I'm Confused About ... Candidates

[PastMember]

Not a question (obviously hehe), but me starting a discussion thread FOR questions.

To update the candidate faq, what is most confusing?  Ask any question, no matter how mundane, or how silly it may sound.  The problem with an Club Oldtimer writing FAQs is that I often overlook the obvious, not realizing it's NOT obvious to everyone else.

So...

I'll start off with a small note about crafter candidates.

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.  Some clubs ban journey-rank candidates b/c of the complications of full craft-responsibility and candidate classes/chores.

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.

Daily schedules for each type of candidate will be forthcoming at each Weyr.

[PastMember]

Well, with your last post about weyrmates, I know that sex isn't banned (unlike a lot of fandom weyrs out there that ban it), but what about candidates who are pregnant?  Are they allowed to stand?

[PastMember]

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.

Off the top of my head, I don't recall any pregnant Impressees at Triad, although our now-closed sister club (Pern Shadows) had a greenrider who Impressed from the Stands in another club and gave birth while a weyrling.

It's not an easy storyline to undertake, as you have to arrange assistance with many chores of simple dragoncare during the latter months of pregnancy.  A woman who gives birth during weyrlinghood would *not* graduate with the rest of her class, but instead take probably a full turn instead of 6 months to complete training.

[PastMember]

Maybe a general discription of the candidates barracks. How the males are seperated from the females. Or would that be found under the floorplans for the individual weyr? So in that case a link maybe?


See I knew I needed to puruse the website more.

[PastMember]

http://www.triadweyrs.org/records/dfw-ground-large.jpg

Look under 'locations' and there's a link to maps directly on there.

Almost all of the Weyrs have a basic floor plan--Dragonsfall is the most extensive, showing all the levels , including Leadership level. I bookmarked and memorized those when I first joined and created Dayla because I'm positively anal about details!

~Nici

[PastMember]

Some stuff that I probably know all the answers to, having read everything twice and thrice and more again, but just can't recall right now...

-Holdbred Candidate "A" is 15. He stands, doesn't Impress. Can he choose to stay at the Weyr and be useful, or will he be sent home?

-Triad-specific: WHat's the current proportion of Weyrbred Children to Holdbred, taking all Weyrs into account? IE: The likelihood that the dragons will go out on Search for lots of Candidates because there aren't sufficient suitable Weyrbred children.

-I know in some Weyrs, Candidates take classes... Here's Weyr life, here's how it's structured, etc. Do Candidates in Triad take classes in addition to their chores?

...all for now.

[PastMember]

Originally posted by Loretta
Maybe a general discription of the candidates barracks. How the males are seperated from the females. Or would that be found under the floorplans for the individual weyr? So in that case a link maybe?


See I knew I needed to puruse the website more.

Floorplans for each exact location would be nice (*prods Mikel*), I imagine, since each Weyr's barracks is slightly different (DFW is a cavern, and I think RBW and DCW are both freestanding buildings).

For the most part, it's already in the current FAQ, Loretta, at least a generic:

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.

http://www.triadweyrs.org/records/candidatefaq.php

Note, slightly revised from older version, which is why the formatting looks a bit off.  That will pretty up nicely when we switch to the new design, for those of you whose browsers support stylesheets

[PastMember]

-Holdbred Candidate "A" is 15. He stands, doesn't Impress. Can he choose to stay at the Weyr and be useful, or will he be sent home?

This topic's covered in the books as well, but Triad policy is that _any_ Candidate has a permanent home at the Weyr as long as he/she wants to live there.  Keeping un-Impressed candidates helps broaden Weyr bloodlines and prevent inbreeding among the human population.  Not to mention, parents who were Candidates might pass that "quality" on to children, providing the Weyr with more candidates.

-Triad-specific: WHat's the current proportion of Weyrbred Children to Holdbred, taking all Weyrs into account? IE: The likelihood that the dragons will go out on Search for lots of Candidates because there aren't sufficient suitable Weyrbred children.

We are early in a Pass that was never supposed to happen at all, and no one knows how long it might last due to the AIVAS interferance with the Red Star's orbit.

I've never really worked the population #s, but queens rise approximately once per turn during a Pass (Ramoth estimated at 1.6, but most of the other queens were older and she had to make up for lost time).  Our timeline produces 30-40 or so eggs (occasionally up to 45) per clutch for most golds (although a maiden flight might produce less, especially if caught by a brown).  

We don't currently have 3 queens at each weyr, but that's the ideal (RL has just bitten off the #s for our writers).  So, 3 queens, rising once per turn, 35 eggs a clutch average.  That's 105 new dragons per turn.

Average Weyr size:  1000-1500 residents.  

This # is more likely for the old Weyrholds (River Bluff, Dolphin Cove, Dragonsfall, Vista Point, and Far Island) than the reopened Weyrs (such as Dream's End).  DE probably is lower, 800-1000 residents.

Dragonrider #s probably 360 (average late Pass size) to 500 (early Pass #s increase to cover higher casualties during Fall).

Now... obviously there aren't going to be enough weyrbred kids of the right age (they don't breed _quite_ like rabbits), so Search is essential to a Weyr surviving each Hatching without dragonette deaths.

My guess?  1/2 to 2/3 of the candidates each Hatching would be hold or craftbred.  Anyone who likes math can work on that if you like, but I'm taking the easy route.

So Searchriders would be out in force each time there are eggs on the Sand, and it is part of most Searchriders' duties to fly Search at least every other sevenday or so.

-I know in some Weyrs, Candidates take classes... Here's Weyr life, here's how it's structured, etc. Do Candidates in Triad take classes in addition to their chores?

...all for now.

We used to do a WW Report that covered actual Candidate assignments...

Candidates have chore groups, with classes worked in part of the day, especially for hold/craftbred candidates.  A candidate who has stood for several turns obviously wouldn't need any more classes, especially a weyrbred one who'd grown up around dragons.



Great set of questions!  I'm answering each bit here, both to keep the member who helped out from waiting, and to jog my memory as I develop a FAQ.  I think it's going to be a Candidate Handbook at this rate!  :tumble:

[PastMember]

:grins: Heh... "Candiate Handbook"... That would work.