Post by Your Humble Narrator on Mar 15, 2010 11:24:21 GMT -5
Site Name: High Reaches Weyr: Fifth Pass
URL: s1.zetaboards.com/hrweyr/site/
Info: Originally started on another forum, the admin for the game went MIA. The players enjoyed the game so much that we elected to continue play on a new forum!
The Fourth Interval came to a close, and all of Pern rejoiced to greet the end of thread for the next 200 Turns.
And then those 200 Turns passed, and something... happened. Gathered on the Star Stones of Fort Weyr, the Weyrleaders of Pern met at dawn and awaited the event that would signify the coming of the Fifth Pass - Rukbat balanced on the Finger Rock, the Red Star bracketed by the Eye Rock. Some had commented that it was odd that the Red Star had not yet been sighted in the morning sky, and others noted that the other heralds of a Pass - the earthquakes, the tidal changes - had also been mysteriously absent, but the Weyrleaders were confident that the Star Stones would ultimately decide things.
They were utterly deflated when dawn came and went and nothing was signified.
For the first decade, Pern remained ready for the thread they were sure was coming any day now. The number of dragons continued to dwindle, yes, and there was never any glimmer of red at dawn, but people were absolutely sure the Pass was coming soon. The dragonriders maintained themselves as a presence among the Pernese, and everything was still poised for combat. By the end of what would have been the Fifth Pass - 50 Turns after thread should have fallen - the Holders were ready to be rid of the dragonriders entirely. They were tired of tithing to useless Weyrs; naturally, the Weyrs began to crumble without support.
Gradually, the Weyrs began to distance themselves from the rest of Pern, and the rest of Pern didn't miss them. While the dragonriders became less and less a presence, the holders and crafters began first to enjoy their new freedom, and then to squander it. Farmholds expanded well outside the charter, and the major Holds slowly started sinking in usefulness and safety. What were once urban centers became hotbeds of disease and laziness as famine and plague swept through the Pernese, taking advantage of the new complacency among holders and crafters. The more remote a farmhold or cothold was, the safer it was to be there; centers of large populations became dangerous.
The Weyrs were hardly immune. As life in the Holds and Halls became less and less pleasant, so life in the Weyrs began to sink. With no more tithes, riders were forced to barter for food, trading transportation and labor for supplies. Those Weyrs who were too proud to do business were the first to suffer: Fort and Benden insisting that dragonriders were not meant for menial labor, trying to force their Holds to tithe. By the 300th Turn of the Interval, both Fort and Benden had seen their last queen die; by the 310th Turn, they would be abandoned and the handful of aging riders who lived there would transfer or suicide. Telgar, cold and barren, and Igen, desolate and empty, would soon follow suit.
The exact date that the Plague really began to sweep through the Holds and Halls is unknown, even at Harper Hall. Illness and disease had been rampant in the major Holds for so long that no one could really pinpoint when it became a single, isolated illness. Sometime around Turn 350, however, people began dying first by the hundreds, then by the thousands. A respiratory illness claimed the young and the old initially, but then began killing even those in the prime of their lives. Refugees from outlying holds began to look to the major Holds and Halls for help and relief, but there was none. The remaining Weyrs tried to keep to themselves to avoid infection, but Ista found this almost impossible, being on an island, sharing a beach with people who could all but walk into the Weyr.
High Reaches Weyr fared better, blockading themselves, isolating themselves from illness. So it was that the Reaches remained the only Weyr on the face of Pern by the beginning of the 400th Turn.
For approximately 50 Turns, High Reaches kept to itself. They riders occasionally ventured out into the world, offering their services as transportation to those who could afford it, trying to earn a little extra money, but - for the most part - the Weyr was a forgotten entity as the rest of Pern recovered from the devastation of the Plague. The Weyr was down to a single queen: Modosth Impressed to Renva in Turn 408, and her dam died two Turns later. Renva herself was not a bad Weyrwoman, but she was nervous and uncertain of herself, not the strong leader the Weyr would need for what was to come.
It was near Turn 448 when people began to comment about an aberrant star in the morning sky, reddish and ominous. Surely, people thought to themselves, that's not the Red Star. Thread is long gone! Convinced of their safety, with no outreach from the dragonriders, the holders were in for quite a shock when thread did fall again, late in the winter of what would be known as Turn 1 of the Fifth Pass.
Acres were eaten by the thousands. Once arable farmland was gone in an instant as thread fell unfought over the Fortian region. Terrified, Lord Fort sought Gr'vis, the Weyrleader of High Reaches, within hours of the devastating 'fall. Panic swept across Pern once more, and the dragonriders - most of whom were far from prepared for fighting - were rushed into action just short of three days later when the second 'fall began. The deathtoll was astounding, with more than 30 riders and dragons dying, including Gr'vis, leaving some 247 dragons to defend all of Pern.
With Gr'vis dead, Renva spiraled into terror. Modosth guarded a clutch of 25 on the sands, but Renva couldn't handle the stress of being without her Weyrleader, of being the last hope for Pern. Two days after Gr'vis's death, Renva ended her own life. Her queen clung to life long enough to see her eggs Hatch while T'bay, a man few liked, stepped into the role of Acting Weyrleader, filling a power vacuum.
Early in the morning of the second month, the eggs finally broke shell, and High Reaches had a new Weyrwoman - such as it was. Alenyi Impressed to gold Osyeth, promising the future of the dragonkind - provided the remaining riders could survive the Pass long enough.
With only one Weyr left, the riders were seeing 'fall every two or three days, and there were only 247 of them at the start of the Pass. Although they fought only over areas covered in the Charter, leaving the new farms to be eaten by thread, they still saw more action than they should have, especially with as little training as they had. There was no breeding queen to replenish their numbers, which meant they were steadily dwindling. By the end of the first six months, the deathtoll per threadfall had diminished to only one rider every two or three 'falls, but it still meant there were fewer than 200 mature dragons by the time Osyeth reached her second Turn - when everyone could expect her to mate. Even the newest weyrlings, the 24 dragons from Modosth's last Clutch, were expected to start fighting when they were no more than a Turn old.
No one got a free pass these days.
URL: s1.zetaboards.com/hrweyr/site/
Info: Originally started on another forum, the admin for the game went MIA. The players enjoyed the game so much that we elected to continue play on a new forum!
The Fourth Interval came to a close, and all of Pern rejoiced to greet the end of thread for the next 200 Turns.
And then those 200 Turns passed, and something... happened. Gathered on the Star Stones of Fort Weyr, the Weyrleaders of Pern met at dawn and awaited the event that would signify the coming of the Fifth Pass - Rukbat balanced on the Finger Rock, the Red Star bracketed by the Eye Rock. Some had commented that it was odd that the Red Star had not yet been sighted in the morning sky, and others noted that the other heralds of a Pass - the earthquakes, the tidal changes - had also been mysteriously absent, but the Weyrleaders were confident that the Star Stones would ultimately decide things.
They were utterly deflated when dawn came and went and nothing was signified.
For the first decade, Pern remained ready for the thread they were sure was coming any day now. The number of dragons continued to dwindle, yes, and there was never any glimmer of red at dawn, but people were absolutely sure the Pass was coming soon. The dragonriders maintained themselves as a presence among the Pernese, and everything was still poised for combat. By the end of what would have been the Fifth Pass - 50 Turns after thread should have fallen - the Holders were ready to be rid of the dragonriders entirely. They were tired of tithing to useless Weyrs; naturally, the Weyrs began to crumble without support.
Gradually, the Weyrs began to distance themselves from the rest of Pern, and the rest of Pern didn't miss them. While the dragonriders became less and less a presence, the holders and crafters began first to enjoy their new freedom, and then to squander it. Farmholds expanded well outside the charter, and the major Holds slowly started sinking in usefulness and safety. What were once urban centers became hotbeds of disease and laziness as famine and plague swept through the Pernese, taking advantage of the new complacency among holders and crafters. The more remote a farmhold or cothold was, the safer it was to be there; centers of large populations became dangerous.
The Weyrs were hardly immune. As life in the Holds and Halls became less and less pleasant, so life in the Weyrs began to sink. With no more tithes, riders were forced to barter for food, trading transportation and labor for supplies. Those Weyrs who were too proud to do business were the first to suffer: Fort and Benden insisting that dragonriders were not meant for menial labor, trying to force their Holds to tithe. By the 300th Turn of the Interval, both Fort and Benden had seen their last queen die; by the 310th Turn, they would be abandoned and the handful of aging riders who lived there would transfer or suicide. Telgar, cold and barren, and Igen, desolate and empty, would soon follow suit.
The exact date that the Plague really began to sweep through the Holds and Halls is unknown, even at Harper Hall. Illness and disease had been rampant in the major Holds for so long that no one could really pinpoint when it became a single, isolated illness. Sometime around Turn 350, however, people began dying first by the hundreds, then by the thousands. A respiratory illness claimed the young and the old initially, but then began killing even those in the prime of their lives. Refugees from outlying holds began to look to the major Holds and Halls for help and relief, but there was none. The remaining Weyrs tried to keep to themselves to avoid infection, but Ista found this almost impossible, being on an island, sharing a beach with people who could all but walk into the Weyr.
High Reaches Weyr fared better, blockading themselves, isolating themselves from illness. So it was that the Reaches remained the only Weyr on the face of Pern by the beginning of the 400th Turn.
For approximately 50 Turns, High Reaches kept to itself. They riders occasionally ventured out into the world, offering their services as transportation to those who could afford it, trying to earn a little extra money, but - for the most part - the Weyr was a forgotten entity as the rest of Pern recovered from the devastation of the Plague. The Weyr was down to a single queen: Modosth Impressed to Renva in Turn 408, and her dam died two Turns later. Renva herself was not a bad Weyrwoman, but she was nervous and uncertain of herself, not the strong leader the Weyr would need for what was to come.
It was near Turn 448 when people began to comment about an aberrant star in the morning sky, reddish and ominous. Surely, people thought to themselves, that's not the Red Star. Thread is long gone! Convinced of their safety, with no outreach from the dragonriders, the holders were in for quite a shock when thread did fall again, late in the winter of what would be known as Turn 1 of the Fifth Pass.
Acres were eaten by the thousands. Once arable farmland was gone in an instant as thread fell unfought over the Fortian region. Terrified, Lord Fort sought Gr'vis, the Weyrleader of High Reaches, within hours of the devastating 'fall. Panic swept across Pern once more, and the dragonriders - most of whom were far from prepared for fighting - were rushed into action just short of three days later when the second 'fall began. The deathtoll was astounding, with more than 30 riders and dragons dying, including Gr'vis, leaving some 247 dragons to defend all of Pern.
With Gr'vis dead, Renva spiraled into terror. Modosth guarded a clutch of 25 on the sands, but Renva couldn't handle the stress of being without her Weyrleader, of being the last hope for Pern. Two days after Gr'vis's death, Renva ended her own life. Her queen clung to life long enough to see her eggs Hatch while T'bay, a man few liked, stepped into the role of Acting Weyrleader, filling a power vacuum.
Early in the morning of the second month, the eggs finally broke shell, and High Reaches had a new Weyrwoman - such as it was. Alenyi Impressed to gold Osyeth, promising the future of the dragonkind - provided the remaining riders could survive the Pass long enough.
With only one Weyr left, the riders were seeing 'fall every two or three days, and there were only 247 of them at the start of the Pass. Although they fought only over areas covered in the Charter, leaving the new farms to be eaten by thread, they still saw more action than they should have, especially with as little training as they had. There was no breeding queen to replenish their numbers, which meant they were steadily dwindling. By the end of the first six months, the deathtoll per threadfall had diminished to only one rider every two or three 'falls, but it still meant there were fewer than 200 mature dragons by the time Osyeth reached her second Turn - when everyone could expect her to mate. Even the newest weyrlings, the 24 dragons from Modosth's last Clutch, were expected to start fighting when they were no more than a Turn old.
No one got a free pass these days.