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Keep in mind that these are the in-character rules. We may be willing to bend them to let your character in. We'll only be running one on-camera Hatching per calendar year, but if you want your Candidate to Impress at an off-camera Hatching, talk to the BoD.
All:
-must be unmarried, and preferably not engaged.
-if a Crafter, preferably no higher than apprentice. Journeymen will require special dispensation, to avoid aggravating the Crafthalls by stealing their talented youngsters.
-may not have a criminal record (at least not an official one)
-must be able to read, write, and do basic arithmetic before being allowed to Stand. Classes will be provided for the illiterate.
-must have no physical disabilities, and must be disease-free.
-must show no signs of major emotional instability, whether caused by birth or trauma.
Males:
-no younger than twelve and no older than twenty-three
Females:
-no younger than fifteen and no older than twenty-five
-must not be pregnant at time of Hatching
-must be heterosexual (or at least fake it well)
-will only be Searched for gold, but may Stand at all Hatchings (if they dare)
Every Weyr treats Candidacy a little different, and our Fort especially has its own way of doing things. It can make it hard to understand exactly what our characters' lives are like, and how things work for them. Knowing this, I picked Laura's brain and now bring you an (hopefully) informative guide to Fort Candidacy.
NOTE that this is how Candidacy works with M'ayen as Candidatemaster. It might have been different before him and it might be different after him, but this is how he runs things. ALSO NOTE that some of his policies and practices might not be to the rest of the Weyr's liking. M'ayen gets away with it because the rest of the Weyr either doesn't know (who's going to tell them, after all? The Candidates? Not likely!), or doesn't want to tangle with the old codger. ONE MORE NOTE - this guide primarily deals with male Candidates. Some things apply to both genders, but this information is geared toward the males.
This guide has Laura and M'ayen's seal of approval. ^_~
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.
Their average daily schedule looks something like this:
7:00 AM - Wake up, bathe, clean up
7:30 AM - Breakfast
8:00 AM - Lessons
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
8:00 PM - Chores/Study/Exercises
9:30 PM - Free Time
11:00 PM - Lights out
To get an idea for what sort of lessons and lectures the Candidates will be having, take a peek at our sister game's article section Under the 'weyrling library' category are a number of Candidate lectures. Of course, many of those are more applicable to Arolos and their bleeding heart liberal ways, so don't take anything you see there as gospel. They're just general ideas.
During chore duty, the Candidates are divided into groups by M'ayen and are assigned specific tasks from a list which Headwoman Jeyna prepares for the Candidatemaster. 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 M'ayen runs them ragged in preparation for what's to come. They lose some free time, some chores time, and even a little sleep time.
Their daily schedule then looks more like this:
7:00 AM - Exercises
7:30 AM - Breakfast
8:00 AM - Lessons
9:30 AM - Chores
11:00 AM - Exercises
12:30 PM - Lunch
1:15 PM - Lessons
2:45 PM - Break
3:00 PM - Lessons
4:00 PM - Exercises
5:00 PM - Chores
6:00 PM - Dinner
6:45 PM - Lessons
7:45 PM - Break
8:00 PM - Chores/Study/Exercises
9:30 PM - Free Time
11:00 PM - Lights Out
See how little time they actually have to wander around and get in trouble? M'ayen knows idle hands leads to mischief, and works to keep his boys as busy as possible.
Some Candidates try to break up the monotony of the daily schedule by taking on extra duties. This is allowed, on an extremely limited basis.
There's an old, long-standing tradition of bronze and brown hopefuls finding a ranking rider to work for as an assistant. They might run errands, do little chores, or whatever else the rider might need. M'ayen allows this because it ostensibly further prepares Candidates for rider life, and also reinforces rank structure. Note, however, that he must approve of all such activities beforehand. He will not allow his boys (and even the girls, who compete to work for the goldriders) to work for just anyone, and must approve of the ranker before he'll allow it.
Weyrborn (or more experienced Holdborn) Candidates might take it upon themselves to introduce newer Candidates to Weyrlife, and to how things work in the barracks. The Weyr in general and Candidacy in particular can be confusing to young men and women who've never experienced it before, and these more knowledgeable and experienced Candidates 'welcome' them. (This may or may not be a good thing for the incoming Candidates.)
If they don't annoy M'ayen too much, some Candidates might be allowed to run errands for him or his staff.
Candidates are also allowed to be creative. In their spare time, some boys take it on themselves to haze newcomers, as a sort of initiation. Others might take time to make trouble for those Candidates who are either foolish enough to 'out' themselves or who have no clue how Weyrlife works. M'ayen knows this goes on and it has his implicit approval.
M'ayen WILL NOT allow any of his Candidates to practice a craft of any kind while in his program. This means your ex-crafter CANNOT run errands for some journeyman or master in the Weyr, or take lessons on the sly. M'ayen owns you until you Impress, quit, or die. He doesn't want your focus split between Candidacy and a craft. He's also very careful of who he allows to have any sort of influence over his boys. He's not going to trust some random crafter to keep you out of trouble and not put silly ideas in your head.
PLEASE NOTE that if a Candidate takes on any of these special activities, they are to be done during their free time, unless otherwise allowed by M'ayen (and you'd need a VERY good reason for him to let you out of chores or lessons to do something else).
While in the Candidate program, the young men and women live in dormitory-style barracks. The females have their own barracks separate from the main barracks for the boys. The only time the girls ever bunk in the boy barracks is when they've insisted on Standing for green or blue. After the Hatching is over, however, M'ayen starts shuffling them back to the girls' barracks, as it gives him a headache having them constantly underfoot.
Each Candidate has a cot on which they sleep, and a small clothespress to keep their clothing and other belongings in. If they own more than they can fit into the clothespress or that can be stacked neatly under their cot, they must arrange for it to be stored elsewhere or they must get rid of it. Clutter is not allowed. Candidates are expected to keep their individual areas neat and tidy.
Keep the barracks clean.
No sex in the barracks.
No gay sex, period.
Nobody allowed in the barracks who isn't a Candidate or approved by M'ayen.
Be in the barracks by curfew.
No getting out of bed after lights out (unless in the case of an emergency -- and it had better be a REAL emergency; better to wet your cot than risk M'ayen's wrath).
No getting lazy/fat/otherwise unfit.
No drunkenness or drug-use -- addicts will be dealt with harshly.
No disrespect toward riders.
No long hair on boys (girls can get away with shoulder-length, at least until they Impress).
No getting married (even engagements are frowned upon -- you're in a WEYR, so you'd better get used to forgetting your holdbred notions of happy families).
No breaking bones/maiming/disabling/killing other Candidates in fights.
All issues having to do with riders are to be brought to M'ayen. Do not try to handle it yourself.
Report any and all Resistance activity to him IMMEDIATELY.
NOTE that breaking these rules does not mean being kicked out of Candidacy. M'ayen is much more likely to let you stay, and then make your life a living hell until you quit yourself. This way he doesn't have to deal with Candidates begging to be let back in, or angry parents, or other annoying scenes that waste his time and give him a headache. But don't think this means you get off easy -- we mean it when we say he'll make your life hell.
Involvement with the Resistance will not only get you kicked out of the program, but you'll also probably end up in the guard cells for the leadership to deal with. If you were only tricked into being involved, and you really had no clue, as long as you come forward and tell M'ayen everything about it, you might be allowed to stay. Any deeper involvement is an automatic boot.
Fighting. Unless bones are broken, or they're maimed, or disabled, or killed, M'ayen doesn't care. He accepts (and even expects) fighting, as a way for the boys to establish the pecking order in the barracks.
Likewise, M'ayen does not care if you're being bullied. No, not even if it's excessive bullying. You either stand up for yourself and put a stop to it, or you accept your natural place in the pecking order and deal with it. Or you quit. Like fighting, M'ayen expects this to happen and in some ways even encourages it.
Sex. As long as boys aren't having sex with boys and girls aren't having sex with girls, M'ayen doesn't care what you get up to. Just don't do it in the barracks, and keep it to during your free time.
M'ayen doesn't care if boys force other boys to do their work for them. So long as the work gets done, he doesn't particularly care who does it.
In addition to getting away with all of the things above, there are certain things M'ayen will pretend not to see, or which M'ayen will make no effort to catch the perpetrator.
Girls who Stand for green or blue can be abused by male Candidates -- they can even be raped, or have their bones broken. After all, M'ayen doesn't want them Standing, and if they quit after being assaulted or they have broken bones and can't Stand, he's a happy man.
Harassment of boys who are gay, if it gets them to quit.
Harassment of boys who don't understand the proper way of things (usually holder boys who come to the Weyr with funny ideas about how things work).
M'ayen encourages girls to get pregnant between clutches, and he encourages the boys to help them with that. Any female Candidate has the potential to be a dragonrider (or they wouldn't have been Searched), and can produce good weyrbred stock if their partner is a rider or another Candidate. Gold eggs are rare, and a girl's chances of Impressing one are not good; better they make themselves useful by producing future Candidates. It's also better for them -- if they can seduce a young ranker, they'll be more secure. If they can produce a son who grows up to Impress bronze, they'll be taken care of.
All access to the Candidates is strictly monitored by M'ayen. Everyone must be approved by him before they're allowed to have anything to do with the Candidates. This include the harpers who give them lessons, and the rankers who take boys on as assistants. If M'ayen thinks they'll put strange ideas into his boys' heads, he will not hesitate to ban them from any contact with the Candidates.
M'ayen often relies on the Candidates to keep each other in line. Rather than making more work for himself and pulling aside every boy who starts showing signs of liking other boys, or who lacks an understanding of how the Weyr works, he'll sit back and let the other boys handle it. The Candidates are encouraged to spot these types, and to give them hell until they quit, or correct their funny ideas -- often through force. Sometimes, M'ayen himself will make targets out of boys he thinks the others should deal with.
Most importantly, boys who are between the ages of twelve and twenty-three have the right to Stand. They do not need to be Searched. As long as they're physically and mentally able (which M'ayen determines during an interview) they're allowed into Candidacy.
They are not required to become Candidates, though M'ayen is occasionally willing to be bribed by highly-ranked parents to force their children into it for a short period of time.
They do not have to take their knots immediately when they're twelve. They could wait until they're twenty-three, and they'd still be allowed.
To some extent, M'ayen counts on the weyrborn boys to already know the proper way of things. Unless they give him reason to doubt them, he will watch them less closely than he does the Candidates who come from outside the Weyr. He often counts on the weyrborn to 'educate' incoming Candidates on how things work.
The one downside to being weyrborn is that if you screw up, M'ayen can and will haul your parents or the crecheworkers in for punishment. After all, they're the ones who raised you and let you go bad.
(Also includes traders and kids from the craft halls)
You MUST be Searched by an official Search dragon, and you must present a Search token to M'ayen (or one of his staff) upon arrival at the Weyr. You will then be interviewed so that M'ayen is sure you're suitable to Stand. The interview is often much more extensive than the one given to weyrborn boys, as he must determine if you understand what you're getting yourself into, and what life at the Weyr is really like.
Holdborn Candidates are watched more closely, since Weyrlife is new to them, and M'ayen has to be sure they learn the proper Fortian way.
Hazing of holder boys is probably much more common as they enter Candidacy.
All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright© Anne McCaffrey 1967,2005, all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author.
The Dragonriders of Pern® is registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, by Anne McCaffrey, used here with permission. Use or reproduction without a license is strictly prohibited.