Avangelis Weyr > Avangelis History

Thread had come and gone, and Pern found themselves with an unusually long amount of time between Passes. The Interval lasted nearly 600 turns, though why none could say. During this time Pern flourished, the Southern Continent was re-discovered and explored. The crafthalls were able to expand, and holds appeared in places that weren't practical before due to Threadfall.

It was as if everyone on Pern, including the dragonriders, had over the turns accepted the abscense of Thread and expected it to be the norm forever. The dragons themselves had stopped clutching regularly, Searchriders no longer bothered to fly on Search for Candidates.

Unfortunately for the Pernese... This peaceful lifestyle they soon grew used to wasn't meant to last.

There were signs, though not many of them were heeded. It started with the flits, always nervous creatures by nature they became even more so as the days of Thread once more approached. A few Harpers noticed, and after extensive research they found scrolls about the Red Star and Thread - as few of the Pernese knew anything about such things. Sure there were ballads of the dragonriders, and of them going off to fight Threadfall, but without Thread people soon began to believe those were just legends and stories. The two harpers, Brieane and Aien took what they had found to others, but they were dismissed. The Weyrs had broken up, with half of the dragon population having moved South to explore and enjoy the warmer climate the harpers had no where else to go, no way to warn all of Pern of a threat they felt was very real.

A few more turns passed, and Brieane and Aien had managed to convince a few dragonriders to listen to the old tales. They got through to the riders, but the group of 10 riders and two Journeymen harpers could do little to protect all of Pern. The decision was made, they must found their own Weyr.

Not wanting to take up a home in any of the older Weyrs: Fort, Benden, Igen, Ista, High Reaches, and Telgar, the group happened upon an even older Weyr; one which they'd never heard of but that was fitting for their group. After much consideration they named the Weyr Avangelis, after one of the last remaning Goldriders, Ava. It was doubtful that Ava would have learned of the Weyr with her name, but a sudden twist of events made sure that the aging woman did...

Her Gold, Eruth, rose.

Thought to be much too old to rise, the Gold's sudden bugle and call of challenge rang out over the Southern Continent and males came from all directions for the chance to catch the Queen. The flight wasn't long, but the Gold flew high and hard until she was eventually caught by a much younger Bronze named Litolth. Eruth insisted to her rider that they return to the North Continent; though she wouldn't tell her rider why. They flew straight, taking more than a few days to reach a destination that only the Gold knew. Upon landing, a group of twenty or so riders emerged, rushing out to greet the old Queen and her rider. They told her about their fears of Thread returning and begged her to stay on as their Sr. Weyrwoman. Ava listened to everything they told her, and she actually believed them. Unfortunately, she was old, her hair was already graying, and she didn't have the energy to keep up with running a Weyr, especially when that meant getting one ready for Threadfall. Ava did help them out though, for Eruth laid her eggs there at Avangelis Weyr. The Senior Queen then put out a call to all the remaining dragons of Pern.

The Red Star nears! Thread will once again fall! Any who are able to fly, come to Avangelis! We need Candidates for a clutch of 40!

The clutch had been laid, and now all they could do was wait to see if anyone would heed Eruth's call. Bronze Litolth, and his rider came, along with 8 Greens, 6 Blues, 3 Browns, and the biggest surprise of all, one of the last Golds of Pern, Roth. The Weyr now had roughly 38 riders, not including Ava. They sent out the Greens and Blues immediately to Search for Candidates, but they were met with a lot of resistance.

"Thread? That's long gone! Probably a myth! Get on! Get out of here! We won't be losing our craftsmen to your lazy dragon lot!"

"Did your Harper never teach you the ballads? Have you no sense? Go away, I don't have time to listen to this rubbish."

After two sevendays, they managed to find 20 Candidates. If they didn't find more, then half the clutch would go between. Despite the past tensions between Weyrs and renegades, the Weyrfolk of Avangelis knew they had no choice but to go to the renegades to find more Candidates. The Holds had made it clear no dragonrider was welcome there anymore, and the Crafthalls had done the same. Even the Harper halls. So three riders were sent to find the largest bands of renegades. Those who were thought of as being dangerous, thieves, or misfits. One of the riders returned the next day, injured but he brought with him a young girl named Eden. The next two took longer to return, each taking five days, but they had to make multiple trips. One of them, a Greenrider, brought back with her four strong young men, and the other, a Bluerider, brought with him two boys and three girls. They now had 30 Candidates... The Weyr would survive.

Eruth didn't live long enough to see her clutch hatch. A few days after the eggs were hard enough for the Candidates to attend a Touching, she gave a heavy sigh and Ava mounted her - the pair disappeared between forever. The mournful keens of the dragons could be heard for miles, which didn't turn out well for the Weyr. Angry Holders and Holdfolk appeared outside the Weyr, and despite the eggs being guarded, someone slipped in and smashed in five of the precious eggs. Roth was furious and without her rider she took off for the heights where the riders had been storing firestone. She then did what no other Gold had ever done; she chewed firestone and dove down over the crowd outside of the Weyr shooting a large, steady burst of flame at them. She didn't kill anyone, though that had definately been her goal. She did, however, from then on render herself barren. She would never be able to clutch. She returned to the Sands to brood over her adopted clutch. The rioters left, and the whole Weyr was nervous.

What if Eruth's clutch didn't have a Gold in it? Then how would they ever keep the dragons alive? Greens couldn't clutch, and now, neither could one of the only Golds who was young enough to survive a mating flight in all of Pern. What a foolish Gold that Roth was! She had potentially just doomed all of Pern!

Hatching day came... The 30 Candidates stood before the 35 eggs, nervous and not knowing what to expect. The whole Weyr was there to watch, each keeping their eyes on the four largest eggs, wondering what they had inside. Hoping that there was a Gold. One by one, the eggs hatched...

Two Browns
Ten Greens
Four Blues
Three Bronzes
One Gold
One White

And then...

What was this? The next 9 dragonets that hatched were unlike any the Weyr had ever seen before.

The white and green one chose Eden to be hers. She declared herself Nova Ivaieth.

The silvery one chose one of the renegade girls, Cami, to be hers. She was Argentum Yulith.

A pinkish one hatched, and started preening before she even looked at the Candidates. She cleaned the egg shells off of her and then declared herself Puniceus Leath to the Harper girl, Brieana.

A dangerous looking male was next, his hide was black with streaks of red. Helconic Xeasith Impressed to Tyreal, now T'rel.

Another female hatched, this one was fiery orange and brown colored; Ignus Sarith to Rae, another of the renegade lot.

The next male to hatch was at first mistaken to be another Gold, though his hide was much paler. He soon corrected everyone, delcaring himself Croceus Zizth, and his new bonded was S'ran.

Another black dragon hatched, though he didn't look as menacing as the first. Red slashes on his eye ridges and tail made him look similar to the Helconic, but he claimed he was Nightmare Nevith, to A'en.

Another female was hatched, and how fitting, the beautiful dragonet, with her hide of swirled pastels said she was Dream Scaith, and Impressed to a young girl named Alicia.

The last one to hatch was white and glacier blue in color, he called himself Ice Morith, to R'vin.

No one knew why the eggs had rendered such oddly colored dragonets, but no one really cared. They were healthy, they would grow to be larger than the current colors, now called the 'traditional' colors, and they would fight Thread. It was soon learned that the Nova, Argentum, and Dream were Queens. They even outranked Golds - an odd thing, as a Gold had clutched them. The Weyr was now 68 strong... Though that would never be enough.

It was not clear what happened over the next few turns. Of course the new Weyrlings went through training, learning what they needed to from scrolls the harpers found and doing their best to figure out that which hadn't been written down. All graduated to become full riders. Thread did fall, though not as much as it had back when their ancestors flew. A good thing, since they didn't have the amount of dragons needed to protect all of Pern from multiple Threadfalls. Many of the riders and dragons were injured, and quite a few Holds were destroyed. Pern was devastated, despite the dragonriders' best efforts. Many people did survive though - not all was lost. Thread stopped falling, the pass wasn't 50 turns, it lasted only 20. And Pern rebuilt.

Pern would survive, thanks to the heroic actions of the dragonriders, and once more the Holds tithed to the Weyrs, and sent Candidates whenever a Searchrider came. They owed much to the dragonriders of Pern, and this time they wouldn't forget it.

Another Interval has passed, lasting 200 turns. The other Weyrs have been re-established and all the Weyrs had clutches on the Sands - though Avangelis' clutch was surprisingly small this close to Threadfall...