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A Brief Welcome

Hello and welcome to Pern- A Different Thread. As new members you may be unsure of what to do or who to ask for help. Please don't be shy, any one of the members here will be glad to help you out with any question, no matter how stupid sounding. ((Although if you state obviously inaccurate knowledge while claiming to have read the books you might get a few glares...)) If you haven't read Pern, or are returning after many years, this thread is for you. It's a compendium of the basic Pern knowledge from culture to history to a glossary of Pernese terms. We even have a short 'What to expect' run down. So please, enjoy your stay and feel free to use the resources we've gathered.

Sincerely, Naeryn, Fort Weyrwoman and Nevaeh, Fort Weyrlingmaster.

Cultural Notes

Weyrs
There are three generic "social classes" within a Weyr; Dragonriders, Weyr Support Staff + Weyrbrats, and Drudges.

Dragonriders are generally divided socially by the color of their dragon; the color of dragon that chooses a person often is an accurate model of what that person's personality is or should be. Thus, Goldriders and Bronzeriders tend to make good leaders. Of course, in an RP we aren't psychic like the dragons so we try to pair our Candidates with dragons based on their generic attitudes toward other personae and examples of their roleplaying.

This means that in most cases, if you have a high rank in the Weyr, you're probably a Queen or Bronzerider. However, responsibility is also given based on ability!

The highest-ranking people in the Weyr are the Weyrwoman and the Weyrleader. The Weyrwoman rides the Senior Queen, who is usually the oldest fertile gold in the Weyr. The Weyrleader is the man whose dragon most recently caught the Senior Queen in a Mating Flight. This means that the Weyrleadership can change frequently.

Next in rank are the Weyrwoman's Second and the Weyr Second. We don't seem to be using these ranks at the moment, given the pathetically low population of active members. After that, the Wingleaders (usually bronzeriders), Junior Weyrwomen, and the Weyrlingmaster, then the Wing Seconds (and additional "assistant weyrlingmasters" if there are a lot of Weyrlings running around!)

After that, the ranks of the riders decrease based on which Wing in which they fight Thread. The lowest-ranked Dragonriders are Weyrlings, and the rank of a Weyrling is based entirely on age and ability until they're old enough to start taking on more responsiblities.


Weyr Support Staff are people who have duties and responsibility in a Weyr, but do not have Dragons. The most important non-rider person in a Weyr is the Headwoman, who oversees the domestic needs of every person in residence. She makes sure everyone has food, a place to sleep, clothing, and is doing something to earn their keep. Her rank within the Weyr is roughly equivalent to that of a Wingleader.

Immediately under the Headwoman are the Head Herdsman, Head Cook, Head Laundress, Weyr Healer, and Weyr Harper (though Weyrharper is usually a blue or green rider who has some Harper Hall training).

The Weyr Support Staff, as their duties are not as onerous or time-consuming as those of Dragonriders, are often responsible for child rearing. In some Weyrs, there is a complete "Child care facility," with full time Nannies. In others, individual women take up the care of children, usually on basis of whichever is breastfeeding a child of her own when a new one comes along from a Rider. This tradition of Fostering has been adopted by the Holds and Crafts.

In most cases, it is only when a Weyrbrat whose parents are Riders has reached an age where they start thinking about what they want to do as adults that they find themselves in much contact with their natural parents. Sometimes a Weyrbrat who shows a strong interest in dragons is "adopted" by an older rider for company and assistance; they still recieve most of their "parental care" from the Weyr Support Staff, but spend free time helping out their "Aunt" or "Uncle."

All Weyrbrats have the right to stand as Candidates when they reach twelve turns of age, though in some Weyrs, fourteen is the minimum age, as a Weyrling is not permitted to fight Thread until they are at least sixteen turns old. The maximum age for candidates is somewhere around twenty-five turns, though after several turns, most Weyrbrats resign themselves to not Impressing, and find themselves some sort of career.


Drudges are pretty much everywhere in Pern. Usually, mentally-handicapped individuals end up as drudges, though there are all sorts of people who are referred to by the name. The all-encompassing term that describes an average drudge is "unambitious." They do menial work like cleaning, serving food, and other small tasks because they need a place to stay safe from Thread, and wouldn't be allowed to stick around and do nothing to earn their keep. They are often assigned whatever task is necessary when they're available, so drudges sometimes lack a set routine unless they make themselves available regularly to a particular Support Staff individual.

Drudges have a slightly better opportunity for advancement at Weyrs than they do in other places. Anyone who is Weyrbred and is of age is permitted to stand as a Candidate, drudges included. Also, if a drudge proves themselves intelligent and reliable, or if they have a knack for a particular task, they may be assigned a regular duty as part of the Weyr Support Staff.



Holds

Holds are communties of people. They are often farm-based, though some holds such as Beastholds or Seaholds specialize in raising livestock or fishing as their primary source of food and trade. The social classes within a Hold are based on rank and duties, and are not quite as distinct in some cases as the social classes of a Weyr. Nearly everyone within a Hold, after the Holder and his family/fosterlings, is either Hold Support Staff of some sort, or a Drudge.

The highest ranked person in a Hold is the Holder. With a Capital H. If the Hold is especially large or venerable, the Holder may be referred to as the Lord Holder. The Lord Holder's wife is the Lady Holder, who is usually the one responsible for duties similar to that of a Weyrwoman and Weyr's Headwoman. Some Holds have a Headwoman who does these tasks instead, and the Lady does little or nothing; some Holds have a Headwoman who splits the tasks with the Lady.

In smaller Holds, the wife of the Holder is usually called by name. For simplicity, I'm calling anyone who is a wife of a holders/lord holders a "Lady," and anyone who is in charge of a hold, no matter the size, a "Holder."

In a Hold, depending on its size and function, various representatives of the various Crafts are represented. A Master Fisher would most likely not be present in a landlocked hold, but nearly all major holds have a permanent Harper. If the Craftsperson is a Master, they are usually ranked just below the Holder, but remain responsible only to their individual CraftMasters.

Within a Hold, after the Holder and Craftspeople, rank is assigned based on the person's duties, most of which are similar to those in a Weyr. There are often many drudges within a Hold, as well as extensive cooking staffs, and many people are responsible for seeing that certain tasks are done regularly, such as checking glowbaskets and weeding.

Most Holds make their own clothes and provide the bulk of their own food; they often trade with other Holds and with Crafthalls for other necessities, variety, and luxury items.

Large Holds often are responsible for a lot of territory, with small Holds scattered throughout. The Holders of the smaller Holds are "beholden" to the larger ones, and all Holds within a Weyr's territory are "beholden" to that Weyr, and send regular tithes of food and important supplies, usually organized by the Holders of larger Holds.

Fostering is a hugely popular thing in larger Holds, but is rarer in smaller ones. Children are not only not always raised by their natural parents, but at adolescence, are often sent away from their home Holds regularly. This is mostly to improve inter-hold relationships, but also to keep the population of a Hold sfrom going stagnant. High-ranking Fosterlings are often trained by example in Hold Management by either the Holder or the Lady, and they are usually told to keep a lookout for potential spouse material. Of course, being adolescents, that's something that's going to happen anyhow!

In Holds, the bond between parent and child is somewhat stronger than it is in Weyrs, despite the popularity of Fostering. After all, the Holder usually chooses an heir from among his offspring, so he makes an effort to know them and their abilities! Usually the children of the Holder and his Lady are cared for in a Nursery by nannies, so that they can be kept close. They have more contact with their parents as they grow older, until they are fostered out.

Crafts

Crafthalls are often placed near major Holds, but are considered autonomous. There are many Pernese Crafts, and aside from Harping, most of their crafts are obvious based on their names; Fishing, Farming, Herding, Running, Weaving, Smithing, Baking, and Mining are some of the other major Crafts.

Harpers, true, are the ones who provide entertainment for the masses. They write or play songs, they use instruments and often are likened to troubadours or minstrels of a typical fantasy. However, Harpers are the primary teaching force of Pern. Their Teaching Songs provide basic instruction to all children, regardless of rank, and they keep the lines of communication open across Pern.

Most Crafts have a primary Crafthall, where the bulk of their members are taught the Craft, using the apprentice-journeyman-master approach. Each Craft has a MasterCraftsman; the MasterSmith, the MasterHarper, etc., who is the leader of the entire craft. A person who has passed their Journeyman training is usually referred to as a Craft Master; a Smith Master, a Harper Master, etc. After the Masters, usually the Headwoman and heads of the Craft's Support Staff are ranked, then the Journeymen, Apprentices, and Drudges.

Some Crafts have several Crafthalls, other Crafts have no Halls at all, and are taught on a small scale wherever a Master happens to be (winemaking/vintaging, for example).

Most major Crafts are subdivided into related crafts. Smithing, for example, isn't entirely about hitting white-hot steel with big hard hammers. Smiths do the bulk of metalwork on Pern, in most of its forms, but they also construct simple machines. Smiths are often consulted if anything is going to be built. There are also specialized forms of Smithing, such as GlassSmithing and WoodSmithing, with small Halls for those closer to where their primary supply of raw materials are located.

If a Craftsperson has a child, it is raised depending on the location. A Craft Master at their Hall is often at the Hall because they have important duties. Thus, if they have children, they are fostered to women of the Craft Support Staff. If they are assigned to a Hold, the child is usually fostered--at least while it is in diapers--unless the Craftsperson and their Partner have the time necessary to raise the child.

Children in a Crafthall, while young, are usually kept from running amok. When they are older, they are often raised in the Craft, unless they show a tendency for some other line of work.

A Craft only has Support Staff if it has an actual Hall of some sort, and the staff is usually similar to that of Weyrs and Holds.

Drudges in Crafthalls, as usual, do the menial tasks, and are overseen by the Craft's Support Staff.

History of the Scenario

This section is to give you a bit of background as to what's been going on in the Guild. Brush up on current politics, history, and current events.


Benden

Things were going pretty blandly at the start of the scenario. There were hatchings, the Weyrlings were trained and eventually graduated, and this happened maybe two or three times.

Then bam, during a hatching, the Benden Weyrleaders both die in a freak mining "accident." No, wait, they were murdered? Also, the Hatching itself seemed to be very weird. Dragons with weird mutations or color patterns come out, including a Green from the Queen Egg, with some gold markings, a Gold from a rather smallish Egg, and a Green with two tails!

Oooh, plot? Stuff happening? But nothing ever came of it. Oh well. But hey, there aren't any mature Queen Dragons left in Benden Weyr!

Instead of appealing to another Weyr, the Weyrlingmaster, Shivvy, sort of takes charge and assigns a Green rider, Damia, as Weyrwoman, and one of the senior Bronze riders, A'nash, as Weyrleader. The Weyrlings are sort of confused at this turn of events, but continue their training.

Then the Weyrlingmaster, during training, explains to Rayi, the rider of the large green with gold markings, Wrath, and to the rider of the smaller gold dragon, Beriadi and Netesath, that both are Queen dragons, and would eventually have clutches. Somewhere around this point, the Weyrleaders both seem to vanish completely from the scene.

Sure enough, not all that long after flying their first Threadfall, Netesath rises to mate. This would make Beriadi Weyrwoman, but for some reason it takes a while to be confirmed. The Weyr is incredibly disorganized and it is only due to the skills of the Wingleaders that the Weyr still is able to fight Thread effectively. It doesn't help that the Weyrlingmaster has come down with a sudden, chronic illness that doesn't seem to be going away.

The Clutch contains a Queen Egg, who Impresses easily. It's a healthy clutch... but there was one unusual outcome. A young woman Impressed a Bronze, which is completely without precedent. It caused a large stir in all of the Weyrs when word got out.

As the clutch was hardening, the Green-Queen, Wrath, eventually started lightening in color, and shortly after the Hatching, she rises to mate, her color brightening to a glowing bronze-gold; her golden markings are still visible along her back and shoulders. She is caught by a tricky Brown, whose rider later transfers to the Weyr.

Beriadi is finally confirmed as Weyrwoman, but her Weyrmate refuses to leave his home Weyr to be Benden's Weyrleader.

The Clutch laid by Wrath is small, without a Queen egg. It hatches without major incident, only a short moment of surprise where one of the candidates assisted an undersized Green out of her shell, and Impresses her.

Things continue as normal, however rumors begin circulating that the holders are growing irritated at their obligations to the Weyrs. There is a drought, and the threat of famine has the populace terrified. The tithing trains decrease in number, and in the amount of foodstuffs they bring, and the Weyrleaders of the various Weyrs ask their Riders to help come up with solutions.

Beriadi then stepped down from her post, and took an extended leave, leaving Wrath as the only mature Queen at the Weyr, with one Weyrling Queen; Faith, ridden by Ava.

Shortly after Wrath's second mating Flight, which determined the Weyrleader of Benden, an earthquake struck the Weyr, causing its occupants to flee to the only Weyr who would offer them a home; Fort. Benden Weyr is now closed and miners are working on clearing it, but it seems to be a long process.


Fort Weyr

When Fort Weyr began the Weyr was very understaffed by both dragons and riders. So they made an alliance of sorts with Benden. Tolara has been Weyrwoman along with V'tos (NPC) since three turns before the scenario, with her friend R'ign as the Weyrlingmaster.

With a clutch on the sands by Glith, the only gold in residence at Fort, things were looking up for the Weyr. At least until Benden's Weyrleader and Weyrwoman died. Then life changed.

V'tos, Weyrleader, went between times (which only the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader know is possible) to determine the cause of Benden's Weyrleader and Weyrwoman's death.

Not soon after V'tos left a health clutch Impressed on the sands. Despite being flown by a bronze there was still no gold egg and people began to worry. Glith was still the only gold and if anything happened to her a new Weyrwoman would have to transfer in. There were no strange occurances, other than there was no queen egg, a rather odd green with some strange markings, and a bronze whose egg was broken by a single-minded brown.

Still life proceeded, the weyrlings growing and learning, as well as realizing the foolhardiness of disobeying their Weyrlingmaster. V'tos returned with news that it was not murder but a true accident. The Weyrleaders were investigating reports of the miners falsifying their yields in order to lessen the tithe and were caught in a cave in due to shoddy work.

This was worrisome and almost as important as a murder might have been. Tolara decided to keep it quiet only telling Kat, Benden's Weyrlingmaster. Before Kat could explain what was going on to her Weyr she suddenly took ill. It is worried if she will survive.

V'tos soon took off again, leaving Tolara in charge once more. This time he went to look farther into the allegations against the minors and the general discontent of the holders. He came back for short periods of time, including winning Glith's next Flight which was held at Benden.

V'tos had barely finished his preliminary findings when summoned back to the Weyr for threadfall. It roughly summarized that there was a mild drought going on and holders were starting to dislike the Weyrs. Tithes were falling even lower then they should be and people begin to mutter about not needing dragons. After all, some people live Holdless.

Unfortunately that was as far as V'tos got, for in the next Threadfall one of the Weyrlings made an unfortunate mistake. V'tos went to clean up one of the last clumps as said Weyrling began flame, just as V'tos came out, into the fire. His rider badly burned both bronze and rider disappeared between forever. The weyrling quickly followed in shame and despair.

Tolara of course was grounded during this time and both she and Glith were quickly overcome with grief. Fortunately there was a hatching not too long after. After all the intentional and unintentional candidates were on the sands a caravan leader attempted to drag one of the candidates off, angering Glith and bringing her and her rider out of their stupor.

The hatching continued with twin golds, as if Glith was trying to make up for all the clutches without a gold in it. The actions of the caravan leader shook Tolara into action and she disclosed to the Weyr their predicament, as well as sending the copies of V'tos's report to Benden.

Time passed and soon Tolara invited Benden to Fort to discuss flights. Unfortunately one of the weyrlings became sick. At first it wasn't much worry, although the weyrling seemed seriously ill. Then it became a panic. Rheumatic fever is a rare complication of a contagious illness. The Weyr was put under quarantine.

The Weyr got better and was released from quarantine and life went on normally for a bit. Then word came that Benden Weyr was struck by an earthquake. Fort ran to the rescue, the only Weyr to offer help. The Weyr took in Benden's riders and personnel, offering them a home.

Some time after the earthquake, Tolara gave birth to a baby boy. The Weyrwoman then gave lessons to R'ign, Gail, and Rayinte about going between times. The greenrider had stumbled upon it accidentally and R'ign found out, also by accident, by overhearing a coversation between the greenrider and Tolara. Rayinte, who'd never been taught of the trick by the Benden Weyrleaders before their death, was the third member of the small class.

One calm, warm night, chaos struck the Weyr as it was discovered that Thread was falling. At night! The Weyr rose to fight and R'ign, Gail, and Tolara went back in time to fight the Threadfall's beginning until the arrival of the Weyr.

Now, the Threadfall has wound down and riders and dragons are returning to Fort, most with an injury of some kind or another. Only a few know that the watchwher, brown Neosk, alerted his handler, who told the Weyrwoman.


The Harper Hall

Started by Cerin, who took upon the role of MasterHarper, the Hall was doing fine for some time, with a Journeywoman and several apprentices. Fort's Search took a few from there, but most stayed to continue learning the Craft. Then, suddenly, the MasterHarper disappeared and wasn't heard from as well as most of the CraftHall. It was on the verge of going extinct until brought to the GGN.

Now the Harper Hall is host to many new apprentices, though leadership is still up for grabs. Talk is of finding a new MasterHarper, as the influx of apprentices seems to be overtaxing the few people who were there before.

A new Masterharper was finally found after a long, long debate. Ispen was finally elected by the other Masters shortly before the Gather. He now runs the Harper Hall, trying to sort out the chaos that he is now in charge of.


Fort Hold:

Now the guild has grown enough that talk of adding another location for those wanting to become candidates grew. Discussion was held to add Fort Hold, helping to tie together the Harper Hall and Fort Weyr. Jupiter volunteered to get the Hold going and is now working on getting it up and on its feet.


Recently:

Night Threadfall! The combined forces of Fort and Benden fought their first Threadfall together in an unexpected Fall in the middle of the night. Now, the riders and their dragons are returning from the Fall, most with injuries of some sort or another.

Hints and Tips

Here are a few hints and tips that members in the guild have posted.