Candidate Schedules
The Candidates are very busy boys and girls, make no mistake. On any given day (apart from rest days) they're occupied with lessons, chores, and exercises, with limited free time.
During chore duty, the Candidates are divided into groups by the CandidateMasters and are assigned specific tasks from a list which the Headwoman prepares for the Candidatemasters. Common chores include duty in the Dining Hall, firestone breaking, cleaning out the barracks, tunnelsnake trapping, 'litter patrol' in the Weyrbowl, etc.
When a Hatching approaches, their schedule goes crazy, as the CandidateMasters runs them ragged in preparation for what's to come. They lose some free time, some chores time, and even a little sleep time.
During chore duty, the Candidates are divided into groups by the CandidateMasters and are assigned specific tasks from a list which the Headwoman prepares for the Candidatemasters. Common chores include duty in the Dining Hall, firestone breaking, cleaning out the barracks, tunnelsnake trapping, 'litter patrol' in the Weyrbowl, etc.
When a Hatching approaches, their schedule goes crazy, as the CandidateMasters runs them ragged in preparation for what's to come. They lose some free time, some chores time, and even a little sleep time.
A Candidate's normal schedule:
7:00 AM - Wake up, bathe, clean up 7:30 AM - Breakfast 8:00 AM - Lessons (Candidate) 9:00 AM - Chores 10:30 AM - Exercises 12:00 PM - Lunch 12:45 PM - Lessons 1:45 PM - Break 2:00 PM - Lessons 3:00 PM - Exercises 4:30 PM - Chores 5:00 PM - Dinner 5:45 PM - Free Time 6:30 PM - Lessons (Candidate) 8:00 PM - Chores/Study/Exercises 9:30 PM - Free Time 11:00 PM - Lights out |
A Candidate's schedule when a Hatching is near:
7:00 AM - Exercises 7:30 AM - Breakfast 8:00 AM - Lessons (Candidate) 9:30 AM - Chores 11:00 AM - Exercises 12:30 PM - Lunch 1:15 PM - Lessons (Candidate) 2:45 PM - Break 3:00 PM - Lessons (Candidate) 4:00 PM - Exercises 5:00 PM - Chores 6:00 PM - Dinner 6:45 PM - Lessons (Candidate) 7:45 PM - Break 8:00 PM - Chores/Study/Exercises 9:30 PM - Free Time 11:00 PM - Lights Out |
Candidate Lessons
All Candidates have a First Lesson period where they continue their general education, and during this lesson those who do not know how to read and write are taught, but the Second Lesson period is solely for general candidate lessons. While this might not be a full list of candidate lessons from sevenday to sevenday, this list is to give you an idea of what kind of things a candidate will learn through their First turn as a candidate, and continues throughout the rest of their candidate turns.
Candidates, those from outside the weyr especially, are given many opportunities to learn all about life in the Weyr and of course emphasis is placed upon the life of a Dragonrider and Weyrling because that is what each Candidate is hoping for. Candidate lessons include the following experiences:
Riders of each color of dragon will come in and talk with you extensively about their experiences, answering any questions you may have. This includes: Green, Blue, Brown, Bronze and Gold.
You will have several opportunities to bathe and oil dragons.
You will help out the Infirmary during threadfalls and be taught emergency care for thread scoring and various other injuries of both human and dragon.
You will learn how to swim, in the warmer months, if you do not know.
You will learn about sex, greenflights, and goldflights. Including how those affect you both if you do and don't impress a dragon.
You will learn about breaking firestone, hunting tunnelsnakes, cleaning the barracks and various other parts of the Weyr.
Hatching Day and After Lessons: You will be taught through the Simulated Hatching experience about your very first day as a ~possible~ Weyrling, what those next few days are like, and what is expected of you after those first few days. You will sew your own hatching robes and learn about what happens if you don't Impress and you reach your 23nd (or 25rd for females) Birthing Day.
Candidates, those from outside the weyr especially, are given many opportunities to learn all about life in the Weyr and of course emphasis is placed upon the life of a Dragonrider and Weyrling because that is what each Candidate is hoping for. Candidate lessons include the following experiences:
Riders of each color of dragon will come in and talk with you extensively about their experiences, answering any questions you may have. This includes: Green, Blue, Brown, Bronze and Gold.
You will have several opportunities to bathe and oil dragons.
You will help out the Infirmary during threadfalls and be taught emergency care for thread scoring and various other injuries of both human and dragon.
You will learn how to swim, in the warmer months, if you do not know.
You will learn about sex, greenflights, and goldflights. Including how those affect you both if you do and don't impress a dragon.
You will learn about breaking firestone, hunting tunnelsnakes, cleaning the barracks and various other parts of the Weyr.
Hatching Day and After Lessons: You will be taught through the Simulated Hatching experience about your very first day as a ~possible~ Weyrling, what those next few days are like, and what is expected of you after those first few days. You will sew your own hatching robes and learn about what happens if you don't Impress and you reach your 23nd (or 25rd for females) Birthing Day.
Candidate Apprenticeship/Assistant Program
At Fort there is an old, long-standing tradition of bronze and brown hopefuls finding a ranking rider to work for as an assistant, and that tradition is not only continuing with Decorah as Weyrwoman but getting expanded to more than just bronze and brown hopefuls. This is offered to candidates who have been in the program for at least 3 turns, who are literate, who have shown themselves to be well-behaved candidates that do what ever they are able to in order to contribute to the Weyr. The CandidateMaster will assign these candidates to riders who have volunteered to take on an apprentice, and then will rotate the candidate to riders of other colors after a span of two sevendays. So, eligible boy candidates will have a chance to apprentice under bronze, brown, blue, and green riders and eligible girl candidates will each get a chance to apprentice under a green or blue rider. Since the reality is that some dragons impress to girls, Decorah has resigned herself to the idea that girls should be prepared for that reality even though they should only ever hope to impress Gold.
When candidates are being apprenticed those two sevendays are spent from morning to lights out with their assigned rider, even living with their assigned rider. They will, along with assisting the rider with day to day things, be expected after that two sevendays to provide the CandidateMaster with a report detailing the candidate’s experiences and thoughts, as well as the responsibilities and expectations of that color rider. And, this report is required from candidates for each color that they apprentice under, (so that means 4 total reports from the boys and 2 reports from the girls).
During their time with their assigned rider, they might run errands, do little chores, or whatever else the rider might need. But, throughout this the candidate gets a little bit of mentorship and learns about the life of each rider regardless of what color the candidate hopes to impress. The CandidateMasters allows this because it ostensibly further prepares Candidates for rider life, and also reinforces rank structure. Note, however, that Devorah and the CandidateMasters must approve of all such activities beforehand. They will not allow the boys (and even the girls) to work for just anyone, and so must approve of the rider before they'll allow it.
Apprenticeships are not, however, scheduled when the time of a hatching is approaching, as the candidates are kept busier around that time. After an eligible candidate has apprenticed under each of the colors specific to their gender, their days revert back to the normal candidate schedule, but they hopefully have gained new insight into the responsibilities and expectations of dragonrider of any color.
When candidates are being apprenticed those two sevendays are spent from morning to lights out with their assigned rider, even living with their assigned rider. They will, along with assisting the rider with day to day things, be expected after that two sevendays to provide the CandidateMaster with a report detailing the candidate’s experiences and thoughts, as well as the responsibilities and expectations of that color rider. And, this report is required from candidates for each color that they apprentice under, (so that means 4 total reports from the boys and 2 reports from the girls).
During their time with their assigned rider, they might run errands, do little chores, or whatever else the rider might need. But, throughout this the candidate gets a little bit of mentorship and learns about the life of each rider regardless of what color the candidate hopes to impress. The CandidateMasters allows this because it ostensibly further prepares Candidates for rider life, and also reinforces rank structure. Note, however, that Devorah and the CandidateMasters must approve of all such activities beforehand. They will not allow the boys (and even the girls) to work for just anyone, and so must approve of the rider before they'll allow it.
Apprenticeships are not, however, scheduled when the time of a hatching is approaching, as the candidates are kept busier around that time. After an eligible candidate has apprenticed under each of the colors specific to their gender, their days revert back to the normal candidate schedule, but they hopefully have gained new insight into the responsibilities and expectations of dragonrider of any color.
Gold Lessons
These special group lessons on Weyrleadership and the special responsibilities that come with impressing a Gold dragon include ALL the female candidates. These lessons only happen if there happens to be a gold egg on the sands. Another thing to note is that while the main Gold lessons are group lessons, the Goldriders do sometimes have private lessons with girls, and how the lucky girl is picked is at the discretion of the goldrider (who could just be picking her ‘Most Likely” gold impressions out of all the girls).
Goldrider's Assistant
There is a possibility when there has not been a golden egg laid, depending on the goldrider of course, that the goldrider might decide to have not only an assistant that she trusts from the weyrstaff but also an assistant from the current female candidates (possibly her choice for ‘Most Likely’ to impress gold). At the goldrider’s discretion, this candidate might be just an assistant or she could be mentored by the goldrider. Either way, the female candidate chosen for this honorable position isn't off the hook with their lessons, the CandidateMaster expects their work to be done in a timely manner and for reports to be turned in detailing what they’ve learned while assisting the goldrider.