Divided we stand...
We're glad you've come
We welcome you
With heart and voice
And hope you'll never leave.
A Weyr thrice divided -- a murderer in their midst -- wary Holdfolk roaming the Lower Caverns, growing more anxious with every step. This is Damis Weyr.
In a Pern where the population was decimated by plague, to the point where every dragon, every rider, and every holder fit into one tiny Weyr, it's the general feeling that everyone had seen more than enough death and too many families had been destroyed. Then a goldrider named Damis decided to take them all away from terrible memories and nightmares, and a Weyr was founded in the Southern continent of Pern. It housed the remaining population -- except the Traders, who refused to give up on their nomadic ways -- and the people were, for the first time in several months, happy as they worked on perfecting their new home. All of Pern gathered loyally around Damis.
But at the Turn's End gather -- held in the middle of the Weyrbowl -- a dragon rose from her weyr and cried a dragon's saddest song, and blinked between as the Gatherers stared in horror. Damis was dead.
No one believed that the death was natural -- they left the plague well behind them and the Weyrwoman hadn't displayed any signs of sickness, and nor was she old enough to drop dead of her own accord. Not on a night when everyone's attention was directed elsewhere. It was too perfect an opportunity for murder, and murder is what had occurred. But the three prime suspects, the three remaining goldriders, were tried and tested and all denied it. No evidence could be found, and the charges were quickly dropped.
All around them, though, the Weyr was falling apart. The Holders greatly distrusted the Weyrfolk; they feared they would be targetted next, and demanded a place be found to house only them. The Weyr disintegrated into Northern factions, with each person choosing a Goldrider to stand behind as they all searched for a new Weyrwoman. It was decided that the next Gold to rise would grace her 'rider with the position, but that caused problems too. Murderers are seen in everyone, and more than one fight has broken out over who really deserves the title.
Now they wait in anticipation... and dread... while the goldriders attempt to maintain order. Though it's not as easy as it may seem, because the position of Weyrwoman is still up for grabs and they all want a slice of power for themselves.