Post by Anna on Aug 14, 2008 19:53:02 GMT -5
Pern is the third planet of the Rukbat System in the Sagittarius Sector. It was a Terran colony world that lost contact with Mother Earth due to periodic attacks from an organism which devours all organic material it comes into contact with. The colonists called the organisms "Thread," because they resemble shining silver threads as they fall from the skies. To counter Thread, the Pernese (back when they still had the skills) modified an indigenous life form to create "dragons" (so named for the mythical beasts they resembled). It's been over 3000 years since those beginnings, and things have changed a bit.
Welcome to 10th Pass fannish Pern. We are a variation of Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" universe. We exist in the 10th Pass of the Red Star (the Pass after the one in the books), mainly to give Ms. McCaffrey plenty of room to write more books and to avoid our stepping on her characters' toes, so to speak. You'll notice some differences between our Pern and Anne's Pern.
The most noticeable difference, of course, is that there is a 10th Pass. In Anne's version of Pern, the 9th Pass was the last one.
In our fannish universe, AIVAS, the intelligent computer left by the Ancients, was found, but sadly, exposure to the elements and time destroyed the delicate circuitry and AIVAS was unable to tell the Pernese how to destroy Thread. So the Pernese of the 9th Pass were left with an intriguing mystery and 200 turns after the end of the 9th Pass, another Pass, the 10th, began.
The advances in technology made due to AIVAS, of course, never happened. And, since the 9th Pass itself continued without the relief provided by AIVAS, many of the technological advances conceived by the Pernese themselves were abandoned in the greater demand for simple survival. You'll notice that our Pern is just a bit more primitive, in many ways, as a result.
We do follow a few rules concerning Anne and her books. She has asked that we not use her characters except in a historical sense. For instance, while "The Ballad of Lessa's Ride" and "The Battle of the Two Queens" are sung at every spring gather, the characters of Lessa, F'lar, Robinton, etc., will not be making any appearances in StarRise publications. That means, of course, using Anne's characters for your stories or personal history is not allowed. She has also asked us to leave Benden Weyr and Ruatha Hold to her, so we strongly discourage people from claiming Benden or Ruathan heritage. Also, per Anne's request, Ruth was the only white dragon.
Women have become liberated on Pern. Some of the changes that have occurred during the Interval include: females Impressing fighting dragons (though not bronzes), and an increased acceptance of females in the crafthalls (including journeymen and masters).
Unfortunately, F'lar's dream of DragonHolds did not work out. The Weyrs established the holds in Southern lands, but soon discovered that even during an Interval, training for their primary task left little time to develop holder skills (not that many riders were inclined to become "dirt-grubbing farmers"). And, with the coming of the 10th Pass, all the dragonriders soon returned to the Weyrs.
While holds established by dragonriders didn't work out, holdless men from the Northern Continent as well as the many younger blooded sons and daughters settled all over the Southern Continent, which proved to be a more extensive land mass than its Northern counterpart. It took a brave person to be willing to settle in lands where there wasn't a rock formation in sight. Due to Southern's climate, the holds and halls are more likely to be made of adobe walls with tiled roofs, as well as native stone and local-made brick. This still tends to make Northerners nervous. As the South became inhabited, many of the islands off the Southern coast were explored, as well as the islands along the Eastern Ring.
Toward the end of 9th Pass, contact was also re-established with forgotten group of Weyrs located on the Far Eastern Continent. The reason for "losing" the Weyrs in the first place was due a natural phenomenon that prevents dragons from going Between from any point on Pern to any point on Far Eastern. The Far Easterners call this phenomenon the "Windwall" partly due to its howling maelstrom appearance. This is significant to StarRise because the Windwall appears to the east of the Eastern Ring Islands. Riders from StarRise will see this phenomenon many times during their lives.
Although some of F'lar's hopes for the future did not come about, the Weyrleaders made sure they did not forget their original purpose nor allowed the holders and crafters to forget either. When the Red Star drew close again (as the starsmiths predicted it would), the queens started rising more frequently and producing larger clutches. The Southerners grew concerned that they would be unprotected during the upcoming Pass. While the land was thoroughly grubbed, it takes time for the fields to be fully protected and there was so much room on Southern that grubs couldn't reproduce fast enough to cover the newly cultivated fields. Also, as the holders more than once stated (rather loudly), no one wanted to be grateful to a grub! Plans were made to expand the already existing areas of dragon concentration and to build new Weyrs to ensure Southern would not turn into the barren land of the Ballads. There are now several Weyrs on the Southern Continent: Janus, directly to the south of the Eastern Ring, Sable, Southern, Crescent, and Haven. The islands along the Eastern Ring also got a new Weyr: StarRise.
Welcome to 10th Pass fannish Pern. We are a variation of Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" universe. We exist in the 10th Pass of the Red Star (the Pass after the one in the books), mainly to give Ms. McCaffrey plenty of room to write more books and to avoid our stepping on her characters' toes, so to speak. You'll notice some differences between our Pern and Anne's Pern.
The most noticeable difference, of course, is that there is a 10th Pass. In Anne's version of Pern, the 9th Pass was the last one.
In our fannish universe, AIVAS, the intelligent computer left by the Ancients, was found, but sadly, exposure to the elements and time destroyed the delicate circuitry and AIVAS was unable to tell the Pernese how to destroy Thread. So the Pernese of the 9th Pass were left with an intriguing mystery and 200 turns after the end of the 9th Pass, another Pass, the 10th, began.
The advances in technology made due to AIVAS, of course, never happened. And, since the 9th Pass itself continued without the relief provided by AIVAS, many of the technological advances conceived by the Pernese themselves were abandoned in the greater demand for simple survival. You'll notice that our Pern is just a bit more primitive, in many ways, as a result.
We do follow a few rules concerning Anne and her books. She has asked that we not use her characters except in a historical sense. For instance, while "The Ballad of Lessa's Ride" and "The Battle of the Two Queens" are sung at every spring gather, the characters of Lessa, F'lar, Robinton, etc., will not be making any appearances in StarRise publications. That means, of course, using Anne's characters for your stories or personal history is not allowed. She has also asked us to leave Benden Weyr and Ruatha Hold to her, so we strongly discourage people from claiming Benden or Ruathan heritage. Also, per Anne's request, Ruth was the only white dragon.
Women have become liberated on Pern. Some of the changes that have occurred during the Interval include: females Impressing fighting dragons (though not bronzes), and an increased acceptance of females in the crafthalls (including journeymen and masters).
Unfortunately, F'lar's dream of DragonHolds did not work out. The Weyrs established the holds in Southern lands, but soon discovered that even during an Interval, training for their primary task left little time to develop holder skills (not that many riders were inclined to become "dirt-grubbing farmers"). And, with the coming of the 10th Pass, all the dragonriders soon returned to the Weyrs.
While holds established by dragonriders didn't work out, holdless men from the Northern Continent as well as the many younger blooded sons and daughters settled all over the Southern Continent, which proved to be a more extensive land mass than its Northern counterpart. It took a brave person to be willing to settle in lands where there wasn't a rock formation in sight. Due to Southern's climate, the holds and halls are more likely to be made of adobe walls with tiled roofs, as well as native stone and local-made brick. This still tends to make Northerners nervous. As the South became inhabited, many of the islands off the Southern coast were explored, as well as the islands along the Eastern Ring.
Toward the end of 9th Pass, contact was also re-established with forgotten group of Weyrs located on the Far Eastern Continent. The reason for "losing" the Weyrs in the first place was due a natural phenomenon that prevents dragons from going Between from any point on Pern to any point on Far Eastern. The Far Easterners call this phenomenon the "Windwall" partly due to its howling maelstrom appearance. This is significant to StarRise because the Windwall appears to the east of the Eastern Ring Islands. Riders from StarRise will see this phenomenon many times during their lives.
Although some of F'lar's hopes for the future did not come about, the Weyrleaders made sure they did not forget their original purpose nor allowed the holders and crafters to forget either. When the Red Star drew close again (as the starsmiths predicted it would), the queens started rising more frequently and producing larger clutches. The Southerners grew concerned that they would be unprotected during the upcoming Pass. While the land was thoroughly grubbed, it takes time for the fields to be fully protected and there was so much room on Southern that grubs couldn't reproduce fast enough to cover the newly cultivated fields. Also, as the holders more than once stated (rather loudly), no one wanted to be grateful to a grub! Plans were made to expand the already existing areas of dragon concentration and to build new Weyrs to ensure Southern would not turn into the barren land of the Ballads. There are now several Weyrs on the Southern Continent: Janus, directly to the south of the Eastern Ring, Sable, Southern, Crescent, and Haven. The islands along the Eastern Ring also got a new Weyr: StarRise.
