Post by blaise on Jan 17, 2010 18:03:39 GMT -5
High Reaches Weyr
After the 250 turns of requisite Interval passed them by, the people of Pern believed they had the end of Thread sewn up. Everything seemed too good to be true– the 5th Pass didn’t start when it should have, so that meant Thread wouldn’t plague them anymore, right? It would seem that way and in true Pern fashion, the people began to worry a little less every day. They stopped worrying eventually, and they stopped tithing too. Who needed the dragonriders now? Couldn’t they just help themselves? Make their own crops, tan their own hides, weave their own cloth? Most dragonriders did fall into the rolls of crafters, providing for their own or what was left of it. Queens weren’t laying as many eggs because Thread wasn’t coming back; the dragon population dwindled.
Laziness and latency led to famine, plague, and a heavy death toll over the next 200 years. Populations dropped so much that Holds and Weyrs started to condense their populations. Minor Holds disappeared off the map. Being Searched wasn’t a luxury for the Holders anymore – they needed all the able hands they could get, and so it was up to the Weyrs to find prospects in their own caverns. Rumors ran rampant about kidnappings, and with it, distrust of the dragonriders themselves until the Holds and Weyrs were all but at war with one another. All ties were cut, even political and friendly services such as search and rescues. At the end of 200 turns, the population of Pern had declined about 60%, and most of that percentage came out of the Weyrs.
It was so bad that eventually, it got down to one Weyr to house the remainder of Pern’s dragons – a whopping two-hundred and forty-seven of them. Which was why it was such a disaster when Thread DID fall from the sky, destroying most everything it touched. Cotholds, livestock, crops, and human beings, gone, in a minute. And the dragonriders did what they could, taking damage to their fighting ranks and losing a good bit too. It was a catastrophe, one which for the longest they couldn’t explain. They could only hope that the long interval didn't mean a long pass as well.
High Reaches Weyrleader, the only Weyrleader left, was one of the brave few who had died in the fight against Thread. It took a toll on the Weyr, especially the Weyrwoman, who had used him like a crutch, letting his opinions weigh her decisions. Everything was quickly swirling down the drain. How was she to stop all this? She was just one woman. The sheer stress and panic, from Thread’s first pass and the Weyrleader’s passing, prompted the woman to suicide. Her gold mourned her loss, but lay, rooted to the sand, where the last clutch she had laid was hardening.
Now, all of Pern sits on the edges of their seats, waiting for the next Threadfall. And the Weyr, they wait for the clutch of twenty-five to hatch and a future queen to take the place of the old, worn out Modosth. How will the dice fall? With Pern survive another Pass?
After the 250 turns of requisite Interval passed them by, the people of Pern believed they had the end of Thread sewn up. Everything seemed too good to be true– the 5th Pass didn’t start when it should have, so that meant Thread wouldn’t plague them anymore, right? It would seem that way and in true Pern fashion, the people began to worry a little less every day. They stopped worrying eventually, and they stopped tithing too. Who needed the dragonriders now? Couldn’t they just help themselves? Make their own crops, tan their own hides, weave their own cloth? Most dragonriders did fall into the rolls of crafters, providing for their own or what was left of it. Queens weren’t laying as many eggs because Thread wasn’t coming back; the dragon population dwindled.
Laziness and latency led to famine, plague, and a heavy death toll over the next 200 years. Populations dropped so much that Holds and Weyrs started to condense their populations. Minor Holds disappeared off the map. Being Searched wasn’t a luxury for the Holders anymore – they needed all the able hands they could get, and so it was up to the Weyrs to find prospects in their own caverns. Rumors ran rampant about kidnappings, and with it, distrust of the dragonriders themselves until the Holds and Weyrs were all but at war with one another. All ties were cut, even political and friendly services such as search and rescues. At the end of 200 turns, the population of Pern had declined about 60%, and most of that percentage came out of the Weyrs.
It was so bad that eventually, it got down to one Weyr to house the remainder of Pern’s dragons – a whopping two-hundred and forty-seven of them. Which was why it was such a disaster when Thread DID fall from the sky, destroying most everything it touched. Cotholds, livestock, crops, and human beings, gone, in a minute. And the dragonriders did what they could, taking damage to their fighting ranks and losing a good bit too. It was a catastrophe, one which for the longest they couldn’t explain. They could only hope that the long interval didn't mean a long pass as well.
High Reaches Weyrleader, the only Weyrleader left, was one of the brave few who had died in the fight against Thread. It took a toll on the Weyr, especially the Weyrwoman, who had used him like a crutch, letting his opinions weigh her decisions. Everything was quickly swirling down the drain. How was she to stop all this? She was just one woman. The sheer stress and panic, from Thread’s first pass and the Weyrleader’s passing, prompted the woman to suicide. Her gold mourned her loss, but lay, rooted to the sand, where the last clutch she had laid was hardening.
Now, all of Pern sits on the edges of their seats, waiting for the next Threadfall. And the Weyr, they wait for the clutch of twenty-five to hatch and a future queen to take the place of the old, worn out Modosth. How will the dice fall? With Pern survive another Pass?