Month 4: Dragon Ages 7-8 months
Overview
The young dragons, having reached close to half their adult size, are mostly large enough now to support a human rider. This also means the dragons will be able to socialize more with other dragons, though you should plan on keeping tabs on such interactions so you can intervene should your young lifemate be exposed to anything which might cause undue anxiety or stress. As the dragons really begin to put on muscle during this time, they continue to eat twice daily.
Physical activity intensifies. By now, weyrlings need no longer take meals together, as the tight scheduling of dragon feeding, lessons and exercises has loosened up enough to allow for some personal adjustment; however, suggested mealtimes are still posted, and any weyrling skipping more than two meals consecutively can figure on being sent to the infirmary on the assumption that something's wrong.
If they have not done so already, weyrling dragons are normally encouraged to take the air by the end of their seventh month. As High Reaches' fighting forces have been somewhat reduced by Threadfall, some pressure is on to get you all ready to fly resupply instead as fast as possible - so by the end of the seventh month there's some real push to have all of the young dragons set free to the skies. Weyrlings are strictly forbidden from riding in flight unattended at this point.
Records would suggest that mounted flight should begin in the late part of the eighth month. R'vain pushes the weyrlings a little ahead of this - but as the seventh month is going to go by with less care from the Weyrlingmaster than the previous six, some of the weyrlings may not be ready for mounted flight - unless Tavaly's really been keeping them on the ball with straps and ground riding. Watch the +bb on game for more information.
By the middle of the eighth month the largest dragons - bronzes and browns - will be carrying their riders on the wing. Some of the smaller dragons will have strength enough by the end of the eighth month to make their first flights with a rider astride. Even the smallest green will get a chance to carry her rider on foot, however - you'll now be practicing formations on the ground in mounted pairs.
This isn't the only case in which the color of your dragon's hide is starting to affect what kind of lessons you get.
In about a month the riders of bronze dragons begin to be pulled out for once-weekly sessions with R'vain or other 'big knots' and high-ranking staff around the Weyr. While the sessions are short, their purpose on the surface is to provide basic instruction in leadership to those weyrlings who will eventually be part of the pool from which wingleaders and other ranking positions are picked. There is a somewhat deeper purpose, however, evident to anyone capable of a little analysis - the Weyr's ranking riders are scoping the new prospects for lines of loyalty and leadership potential as much as offering training.
Rarely, R'vain has been known to take along a weyrling brownrider to one of these sessions, probably because they may be wingseconds some day. Other riders of browns, greens and blues in the barracks simply get a little extra free time. The world is unjust. ^^
Restrictions
The supervision of older dragons is no longer needed for experienced hunters, though you must still take care to prevent them from eating themselves sick. Although they are now old enough that most of them will tolerate sexual activity on behalf of their human counterpart, such activity in the barracks is still barred - it’s not a very private place!
Sample Schedule
As the dragons are now capable of spending much of the day on their own, weyrlings will be required to attend even more lectures, practical lessons, and exercise sessions - calisthenics and weights have been added to the strength-training circuit, and self-defense lessons are available for those who want them.
6:00 AM - Morning run
7:30 AM - Clean up barracks; dragons have hunting time
8:30 AM - Breakfast
9:00 AM - Classroom lessons
11:00 AM - Strength/agility training
12:30 PM - Lunch; dragons have hunting time
1:30 PM - General lessons
3:30 PM - Group exercises
6:00 PM - Dinner; hunting time for dragons who need it
8:00 PM - Breakout classes/training; time to work on straps
10:00 PM - Lights-out
Chores
Daily flight exercises for dragons who've mastered takeoff and landing
Stamina training in flight
Encouraging dragons to bathe after hunting
Mounted formations on the ground
Cleaning the barracks
Classroom lessons focusing on politics and beholden areas
Breakout sessions for bronze and some brown riders
Finish straps in time for manned flight at the end of the eighth month