Weyr and Pern (General) Information

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The Northern continent as we know it

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Intro to Pern:

Rukbat was a golden star in the Sagittarian sector. It had five planets and one stray that was attracted and held for millennia. Finding the third planet hospitable for human life, men and women colonized it and called it Pern. They took little notice of the planet that had a wildy erratic elliptical orbit, and over time, they had forgotten its existence. The path of this Red Star comes into Pern's orbit every 200 Terran years.

When the planet was in conjunction and in harmony with its sister planet, deadly spores from this star were drawn to the temperate climate of Pern. Their initial losses were staggering and through this struggle to survive and combat this silver menace that fell from Pern's skies, their contact with Earth was broken and over generations degenerated and was soon to be forgotten.

The ingenius men and women of this planet embarked on a journey to overcome this "Thread" that threatened all life on Pern. Their geneticists developed and bred a small indigenous life-form that resembled the dragons of myth on Earth. Men and women with empathic and some innate telepathic abilities were trained to work with these animals. They had some unusual characteristics - if they chewed a certain phosphone rock, they could emit a flaming gas and because these creatures could fly, they would be able to char and destory this Thread in mid-air. This first phase took generations to develop and the second would be even longer. The colony eventually moved to the northern continent and sought out refuge in the mountain ranges... this menace devoured organic life and when it embedded itself into the fertoil soils, it burrowed itself and spread with tremendous speed. These mountains provided safety because only rock was impervious to the scoring of Thread. Thus began a sojourn that would become the central focus of their new life on Pern.

Over time, the dragons grew to tremendous size. Men and women alike would "Impress" and become lifemates with these wondrous beasts. Together they rode the skies of Pern and protected its inhabitants. Over the course of two hundred Turns, the Red Star left it's orbit and Thread no longer fell on Pern. They were now able to enjoy life and focused on planting crops. Many "Holds" were developed around cave-like structures and the people learned trades that became custom.

When the third Pass of the Red Star came a complicated structural society had formed. The dragonmen had pledged to protect all of Pern and the rest of its inhabitants would tithe to support the Weyrs, where rider and dragons lived. Occasionally the other five satellites of Pern would prevent the Red Star from passing close enough to drop these deadly spores... and the memories of this deadly menace were buried... why deal with something that wouldn't happen for a very long time. Time passed and the bravery of the dragonmen fell into dispute. Life became tenuous and what was once a deadly threat, had now been buried into myth.....

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Crafthalls

Each of the crafthalls on Pern adhere to the same basic organizational structure and ranking system.

There are three degrees of rank:apprentice, journeyman (or journeywoman), and master. Apprentices begin their education as early as eight or nine years of age and are instructed by one or more master craftsmen on a regular basis. Journeymen (or women) continue to receive instruction, but may go without instruction for indefinite periods of time to practice their craft in outlying settlements. The majority of a craft's members will be journeymen and journeywomen; many will never advance beyond this point. The highest regular rank is master which denotes the ability, right, and responsibility to pass the ways of the Craft on to apprentices and journeymen.


Crafts are divided into separate halls. These Halls are both places of work and a social structure. A Crafthall may range from a humble Fisher's shack on a rocky coast to the great craft complexes like Smithhall at Telgar or the Harper-Healer Hall at Fort. Generally, one or more crafthalls are recognized as being the center of learning for their craft are generally identified as Major Crafthalls, the rest being considered Minor Crafthalls. Each crafthall selects a leader from among their masters, and the convocation of all Masters of a craft elect their head, their Craft's Craftmaster. The Craftmaster has the right to speak for all members of his Craft, planet-wide.


The difference between Hall-Crafts and Hold-craftsA distinction should be drawn between the Hold-crafts and the Hall-crafts. Several Crafts, while having their own Halls and places of learning, are basic skills that no Hold can do without. Examples include the Farmercraft, Cookingcraft, and Beastcraft (or Herdcraft). These Hold-crafts are therefore found everywhere, and their life does not primarily revolve around their home Halls. In contrast, crafts such as the Minercraft, Smithcraft, or Healercraft require specific locations, specialized halls, and years of learning to master. Unlike the Hold-crafts, these Crafts stand somewhat aloof from the regular day-to-day life of the Holds of Pern.


List of major Crafthalls
Harper Hall, at Fort
Healer Hall, at Fort
Smithcrafthall, at Telgar
Minecrafthall, at Crom
Beastcrafthall, at Keroon
Farmer Hall, at Keroon
Vintner Hall, at Benden
Glass-smith Hall, at Ista
Fishercrafthall, at Tillek
Weavercrafthall, at Southern Boll

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Social differences between the Weyr and the rest of Pern


There is no marriage in the Weyr, as dragonriders are so involved in their dragons' needs that it would be unfair to a romantic partner to commit to a permanent relationship. Instead, Weyrs have "weyrmates." In rare cases, weyrmating is as deep and permanent as a marriage. However, a weyrmate would usually be the equivalent to a "boyfriend" or "girlfriend": a form of serial monogamy. A weyrmate might be another rider, a crafter or a lower caverns worker. The term indicates that the pair usually share living quarters, for the time being. Such relationships can be severed at any time by either partner for any reason.

Parental ties are loose, and children are considered to be the property of the Weyr, not of the parent. Usually a child knows who his or her parents are, but have no more contact with them than any other Weyr resident. There is often some fondness between parent and child; a parent might give a "birthing day" or "Turn's End" gift to their child and keep tabs on the child's development. Other parents completely ignore their child's existence. Severing a child's emotional ties with their natural parents is also considered to be a balancing factor, as expectations for Wyerbrats are not tied to the rank or qualities of their parents. Children are seen as indiviuals who must succeed or fail on their own, not on parental merit.

Sexual relations in a Weyr are typically very liberal. Sex is a form of tension release, and can be triggered by mating flights. A goldrider is expected to be open to sexual relations with multiple males, especially bronzeriders. Sexual contact during mating flights is not considered to be any indication of a dragonrider's preference in either individual or gender preference. In addition, sex with a person other than a weyrmate during a mating flight is not considered to be "cheating." This behavior is considered anethema to the Holders and, to a lesser degree, the Crafters.

Homosexuality is accepted in the Weyr as a necessity for the dragons' well-being. Green dragons will only accept a female or feminine gay male rider while blue and some brown dragons will choose gay or bisexual male riders. Because female riders are not known in later passes, this means more than half of all dragonriders are homosexuals. However, homosexuality is not well accepted outside of the Weyr, so the Weyr often becomes a sanctuary for homosexual men.

Suicide is considered to be a "normal" response to the loss of a dragon. A dragonrider whose dragon has died is usually given the option of accompanying another pair Between and releasing from the pair before emerging, effectively killing him or herself. Few riders would ever deny a dragonless rider, since losing one's dragon usually results in insanity.

Abortion is also accepted in the Weyr, while Holders and Crafters believe abortion to be "evil." Going Between while pregnant usually causes a miscarriage, therefore a woman in the Weyr who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy has the option of asking assistance from a dragonrider. "A short ride Between" is a common euphamism for ending an unwanted pregnancy.

For dragonriders, social and Wing status are completely dependant on the colour of their dragon. This is due to the natural/instinctual social structure of the dragons themselves, a legacy of their firelizard ancestors. Gold and bronze dragons and their riders are at the top of the social/military structure. Brown dragons and their riders have the most flexibility and can achieve rank nearly equal to bronze dragons or fall to lower ranks, according to ability and personal preferences. Blue and green dragons and their riders are at the bottom of the social and military hierarchy, the dragons because they will obey gold and bronze (and sometimes brown) dragons generally without question, their riders tend to have matching "follower" personalities and are usually content to do so.

While the Weyrwoman and the Weyrleader hold the same rank as a Lord or Lady Holder or Mastercraftsmen or -women, even the lowest ranked adult dragonrider is equivalent to a senior journeyman in a craft, and are given the respect due any dragonrider as the protectors of Pern.

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Holds

Holds, are the residences of the bulk of the planet Pern's population.

Members of specialized professions on Pern live in Crafthalls and dragonriders live in Weyrs, but for most people, the Hold is both the residence and primary social authority.

Throughout most of Pern, Holds are made up of either stone buildings or networks of caverns both natural and man-made. By shuttering any windows and barring the door, this makes the Holds ideal shelter in times of Threadfall. Holds are under tight strictures to keep Thread-susceptible greenery away from the entrances.

There are three types of Hold. Major Holds are the largest and most politically powerful. These Major Holds are analogous to Greek city-states, with a large (for Pern) quasi-urban center of perhaps one thousand residents (the Hold itself) surrounded by a vast, mostly rural territory under the Hold's jurisdiction of 10,000 or more additional residents. When referring to a Major Hold, a speaker might mean either this entire region or only the urban center.

The Major Holds are ruled by a Lord Holder, whose power is largely unchecked in his domain so long as he fulfills his responsibility to the Hold's residents; namely, he provides residents protection from Thread, an appropriate education, and food and shelter in return for labor. The Lord provides protection from Thread by tithing a percentage of the Hold's agriculture and other material to the Weyr to which his Hold looks.There are fifteen such Major Holds, occupying the entire Northern Continent.

Under the jurisdiction of the Major Holds are Minor Holds. These can range widely in size, but operate not unlike a Major Hold on a smaller scale. Despite the name, some of the larger Minor Holds may approach the population of a Major Hold's urban center. Nonetheless, they are subject to the Major Hold of which they are a part and to which they tithe. Minor Holds are managed by a Holder, not a Lord. In many cases, however, a Lord Holder will install his son as Holder at a Minor Hold; the son retains the hereditary title of Lord.

The more rural members of the population live in cotholds. These are much smaller vassal holds, often consisting of a single extended family located near the fields, pasture, or other site of the holders' agricultural pursuits.

The Major Holds as bound to the Weyrs

Fort Weyr
~ Fort Hold
~ Ruatha Hold (Not allowed in roleplay)
~ Southern Boll Hold

Benden Weyr
~ Benden Hold
~ Bitra Hold
~ Lemos Hold

High Reaches Weyr
~ High Reaches Hold
~ Nabol Hold
~ Tillek Hold

Igen Weyr
~ Keroon Hold
~ Parts of Upper Igen
~ Southern Telgar

Ista Weyr
~ Ista Hold
~ Igen Hold
~ Nerat Hold

Telgar Weyr
~ Telgar Hold
~ Crom Hold