Candling

Writers: Shawna, Heather, Sia
Date Posted: 12th November 2025

Characters: N'kevyn, Aydhan, Rasme
Description: Rasme and Aydhan check Tymborikath's eggs. N'kevyn helps out.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 13, day 12 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Aydhara, Thiseta

N'kevyn

Aydhan

Rasme

Tymborikath startled when Aydhan turned the lights on in the hatching grounds. She'd been happily rotating her eggs, minding her own business, and hardly paid her rider any mind as she watched N'kevyn pull the electrical cables out of storage along with a large spotlight. The electric infrastructure at High Reaches might as well be 9th Pass technology compared to the cutting-edge system built into Barrier Lake, and Aydhan was excited to test out the new system.

}: Are you certain it's going to be easier? That looks like a lot of work.:{ Tymborikath said uncertainly. She nudged the cables with her nose and snorted at them, accidentally smacking N'kevyn as she shook her head.

"It might be, but Rasme will know best." Aydhan said, "But I bet we won't have to worry about overheating the eggs like we did with torches, love."

Tymborikath considered the lamp. }: Maybe. :{ She acquiesced.

}:If we don’t like it, I’ll bite it,:{ Avicath promised solemnly.

N’kevyn finished hauling the cords out so that they stretched across the sands. “No, Tym, Avicath will not bite it, no matter what he says. I’m not explaining to the dragon healers why he needs stitches in his mouth.”

}:Why would I need stitches? It’s round and she just said it’s not hot!:{

N’kevyn sighed

}: I didn't ask for him to bite it! :{ Tymborikath protested.

Rasme was bustling with uncharacteristic excitement as she entered the Hatching Cavern with a polite bow for both Tymborikath and Avicath.

“You know, I’ve never actually been witness to this process with dragon eggs,” she said to Aydhan, forgoing any sort of greeting. All N’kevyn received was the wave of a hand to acknowledge his presence.

"It's harder to do with fire when the eggs are this size." Aydhan said far too casually, "One of my friends at 'Reaches was from a beasthealer family that breeds all kinds of egg layers. Chickens, geese… tunnelsnakes, believe it or not." The tunnelsnake skeleton displayed proudly in her weyr was no longer surprising. "There's not a lot of spaces there with electricity, but the hatching cavern was high priority. Kev, can you run up and get the lights? Maybe three-quarters?"

“Sure,” he headed for the controls, giving Tymborikath an overly friendly pat as he walked by, protected from a tail swish by the proximity of eggs. He fiddled with the lights, slowly dimming the Hatching sands until the dragon eyes were points of light in the dimness. “That good enough?”

He headed back down, “It’s interesting, and thankfully Tymborikath just likes anything that involves attention for her eggs,” N’kevyn said with a teasing tone.

"Yes, I don't know if Imbeth would allow this. So few dragons let people come so close to their clutch for long periods of time. There's so much we don't know about fetal dragonet development. Tymborikath's patience can really help us learn more." Aydhan said. She squat next to the nearest egg, half buried in the sand, and flicked the light on. She waved for Rasme to join her as she pressed the light against the side of the egg.

Part of the egg glowed orange. Threads of darker red strands visibly criss-crossed just behind the shell, before a darker shape inside.

"See? That dark blob would be the embryo."

“I’m curious how it works,” Rasme said. “Typically with chicken eggs, the light has to be from the bottom or top to show the embryo.” The retired goldrider admired the strength of the electric light that allowed the shadow to be seen, even from the side.

"It's just the easiest way with chicken eggs, but not mandatory. We just have to form a good seal with the light. Which is why we can't really do it unless we've got a good source of light-- Barrier Lake's state-of-the-art electrical makes it work. We were in such a rush to get the Northern Weyrs operational, we only retrofitted the main areas with electricity. The hatching caverns were added later, but not all the queens appreciated my efforts."

It was also suddenly obvious where Tymborikath got her nosiness.

""Dragon eggs are so big, and we shouldn't be moving them more than the gold does on her own. It's the same with wher eggs. Tunnelsnake embryos attach to the side of the shell that's facing upwards, so if they're being checked the beastcrafters have to set them down exactly the same way. The shell textures are all similar too in the non-avian species, so we did a lot of tests before we tried it on a dragon clutch."

Aydhan paused for a moment as she straightened and went to the next egg to check. It was much the same-- spindly veins and the shadow of a darker shape inside. "Candling wher eggs went about as well as you'd expect. Momma has to be _very_ mild mannered."

A bark of a laugh escaped Rasme at the thought of candling wher eggs, but… Now her curiosity was piqued. “I think you missed your calling, Aydhan, being a healer instead of a beastcrafter.”

"Gosh, no. This was a later-in-life interest, once there were enough queens for us to be bored." Aydhan said with a dismissive gesture. "The processes of life and death are fascinating. There's so much we don't know. Maybe one day we'll be able to track embryonic development enough to guess colour distribution, or isolate inviable eggs ahead of hatching. Like look at this one--"

The egg Aydhan was now testing had no veins at all, just a plain yellowy glow. "This one could be developing slower, or it could be a bad egg. If we check again in a sevenday and there's no movement, we'll want to isolate it from the other eggs. Does the humidity cause any kind of effect on eggs down here? Bad tunnelsnake eggs can get moldy."

There was an indignant snort from the bronze on the sands, }:My eggs aren’t bad! They’re very nice. All egg shaped.:{

N’kevyn chuckled as he started hauling the light to the next egg, leaving it up to Aydhan to mark which one they needed to keep an eye on, “Maybe that one’s just lazy like its sire. Sometimes it’s hard to get him to start going, too.”

Rasme didn’t say it out loud, but the blob in the egg _did_ resemble Avicath’s silhouette….

While the candling continued, Rasme walked about inspecting the eggs in the traditional fashion. The eggs felt rubbery to the touch, which would thin by the time they were ready to split and hatch.

“Well, from what I can see, there’s nothing glaringly wrong with any of the eggs. It’s a fine clutch.”

"Nothing outrageous, thank goodness." Aydhan agreed. "And well done enough for the candidates to start 'sneaking' in before their scheduled visit with J'nic. Kev, love, you can start coiling the cables again. Aside from that one I think we're done."

“I am but a beast of burden,” he said with a dramatic, long-suffering sigh. “N’kevyn, move that. N’kevyn, move this.” Still, he started coiling the cords up and putting the equipment away. “By ‘the candidates’ you of course mean ‘our daughter’, who has already started asking Avicath if she can visit.”

"If we're quiet I bet we can catch her lurking right outside."

Last updated on the November 29th 2025

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