History of Cepheus Weyr

The 8th Interval and 9th Pass marked a distinct shift in Pernese society - namely, the rediscovery of the Southern Continent. Necessity brought forth the creation of both Southern Weyr and Hold, but aspiring leaders and adventurous explorers soon charted more than just the small tip pioneered by Lessa and her ilk. Toric and his sons, as well as many other endeavouring souls, set out to colonise the fertile, unclaimed land, and so the population of the Southern Continent boomed.

Colonisation brought more than simply more people and resources into the world. Discoveries of left-over Ancient artefacts - maps, charts, records, strange devices and all manner of inventions sent the Halls into a frenzy of activity which did not cease even as the 9th Interval began. Crafts established secondary main Halls in the vast Southern Continent to make best use of the resources and information rapidly becoming available to them.

Dragonriders, however, began to fade into the background, biding their time for Thread to return. Clutch sizes dropped and Holders protested as fiercely as ever at the tithe requirements; but all in all, life went on as normal. But Southern’s resources were becoming even more stretched, despite the lack of Threadfall; they could simply not handle such a wide area on their own. Thus the Interval called for the creation of two more Weyrs, and hence Cepheus was born.

Suffice to say that life was as normal as it could be on Pern throughout the Interval. The Southern Triad, or so Southern, Monaco and Cepheus were dubbed, found themselves becoming increasingly independent of the Northern dragonriders, and even between each other. Little apart from the rare message was sent from north to south, or vice versa; and the Southern Continent dragonriders, in some way, liked it as such.

Life was peaceful - for a time.

Firelizards, a common sight of modern Pern - especially down south - were suddenly contracting a mysterious illness no dragonhealer had ever come across. It started off innocently enough: an itch that couldn’t be scratched enough. A rash developed upon their hides, the blistering skin eventually developing painful, pussy boils. They became sluggish, disinterested; some turned blind, some could no longer fly, and some simply withered away to almost nothing. It was often at this stage many disappeared between forever. But for those that didn’t, there was something almost worse to follow: the madness.

The illness lasted a couple of sevendays before their mind collapsed entirely. The mental progression was clear, the firelizards becoming more and more rabid as they went on, attacking almost anything that moved without provocation - even their bonded. Suddenly, they would break the mental connection with their owners, and after that, there was no hope. Once it reached that stage, they either attacked others (or themselves) to the death, or flickered between instantaneously.

Flitts were driven to the brink of extinction by the disease. No cures could be found, even though many a healer tried any number of things. But suddenly, the disease seemed to slow its course. Those that did not catch it within the first few turns of its existence seemed immune, by some miracle of nature, and their offspring often shared the same trait. By the 180th turn of the Interval, it appeared as if the disease had gone and passed in just two decades, only very rarely raising its head again.

The Pernese returned to their normal lives. Dragonriders ramped up their training efforts in preparation for the approaching Pass. The past was quickly removed from common thought.

On the evening of turn 186 of the 9th Interval, a bluerider from Cepheus approached the Weyrhealer about his dragon's complaints: a constant itchiness, despite frequent oilings. The next day he reported that a red rash had spread all up the blue's underbelly, and over the next few days it had covered most of the surface of its body, along with a bad case of blistering. A sevenday later the rider returned in distress: his dragon had stopped responding altogether. By the end of the next sevenday the blue had, without any warning, attacked its fellow wing members during drills before suddenly blinking between.

The next eight turns were a descending spiral into chaos. There were few cases at first, but the rate of infection soon sped up dramatically till there was at least one death every fortnight, if not more. The situation was worsened by a quarantine statement from the North; the disease seemed limited to the Southern Continent, and they wished for it to stay there. Tensions grew higher still when a meeting between the Southern Triad's Weyrleaders resulted in a fistfight - but, overall, no solution to the problem. Each Weyr was understocked and underpopulated, and the Pass loomed ominously close - much too close for comfort.

In the harvest season of the 190th turn of the Interval, disaster struck when a group of seven dragons of Cepheus, driven mad by the disease, swooped down upon a small Hold they were to protect. The screams and roars rang out throughout the night, resulting in a crimson-tinted sunrise. Some few managed to escape, but most of the residents met a bloody end.

From that point forth, Dioge Hold, the second-biggest in Cepheus' territory, declared a ban: no dragons were allowed to come within range of the main Hold, and all tithing to the Weyr was ceased. This left Cepheus with a small shortage in supply - though was, in some ironic way, less affected due to the decreased dragonrider population. Relationships were strained between Weyr and Hold and Weyr and Weyr, leaving Cepheus suddenly very, scarily alone.

The disease seemed to slow after the bloodshed, but still dragons died at a phenomenal rate. Cepheus Weyr was left with but one Queen, and stand-in leaders all over the hierarchy. Six turns until the Pass remain: six turns in which the Weyr must somehow muster up a force large and skilled enough to cast away the mycorrhizoid spores, repair relationships with the rest of Pern and somehow manage to rebuild their lives.