Beginner's Guide to Pern

[Arcane]

New to Pern? This is the topic for you!

Veteran to Pern? This is a refresher to you!

Brace yourselves, here is ALL the canon Pern info, with some Age stuff sprinkled in. There are also links at the bottom.

Pern

Parallel Earth, Resources Negligible

Pern was colonized by settlers originally from Earth, First Base on the Moon, and the colony at Alpha Centauri. These people had lived in a technocratic society recovering from a war with an alien race. The 6,000 colonists wanted to return to an agrarian society with a low level of technology so badly that they were prepared to take a fifteen-year one-way journey to an isolated part of the galaxy.

Due to SOS and resulting failure of responding crew to find survivors, Pern was abandoned to the settlers.

Thread/The Red Star

Thread was the name given to a voracious, non-sentient organism that inhabited the Oort Cloud of the Rukbat system. Its appearance was as thin, silvery threads that periodically rained down on the planet. Thread was a mycorrhizoidal spore that consumed any organic matter it could find, but was deterred by metal, plastic and rock, and killed by water, cold and fire.

Roughly every 250 years the Red Star, a rogue planet in the Rukbat system with an extremely eccentric orbit, would pass through the Oort Cloud located on the edge of the system. As it passed through the cloud, the planet would drag material with it, including the ovoids (Zebedees) that would later become the organism known as Thread. About eight to ten years after passing out of the Oort cloud, the thread ovoids would be close enough to drop down to the planet. Intense heat and friction of entry into Pern's atmosphere burned off the outer casing of the thread, leaving attenuated filaments of the voracious life form to fall to the planet's surface. It took roughly fifty years for Pern to escape from the trail, in which time thread fell at regular intervals. The fifty year period was known as a Pass. The remaining 200 +/- years of the Red Star's orbit, when it was not close enough to Pern to drop Thread, was known as an Interval.

Dragons

The Dragons of Pern are a fictional species created by Anne McCaffrey as an integral part of the science fiction world depicted in her Dragonriders of Pern novels. In creating the Pern setting, McCaffrey set out to subvert the clichés associated with dragons in European folklore and in modern fantasy fiction. Pernese dragons are similar to traditional Western dragons in the fact that they can breathe fire and resemble great lizards or dinosaurs with wings, but the resemblance ends there. Unlike most dragons in previous Western literature, Pernese dragons are entirely friendly to humanity. Furthermore, they are not magical at all. Instead, they are a heavily genetically modified species based on one of Pern's native life-forms, the fire lizard.

Dragons are described as carnivorous, oviparous, warm-blooded creatures. Like all of Pern's native large fauna, they have six limbs - four feet and two wings. Their blood, referred to as ichor, is copper-based and green in color, they have multifaceted eyes that change color depending on the dragon's mood. Their head and general body type is described by McCaffrey as being similar in shape to those of horses. On their heads they have small headknobs, similar to those of giraffes, and no visible ears. Unlike the dragons of Terran legend, they have a smooth hide rather than scales; the texture of their skin is described as being reminiscent of suede with a spicy, sweet scent when clean. They are described as having forked tail ends with a defecation opening between the forks. The dragons usually get from one place to another by going through a teleportation process known as 'going Between'.

All dragons (with extremely rare exceptions) communicate with one another and humans with telepathy. Upon hatching, each dragonet chooses one of the humans present (usually) and Impresses to that person; from that moment on, the pair are in a constant state of telepathic contact for as long as they both live. Dragons also use telepathy to communicate with each other and with fire lizards and whers. They are capable of speaking telepathically to humans besides their own riders, but not all of them will do so except under unusual circumstances.

Dragons, while they are less intelligent than humans and feel their bonded’s emotions, are not capable of responding properly to everything. It is better to equate some of their reactions to dogs. They do not understand romantic love, even if their rider feels it towards another, and they do not feel love to another dragon. Mating carries no emotional significance, and is merely a means to an end. Dragons do not feel lust except during a flight. Dragons will generally side with their rider in an argument, however there are plenty of exceptions. Dragons also can only remember about three (3) days at a time, and rely on their bonded’s memories to fill in any gaps. It is stressed that Weyrlings do not engage in any form of sexual activities until they graduate, as the confusion of emotions and actions can cause their dragons to Between and be lost forever.

Whers

Whers (often called 'watchwhers) are 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 reconize as friends. Watchwhers can communicate with dragons, but as they tend to be very trivial and rather stupid, dragons are not fond of touching their minds.

Whers are nocturnal creatures, and are often violent, monstrous beasts. All whers speak in broken, short sentences, giving the impression that they are less intelligent. This is not always the case. Unlike dragons, Whers can be bonded to a new handler if their original handler has been killed, or is otherwise dead. Bonding to a wher is done by cutting one’s hand and smearing blood on the wher's face, or simply bleeding all over the wher's face. Whers are violent enough to kill their handler if they are being mistreated, are unhappy with their handler, or are simply too violent to handle.

As Whers are flightless, they instead have ‘Runs’. Female Whers take off over a large expanse of land, and it is up to the strongest and most clever males to chase and catch her. The female always picks the winner, and will attack those who are foolish enough to try catching her without her favor.


Firelizards

Firelizards are the cat-sized ancestors of dragons. They are small, miniature relatives of dragons and whers. They live in large groups, usually lead by golds. It is not uncommon to find firelizard eggs on the beaches or in cooking sands. They are good companions for those who have lost dragons or failed to impress. Anyone can impress a firelizard, so long as they shove food into their tiny faces upon hatching.

Firelizards can be taught to do tricks, run errands, and send warnings. They are companion pets. On Peacekeeper's Age, candidates and weyrlings may have one firelizard, and riders and wherhandlers may have up to 2. There are no 'flit breeders' here.


Between is a dimension through which Dragons, and fire lizards travel during the process of teleportation, referred to as "going between". If the dragon does not have a clear picture of its destination in mind, it is possible for the dragon and its passengers to become permanently lost in this dimension. Deliberately going between without a destination in mind is how dragons suicide, usually occurring when the rider that they are soul-bonded to dies of illness or injury, or if the dragon itself is mortally injured. Many characters, fire lizards, and dragons have been lost between (i.e. "Moreta's Ride"). Between is universally described as a place of nothingness. Usually, for a dragon to teleport using its rider's directions, they stay in between for the time that it takes to cough three times. Fire lizards take eight seconds to teleport anywhere on the planet. Between frequently causes cystitis and child-bearing problems in female dragonriders. Going between without proper coordinates is a frequent cause of death for inexperienced weyrlings. Between is characterized by extreme cold (far below zero yet not as cold as outer space) and induces near-total sensory deprivation in humans who travel through it on dragonback. There appears to be no breathable air between, and riders who make exceptionally long journeys suffer the effects of oxygen deprivation.

Firestone is a phosphine bearing rock found on Pern. Dragons and fire lizards can chew it to produce phosphorous gases which are ignited to burn Thread out of the sky. There are two types of firestone, one (also known as "Flamestone") is highly unstable and will often explode on contact with water, the other is more stable, but needs some time to be digested by dragons before they go to fight thread, this is the type that was originally found in Dragonsdawn and was used in all Pern novels following Dragon's Fire in Pern's chronology. The chewed firestone must be expelled from the body after it is used up, for the dragons cannot digest it.

Politics/Society

Weyrs

Weyrs are also the physical spaces in which dragons, their riders and support staff reside. Weyrs are usually built into the cliff faces of ancient volcanic craters.

- The capacity of a Weyr varies from 300 to 600 dragons. Each Weyr has a large support staff that can number into the thousands. Residents of a Weyr include: Weyrlings, Lower cavern staff, Weyrbrats, candidates, craftsmen

- There is no marriage in the Weyr, as dragonriders are so involved in their dragons' needs that it would be unfair to a romantic partner to commit to a permanent relationship. Instead, Weyrs have "weyrmates." In rare cases, weyrmating is as deep and permanent as a marriage. However, a weyrmate would usually be the equivalent to a long-term "boyfriend" or "girlfriend".

- Parental ties are loose, and children are considered to be the property of the Weyr, not of the parent. Usually a child knows who his or her parents are, but many have no more contact with them than any other Weyr resident.

- The domestic head of the Weyr is the Weyrwoman, the rider of the ranking gold in the Weyr. If the Weyrwoman dies, or if her dragon ceases to mate due to old age or serious injury, the rider of the next gold to rise to mate will take the position. Though she and her gold are called "senior pair" they are senior in rank, not necessarily in age or in experience. The Weyrwoman is in charge of all matters that pertain to housing, food, the raising of children living in the Weyr, training, organization and discipline of the support staff of the Weyr, as well as the day-to-day living requirements of the dragons and their riders. The Weyrwoman is also a diplomatic ambassador, responsible for relations to other Weyrs, Holds and the Crafthalls. Most of her duties are administrative, delegating responsibilities to her Headwoman or junior goldriders.

- The military side of the Weyr is headed by the Weyrleader. Weyrleadership is determined by the mating flights of the senior queen. The rider of whichever bronze or brown catches her becomes the Weyrleader. The Weyrleader is in charge of making sure that the fighting wings are up to strength, and well trained. The turnover of Weyrleadership varies greatly.

Holds

The Holds of Pern are where the majority of people on Pern live. Holds are literally castles, just not quite like the castles from the Middle Ages. There are three sizes of Hold: Major, Minor, and Cothold. Major Holds are ruled by a Lord and Lady Holder, and their family. The remainder of the residents are staff and workers who run the hold, and professional crafters; all told, they usually number around one thousand. Major Holds tithe a portion of their produce to the nearest Weyr in return for protection from Thread.

Minor Holds are always beholden to a Major Hold, and tithe to them in return for protection from Thread and other dangers. They are run by a person who bears the title of Holder, and are home to smaller numbers of people than Major Holds.

Cotholds are small, family-run holds, and usually all those who live there are family or close friends.

Crime/Punishment

- Each hold is responsible for the discipline of its wrongdoers. Most times the Lord Holder will make the wrongdoer pay restitution and service to the wronged party. The next level of punishment is incarceration. Death penalty can also be used in response to heinous crimes.

- One of the greatest punishments is to be named holdless. This is where a person is stripped of all rank and status and thrown out of the hold. The most severe punishment of all is exile, usually to the island archipelago known as the Eastern Ring Islands. This punishment is usually followed by a Shunning, which, in effect, causes the Shunned to be ignored completely by all humans. The Shunned are marked on their foreheads with an indelible dye for identification.

- People who do not live in an established hold — either by choice, or due to punishment — make up the Holdless. They have no guaranteed protection, and the life of a Holdless is often dangerous. They tend to disdain Hold life, choosing instead to live on the road, traveling from place to place. They tend to live in tightly knit family groups and are fiercely loyal to their group and way of life. They are generally extremely distrustful of outsiders and do not often take in strangers, especially ex-holders, without some proof of trust.

Crafthalls

-The Crafthalls are the home to craftsmen; those Pernese skilled in a particular industry. The Crafts of Pern are: Harper, Smith, Healer, Miner, Weaver, Farmer, Fisher, Tanner, Baker, Vintner, and Herder. The Crafthalls train the crafters and send them out all over Pern to provide their skills to even the remotest Hold. Note that it is not necessary for someone to be (for example) a trained farmcrafter in order to grow food; holders have a wide variety of skills, but it is the crafters who are the experts.

- The crafts all use the same hierarchy. Everyone in each craft begins as an apprentice (12-14) then becomes a journeyman (18-30) with a great deal of hard work and dedication, attainment to the status of Master (30+) is possible. Not everyone makes it to Master, and some leave before even the rank of Journeyman is reached.


And there you have it! A full guide to Pern!

Many thanks to these places for the sources:

This Pern Wiki
This OTHER Pern Wiki

Other points of interest

Healer Manual
Sayings/Lingo
Flora