Candidacy

[lithle]

General Candidacy

Put simply, Warden's Weyr does not have candidacy as it's understood at regular Weyrs. They don't Search, they don't have a candidate's barracks, nor do they have a candidatemaster. This is mostly because, until recently, the Warden and the Weyrwoman both believed the Weyr's only gold dragon, Semith, to be sterile. This has since been proven to be a less than correct assumption.

As things stand, anyone between the ages of twelve and thirty-four is allowed to stand for the clutch, should they wish to. It's understood that, should they impress, they'll be required to join the Squads when their dragons reach maturity. Considering how hard life is in the squads, this is a less than thrilling prospect for many.

Those interested in standing are expected to continue with their current duties until the hatching. There are a few candidate lessons, which are handled by the Weyrlingmaster. But there are no candidate chores nor any other traditional candidate tasks.

[lithle]

Prisoner Candidacy

The idea of allowing prisoners to stand as Candidates is an idea put forward by L'vey. It's an idea that's been very reluctantly accepted by the leadership of Warden's. While L'vey has his own reason for wanting this, the primary reason it's being allowed is because there's a shortage of candidates, and no one wants the hatchlings to go between.

Only those prisoners who are serving time for non-violent crimes have a chance at standing. To be permitted the opportunity, they must have a record of exemplary behavior during their time at Warden's. This means compliance with guards, steady work at whatever tasks assigned, and no violent or disorderly activities. Furthermore, any prisoner-candidate that so much as coughs funny will be denied the chance to stand.

That said, those prisoners who do impress will be considered on a sort of "probation". They'll live outside the prison, attend Weyrling classes, and should they toe the line throughout weyrlinghood, they'll be considered 'free' upon graduation. Of course, it will only do them so much good, as the other Weyrs generally don't accept transfers from Warden's.