[G] [H] 742.07.05 | Heat Wave Hatching

Helyna had already been up for hours, trying to get as much work done as possible in the relatively cooler hours of the morning. This heat wave was putting everyone on edge, and she wished the weather would just break and return to normal soon. The eggs had seemed to relish it; with no signs of movement for nearly two weeks, all she could think was that they liked the added humidity and wanted to linger a while longer in their shells. But it was making Iliyith grumpy and impatient and Helyna found herself spending far too much time in the hatching grounds trying to distract the gold.

Helyna, they’re finally moving. I think it’s starting. The gold’s mindvoice held a hint of relief. Despite still being able to sense her babies were there, she had experienced anxiety about losing them. One or two of the eggs had been reluctantly moved when they stopped responding, and she’d been expecting the worst, coddling them almost as much as she did the precious gold egg.

I’ll be right down. Go ahead and alert the others here, if you’re sure, she replied, setting aside her work and quickly changing into a loose gown that would hopefully keep the worst of the heat at bay. Vondlyn was already in the creche, so all that was left was to notify the other Weyrs. She’d had the letters ready for nearly a week; all that was left was to add a date quickly, then bundle them up for someone to take. She passed them off to a weyrling on her way down with instructions on where to take them, then entered the cavern.

Iliyith was hovering over the eggs, checking them. She had been curious when the healers had approached Helyna about marking the shells. It had been a day after the Touching, and only two of the eggs had been moved since, but the markings were easily touched up. The first ones marked only with wax had dripped and run, but they’d found a mixture that seemed to work well without flaking too much--at least until this heat wave. It was an interesting experiment, though they all wished they’d tried on a smaller clutch; the constant touch-ups (which of course only she was allowed by the gold to do) in the first few days had nearly had her call the whole idea off.

“It’s a good clutch, my darling. No need to keep fussing over them.” She patted the gold and urged her to move aside. Iliyith’s eyes whirled with excitement and she huffed, but carefully moved out of the way and settled down nearby to watch, beginning to hum. Helyna checked that the markings were all still there, then took her own place, letting Iliyith’s excitement drive thoughts of the heat away at least for now.

Helyna was alerted that the eggs began moving around 9am and informed the appropriate people so word could be spread. The eggs begin hatching around noon.

Everyone is welcome to come watch, or toss a Candidate on the sands! If you’re only watching, please go directly to the stands, do not linger on the Sands or approach the Candidates. Candidates, you can go right onto the Sands and form up around the eggs and settle in for some waiting.

Candidates:
- Will have been told to wear shoes! Sturdy shoes to save their feet.
- Be in Candidate robes that more or less fit them.
- Will have hair pulled back in a pony-tail or a braid. In addition, they will be no jewellery, belt, sash, or anything ‘extra’. Don’t want anything to get tugged on and cause an injury.
- Iliyith tolerates firelizards in day to day life but she’s not huge on distractions around her eggs; she wants her hatching to be perfect. Firelizards will be allowed in but they must stay with the humans in the stands or up with the dragons on the ledges. If they go near the eggs or Candidates, they may not live to brag about it.

On honorifics – it is SP canon that the dragon picks the honorific. They might pick something their rider likes, something they do not, or whatever. They will usually pluck the name from their rider’s mind, so it is likely that said rider will like their name, or have ‘pre picked’ it on some level subconsciously prior to Impression.

Once Impressed, please move through the following:
- Move dragonet to the sidelines and feed it
- Slap oil on any particularly dry spots
- Head to the Barracks to get some rest. Emotions are exhausting.

PC Impressions will have their dragonet posted on their Candidate Application or sent via Discord! This will let you see your baby before anyone else!

I will probably group most of the eggs in groups of 3-5, but I’ll give people plenty of time for reactions.

Remember: NO SPOILERS. If you want to talk spoilers, keep it to the Hatching Spoilers channel in Discord.

Have fun!”