First Issue: Main Theme

[Anna]

Logically enough, the central theme of the first issue will be the return to StarRise.

Lower Caverns staff returned to StarRise around 33.01.01 in order to get things ready for the riders. While there is staff enough to see to the necessities, they are still massively understrength.

Dragonriders begin arriving back on 33.03.01.

Weyrleader is D'ven, and the old StarRise riders from Before will remember him.

Acting Weyrwoman is Taveera. Only the real oldtimer riders of StarRise will remember her - she Impressed at StarRise on 17.02.01, but transferred away before turn 21.

Goldriders Melina and Alissi are returning.

Aerden returns as the Weyrhealer.


If you have any questions, ask away! And remember, you don't have to use this event in your story. The 'main theme' idea is just to give you something of an idea of what the society may be buzzing about most during this time period.

[erin]

Do we have any ideas on deadlines or the target publication date for this 'zine yet?

I'd be willing to TRY drawing something. I say TRY because I think the last time I really drew anything was probably last time I had a 'zine to draw for. I'm really rusty.

[Anna]

Erin,

It looks like (pending final confirmation) that first draft deadlines will be due around Feb. 1st, final draft on Feb. 20th, and zine publication by March 1st. We'll begin accepting submissions as early as October, however.

It's still in discussion, but this is what we're leaning towards. It avoids the seasonal conflicts of Christmas and summer vacations. Since we'll be doing two issues a year, this also gives us six months from 'start' date to first publish date.

[erin]

February! *wails* By then I'll have written like 3 'zines ahead!

[Anna]

LOL! We're not setting a page limit on the zine, Erin.

At least, not yet! But weren't you the one who said four zines a year would be too much...?

[Chantal]

Erin--LOL! My reaction was pretty much, "But do we have to wait so LONG before we can put out a zine?" *whine*

Which is why I volunteered to put out a newsletter, at least.

I have hopes that Nat will be returning as Zial and T'chock, since we did get hold of her.

[Hope]

Speaking of the first issue...it would be great to know where people are returning from. Were you in exile at Fort, High Reaches, Benden? With 5 turns apart, some people will remain fast friends, others will be near strangers.

Personally, I'd like to know who was at Fort (Taveera and St'van were,) and who was at Benden (my greenrider, V'dansk, was...and she's the character who first made me desperate to return to Pern fandom to tell her stories.)

[Anna]

Well, Reyna and Z'leena were at Sable.

Caleigh was at Ista.

And I didn't specify where D'ven had been, but I assumed it was Igen.

As for the NPCs I posted - I didn't say where they'd come from at all. If someone has a plotworthy idea involving them, I'm flexible.

[Andy]

Ok, so the weyr has been abandoned for several turns… Was Seaview hold affected, was the whole Island abandoned? If not how far did the abandonment reach? One of the few things that survived from those days was a story of a lion attack that I sent in just as the weyr crashed and it was never published in OTTB. With a little tweaking I could make it fit in nicely with the return. If the whole Island was abandoned or human use was reduced because of the gas, the wildlife would have returned and encroached onto abandoned human habitations.

Andy

[Anna]

The holds weren't abandoned, except for those immediately around the erupting volcano, or those that had too much loss of life from the tsunamis to resettle and rebuild. But there was no dragonrider presence in the Eastern Ring Islands beyond the sweep patrols for the five turns between devastation and resettlement of the Weyr.

StarRise is a long chain of islands, too, so I'm sure plenty of people survived. ::making note to do a bit of research on tsunamis tonight::

But lions...I don't think lions are island animals. Lions would most likely be found on the Southern Continent. There's not really any way they could have reached the Eastern Ring Islands.

[Uncle Bob]

Aug 11, 2008 17:15:30 GMT -5 Anna said:

But lions...I don't think lions are island animals. Lions would most likely be found on the Southern Continent. There's not really any way they could have reached the Eastern Ring Islands.

::: the sound of sneaking feets :::

a whipered word <<Sumatra>>

::: the sounds of sneaking feets moving away :::

::: distant sound of maniacal giggles :::

[Anna]

That's not a lion. That's a cigau. Cigau's happen to be very good swimmers. Lions no likey the water and avoid it if they can - even the famous swimming lions of the Okavango Delta.

From an evolutionary and migratory standpoint, just look at the map. The cigua could very well have been on the island when it was still part of the mainland, or even closer to the mainland than it is now. However, I doubt that in less than 3,000 years, Perns population of lions could built up to the numbers necessary to force them to take a swim to find new ranges. Nor were the Eastern Ring Islands connected to the Southern continent at the time the colonists landed that would allow lions an overland route to the the islands.

Additionally, the Eastern Ring Islands have been settled for less than 200 turns. Lions not being a primary - or necessary - import, it's highly unlikely that there would be any one the islands. Far less enough to have them in the wild.

So, while I may be wrong about lions being island animals, it still isn't feasible for them to be island animals on Pern if for no other reason that they had no way to get to the islands.

[Dave]

::: the sound of sneaking feets :::

a whispered word <<Guess she told you!>>

::: the sounds of sneaking feets moving away :::

::: distant sound of maniacal giggles :::

[Uncle Bob]

Aug 11, 2008 19:26:36 GMT -5 Anna said:

That's not a lion. That's a cigau. Cigau's happen to be very good swimmers. Lions no likey the water and avoid it if they can - even the famous swimming lions of the Okavango Delta.

From an evolutionary and migratory standpoint, just look at the map. The cigua could very well have been on the island when it was still part of the mainland, or even closer to the mainland than it is now. However, I doubt that in less than 3,000 years, Perns population of lions could built up to the numbers necessary to force them to take a swim to find new ranges. Nor were the Eastern Ring Islands connected to the Southern continent at the time the colonists landed that would allow lions an overland route to the the islands.

Additionally, the Eastern Ring Islands have been settled for less than 200 turns. Lions not being a primary - or necessary - import, it's highly unlikely that there would be any one the islands. Far less enough to have them in the wild.

So, while I may be wrong about lions being island animals, it still isn't feasible for them to be island animals on Pern if for no other reason that they had no way to get to the islands.

Actually I was not referring to Lions. While not a Lion, it is still in the class of Big Cats:

The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is a subspecies of tiger found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra




Points well made concerning the evolutionary progress on Pern.

Overall, what is the likelihood of Big Cats on Pern in the first place? Only reference to cats I have seen so far suggests oversized Felines used to deter tunnelsnakes. Then again, I have not read all the books.....


Dave... Dave... kissing up to Anna is so unbecoming of a man of your reputation... unless of course you plan on sucking her in for something devious later.....

[Kelli]

There ARE big cats, but I'm not sure how wild they are. Gah I wish I had my info on this with me right now, but basically there is a hold in Telgar territory that breeds really Big Cats. Ianthe has one (although I am hoping that cat has mellowed with age; last time I wrote about Ianthe and her really big cat, he assaulted a client, which I'm sure wasn't great for business).