Now lying on its side it twitched again, again, and on the fourth twitch a dark foot kicked through the shell. The foot promptly vanished again and then, after a few moments of stillness, the egg fell apart under the pressure of a small blue dragon splaying his legs and stretching his wings.
The hatchling lay on his back amongst the shards of shell, snorting goop out of his nose and drawing in his first panting breaths but only a couple of moments later he was stumbling upright and looking about with bright curious blue eyes. When he spotted the candidates he gave a little baby squeak of greeting and flapped his wet wings a couple of times before starting to toddle in their general direction, turning his head from side to side as he went so that he could gawp at the crowds of people gawping at him too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 9:43 am
One good thing about this clutch - not that there was anything bad about it that he could think of - was the fact that hopefully hatchlings this size wouldn't actually be able to disembowel any candidates. Maiming was still possible, bites and cuts could become infected, but only the very biggest of them would be able kill outright. Well, probably anyway; Bereck did not believe in fate but that didn't mean he was in the habit of tempting it.
The masterhealer watched the first egg break open and smiled a little to himself at Berath's surge of joy, he wasn't sure he had ever known her as happy as she had been the last few sevendays and this was the culmination of it all. It wasn't her clutch but on the other hand it sort of was or it felt to her as though it was anyway. Anyway it wasn't the facts that mattered - now there was something he seldom thought - what mattered was that his dragon was happy and yes, alright, he had to admit that the tiny blue's tiny squeak was utterly adorable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 10:06 am
The fourteen-year-old candidate couldn't help but beam from ear to ear at the sight of the blue that just hatched. Impatient Hero was an absolute cutey, especially when he let out a squeak. His stomach fluttered with flitts at all of the excitement that's going on, a bundle of nerves and happiness. The first egg had hatched, and now it was only a matter of time before the others started as well.
"He's a cute little guy."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 10:41 am
Seragee
He was working diligently on improving his unarmed combat skills. Seragee was watching the more experienced candidates with their wooden swords between his bouts. Maybe someday he'd make some for the candidates to use. A faint noise broke into his concentration. Seragee shook his head as he glanced around. It didn't seem to be bothering the others. Dutifully he tried to ignore it and focus.
Until the noise went up a notch and he recognized the sound as a hatching humming. He cast a quick glance at Venk. He felt a moment of pity as the candidate master sent the younger candidates to the sands, then grateful he didn't have to go with them. Seragee felt hope soar as he lined up to listen. These eggs looked just right to him! He hoped his dragon was among them. He nodded to Venk then moved onto the hot sands. The candidate bowed to Sereth and murmured softly, "I am happy to be standing for your clutch."
Seragee found a place to stand. He eagerly watched the eggs waiting for the first one to break shell. He gave a contented sigh as the first baby hatched. The blue was adorable.
Kialynka
She was pulled from her cleaning root vegetables to go tend the newly impressed dragons. Kialynka was familiar enough with the process by now. She picked up two pails and hauled them to the tables where the eventual pairs would gather. Dropping them off she quickly went back for another pair.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 10:47 am
Zen wormed her way through the crowd with a subtle but impressive use of elbows and 'misplaced' steps. Finally she found herself a good vantage point just behind a row of shorter candidates who weren't eligible yet to stand. It was just in time too to see the first small egg to crack open under the efforts of the little blue inside.
"Shells!" She exclaimed. "It's so small!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 10:56 am
Two small bronzes flew in last minute one after another and went their separate ways. The smaller of the two, but only because of adolescence, arxhed gracefully and dropped his rider off near the lower stands where one of his size could still fit comfortably. "Laufeth find Jemi would you." Cai asked as they dismounted, scanning the candidates beliw for the fair head of their partner.
I'm not your messenger. Came the dignified reply from the bronze as he stared cooly at the little Blue on the sand below.
"You're going to do it anyways so just get to it." Cai snorted and rubbed the young dragons jaw where he always itched.
mmmmm. You win this round. Lanceth my dear, where might your charming rider be hiding?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:33 am
Riders often ended up loosely grouped with their wingmates in the stands, certainly not always and not the whole wing together but you got little knots and clusters scattered around. It was small wonder therefore that C'tis - standing with some of his wingmates - saw Z'fer approaching. "So, comrade," he smiled, or at least he showed his teeth, "are you hoping your little sister is picked out by one of our dragons, or are you dreading the mere possibility? Inquiring minds want to know."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
