Candidate Rotation 2, Lesson 1

[dragon]

-Welcome to the Weyr! – Things to know about living in a Weyr, things required as candidates, basic needs at a Hatching

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So many who were in this class, this time around, were tardies from last time. Emoyan had made a point of going and prodding them all after they had missed class, intent to get these kids taught. They weren't going to get to stand if they didn't attend lessons!!

There were a few new faces, again ... hopefully they would show, too.

---

Lesson 1

Pasine (Excused)
Mairen
Tanyl
Nephele
Meradyr
Mikail
Crystoph
Sasheen
Qirewen
Kalia

---

Green names are accounted for.

[Ruby]

Mikail was slightly embarassed at being the first in class, but the Candidate was definately of the opinion that good first impressions are incredibly helpful. He tossed a careless smile at the Candidatemaster, taking a seat in the back. He and his twin had passed out of Candidate lessons at Benden literally years ago, but as they weren't admitting that they were from a Weyr, they had to take them over again. At least Rusa had given him the scoop on the Candidatemaster, and although Mik had no true desire to annoy him right off, he still took a seat in the back, awkwardly folding his leggy form into the small desk. It practically REQUIRED him to slump.

No doubt Crystoph would be along soon enough, although it was always harder to get the other twin to things on time. Mikail had discovered that the best way to make it happen was by appearing wherever he needed to be early- eventually, Crystoph would come looking for his other half. Hopefully other candidates would also arrive soon, at least to give Mik someone to talk to. In the meantime, he looked the Candidatemaster over again, then offered a small wave and said "Hi, I'm Candidate Mikail. From... Blossom."

[serenitychick]

Having been so averse to being late, especially for her first lesson, Sasheen arrived for class knowing she’d likely be one of the first to arrive. A quick glance in the room confirmed her assumption and she breathed a sigh of relief that she’d accomplished not coming to class late. With a greeting nod to the Candidatemaster and a flash of a smile of Mikhail, Sasheen chose a seat in front of the red-headed twin she’d already met.

Nervous simply didn’t do justice to the level of nerves that were rolling through her stomach at the moment and when she laid her hand on the desk, the only sign that she was feeling out of sorts were the white knuckled fists her hands were clenched into. She had never before in her life been in a formal classroom; she’d been taught at home as a child, she’d not been at Benden long enough to attend any sort of lessons and at Selentas Hold she’d spent nearly off of her time in the infirmary.

Sasheen had no idea what to expect and she hadn’t heard raving reviews of the Candidatemaster, either.

Shells, she wished she were outside.

[reba]

Qirewen hadn't met many of the Candidates yet. She offered the two other students a polite smile, as she entered the classroom. She took a seat close to the front of the room. That was an old habit of hers, by now. The seats further back tended to attract those who wanted to chat during lessons, and usually not about the subject being taught.
Making new friends was all very well, she supposed, but interruptions while she was trying to concentrate were one of her pet peeves. She nodded respectfully to the Candidate Master. Her voice was low, but clear, as she spoke up. "I'm Candidate Qirewen, recently of the Healer Hall, sir."

[Rei]

Crystoph strode into the classroom with his hair purposely covering one side of his face. He bowed once to the candidate master and then slid into a desk near his twin. “You know he kind of does look like a loon.” he whispered low enough for only Mikail and Sasheen to hear. Intentionally he slumped into his chair. Giving a sidewise look at Sasheen he smiled at her. “Really I think these desks are prejudiced against tall people.” The comment was loud enough for the room to hear. Was he intentionally being difficult? Perhaps. More likely he was just trying to get Sasheen to loosen up a bit. She looked to stiff.

Class clowns tended to get reactions from females whether it was giggling or curious looks. Crystoph wanted both. Plus he could care less what the males of the class thought. He intended to skate through lessons doing the absolute minimum thank you very much. He had passed them years ago. The red head’s dagger was still hidden neatly in his boot. He never went anywhere without it. One never knew when they would need a good weapon after all. Again Crystoph had intentionally lined his eyes in black liner. It have him a severe look that he intended to play up. Dressed in a red tank top and black pants he over all liked his appearance. Turning towards Mikail he intentionally flicked his hair forward to completely hide his face. Speaking through the red curtain he whispered. “Told you I’d show.”

[dragon]

Emoyan looked up as the first lad showed up for the lesson. "Good Morning, Mikail." Emoyan responded, pleasantly. Though after a look over the lad, Emoyan strongly doubted the lad was actually from Blossom. For one, folks from there tended to be ... well ... blonde. And Mikail was anything but blonde. Hair couldn't possibly come any redder. Not to mention ... his accent was all wrong to be even Southern. Emoyan didn't call him on it, however, aware that a lot of people fled south to get away, and not get found. Shells ... he was one of them!

"Just have a seat, lesson will be starting shortly." He told him, before nodding a greeting to each of the next three that arrived. Three? Four? Four was all that was showing? Shards, his classes just kept getting smaller and smaller. Well ... that made for easier classrooms, but ... it also made for more repititions of the same material, again and again. That ... could get old. And Emoyan did not intend to start sounding like an old archivist that had read the same parchment over and over again... that would bore the youngsters so badly they wouldn't learn anything.

Crystoph he frowned at slightly ... this one, though he didn't look it, was plainly related some how to Rusa. "I would appreciate it greatly if you would sit up, and keep your hair out of your face for the duration of lessons." He instructed, firmly. "I want your full and complete attention for this time period." This he told them all.

Once they seemed settled well enough, Emoyan moved onward ... might as well get this done, as he was well aware that young people didn't like sitting still for very long ... much less in classes.

"Greetings, and Welcome to Selenitas Weyr. In this beginning lesson, we are going to go over things that you need to know about living in a Weyr. Some things that are required of you as candidates, and the basic needs of a Hatching." Emoyan began.

"In a Weyr, life is subtly ... and sometimes not so subtly ... different from life in a Hold. For instance, don't be to shocked if you suddenly see what looks like crazed, half-nake (or completely naked) people running around. Just stay out of thier way, and you'll be fine. Other things would be that ranking positions do tend to change out, sometimes without warning. And most ranking is based upon the color of a dragon, rather than any particular person's abilities ... or lack thereof. There is no leading family, or hierarchal bloodline. There are dragons. So don't be surprised if who is in charge suddenly changes from one day to the next."

"As Candidates, you are paradoxially in two different ranking files. On hand, Candidates are the most important people in the Weyr, as they are the future generation of Riders. And without Candidates, no dragon would hatch and grow up to fight Thread. They would merely hatch .... and go between, never to be seen again. On the other hand, outside of Hatchings, you are the lowest ranking members of the Weyr, filing in below even drudges. Everyone out ranks you, and can issue you orders that you would be well advised to follow. Within reason, of course. Use your common sense in regards to this."

"As Candidates, you are expected to attend lessons, follow the rules, and attend to your chores. Chores are designed to not only give you a respect for the people who work hard every day to make life possible for Dragon Riders, but also to build up your phisique so that when you do impress a dragon, you are physically capable of taking care of it. This is very important - don't shirk it. Attendance to Lessons is a must, if you expect to get a chance to stand. And broken rules are subject to penalty, up to and including removal of Candical status." Emoyan warned, simply. "Rules and schudels are posted at all times, if anyone can not read, then find someone who can to read them to you. Learning to read would be a good idea, as well, as a great deal of things in the Weyr must be read."

"At a Hatching, you will be warned of the event by the sudden humming of every draconic in the Weyr. This includes Dragons, Flitters, and Salamandyrs - which happen to be minuature annoyances. When you are thus alerted, you should don your hatching robes - which usually are kept in the trunks at the feet of your bunks. Do not misplace this item. Once robed, you travel to the Hatching sands, pay your respects to the Queen, and take up position in a semi circle around the eggs. Whether or not Impression occurs is up to the dragons - do not be disheartened if you do not impress. Do not attempt to force impression on a dragonet, either... this includes anything between staring at a dragonet intently, or trying to grab or restrain one."

"Dragonets are dangerous, and they can badly injure or kill you. If one comes your way, get out of the way. You will know beyond a shadow of doubt if you Impress." Emoyan said. "Further lessons will be more in depth on a few topics, but for the moment ... if you have any questions, feel free to air them now."

[serenitychick]

Looking up as Qirewen entered the room and took a place in the front, Sasheen returned the polite smile with a nod before looking back at Crystoph as he commented to her. She chuckled softly and then waved towards her own legs, indicating she hadn’t a problem with the desk; one of the few bonuses of being short. She didn’t respond, however, to his comment other than that. Sasheen loved to joke around and have a good time but she was here to learn something and intended on doing just that, not messing around during the class. When the candidate master started to speak, she gave him her full attention, lips twitching as he addressed Crys.

Different than a hold, okay this meant that a Weyr was different than the home she was used to having never lived in a hold. That was reasonable enough advice and a fact that Sasheen was still getting used to. Being advised to watch out for half-or-nearly naked people and then to give them ample room to continue whatever activities required them to be sans clothing was something she wasn’t expecting and she stared at the instructor in curiosity. Perhaps she was going to like this place a lot more than she’d first expected, after all.

It was slightly annoying to know that unless she was directly involved with the eggs she was nothing. And even if she was directly involved with the eggs this was on the whim of a dragon, a whim she’d heard could be very iffy in the way it swung from positive to negative. Which assured her nothing, no touching of the egg and certainly no hatching for if either the Queen dragon or her mate took a disliking to her; she’d be forbidden from the sands. Sasheen’s constant barrage of questions had netted her that much knowledge at least.

Emoyan went on to talk about rules; attending lessons, doing chores and keeping their noses out of trouble. She wasn’t surprised to learn that a loss of candidacy was a threat but the prospect of such was enough to make her think twice before she made nay huge decisions. The last thing she wanted was a moment of fun ruining the rest of her life. She did, however, slightly take offense to his suggesting that she needed to learn how to work hard. She’d done that her entire life and didn’t appreciate anyone assuming she couldn’t hold her weight, and that of several other people, when it came to doing what needed to be done. But she didn’t let it bother her too much… Sasheen knew she might just be being oversensitive.

She nodded when he mentioned the things not to do during a Hatching and her heart bounced in her chest that she would know if she Impresses. What was it like? Did it hurt? She had so many questions… and many of them she didn’t want to say aloud because she didn’t want the twins to know how much she didn’t know about dragons. They hadn’t come from a Weyr and they knew so much more than she did… Sasheen attributed it to having been secluded with her family but it still bothered her. She liked to be in the know, on the inside… not standing outside looking in.

“I have a question… Sasheen formerly of Nerat,” The brunette introduced herself before delving into her question. “At the touching, how much time will we have with the eggs? Should we touch them all? Or should we concentrate on a few? Will they tell us which ones? How does the Queen know it’s time for the touching?” OK, that was more than one question but that’s usually what you got with Sasheen.

[reba]

She didn't fidget during the lecture. The question did cross her mind to wonder, briefly, if the Candidate Masters were paid by the word. Not that she was about to voice that question, even to the other Candidates later. She sat, ankles crossed, her
hands on her knees, and no one who looked at her would be able to tell that she wasn't paying rapt attention to every word.

Much of what he had to say, was reminiscent of her introduction to classes at the Healer Hall. Common sense: stay out of trouble, follow the rules, and don't get in the way of naked people. Well--depending on circumstances, possibly, the last was debatable.
The idea of chores didn't bother her; she'd done more than enough of them in the last fifteen turns.

She studied him curiously, another thought crossing her mind. Emoyan, rather than a dragonrider's shortened name. Was he not a rider, or ...had he been? A slight frown knitted across her forehead. It deepened, then she deliberately smoothed it away in favor of a polite smile.

She could read, but made a mental note to ask the other Candidates in this group, after the class, if any of them needed help in that regard. It couldn't hurt to be helpful. She also enjoyed seeing that sort of "aha" moment, when a person new to reading, got the idea behind it. However, that reminded her of a question she had wanted to ask. "For those of us who were Craft apprenticed or even journeymen, is it possible for us to continue that Craft here at Selenitas if we don't Impress? Or if we do, even part of the time?"

[subtlemystery]

"Sorry! I'm late!"

Probably not the most graceful enterance Kalia had ever made, but then, she wasn't particularly worried about it. She'd thought she'd have time, but apparently not. Still, there was nothing she could do about being late, so she'd just have to take the punishment given to her without complaint. After all, it was only suited, she'd done something wrong, now she'd have to pay for it. Hopefully, he wouldn't decide pulling her around by the ears would be the right way to do things; some awfully horrid stories were going around about that.

Though Kalia wasn't hold bred, lessons were always important. Every weyr had it's own way of running, and the structure was always going to be slightly different. It came from having different men and women running the weyrs and guiding them in any certain direction. That made every lesson, even the initial one important. By coming in late, she'd managed to make a history for herself and a reputation before she'd even gotten to know anyone.

Rank, something about rank. Yes, candidates were the lowest in the weyr, okay, she knew that. Trying to then move herself out of the candidatemaster's attention by sliding into the nearest seat, Kalia instantly focused her attention on what remained of the candidate master's speech. Hopefully, she hadn't missed too much, nothing she couldn't catch up on any way... Why did she have to be late the first lesson?

[dragon]

"At the touching, it is pretty much a free for all. You may touch whichever eggs you wish, in whatever order you wish. I would recommend making a point to at least visit each one, but that does not mean you have to." Emoyan answered. "Just remember to pay your respects to the queen, mind your manners, and do not cause any excitement on the sands. This includes no pushing or shoving of other candidates, for whatever reason."

On to the next question. "Yes, crafters may continue thier crafts in the weyr. Just be aware that you are not going to have the time to devote to it that you used to. Practicing your craft is appreciated, actually, as it puts less of a strain on the weyrfolk who are trying to keep the place running. If you age out - and not many candidates do that - you can always go back to your craft, hall, hold, or even stay here and work your craft. There are no restrictions on you when you age out, other than not being able to stand for a hatching anymore."

Emoyan's gaze slid over to where Kalia was sliding into a seat. "Tardiness is not appreciated." he told her. But, she did not seem like she had done it out of cheekiness. So he opted to give her a leniency this time. "Stay after class, and we'll go over what you missed. Do not make a habit of it."