What's happening with your dragon this week:
Lots of itchy skin, oil everywhere – which will be becoming more and more of a task, given that rapidly expanding hide! Your dragons won't be flying yet, but they'll be starting to stretch out their wings when they're outside, perhaps wave them around gently. It's up to you to make sure they don't do anything to overstrain themselves, as this could result in a weakness that will last throughout their lives.

What's happening in class this week:
This week is big! Several things will be happening in terms of classes.

1. Making riding straps: You'll be making your first set of straps. They won't be fancy, since your dragon will outgrow them soon enough, but this is a skill each dragonrider needs to master for themselves, as repairs will be ongoing for the rest of your riding lives.

2. Education: Lots of it. For those of you who might ICly be a little weak in the reading or writing departments, remedial lessons will be beginning. V'dim is rather into the development of the person as a whole, rather than just a dragonrider, and believes that education is important in representing your weyr properly. Further, weyrlings will be learning all about the politics of Pern. Major imports and exports of each area, names of Lords, Ladies, Weyrleaders, Weyrwomen, histories of the Holds, the works.

3. Fitness: Things have been easy so far, but this week the fitness regime starts properly! Weyrlings will be doing runs each morning, obstacle courses twice a week, and if your character is unfit, they
can expect to be doing extra workouts.

4. Dragonhealing: We're hoping to organise a lesson from a dragonhealer for you this week, although depending on their schedule it may shift around a little.

RP ideas for this week:
- There will be tests taking place for all your politics lessons, and this will probably cause a pretty similar situation to that you've experienced at school – a whole stack of weyrlings cramming material
for their quiz, then forgetting it straight after. You might want to RP suffering over your books, quizzing each other or taking breaks from study.
- Making riding straps is long and time consuming. Wielding those enormous needles and huge lengths of leather is going to be hard work, so your characters will be spending plenty of time doing that. Making them will involve lots of fittings and require cooperation from your lifemates.
- The dragons will now be at the stage where a little more outside interaction is possible for you people – they're no longer going to want you to come back outside and be with them every ten seconds, and their emotions won't be as overwhelming. They're still babies, but now might be a good time for characters to sit back, relax a little (in between studying!) and perhaps talk with some riders about what being life might be like after graduation.
- washing is now a far more comprehensive task, and your dragon'll need a scrub on a very regular basis. You can now go and wash your dragons unsupervised.
- the straps have probably suggested to you that you're going to be mounted up soon. At the rate your dragons are growing, the very thought of climbing up on their backs might be a bit verwhelming.
There's fun RP to be had from sneaking off and learning to mount your dragon when nobody's looking.

Homework:
Remember, one weyrling-related log to xaweyrlings@yahoogroups.com -- if several of you are in it, only one person needs to post it.