Post by Zen on Jan 28, 2012 0:48:12 GMT -5
Thread came early when the Tenth Pass began: far earlier than many on Pern had predicted.
While the weyrs on the Northern Continent had readied themselves as tradition demanded, heeding the warnings of the old teaching ballads, some weyrs in the South had proclaimed there was no need to prepare prematurely.
Mavros is a rocky island in the Western Ring, far removed from settled Pern. The goldrider Oria and a large assortment of traditionally-minded riders and holdfolk decided to take shelter in the cliffs of its wide bay nearly six turns ago. Prior to the onset of the Pass, they'd quarreled bitterly with their weyrwoman, Kalena, over her lack of preparation for Thread's arrival, and left the Southern weyr of Tidewalk entirely when it became clear to them no change in policy would take place while she lived.
Led by Oria and the popular bronzerider M'ton, the riders and holders meant to found a new weyrhold in the Western Ring, and protect islands there from Thread which had remained unsettled and unguarded for millenia. Fate, however, intervened. The first Threadfall of the Tenth Pass, errant and mis-predicted, fell in a gale on the settlers' fleet as they sailed north, to disastrous effect. The riders, caught by surprise and without adequate firestone or time to prepare, were massacred, and many ships were lost.
After continuing to Mavros, the survivors of the Threadstorm saw two clutches of dragons hatch and were cheered by the rise of the Weyrleader, D'ze of Bronze Exionth. But the remaining dragonriders found themselves hard-pressed to defend even select Western Ring isles from Thread, as had been part of their purpose in coming. The high death toll that resulted from their efforts led many riders to transfer out - some back to Tidewalk, and many to larger weyrs like Fort or Southern. As morale dwindled, so did the numbers of the First Wing.
Finally, after almost a turn, gold Asurath rose for the third time on the island. Simultaneously, Weyrwoman Oria, greenrider Demi of Riseth, and senior weyrlings Perrane of gold Liyath and N'vry of green Raneth collapsed - poisoned with a mysterious substance. Neither N'vry nor Senior Weyrwoman Oria survived. As Raneth and gold Asurath went between, panic and confusion ran riot across the island.
The morning after the disaster, the weyrleaders of Pern convened in Mavros' hatching cave to identify the culprits behind the poisoning, and determine the future of the fledgling weyrhold.
After investigation, the Weyrleaders from the largest of the Southern continent's weyrholds, Mirran, convinced the Council that the poisoning was the work of a dragonrider called R'zel: a fugitive from their weyrhold who had been living as a holdless renegade in southern mountains of their protectorate for several turns.
R'zel, they explained, was a madman: he believed that if he committed such a heinous crime using a poison which could have been made in Mirran (examinations showed it bore some similarities to talthis, a compound produced almost exclusively there), the other weyrleaders of Pern would blame the weyrhold, whose unusual political structure - a ruling Council of Lord Holders and dragonriders - had incited controversy on Pern ever since its establishment at the beginning of the Ninth Interval. R'zel, they continued, chose Mavros for his target because it was so small and poorly organized that infiltrating the island was much easier than attacking one of Pern's older weyrs would have been.
The Council was not pleased to hear this - particularly since none of them had ever been informed of R'zel's existence before by the Mirranese - and demanded that Weyrleader O'zel and Weyrwoman Isorel of Mirran allow dragonriders from other weyrs to come in and help search for the renegade, in hopes of bringing him to justice.
O'zel and Isorel complied. Teams of riders swept the icy wastes of Mirran in search of this mysterious figure, and riders from Mavros were invited to join them. In addition, a group of young men and women from Mavros were invited to stand at a Mirranese hatching and were sent back to the island via ship with their new hatchlings after the young dragons were old enough to travel.
Weyrleader D'ze was mysteriously absent during the poisoning crisis. At the Weyrleaders' council, assertations that he had been abusing fellis (a narcotic and highly addictive painkiller) were raised - and, the dismay of the people of Mavros, proven. The Council, declaring that the full rule of the fledgling weyrhold could not be trusted to a fellis addict, formally removed him as Weyrleader and Mavros was left under the guidance of a council of their most experienced riders until the time when the young Gold would rise.
As declared by the Weyrleaders, the Holders of Mavros voted on whether to accept a Lord Holder to rule over them or to continue electing their leaders – they decided against Lord Holder rule. All help from the other Weyrs is withdrawn completely; Mavros is on their own. And to make matters even worse, the oldest Gold daughter of their late queen, Liyath, betweened after her rider, Weyrling Perrane, succumbed to the same poison that killed the Weyrwoman, leaving Mavros with one young Gold: Zalmaranth.
During the next turn, things only got harder for Mavros as Thread continued falling, only more frequently and their meager population of riders struggled to keep up with it. Each injury sustained was greatly felt. The ruling council has slowly cut back on the area Mavros dragons protect and they rarely fight far from Mavros, lacking the resources to do so. The Weyrhold, honestly, is struggling to survive without help from the other Weyrs. At the start of the 4th Turn of the Pass there was some discussion about trying to regain the favor of the Weyrleaders, even if it meant accepting a Lord Holder’s rule. A vote was taken and by a narrow margin, it was decided they would try for another turn of self-sufficiency before swallowing their pride and begging for help.
And so the vast majority of the Fisher population of Mavros has recently turned to pirating in order to bring in fresh supplies for their failing home. And with the destruction of most of Mirran’s red woods after the surprise start to the Pass, the red woods on Mavros have become their most valuable trading commodity and with some heavy negotiations, Mirran agreed at the beginning of the 4th Turn of the Pass to start sending transfer riders (among other supplies) to Mavros in return for the right to the red woods that grow on the island and within the Weyrhold’s protectorate.
Transfer riders no longer come from the other Weyrs but Mavros's Gold Zalmaranth has laid her first clutch and the Weyrhold has 18 new weyrlings including TWO Golds, and a new transfer Goldrider as well. Still, every new arrival could make the difference between survival and desolation. Candidate, rider, craftsman and drudge - all are welcome, and all will find themselves homeless or worse if dragon fire fails.
While the weyrs on the Northern Continent had readied themselves as tradition demanded, heeding the warnings of the old teaching ballads, some weyrs in the South had proclaimed there was no need to prepare prematurely.
Mavros is a rocky island in the Western Ring, far removed from settled Pern. The goldrider Oria and a large assortment of traditionally-minded riders and holdfolk decided to take shelter in the cliffs of its wide bay nearly six turns ago. Prior to the onset of the Pass, they'd quarreled bitterly with their weyrwoman, Kalena, over her lack of preparation for Thread's arrival, and left the Southern weyr of Tidewalk entirely when it became clear to them no change in policy would take place while she lived.
Led by Oria and the popular bronzerider M'ton, the riders and holders meant to found a new weyrhold in the Western Ring, and protect islands there from Thread which had remained unsettled and unguarded for millenia. Fate, however, intervened. The first Threadfall of the Tenth Pass, errant and mis-predicted, fell in a gale on the settlers' fleet as they sailed north, to disastrous effect. The riders, caught by surprise and without adequate firestone or time to prepare, were massacred, and many ships were lost.
After continuing to Mavros, the survivors of the Threadstorm saw two clutches of dragons hatch and were cheered by the rise of the Weyrleader, D'ze of Bronze Exionth. But the remaining dragonriders found themselves hard-pressed to defend even select Western Ring isles from Thread, as had been part of their purpose in coming. The high death toll that resulted from their efforts led many riders to transfer out - some back to Tidewalk, and many to larger weyrs like Fort or Southern. As morale dwindled, so did the numbers of the First Wing.
Finally, after almost a turn, gold Asurath rose for the third time on the island. Simultaneously, Weyrwoman Oria, greenrider Demi of Riseth, and senior weyrlings Perrane of gold Liyath and N'vry of green Raneth collapsed - poisoned with a mysterious substance. Neither N'vry nor Senior Weyrwoman Oria survived. As Raneth and gold Asurath went between, panic and confusion ran riot across the island.
The morning after the disaster, the weyrleaders of Pern convened in Mavros' hatching cave to identify the culprits behind the poisoning, and determine the future of the fledgling weyrhold.
After investigation, the Weyrleaders from the largest of the Southern continent's weyrholds, Mirran, convinced the Council that the poisoning was the work of a dragonrider called R'zel: a fugitive from their weyrhold who had been living as a holdless renegade in southern mountains of their protectorate for several turns.
R'zel, they explained, was a madman: he believed that if he committed such a heinous crime using a poison which could have been made in Mirran (examinations showed it bore some similarities to talthis, a compound produced almost exclusively there), the other weyrleaders of Pern would blame the weyrhold, whose unusual political structure - a ruling Council of Lord Holders and dragonriders - had incited controversy on Pern ever since its establishment at the beginning of the Ninth Interval. R'zel, they continued, chose Mavros for his target because it was so small and poorly organized that infiltrating the island was much easier than attacking one of Pern's older weyrs would have been.
The Council was not pleased to hear this - particularly since none of them had ever been informed of R'zel's existence before by the Mirranese - and demanded that Weyrleader O'zel and Weyrwoman Isorel of Mirran allow dragonriders from other weyrs to come in and help search for the renegade, in hopes of bringing him to justice.
O'zel and Isorel complied. Teams of riders swept the icy wastes of Mirran in search of this mysterious figure, and riders from Mavros were invited to join them. In addition, a group of young men and women from Mavros were invited to stand at a Mirranese hatching and were sent back to the island via ship with their new hatchlings after the young dragons were old enough to travel.
Weyrleader D'ze was mysteriously absent during the poisoning crisis. At the Weyrleaders' council, assertations that he had been abusing fellis (a narcotic and highly addictive painkiller) were raised - and, the dismay of the people of Mavros, proven. The Council, declaring that the full rule of the fledgling weyrhold could not be trusted to a fellis addict, formally removed him as Weyrleader and Mavros was left under the guidance of a council of their most experienced riders until the time when the young Gold would rise.
As declared by the Weyrleaders, the Holders of Mavros voted on whether to accept a Lord Holder to rule over them or to continue electing their leaders – they decided against Lord Holder rule. All help from the other Weyrs is withdrawn completely; Mavros is on their own. And to make matters even worse, the oldest Gold daughter of their late queen, Liyath, betweened after her rider, Weyrling Perrane, succumbed to the same poison that killed the Weyrwoman, leaving Mavros with one young Gold: Zalmaranth.
During the next turn, things only got harder for Mavros as Thread continued falling, only more frequently and their meager population of riders struggled to keep up with it. Each injury sustained was greatly felt. The ruling council has slowly cut back on the area Mavros dragons protect and they rarely fight far from Mavros, lacking the resources to do so. The Weyrhold, honestly, is struggling to survive without help from the other Weyrs. At the start of the 4th Turn of the Pass there was some discussion about trying to regain the favor of the Weyrleaders, even if it meant accepting a Lord Holder’s rule. A vote was taken and by a narrow margin, it was decided they would try for another turn of self-sufficiency before swallowing their pride and begging for help.
And so the vast majority of the Fisher population of Mavros has recently turned to pirating in order to bring in fresh supplies for their failing home. And with the destruction of most of Mirran’s red woods after the surprise start to the Pass, the red woods on Mavros have become their most valuable trading commodity and with some heavy negotiations, Mirran agreed at the beginning of the 4th Turn of the Pass to start sending transfer riders (among other supplies) to Mavros in return for the right to the red woods that grow on the island and within the Weyrhold’s protectorate.
Transfer riders no longer come from the other Weyrs but Mavros's Gold Zalmaranth has laid her first clutch and the Weyrhold has 18 new weyrlings including TWO Golds, and a new transfer Goldrider as well. Still, every new arrival could make the difference between survival and desolation. Candidate, rider, craftsman and drudge - all are welcome, and all will find themselves homeless or worse if dragon fire fails.
