There had been festivities the night before, dancing and singing until early morning, for traders had arrived well in advance, no one minding the multiple uses of this occasion. Now more people poured up the roads, flew down from the skies as the momentous hour for the ceremonious confirmation of the young Lord of Ruatha Hold drew close.
The Harper comes, Ruth told Jaxom and Sharra as the white dragon pushed open the doors of his weyr and stepped into his courtyard.
Jaxom and Sharra, in the main room of their ground-level apartment, heard his joyous bugle of welcome, just as if he hadn’t said goodnight to the Harper in the early hours of that morning.
Lioth says for you to wait here. Harper and N’ton want to speak to you without other ears.
Jaxom turned to Sharra in surprise.
“Oh, it can’t be anything untoward, Jaxom,” she said, smiling. “Master Robinton would have told us last night. I still think that tunic is too tight across your chest.”
“All the spring digging at Ship Meadow, my love,” Jaxom said, inhaling so that the fabric of his brown tunic strained at the seams.
“If you split this new material, you’ll have to wear it mended!” She smiled as she spoke her scold then kissed him.
Sharra’s kisses were to be enjoyed whenever possible, so he held her tightly.
“Jaxom! I will not go mussed to your Confirmation.”
Ramoth and Mnementh are here! Ruth rose on his haunches to bugle a sufficiently honorable greeting.
“You’d think he was the one being Confirmed as Lord Holder,” Sharra said, her rich voice filled with laughter.
“It’s been a joint effort,” Jaxom said, grinning broadly. He hugged her swiftly just once more, relieved that the winter’s uncertainty had given way to spring.
He’d never been busier: managing the Hold and delving into the ancient mysteries of the Plateau and the Ship Meadow whenever he could spare a few hours. Lytol, as Jaxom had hoped, had found himself tremendously involved in the excavations, spending more and more time with the Harper at Cove Hold. With his Confirmation now a certainty, Jaxom had been admitted to the inner councils of the Lord Holders, as much because of his association with Toric as his own rank. Jaxom doubted that Toric would tolerate much more of the conservatism that dominated the Lord Holders’ attitudes to anything. Larad of Telgar Hold, Asgenar of Lemos, Begamon and Sigomel seemed more of Toric’s mind, and Jaxom found himself willing to be ranked with them rather than side with Groghe, Sangel and some of the older men. Some of the old Lord Holders simply didn’t understand the needs of today—nor the call of the vast Southern lands with their infinite variety and challenge.
Today’s formalities were token and excuse for a gathering of Weyr, Craft and Hold, a festival of the end of the cold months of the Turn, a happy day when no Thread fell on any part of Pern.
Lioth landed in the small kitchen courtyard, Ruth backing into his quarters to give the great bronze dragon sufficient space. The Harper slid from his shoulder, waving a thick roll, and N’ton’s crack-faced grin indicated they had news of great import.
“Lessa and F’lar must hear our news, too,” N’ton said, as he and the Harper joined the young Holders. “They’re just coming now.” He signaled Lioth to the fire-heights.
The two men removed their flying jackets, Robinton never relinquishing hold on the roll as he did so. They watched with growing impatience as first golden Ramoth and then bronze Mnementh discharged their passengers and ascended to the fire-heights to join Lioth.
“Well, Harper, Mnementh says you’re bursting with news,” F’lar said, handing Jaxom his flying gear as Sharra assisted Lessa.
“Indeed I am, Benden,” and the Harper exaggerated each syllable, brandishing his roll in emphasis.
“So, what have you here?” Lessa asked.
“Nothing but the key to that colored map in the ship!” the Harper said, grinning at their response. “Piemur figured it out, working with Nicat, because we had the feeling it had something to do with the lay of the land. It does! The rock underneath the land, to be precise.” He was unrolling the map with Lessa and F’lar holding corners. “These dark-brown patches indicate very old rock, in places that have never known earthquake or volcanic action. Never changed from this map to our present ones. The Plateau, shaded here as yellow, obviously had to be abandoned because of the eruption. See, here and here on the south and in Tillek, we have the same coloration. My dear friends, the ancients came to the North, to Fort, Ruatha, Benden, Telgar, because that land was safer from natural disasters!”
“Thread being an unnatural disaster?” Lessa asked in a droll voice.
“I prefer to cope with my disasters one at a time,” F’lar said. “Being attacked from the ground and the air would be a bit much!”
“Then Nicat and Piemur have also deduced where the ancients discovered metals, black water and black stone. The deposits are clearly marked both North and South! We’ve already worked many of the Northern mines.”
“More in the South?” F’lar asked, deeply interested. “Show me!”
Robinton pointed to half a dozen small markings. “How rich the deposits are is not yet known but I’m sure Nicat will tell us soon enough. He and Piemur make a potent team.”
“How many mines are in Toric’s Hold?” F’lar asked.
N’ ton chuckled. “No more than he’s already discovered and produced. There’re far more to be worked in dragonrider country,” he said, tapping the southeast. “When this Pass is over, I think I’ll turn miner!”
“When this Pass is over . . .” F’lar echoed the words, his eyes catching the Harper’s, suddenly aware that neither of them were likely to see that moment.
“When this Pass is over,” Jaxom said eagerly, his eyes scanning the map, “people can begin to concentrate on what we’ve found at the Plateau, too, and in those ships. We can rediscover the South! Maybe even solve the mystery of the ships—and how we can get dragons to cross that airless void to the Dawn Sisters . . .” Jaxom’s gaze went to the southeast, to beacons now hidden from his sight.
“And how to wipe out forever the threat of Thread from the Red Star itself,” Sharra said in a whisper.
F’lar gave a rueful laugh, brushing from his forehead the lock of hair, now gray-streaked, that fell across his eyes. “I once thought to reach the Red Star. Maybe you young people won’t find it so daunting a task once we’ve caught up on what men used to know.”
“Don’t belittle your accomplishments, F’lar,” Robinton said sternly. “You’ve kept Pern Threadfree and united . . . in spite of itself!”
“Why, if it hadn’t been for you,” Lessa said, looking about her, eyes flashing angrily for F’lar’s self-denigration, “none of this would have happened!” Her gesture meant Ruatha bannered for a happy day and secure in the knowledge that no Thread would mar the occasion anywhere.
“LORD JAXOM!” Lytol’s bellow rang clearly from an upper window of Ruatha Hold.
“Sir?”
“Benden? Fort? The other Weyrleaders and all the Lord Holders of Pern, North and South, have gathered!”
Jaxom waved his hand in acknowledgment of the summons. F’lar rolled up the map and handed it back to Robinton with a bow.
“I’ll examine it more closely later, Robinton.”
Jaxom offered his arm to his Lady Sharra and would have gestured for the Masterharper and the dragonriders to precede them.
“By no means, it’s your day, Lord Jaxom of Ruatha Hold,” the Harper said, and he bowed low, his arm coming up with a flourish to indicate the honor of precedence.
Laughing, Jaxom and Sharra strode out into the court, N’ton and Robinton behind them. F’lar presented his arm to Lessa but she had turned her eyes about the small kitchen courtyard and it wasn’t hard for the bronze rider to sense her thoughts.
“It’s your day, too, Lessa,” he said, taking her hand to his lips. “A day your determination and spirit made possible!” He turned her into his arms and made her look u
p at him. “Ruathan Blood Holds Ruathan lands today!”
“Which proves,” she said, pretending to be haughty though her body was pliant against his, “that if you try hard enough, and work long enough, you can achieve anything you desire!”
“I hope you’re right,” F’lar said, unerringly turning his gaze toward the Red Star. “One day dragonriders will conquer that Star!”
“BENDEN!” The Harper’s roar startled their private moment of triumph.
Grinning like errant children, Lessa and F’lar crossed the kitchen courtyard and raced up the steps to the Great Hall. The dragons on the fire-heights rose to their haunches, bugling their jubilation on this happy day while fire-lizards executed dizzy patterns in the Threadfree sky!
DRAGONDEX
THE WEYRS IN ORDER OF FOUNDING
Fort Weyr
Benden Weyr
High Reaches Weyr
Igen Weyr
Ista Weyr
Telgar Weyr
Southern Weyr
PERNESE OATHS
By the Egg
By the first Egg
By the Egg of Faranth
Scorch it
By the shards of my dragon’s egg
Shells
Through Fall, Fog, and Fire
Shards
SOME TERMS OF INTEREST
agenothree: a common chemical on Pern, HNO3. Agenothree fuels the flamethrowers used by groundcrews to burn Thread, and traditionally carried by riders of the queens’ wings.
Beior: Pern’s larger moon
between: an area of nothingness and sensory deprivation between here and there
Dawn Sisters: a trio of stars visible from Pern; also called Day Sisters
Day Sisters: a trio of stars visible from Pern; also called Dawn Sisters
deadglow: a numbskull, stupid. Derived from “glow.”
Dragon: the winged, fire-breathing creature that protects Pern from Thread. Dragons were originally developed by the early colonists of Pern, before they lost the ability to manipulate DNA. A dragon is hatched from an egg, and becomes empathically and telepathically bound to its rider for the duration of its life.
Green: Female (20-24 meters). The smallest and most numerous of the dragons. Light, highly maneuverable and agile, the greens are the sprinters of dragonkind. They breathe short bursts of flame. Greens are rendered sterile through a sex-linked disability triggered by chronic use of firestone.
Blue: Male (24-30 meters). The workhorse of the dragons. Medium-sized, the blues are as tough as the greens but not as maneuverable. They have more stamina under pressure and are capable of sustaining flame longer.
Brown: Male (30-40 meters). Larger than greens and blues, some well-grown browns are as big as smaller bronzes and could actually mate with the queens if they so dared. The browns are the real wheel-horses of the dragons, reasonably agile and strong enough to go a whole Fall without faltering. They are more intelligent than blues or greens, with greater powers of concentration. Browns and their riders sometimes act as Weyrlingmasters, training the young dragons and riders.
Bronze: Male (35-45 meters). The leaders of the dragons. All bronzes compete to mate with the gold queens; the rider whose dragon succeeds becomes Weyrleader. Bronzes are generally trained for leadership and assume Wingleader and Wingsecond positions along with browns. Bronzes and their riders often act as Weynlingmasters, training the young dragons and riders.
Gold: Queen, full female (40-45 meters). The bearer of the young, the queen is traditionally mated by whichever bronze can catch her. Although browns can mate with queens—and- sometimes do, in the case of junior queens—this is unusual and not encouraged. The queen is fertile and bears eggs which she oversees until they hatch. Clutch sizes -range from ten to forty; generally, the larger clutches occur during a Pass. The senior queen, usually the dragon of the oldest queen rider, is the most prestigious dragon and is responsible for all the dragons in the Weyr and for the propagation of her species.
fellis: a flowering tree
fellis juice: a juice made from the fruit of the fellis tree; a soporific
firestone: a rock bearing phosphorous that, when eaten by a dragon, is digested to produce phosphine gas, which ignites on contact with air
glow: a light-source that can be carried in a hand-basket
harper: Harpers are the teachers and entertainers of Pern. They educate the young in hall, hold, Weyr, and cot; they guide the elders in the practice of their traditional duties. The Masterharper of Pern is responsible for the training of harpers, the appointment of trained harpers to Weyr, hold, hail, and cot, and the discipline of harpers. The Masterharper acts as judge, arbitrator, and mediator in disputes between Lords Holder and between Weyr and hold or hall, but any harper can be called in to mediate if necessary.
Headwoman: Selected by the Weyrwoman to run the Lower Caverns, the Headwoman supervises the general domestic machinery of the Weyr and the individual weyrs of the riders. Among her duties are the care of the young; the supervision of food collection, storage, and preparation; weyr maintenance; and nursing, under the aegis of the Weyr healer(s).
High Reaches: mountains on the northern continent of Pern (see map)
hold: A hold is where the “normal” folk of Pern live. Holds were initially caverns in rocky cliffs where Thread could gain no foothold; they began as places of refuge. They grew to become centers of government, and the Lord Holder became the man to whom everyone looked for guidance, both during and after the Pass of the Red Star.
Impression: the joining of minds of a dragon and his or her rider-to-be. At the moment of hatching, the dragon, not the rider, chooses his partner and telepathically communicates this choice to the chosen rider.
Interval: the period of time between Passes; generally two hundred Turns
klah: a hot, stimulating drink made from tree bark and tasting faintly of cinnamon
Long Interval: a period of time, generally twice the length of an Interval, during which no Thread falls and Dragonmen decrease in number. The last Long Interval is thought to herald the end of Threads.
looks to: is Impressed by
month: four sevendays
numbweed: a medicinal cream that, when smeared on a wound, kills all sensation; used as an anesthetic
Oldtimer: a member of one of the five Weyrs that Lessa brought forward four hundred Turns in time. Used as a derogative term to refer to one who has moved to Southern Weyr.
Pass: a period of time during which the Red Star is close enough to drop Thread on Pern. A Pass generally lasts fifty Turns and occurs approximately every two hundred Turns. A Pass commences when the Red Star can be seen at dawn through the eye rock of the Star Stones.
Pern: third of the star Rukbat’s five planets. It has two natural satellites.
Red Star: Pern’s stepsister planet. The Red Star has an erratic orbit.
Rukbat: a yellow star in the Sagittarian Sector, Rukbat has five planets and two asteroid belts.
runnerbeast: also called “runner.” An equine adapted to Pernese conditions from fetuses brought with the colonists. Quite a few distinct variations were bred: heavy-duty cart and plow animals; comfortable, placid riding beasts; lean racing types.
sevenday: the equivalent of a week on Pern
Star Stones: Stonehenge-type stones set on the rim of every Weyr. When the Red Star can be seen at Dawn through the eye rock, a Pass is imminent.
Thread: mycorrhizoid spores from the Red Star, which descend on Pern and burrow into it, devouring all organic material they encounter.
Timor: Pern’s smaller moon
Tunnel-snakes: Tunnel-snakes are a minor danger and an annoyance on Pern. Of the myriad types of tunnel-snakes, two are the most insidious: the type that lives in tunnels, and the type that makes tunnels by burrowing in the sand on beaches. The latter has a great appetite for fire-lizard eggs.
Turn: a Pernese year
watchdragon: the dragon whose rider has pulled watch duty on the Weyr roster. A w
atch is generally four hours long. Essentially Weyrs are military camps. Sentries are part of that ethos. During a Pass, they watch for any chance erratic Fall of Thread, for anyone entering or leaving the Weyr.
watchwher: the ungainly, malodorous product of an attempt to breed larger, more useful animals from the genetic material of the fire-lizard, an indigenous Pernese life form. Watchwhers are nocturnal, exceedingly vicious when aroused, and highly protective of those they recognize as friends. A watchwher is conditioned to know the people of its hold, hail, or cot, and to give warning of intruders of any sort; used as a watchdog, it is generally chained to the front entrance of the hold, hail, or cot. Watchwhers can communicate with dragons, but as they tend to be very trivial and rather stupid, dragons are not fond of touching their minds.
Weyr: a home of dragons and their riders weyr: a dragon’s den
Weyrleader: generally the rider of the bronze dragon who has mated with the senior queen dragon of the Weyr during her mating flight. The Weyrleader is in charge of the fighting wings of the Weyr, responsible for their conduct during Falls, and for the training and discipline of all riders. During an Interval, he is responsible for the continuance of all Thread-fighting tactics, for keeping alive the fighting abilities of dragons and riders. His rank symbol is a dragon.
weyrling: an inexperienced dragonrider under the tutelage of the Weyrlingmaster. His rank symbol is an inverted stripe.
Weyrlingmaster: usually an aging rider with good skills and the ability to discipline and inspire the young. Responsible for the training of young riders and their dragons.
Weyrsinger: the harper for the dragonriders, usually himself a dragonrider
Weyrwoman: The rider of a dragon queen and coleader, with the Weyrleader, of the Weyr. She is responsible for the conduct of the queens’ wing during Fall, under the Weyrleader’s orders; for the care of dragons, riders, and all Weyrfolk; and for the peace and tranquillity of the Weyr during a Pass and during Intervals. She appoints all subordinates, insures that all tithes are delivered or collected, and mediates all disputes except honor contests among riders. She is responsible for the training, fostering, and disposition of the Weyr’s children and nonrider personnel, overseeing with the Weyrleader the training of weyrlings under the Weyrlingmaster. As any dragon will obey a queen, even against the wishes of his or her rider, the Weyrwomen are in fact the most powerful people on Pern. Weyrwomen have autonomy in their own Weyr, but will act in concert with other Weyrwomen when necessary for the good of the Weyrs. Her rank symbol is a dragon.
The Dragonriders of Pern Page 109