Post by Zen on Jan 28, 2012 0:05:40 GMT -5
"Do I have to read the books to join?"
Nope, though they do come highly recommended (and it will be a bit easier for you to figure out what's going on if you have read at least one!). You can get a good overview/summary of the series here. But for now, here's a no-prior-knowledge-required introduction to the setting to help you find your footing:
This roleplaying game is set on a planet called Pern, where people live at an essentially medieval technology level. There are Holders, who are ordinary people, Crafters, who are artisans, and Dragonriders. Dragonriders are the reason Pernese society can continue to exist, because every two hundred years Pern faces an invasion from an alien life form called Thread. During the time period of this invasion (usually fifty years or so), Thread falls from the sky intermittedly, like rain or snow.
Thread is not sentient, but it destroys anything it touches. Thus, Pernese society is structured around the need to fight Thread before it hits the ground and eats up everything living on the planet. Thread falls from a planet called the Red Star, which only passes close enough to Pern to send Thread into the atmosphere every two hundred years. Thread can only be destroyed by fire and water.
That's where the dragons come in. When they chew a kind of rock called firestone, Pernese dragons are capable of breathing fire. Thus, whenever there's a Threadfall, the dragons and their riders go out and flame all the Thread into ash before it hits the ground.
Dragons are born from eggs, which are laid in large clutches by gold dragons. There are five types of dragons: gold, bronze, brown, blue, and green. Only golds and greens are female, and only golds (also called "queens") can produce clutches. The woman who becomes the rider of a queen dragon becomes the Weyrwoman, and is in charge of the weyr. A weyr is where the riders live, and it's often built in mountains and places where there are natural caves, to protect against Thread.
In order to become a dragonrider, you have to Impress a baby dragon. This is sort of like imprinting a baby goose: you have to be there when it hatches to do so. But the dragon has to choose you to be its rider - it won't take just anyone.
If you want to be a dragonrider, you have to be picked to be a Candidate by a dragon, or you have to have been raised in a weyr. Candidates are allowed to stand on the sands when a clutch is hatching, and have the best chance of Impressing.
- Thread = alien life form which eats everything in its path and falls like rain on the planet Pern.
- Dragonrider = Person who is bonded with and rides a dragon, in order to burn Thread from the sky before it destroys living matter.
- Crafter = An artisan, like a musician or a shoemaker.
- Holder = Someone who is neither an artisan nor a dragonrider.
- Impress = become telepathically bonded with a dragon for life.
- Weyr = a system of caverns where dragons and their riders live.
- Candidate = someone who is eligible to Impress a dragon and become a rider, should a dragon hatchling choose them.
- Turn = The Pernese equivalent of an Earth year.
- Interval = A period of around 200 years on Pern when Thread does not fall, because the Red Star is too far away in its orbit.
- Pass = A period of around 50 years on Pern when Thread falls on a regular basis, because the Red Star has come close enough to send the spores down onto the planet's surface. Always preceded and followed by an Interval.
If you have a question, don't hesitate to post it in the S.O.S. board, shout out in the cbox, or PM it to a staff member. If you're looking for more overviews of Pern, you can find some pretty good ones by following these links, from least detailed to most: (Arolos' is particularly short and informative - shorter than the one above, in fact.)
