Weyr Structure

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Residents of the Weyr

The capacity of a Weyr varies from 300-600 dragons. However, during a Pass the dragonriders' duties leave little time for any other activity, so each Weyr has a large support staff that can number into the thousands.


Dragonriders - living in weyrs (lower case w, or the individual cavern where a single dragon and his/her rider lives), usually in the cliff faces in Northern Weyrs.

Weyrlings - young, immature dragons and their riders. Young dragons generally fly for the first time at about one Turn (year) and train with the Weyrling Wing until mature enough to join a Fighting Wing, usually between 1 1/2 to 2 Turns. Weyrling dragonriders may not join a Wing until age 16, no matter how mature their dragon. Weyrling riders who have completed training but are not yet Turned 16 are often assigned messenger or sentry duties until they come of age. They do not have adult level rank/status until they have been accepted into a Fighting Wing.

Lower Caverns staff - often, but not always, the Candidates who failed to Impress a dragon, or those who have run away from home to live in the more liberal, accepting atmosphere of the Weyr. This includes cooks, servers, cleaning staff for common areas, those who care for the beasts that will feed the dragons, and many others. Lower Caverns workers often satisfy the sexual needs of riders who have lost a mating flight.

Weyrbrats - The children who are born in the Weyr are called (affectionately) Weyrbrats. Weyrbrats may be the children of Dragonriders, Lower Cavern staff or Crafters. It is the tradition in the Weyr that children are not raised by their natural parents, as dragonrider parents do not have time to raise a child while caring for a dragon. This community model also serves to reduce parental favoritism. Children are Fostered as soon as they are weaned from their mother's milk, and initially sent to the Weyr's creche. Once the child has grown to show distinct personality and talents, they are matched with a Fosterer (foster parent) who suits the child's temperament. Every male Weyrbrat has the right to become a Candidate and stand for Impression at age 12.

Candidates - young people who are given the opportunity to become a dragonrider. They are chosen through Search, where a sensitive dragon, usually a blue or green, seeks mentally sensitive boys and girls who are of the correct temperament to match minds with a dragon hatchling. Usually those searched are young males, aged 12 - 18, although older girls (aged 16-22) are sometimes searched if there is a gold egg available. With the addition of any Weyrbrat aged 12-18, the Searched are familiarized with the eggs and are present when the eggs hatch. The Hatchlings choose, or Impress a Candidate who suits his or her temperamental and/or other (still unknown) needs.

Craftsmen - assigned to the Weyr by their Craft, Craftsmen serve the dragonriders and support staff as they would serve any Hold. The position is usually a high prestige assignment, and they are autonomous from Weyr structure.

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Weyr Ranks

A Weyr is headed by the Weyrwoman. She is generally the rider of the ranking gold “queen” in the Weyr. If the Weyrwoman dies, or if her dragon ceases to mate due to old age or serious injury, the rider of the next gold to rise to mate will take the position.

The Weyrwoman is the domestic head of the Weyr. She is in charge of all matters that pertain to housing, food, the raising of children living in the Weyr, training, organization and discipline of the support staff of the Weyr, as well as the day-to-day living requirements of the dragons and their riders. The Weyrwoman is also a diplomatic ambassador, responsible for relations to other Weyrs, Holds and the Crafthalls. Most of her duties are administrative, delegating responsibilities to her Headwoman or junior goldriders.

The Headwoman is the Weyrwoman's primary assistant. The Headwoman is responsible for implementing the Weyrwoman's orders regarding management of the Lower Caverns, where the bulk of the support staff live and work. She is in charge of the cook staff, the cleaning staff, maintenance staff and the Fostering staff. She wields a great deal of power inside of the Weyr.

Junior goldriders are also assistants to the Weyrwoman. All dragons will obey the orders of a queen, unless they contradict the orders of the senior gold. Because of this, all goldriders must act as figureheads. The junior goldriders are typically assigned to record keeping, lower level diplomatic duties and sometimes teaching younger gold weyrling pairs. This provides them with important experience for future leadership positions, as each junior pair has the chance to become Weyrwoman on very short notice.

While the Weyrwoman is the domestic leader of the Weyr, the military side is headed by the Weyrleader. Weyrleadership is determined by the mating flights of the senior queen, the rider of whichever bronze catches her becomes the Weyrleader. The Weyrleader is in charge of making sure that the fighting wings are up to strength, and well trained, he also determines the strategy for threadfighting. The turnover of Weyrleadership varies greatly.

The plural Weyrleaders typically refers to the Weyrwoman as well as the Weyrleader himself.

Wingleaders, who are usually bronzeriders, each lead a wing of 12-33 dragons. Each Wingleader has two Wingseconds who may be brownriders or young bronzeriders in training to be a Wingleader.

One of the most important ranks in the Weyr, below the Weyrleaders, is that of the Weyrlingmaster. He is in charge of the training and discipline of the young dragonpairs known as weyrlings. While under his care, weyrlings learn everything from basic dragon husbandry to advanced threadfighting techniques. The Weyrlingmaster must be appointed by the Weyrleaders. The Weyrlingmaster must have a good deal of experience, and thick skin, because as many as 25% of all Weyrlings can die before the end of their training. Weyrlingmasters are usually bronzeriders, though highly respected and very senior brown or blueriders are sometimes assigned to the position.

The Candidatemaster is also selected by the Weyrleaders. This individual is also a dragonrider and usually an older rider though being of a certain age is not necessary. This person must have a good deal of patience and understanding, as the Candidates are not all from the Weyr and it is this person's job to introduce them to the customs of the Weyr and to dragons.

Search riders are not high ranking riders but instead have dragons who are sensitive to the minds of young men and women. They generally are green or blue dragons and seem to have a knack for picking Candidates that will impress to upcoming clutches.

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Fighting Wing Structures

The fighting units of dragons are organized in groups known as Wings. A collection of three Wings is known as a Flight, and is the largest permanent organizational structure within a Weyr.

A Wing is lead by a Wingleader, who is always a bronzerider. The Wingleader is responsible for ensuring that his Wing is capable of safely fighting thread. He also appoints Wingseconds and recruits newly graduated weyrlings. Ideally a Wing has two Wingseconds, which are also typically bronze or brown dragons. They fill the Wingleader’s position in the case of an emergency, and help to convey the Wingleader’s orders to the rest of the Wingriders. A healthy Wing contains thirty Wingriders (approximately 75% of which are blue or green riders). If a Wing falls to fewer than 12 healthy dragon/rider pairs, the Wing is disbanded and absorbed by other Wings. The smaller blues and green dragons do not have the stamina to safely fly an entire threadfall and must be rotated out in two or three shifts.

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The Wings of Igen Weyr

Ingenuity
As the name implies, this wing recruits riders that prefer to use resourcefulness and intellect over pure strength.

Imperium
The word means, strength. The wing prefers riders that are up to any task through strength of body, mind and spirit. “Pain is weakness, leaving the body”