Canon History of Pern:
This introduction is partially copyright Anne McCaffrey, but has been edited heavily by the users for further comprehension, though we take no credit for it. However, though we take no credit, we do expect people to ask permission before they take these words, which have been very dutifully typed. People who don't will be persecuted fully. (Also note: You do not have to read this to join Yung. However, it is recommended that you do.)
Rukbat, in the Sagittarian sector, was a golden G-type star. It had five planets, two asteroid belts, and a stray planet it had attracted and held in recent millenia. However, its third planet was the unique jewel of the collection; it possessed air that man could breathe, a gravity in which man could walk, confidently erect in posture, and two main continents, which were soon to be named, redundantly enough, the Northern Continent and the Southern Continent. The Northern Continent was a rocky place, cold and snowy in the most North at the wintertimes, and heated within the indolent summer days. On the other hand, the Southern Continent's weather projected lethargic indolence, and positively encouraged such an atmosphere, being opulent and luxuriant with ripe, edible fruit; a colonist's heaven. A content little system halfway across the galaxy, away from the populous planet known as Earth, it would have remained so, had not the Nathi War-- a war between humans and emotionless aliens-- taken place. The veterans of the war grew reticent in the aftermath, and most elected to become colonists upon a new planet, along with other non-veterans of the Nathi War; naturally, as a planet of unmarred natural beauty, Pern was selected by the would-be colonists. When men first settled on Rukbat's third planet and called it Pern, they had taken little notice of the stranger planet, swinging around its adopted primary in a wildly erratic orbit-- until the desperate path of the wanderer brought it close to its stepsister at perihelion.
When such aspects were harmonious, and not distorted by conjunctions with other planets in the system, the wanderer of crimson hue brought in a deadly life form that sought to bridge the space gap to the more temperate and hospitable planet called Pern, where the former Earthborn had now settled.
The initial losses the colonists suffered from the voracious mycorrhizoid organism that fell upon them, led by the erratic planet called the Red Star, were staggering in statistics. They had divorced themselves from their home planet, Earth, and had already cannibalized the colony's ships, which had brought them to the seemingly welcoming planet of Pern, the Yokohama, the Bahrain, and the Buenos Aires, so they would have to improvise with what they had. Their first need was an aerial defense against the 'Thread', as they named this menace, for it rained down from the skies of Pern in grotesque silver streamers that indeed resembled thread. Using highly sophisticated bioengineering techniques, they developed a specialized variant of a Pernese lifeform which had two unusual, and useful, characteristics: the so-called firelizards could digest a phosphine-bearing rock (later to be known simply as 'firestone') in one of their two stomachs and, belching forth the resultant gas, create a fiery breath which reduced Thread to harmless char; and they were able both to teleport and share an empathy with certain people (such as those who fed them immediately after birth, "Impressing" them) that allowed limited understanding with humans. The bioengineered "dragons"-- so called because they resembled the Earth's version of the formerly mythical creatures-- were paired at Hatching with an empathetic human, forming a symbiotic relationship of unusual depth and mutual respect. These highly evolved dragons retained their firelizardly empathy, but the metasynth (a chemical used to make creatures more empathetic) heightened these powers of empathy and also their intelligence so that they were able to form coherent, intelligent thoughts, though they were still not as intelligent as humans.
The colonists moved to the Northern Continent to seek shelter from the insidious Thread in the cave systems, new homes that they called "Holds". The dragons and their newly made riders came, too, housing themselves in old volcanic craters which they named Weyrs. Each new Hold sought protection under the Weyrs, and in return, tithed them food so that the dragonriders could focus on their main concern; to protect the Holds and their crops. The first Pass of Thread lasted nearly fifty years, and what scientific information the colonists were able to gather indicated that Thread would be a cyclic problem, occuring every 250 years as the path of the wanderer once again approached Pern.
During each Interval, the dragons multiplied and each successive generation became a little larger than the last, although optimum level would take many, many more generations to reach. And the humans spread out across the Northern Continent, creating new Holds to live in, and halls in which to train young people in skills and professions. Sometimes, life was so pleasant that folks even forgot that they lived on a threatened planet. However, in both Holds and Weyrs, there were masses of reports. journals, maps and charts to remind the Lord Holders (which was the name of the position of leadership over a certain Hold) and Weyrleaders of the problem; and muuch advice to assist their descendents when next the rogue planet approached Pern and how to prepare for the incursion. And so Pern progressed.. losing the last Records of their Earthborn origin as they became truly Pernese.
Alternate History of Pern:
(And Pern will never be the same.)
Summary: (Recommended for the lazy, although not for the advanced.)
Timeline - dated from Yung's foundation. Earth-names used for months as OOC reference only.
Turn -3, June 29th - Ista conquers Benden.
Turn -2, April 3rd - Ista conquers Igen.
Turn -2, July 25th - Ista conquers Fort.
Turn -2, September 10th - Ista conquers Telgar.
Turn -2, October 9th - Ista conquers High Reaches.
Turn -1, July 17th - Saresa first promises official rebellion plans.
Turn -1, August 23rd - Dragonriders assemble in mountain range near Southern Boll Hold. Saresa proposes that they go South.
Turn -1, August 23rd - Construction begins on Yung Weyr.
Turn 0, September 5th - Yung Weyr's construction is complete.
Turn 3, January 18th - Liliencamp and Nietro move out into their own separate Holds. They are now obliged to tithe.
Turn 5, March 21th - Rhysarith's first flight occurs. Caught by bronze Zeyth.
Turn 5, July 2nd - Rhysarith produces her first clutch.
Turn 5, November 22nd - Crafters move out to their separate Crafthalls, although all of them are crowded together in order to conserve materials.
Turn 6, February 1st - Liliencamp officially declares war on Nietro. Paid by the Liliencamp Lady, a few Yung riders discreetly set fire to a few fields in Nietro's domain in return for appropriate tithes.
Turn 6, June 14th - Nietro surrenders to Liliencamp and becomes a minor holding in Nietro.
Turn 6, November 14th - Rhysarith's first clutch graduates and becomes senior Weyrlings.
Turn 6, December 16th - Thread starts to fall, much to everyone's surprise. Dragonriders scramble to train properly; wings are rearranged to denote this.
Turn 7, November 2nd - Rhysarith's first clutch graduates and becomes full riders.
Turn 7, December 19th - Rhysarith's second flight occurs. Caught by bronze Mezarth.
Turn 7, February 27th - Rhysarith produces her second clutch.
Turn 7, May 12th - Rhysarith's second clutch hatches and Impresses. One dragonet
betweens.
Turn 8, May 29th - Rhysarith's second clutch graduates to Senior Weyrlings.
Turn 8, August 5th - The Istans discovers Yung on the Southern Continent.
Turn 8, September 28th - Kinotath's first flight occurs. Caught by bronze Ruonath.
Towards the end of the Second Pass, two girls fell in love with the same boy. They drifted apart during their Candidacy at High Reaches. One Impressed a queen; the other later force-Impressed a blue. The shock of the latter's actions - and the possibilities thereof - rocked Pern. The Weyrs grew divided over their attitudes towards it, divisions that worsened when the same queen Weyrling later ascended to Weyrwomanship and the first female bluerider transferred to Fort and attained Weyrsecondship in short order. Disagreements and ill feeling raged high as the newly-made Weyrsecond used her position to divide High Reaches and Fort.
The Weyrs began to drift apart. Tensions struck an ultimate high as the time for Thread to fall again came and went. Unaware of the existence of Long Intervals, many declared that Thread would never fall again and adjusted their lives accordingly. Others were furious at their Holds' refusal to tithe, and their reactions further distanced the Weyrs. Each continued to stew in their beliefs until beliefs became prejudices, and prejudices gathered into something paralleling the nationalism of Earth.
Then, nearly four hundred and fifty Turns after the last Threadfall, an overbloated Ista (whose clutches had maintained a steady thirty to forty eggs average, with several queens too many) begged High Reaches and Benden to allow transfers. Viewed as looking for excuses to plant spies, they were refused. Deciding to force the issue, they sent a contigent of riders to Benden, whose clutches had fallen to a population of barely a hundred, and who thus had plenty of room to spare. The Istan riders sent, being mostly young and inexperienced, went with flamethrowers. Misunderstandings ensued, and all Benden riders were killed. The riders from Ista nearly went mad from overexposure to dragon deaths.
Istan leadership, however, approved of the overall result. They sent a more organized group to Igen, who offered a choice of death or surrender to the Istans. An overwhelming majority swore allegiance rather than die. Thus, their conquest continued, spreading to Fort, Telgar, and the High Reaches. But though the brief holocaust was over, the revolution was only beginning...
Saresa, a back-stabbing gold Weyrling, was the first of the High Reaches to ally herself with the Istans. What did she care for dragonman?s honor when it was her lifemate at stake? And why did they think she?d be foolish enough to waste the rest of her life in a little Weyr where she would always be belittled for her birth?
And revenge - revenge, too, was a prominent factor in her mind.
Over a Turn, she gathered supporters until, at last, actions were be proposed.. or else. And what she proposed was this: without riders enough to attack Ista head-on, they would retreat to the Southern Continent, to breed and grow until their ranks are great enough to conquer Ista in turn. Her followers reluctantly agreed. Aided by the information from a very reluctant Fort rider, they fled several Turns into the past to build their Weyr, and to grow.
** (Events roleplayed recorded after this point.)
Turns after Yung's foundation, Saresa's queen does not fly to mate, and the rumors begin that she's sterile. This has never happened before, but then, a gold has never not risen when it's her time. The rumors of sterility dissipate when Rhysarith does take to the skies - but they are replaced by other sinuous whispers; Saresa had kept her dragon from flying, Saresa has deliberately chosen the Istan K'den...
The clutch, though sizeable, is not large enough to staunch their words, only return them, mumbling, to their corners. The dragonriders, taking no chances, take Candidates from everywhere - by force, if necessary, to fulfill the quota that Saresa has set them. Liliencamp claims that it has been put upon more than the smaller Nietro, but then, they have problems of their own; the Lord Holder of Liliencamp has newly disowned his son, who has fled to Nietro in stark fear that his father is about to have him killed in order to ensure that the succession is not left in doubt. For accepting a refugee they were not intended to take, Liliencamp declares war on Nietro... and both look to the Weyr for the assistance they require.
Meanwhile, the clutch reveals an anomaly not known of since the days of Faranth: two queen eggs. All of the dragonets, fortunately, Impress, and the Weyrling days pass as tranquilly as can be possible for such a mixed bunch. But with the integration of two new goldriders into the population, the Weyr is beginning to seethe again with discontent. Each of the queenriders come from different Weyrs, and allegiances are assembling that brings Yung to the brink of war... with itself.
In a stunning turn, the Long Interval ends at last, and Thread begins to fall. The last of the Holds' conflict dissolves just in time for the Weyr to recover from its startlement. Sending riders back to fight the 'Fall, it hastily reassembles Weyrs into fighting formations and begins to drill mercilessly. Fortunately, there are no overt casualties. When Rhysarith rises for her second flight, she is caught by bronze Mezarth, whose rider comes with a peculiar and mysterious history. But this is not at the forefront of anyone's mind as the Istans discover Yung, and arrive with the information that, for the second time in a row, the Yung Weyrleader is Istan-born. A trial is scheduled at Turn's End for S'mar, with a jury selected randomly out of a population that currently doesn't like him much...
Proving that Rhysarith's line is nowhere near as infertile as the Weyrfolk once suspected, her daughter, Kinotath, rises in her second Turn, though a clutch has yet to be produced. At least her choice isn't Istan.
