Post by Zen on Jan 26, 2012 11:14:23 GMT -5
The Weyrs and Holds of Pern
On the Northern Continent
The weyrs of the Northern Continent, along with the major holds which fall within their protectorate, are listed below.
- Fort Weyr - Fort Hold, Ruatha Hold, and Southern Boll Hold.
- Benden Weyr - Benden Hold, Bitra Hold, and Lemos Hold.
- High Reaches Weyr - High Reaches Hold, Nabol Hold, and Tillek Hold.
- Igen Weyr - Igen Hold and Keroon Hold.
- Ista Weyr - Ista Hold and Nerat Hold.
- Telgar Weyr – Telgar Hold and Crom Hold.
On the Southern Continent
The weyrs of the Southern Continent, and the major holds they protect, are as follows:
- Southern Weyr - Southern Hold, Estival Hold
- Mirran Weyrhold - Itself.
- Monaco Bay Weyr - Cove Hold, Solstin Hold
- Ierne Island Weyr - Ierne Hold, Revnan Hold
- Vesper Weyr - Castel Hold
- Tidewalk Weyr - Tidewalk Hold
Castel Hold, which tithes to the remote Vesper Weyr, is home to many firestone mines, as well as the Southern Minercraft and Smithcraft halls. The best wherhandlers come from Castel and an unofficial 'Wher Hall' has been established there, while its population of riders is relatively well trained, if infamous for their ill manners and general brutality. Rocky and less forested than many of the other regions, Castel and Vesper have managed to survive the first Falls fairly well. The Hold's status as the foremost producer of firestone in the South has done much to elevate it in importance since the onset of the Pass.
The largest southern Seacraft hall is located at Tidewalk Hold on the Southern continent's colder and more temperate far western coast. This maritime hold supports a moderately sized weyr of its own - Tidewalk Weyr. Imitating the customs of neighboring Mirran in recent decades has proved disastrous for both the weyr and its protectorate, as its riders were ill prepared to deal with first few Threadfalls of the Pass. Much of the agricultural land in Tidewalk has been stripped bare. (While the ancient protective grubs flourish in the soil of the tropical regions of the South, and have the ability to prevent burrows and help heal vegetation there, they don't survive for long when transplanted to temperate soils. Thus they benefit only weyrs with warmer protectorates, like Southern, Monaco and Ista.)
Many of Tidewalk’s fishmen have taken to piracy, or have gone to the sea to live permanently on boats, as Weyrleaders Kalena and C'dor instituted a kind of panicked autocracy over hall and hold after the first falls came, and punished dissent very harshly. This only made their difficulties worse, however, and the next time Kalena's gold, Vicanth, rose, C'dor lost his rank to the older and more capable bronzerider T'mal. While T'mal could not salvage what damage had already been done, through his efforts and his refusal to listen to a great deal of what Kalena had to say, he's managed to assemble a manageable fighting force and keep what remains of the weyr - and of Tidewalk itself - from collapse. Nevertheless, the situation there is only worsening, and holders all over the region hate their weyr for the land that has already been lost and the tithes it still must demand from their already insufficient supplies.
Southern and Monaco Bay were slightly better prepared for the onset of the Tenth Pass and are getting by, although they have been hard hit by its early advent as well. However a great deal of loss of land was prevented in Southern and Monaco Bay's protectorates by the grubs that inhabit the soil, rather than any preparation on the Weyrs' parts. Ierne's protectorate is not in much better shape than Tidewalk's.
Mirran Weyrhold is infamous throughout Pern as the home of the Azov school of Harpers, as well for playing host to many well-respected weavers, woodcrafters and other skilled artisans. A small court of high-ranking riders and aristocratic holders preside over the weyr-hold, where the influence of lord holders and dragonriders over the common people has been mingled in a fashion unprecedented on Pern ever since its establishment over two centuries ago. The First Mirrish Founder is said to have been a direct descendent of Jaxom of Ruatha himself.
During the first few Falls of the pass, Mirran suffered great losses, but the sheer numbers of riders it possessed allowed it to keep the majority of its lands green nonetheless. Weyrwoman Kalena transferred from Mirran in her youth, and copied their pattern of governance in her policies: in the smaller Tidewalk, which could not afford Mirranese extravagance, this approach led to disaster at the onset of the Pass.
The Mirranese Harper Hall split from the Northern Harper Hall sometime during the last interval, due to disagreements over both the theory and practice of harpercraft. Now two distinct styles of composition exist side by side - the traditional and the Mirranese. It is commonly suspected that the Azov harpers play a role in political intelligence and propaganda as well as in education, and "Mirranese" blue is a different shade entirely from Harper blue, an icy shade reminiscent of the colder waters of the Azov. Mirranese harpers disagree with the northern hall on a number of issues, and have been the only Harper presence in Mirran by Council decree for nearly a century. They are not welcome outside Mirran, because of the Northern Halls’ influence – and when they do leave their weyrhold’s protectorate, it is never in Azov blue.
The outer portions of old Remath, a small, isolated hold of a kind found scattered all across the Southern continent, were destroyed in an explosive fire many turns ago. Afterwards, the remains of the hold and its lands were subsumed by the Council of Mirran, since the survivors all chose to pledge to Mirran rather than remaining under the protection of Monaco Bay. Many back at Monaco still mutter over the incident, but whatever the cause of the fire, all discussion of what the Mirranese leadership has furiously denounced as “baseless, libelous accusations” died down due to there being no hard evidence present to indicate the fire had not been completely accidental.
On the Far Western Continent
Mavros Weyrhold is located in the Western Ring Isles, and its protectorate includes the entirety of the Far Western Continent and the Isles.
Charin Hold was the first major hold on the Far Western Continent, and the only one until shortly after the start of the 10th Pass. It was founded by the Mirranese over 100 turns before the start of the Pass and its Lords are of the Mirranese Bloodline. As the Redwoods that the Mirranese prize for various reasons grow in plenty on the Western Continent, they founded the hold both to serve as a base of operations for harvesting the trees and in attempt to lay claim to any other untapped resources the small continent may have. After the start of the Pass, Lord Reageren all but cut ties with Mirran when Mavros riders were the ones that appeared to protect his holdings, rather than Mirran as he expected. He began tithing to the new Weyrhold instead, which was a massive loss for Mirran. Currently, due to negotiations between Mirran and Mavros, he has begun sending his redwood production directly to Mirran rather than Mavros, glad to be able to assist the Weyr that protects his lands. He has four children: Raelberin (son, 29, Heir Apparent), Seaganen (son, 25), Relaena (daughter, 22), Saelene (daughter, 19).
However, Castel Hold also had such aspirations and Jask Hold was founded only a short few turns later on the eastern half of the continent, which boasted more mountainous terrain and plenty of mining prospects. Being that Castel was a hold only and did not have the immediate help of dragons for transportation of personnel and supplies, coupled with the mountainous location making travel even more difficult, and the time it took to discover a proper place to begin mining, the fledgling hold initially struggled for many turns. Growth of the hold picked up after they began mining vast amounts of firestone and copper, and Mirran offered the assistance of their riders in trade for a portion of what the mines produced. Jask's founder was a second son of Castel's Lord, a miner, and a wherhandler. When he died, his eldest son and heir took over his wher's bond, and started the tradition that the Holder of Jask should be a wherhandler. Jask was raised to major hold status shortly after the onset of the Pass, its firestone production having elevated its importance just as much as Castel's, and the hold has been growing steadily. The current Lord Holder is the founder's grandson, Degranik, who is in his upper 20s and has recently been betrothed to Charin Lord Holder Reageren's daughter Relaena.
Eastern Hold was organically formed by folk born on the Western Continent that pursued the fishercraft but wanted to remain close to home. The fishing in the waters near Eastern is spectacular, and several families built homes in the area, and then others settled as well, and eventually Eastern was a cothold, and has recently made smallhold status. At the onset of the Pass, when Tidewalk Weyr inspired many of the Hold's fisher folk to turn pirate, they sailed out to join Eastern where they would be free of C'dor and Kalena's panicked power grab. Within the last turn, Reldiwan, a younger son of Lord Divano of Tidewalk, has struck out to Eastern in attempt to claim it for himself before it becomes large enough to be of interest to most other Blooded Sons and has recently been confirmed as Holder.
Western Hold, like Eastern, was organically formed. Westernborn folk from Charin moved southward, initially forming a camp for further harvesting of redwoods, but after some ground was cleared, small farms cropped up in the fertile soil, and eventually the woodcrafters returned to Charin while the farmers remained in their newly founded cothold. Western does not have a Holder, instead falling under the jurisdiction of Charin. The Charin Lord Holder's second son, Seaganen, has been tasked with overseeing the area.