Triad's Candidate FAQ

[PastMember]

With the recent influx of Candidates to Dragonsfall and with more candiates
being created and other Weyrs having flights, clutchings and hatchings, I
figured it was high time we posted this little FAQ. It _is_ located on our
website under 'Persona Faqs' but sometimes information can be missed and
this was never more timely than now.

Let's try to remember that candidates who had a craft prior to requesting
candidate status will *still* be practicing their crafts--posting them doing
a chore that would normally done by a drudge (food delivery, laundry) is
well...not normal and at Dragonsfall at least, Jaela will start to wonder
what happened to all her drudges! Those who already live at the Weyr are
*not* searched and need only ask to be included in the next Standing if they
so desire. If you have a question with regard to what your candidate would
or wouldn't do, before posting to the list, *ask* the L1 or L2--they are in
the positions of authority at that Weyr for a reason and it's better to ask
and be sure, than post something and get a note telling you that what you
posted wasn't correct, isn't it?

How old are candidates?

A candidate must be at least twelve and no more than twenty-one. Candidates
ages 16-20 are given preference for Impression. In the case of a gold egg on
the Sands, all candidates who want to be considered for it must be at least
fifteen turns old.

How is a candidate Searched?

All non-weyrbred candidates are encouraged to post with a Searchrider about
Searching their candidate, unless the history indicates their persona was
Searched in the past to bring them to the Weyr. All weyrbred children can
stand automatically by petitioning the Weyrwoman for candidate status.


Who is in charge of the candidates?

Candidates report to the Headwoman, who is responsible for their care and
discipline until they Impress, particularly for non-crafter candidates. They
are assigned appropriate chores to do their part in keeping the Weyr running
until they meet their lifemate on the sands.

How does a candidate deal with craft duties?

All candidates are encouraged to either apprentice to a craft or take on
some sort of other work (herder, cook, working with children for potential
fostering, etc).

Impression is *NOT* guaranteed (if this was real Pern) and there are
disappointed candidates who were either weyrbred or don't want to leave the
Weyr. They need to have skills of some sort to contribute to the Weyr
_after_ their candidate days are over if no dragon chooses them.

Non-weyrbred candidates who have a craft apprentice rank prior to Search
will automatically continue training under whatever local weyrcrafter covers
the same craft. If there is no PC journeyman or master, an NPC can be used
to refer to as being under their tutelage. Obviously no Weyr is going to be
without a number of people either craft-ranked or with non-craft training
for common skills such as tanning, weaving, sewing, and cooking.

A journeyman ranked crafter/candidate would work similar to any journeyman
posted away from a Hall, on contract to the Weyr, with provision for the
Candidacy.

Continuing one's craft requires _no_ permission from Weyrleaders or
Headwoman. It's just a matter of reporting to the proper crafter in charge.
The Headwoman needs to know of craft obligations. Journey-rank candidates
are not required to do candidate chores, only attend classes.
Apprentice-rank candidates have slightly limited chores, depending on the
Weyr's Headwoman's policy.


How does a candidate get food, clothes, and other needs?

The Weyr provides all food, clothing, and other needs a candidate might
have. Few candidates will have any marks to spend, barring those who are
craft-trained before being Searched.

Where do candidates live?

Most candidates live in the candidate barracks, separated on either side of
the huge building, with only a curtain for privacy between the genders. The
exceptions to this would be candidates who are journeyman crafters upon
Search or who have families/weyrmates by the time they are Searched. See
each Weyr's Location Guide for the exact setup for barracks and journeyman
candidates.

How many and what kind of pets can candidates have?

The club's limit on pets is three per persona. While a candidate is allowed
to have a runner, once he/she Impresses, the runner would have to be given
up. No young dragonrider has time for the care of a dragon and a runner.

Can a deaf, blind, or disabled person be a candidate?

Deaf, mute, blind, or crippled personas may not Impress a dragon. Per Anne
McCaffrey, dragons will not Impress a blind/deaf/mute candidate, so only
injuries occuring after Impression will be considered.

(Extra Note) If you really desire a dragonrider with some sort of
disability, submit a rider who was disabled after Impression. Since we are
in the early part of a Pass, crippling injuries in Threadfall are fairly
common. If the club isn't overrun with that type of persona, he/she will be
approved.

Can a pregnant woman still be a candidate?

Since we are in the beginning of the Pass and still cut it close on
candidate numbers (there are still occasional dragonette deaths at
Hatchings), pregnant candidates would be allowed to Stand, if they wanted to
do so, and were not in the advanced stages of pregnancy (aka last 2 months
or so).

This isn't a departure from book-canon: Sorka was pregnant in D'dawn when
she Impressed Faranth.

With both pregnancy and weyrlinghood timewarped to 6 months for RP purposes
(that's ONE RL/calendar year, folks), a woman who was 4 months pregnant at
Impression would have a 2 month old dragonette (equivilant to "real" Pernese
dragon at 6 months old, without timewarp). Since dragons and firelizards are
very attuned to "happy events" such as births, the dragonette is unlikely to
find it disturbing.

A woman not that advanced in pregnancy would have an even older weyrling
dragon by the time of birth.

What sort of relationships are allowed between candidates and riders?

A candidate can have a relationship with a non-ranking rider without any
real worry of crossing any lines. Weyrmate situations are not terribly
uncommon, since candidacy can last many turns (12-20 is our general age
range) with no guarantee of Impression.

If a candidate has a weyrmate, and Impresses, he/she will live separated
from his/her weyrmate until senior weyrlinghood. Even when the dragon is old
enough to fly (and therefore needs its own weyr and not the barracks), the
dragon isn't yet old enough to understand sexual activities by the rider. So
until the dragon learns to /between/ (our designation for senior
weyrlinghood and almost-mature dragon), weyrmates have to stay apart.

When a ranking rider is involved, things get sticky. After all, a fifteen
turn old candidate sleeping with the Weyrleader is a bit awkward,
disciplinary wise.

A candidate with any ranking rider (such as wingseconds, wingleaders,
weyrlingmasters, etc) would be highly discouraged, and should be discussed
with the Local Level One to know you've considered all angles of a
potentially complex storyline.

Bronzeriders, for the purpose of relationships, are considered non-ranking
as long as they hold *no* other wingrank (wingleader, 'second, wlm, etc).

After all, no sense telling a seventeen turn old bronzeboy barely out of
weyrlinghood he can't have a candidate sweetheart of his own age.

So yes, with a non-ranking rider, a candidate could move into his/her weyr,
and not actually need formal permission to do so.


Are there such a thing as Queen Candidates?

There are no "Queen Candidates". To be considered for a gold, a female
candidate must be willing to Impress green or gold. In the club's entire
three year history, only two gold eggs have hatched, so we don't allow
candidates to be gold-only.

Who decides what color dragon each candidate will Impress?

Those who will Impress all colors but gold are decided upon by the
goldrider, with input from the bronze/brownrider who sired the clutch. The
Council has final approval on the Impression list. The decision is based on
quality of writing and effort the member is putting into the club, not sheer
volume of posting. The decision is announced at the Hatching itself.

When Hatching approaches, the goldrider will issue an email requesting the
following information:

E-mail:
Name of Persona:
Elided name of persona (IF MALE ONLY):
Hetero/Bi/Homosexual:
Dragon Name:


~Nici
Council Curmudgeon  :-)