Week 1 – Week of November 19th Included in this mail are:

1. How Weyrlinghood Works
2. Your Weyrling Staff
3. Your Life This Week
4. RP Ideas
5. Week 1, Part 1 Lesson
6. Week 2, Part 2 Lesson

1. How Weyrlinghood Works
With our Weyrlinghood stretching over what for many is the holiday season, we’ll be taking a hybrid approach to Weyrlinghood training.

While we do hope that the next 6 weeks will be a time for each and every one of you to enjoy RP and develop your characters, we do also understand that RL comes first. And so, there are two ways to be marked off for a ‘class’ during Weyrlinghood here at Xanadu. The first is to RP the lesson or class out with any of our Weyrling Staff (V’dim, I’ven, Luna, Tay), or the second to complete the short assessment that will be at the end of each of these mails. The assessment isn’t meant to take a great deal of time, instead they are design to help you think about how you and your new lifemate are developing and interacting with each other and the rest of the class. Completed items can be sent to V’dim, and he will mark you off for them.

The website will be updated each week with the material for the next week, as well as a copy being sent to the Yahoo!Group.

2. Your Weyrling Staff
Your IC and OOC Weyrling Staff consists of V’dim as Weyrlingmaster, and I’ven, Luna, and Tay as Assistants. All are equally capable of giving lessons, as well as marking you off on the progress board. But, to help you get a better feel for each of your staff members, here are small sections on each of them.

V’dim, and green Isobeth
V’dim has been a weyrlingmaster on and off for nearly twenty turns, starting as an assistant and in the past 3 turns taking over as the head of staff. He is a very strict taskmaster, and is very traditionalist when it comes to training. Despite the lack of thread, he still believes riders should be in good physical shape, and learn to follow orders when they are given. He can be very degrading, if someone disobeys him, or if they make a mistake. Even more so if he’s already warned them about what they did. However, while he can be a real jerk, his actions serve to ensure his weyrlings receive the best training they can, and to avoid losing them because of avoidable mistakes.

I’ven, and brown Khriseth
I'ven is a scholarly person, and when in doubt, he usually falls back onto his beloved books. He's a rider, a father, and a healer before anything else. And though he's had some trouble in the past, he's living quite happily now with his weyrmate and his daughter. I'ven is usally happy to do anything for the weyr that took him in, though he continues to practice his healing as a physical therapist. I'ven usually consults a book or does research before he acts in a situation, and he's almost always found in the library or his own personal book collection. The same could be said when dealing with weyrlings. I'ven, being the rather nice and gentle person he is, might try and go about things a less-chaotic way than V'dim would. However, I'ven is never one to disobey orders, and when one is given he complies.

Luna, and blue Sateerth
On and off duty she's somewhat laid back so long as no one is openly disrespectful and she's quite content to let Sateerth comfort, or deal with any squabbles or sniffles while she takes the others away from the noise to try robes or help to fix up the Weyr in preparation of the big day. She's also not above bringing them out to the Eggs so long as Sateerth checks the waters first. Sateerth, meanwhile, will try to smooth any problems among the group and will try to accent each Weyrling's special qualities during the lessons as well as lend moral support if they don't succeed at first (for flight, or hunting for example).

Tay, and green Jhanieth
Tay is generally your typical greenrider while Jhanieth is rather quiet at times almost withdrawn some would say.
Tay as well as her green lifemate Jhanieth are a pair that are not only learning about each other and their roles in Pern, but both are fighting inner battles that have them relying more on each other to get through each day. The pair are on a rollercoaster of highs and lows emotionally so don't be surprised if one moment they're snapping and snarling and the next they're all love and more. Never would either one of them go off the way on a weyrling unless they had cause, think of them as over protective mother hens who are very likely to scold the young pairs for doing something they shouldn't. Along with the highs and lows are those middles that they seem to find themselves in the older they get, having learned to keep the battles they face underwraps most of the time. It's in these times that they pair will work most constructively together, shaping weyrlings into fit pairs that will help lead Pern into the next turn and turns yet to come.
Now let me tell you all a little secret, Tay has never been a AWLM before. THis doesn't mean you'll be able to get a way with alot since Jhanieth will always be around and know most of what's happening but it does mean that she'll be rathe rrelaxed for the first lessons that keep all the pairs firmly on the ground. Tay takes a upfront approach to things, telling it how it is, how it will be and how it will always be instead of pussyfooting about.

3. Your Life This Week
This week, all your dragon is going to want to do is eat, sleep and poop. Romantic, isn't it? What does this mean for your characters? It means that they'll spend most of the time doing the following:
- cutting up dead animals for Dragonth to slurp up
- cleaning up dragon poop
- rushing to the living caverns or baths while Dragonth is asleep
- wandering around slightly dazed, adjusting to the fact that their entire life has just changed


4. RP Ideas
- overfed dragons get all blocked up, which means that it's the weyrling's job to administer the purge. Not nice, but certainly interesting RP
- shovelling dragon dung
- butchering meat – it'll be dead, but whole when you get it. This might be a new experience for some
- rushed trips to the baths or living caverns for a wash or a feed – Dragonth won't like you leaving him or her just yet, so this has to happen at top speed while your life mate is asleep
- making your new knot, which can involve getting wrapped up in a whole lot of string!
- get a haircut, get a real job! Haircuts are not compulsory for weyrlings, but in between covering your dragon with oil, feeding it meat, shovelling up after it and snatching the odd moment to eat,
there's not a lot of time left to wash and condition your long, flowing locks. Most people will end up with a short haircut, feel free to RP about it.

5. Week One, Part One Lesson
As always with a new object, there are a number of things that you should set up on your dragon to help you control him or her. As well as, of course, the numerous helpfiles to look through if this is your first rider on PernWorld to help with code.

You should all take the time to look over:
‘help puppet’
‘+help dtu rider’

In addition, you should do the following once you’re in the barracks:
@chown your new couch
@link yourself to your couch
@link your lifemate to the couch
‘Setup ’ – you need to make sure you’re in the actual barracks
@set =puppet
@set =commands

On you, replacing the bold portions:

&dragonname me=$code *:@fo dbref#=[switch(1,strmatch(%0,@emit*;*),@emit [escape(rest(%0))],strmatch(%0,*;*),escape(%0),%0)]

The code is the 2 or 3 letters you wish to use to control your lifemate, while the dbref# is the number of your dragon.

Then, to pose your dragon, it will be code :waves.

Those should be all the commands you need to begin to control your dragon, and RP.

6. Week One, Part Two Lesson

This will be added on Tuesday, November 21st!

Return to Weyrlinghood