General FAQ
Contents
North vs. South
During and after the Ninth Pass, settlers from the North headed down to the Southern Continent to repopulate the land, establishing new Holds and Halls. After the Ninth Pass had finished, the dragonriders, believing that their Thread-fighting days were over for good, also moved south and established Weyrholds of their own. All of the Northern Weyrs were closed and all but a handful of dragonriders started new lives in the land allotted. Most took up crafts or agriculture, though some worked in transport or carrier work. The cultures of the North and South grew ever more independent of each other, with the exception of those studying a craft. But as crafthalls were established in the ever-growing South, even those alliances began to dissolve.
Over time, the two continents severed all but a few ties and began living autonomous of each other. The Weyrs were denied the right to Search for new candidates in the North as dragons and their riders were all but forgotten. There were only a few crafts that remained under the jurisdiction of the North as most crafthalls in the South became united under a Southern Main Crafthall.
Because of the lack of contact between the North and South, the North was not affected by the plagues that hit the Southern Continent from 1100, including the great Plague in 1160, the final and most vicious to hit the land. As a result, life continued as normal in the North while their Southern neighbors were dying by the thousands. Women were still allowed to craft freely, even inherit titles and positions of leadership. They were also allowed freedom in their choice of marriage partners. Very few Northerners had ever seen a dragon in the sky, much less come into contact with a dragonrider. They went about their business with very little thought to the South.
In the South, however, life changed forever. Women were banned from Southern Crafthalls, thus the only female crafters left were in the Weyrs or Northern aligned Halls. The North, which they had given very little thought to for turns, suddenly seemed like a safe haven for females who wished to craft, or avoid forced marriages. Many tried to escape up North, though very few Northerners wanted to come South.
Another great change happened about twenty-five turns after the Plague. The dragon population exploded, resulting in the need to re-establish Searches in the North. It soon became apparent that the dragons were responding to instinct and the larger clutches were signs of an impending Pass. A few turns before the Pass was to begin, there were enough dragons to re-open the Northern Weyrs. The North finally had opened up to dragonriders once more. Though Southern riders were now flying over their skies, Northern residents of Pern are still reluctant to move South considering the oppression of women in the hidebound Holds and Halls. Though Pern is united under its old enemy, Thread, the North and South remain divided from each other by more than just water.
Seasons on the Southern Continent
- Summer - TB-m4d7
- Fall - m4d8-m7d14
- Winter - m7d15-m10d21
- Spring - m10d22-TE
Remember, this is the opposite of the seasons on the Northern Continent.
Climates
Garnet Valley Hold Climate (NPC Location)
The average winter low temperature is 38°F (3°C); the average winter high is 60°F (16°C). During the summer months, the average low temperature is 65°F (18°C); the average high 87°F (31°C).
River Bluff Weyr Climate (NPC Location)
The average winter low temperature is 65°F (18°C); the average winter high is 81°F (27°C). During the summer months, the average low temperature is 74°F (23°C); the average high 91°F (33°C).
Divorce on Pern
Divorce is possible on Pern, though in the South where marriage and producing children has become such an ingrained part of society, it would be looked down upon unless under the most extreme cirmcumstances. The way in which one would go about obtaining a divorce would be to petition the Lord Holder or Hallmaster where they live and ask to be granted a divorce. A harper would be needed to witness and draw up documentation of the disolution of the marriage. If the personas are on a River Boat, in a Cothold or minor Hold, they will need to petition the Lord Holder of the Hold to which they are bound, or the location in which they were married.
If you want your persona to be granted a divorce from a PC location, please inform the L1 of the Hold, Hall, or Weyr from which you wish to be granted a divorce as their persona would have to sign off on it. However, writing the proceedings in character is completely up to you!
Food Distribution in Holds and Halls
In any large community, one of the most important public services is food distribution. Everyone has got to eat! On Pern, everything is shared equally. All foodstuffs are brought to one communal location and are divided fairly among the people of the Hold, Hall, or Weyr. In a Weyr, of course, all meals are prepared by the kitchens as no weyrs have their own kitchens. In Holds and Halls, however, individual family quarters often come with a kitchen area where the lady of the house can prepare her family's meals for them. That does not meal they cannot take their meals in the community dinning hall however, as some families might prefer the chance to unwind with their friends rather than take a chance on mother's cooking!
Though each Hold and Hall would have their own individual system (please check with your local L1 for more specific details for any location), this is a general overview of how that system of food distribution works:
- Each resident has a certain number of food credits allocated to them each month.
- Those credits can be used to either "pay" to eat in the dinning hall, or to "buy" food from the stores to feed their families at home
- Those who live alone and without a kitchen are presumed to be taking their meals in the dinning hall. Families with kitchens are allowed to take their meals there with advance notice (though they must inform the headwoman of their plan by a certain time in the afternoon - again, ask your L1 for details)
- If the family is running low on credits for the month for any reason, they can use marks to buy more credits
- Long term guests of a family would eat using the family's credits (a polite guest might therefore feel they should use marks to pay for their own credits) and guests of the Hold will not go hungry (though the Hold's generosity does have it's limits!).
Again, please ask your L1 for specific details since each Hold or Hall might have slight differences of how they implement this system.
Homosexuality in the South
Though they are openly accepted and welcomed in the Weyrs, homosexuals are despised in the Holds and Halls. Homosexual relationships are deemed unnatural and are not openly tolerated. The ‘outing’ of a homosexual in a Hold or Hall would be considered a great shame, not only on them, but also for their families. They would face persecution in their community, perhaps even bodily harm. Therefore, any homosexual tendencies are usually covered over with convenient marriages, and any relationships with the same sex they might have are kept in the strictest secrecy. Some run to the Weyr, both to save their families and to pursue the life of their choosing.
Who Cares for Children When Their Parents Are Occupied
In Holds/Halls
In Holds and Halls, the place where children are cared for would be called either a Nursery or a Creche, depending on the persona's preference. The women who work there would be called a creche workers or nursery workers. They would not, however, be called "nurses". That term is reserved for privately hired help, caring for important and afluent client's little dears (for example, the children of a Lord Holder or Hallmaster).
There is also the distinction of "Wetnurses" or "Milk Mothers". They are full time help who have recently had a child of their own (surviving or not) and can milk the child themselves. Often they are called upon when the natural mother is unable to breastfeed their child, or has died. In this case, there is a certain amount of obligation or respect owed the wetnurse/ milk mother for keeping the child alive.
Fostermothers in Holds and Halls are in charge of older children or adolscents who come from other Holds or Halls to stay for a short time in order to learn and make connections. These youths are known as Fosterlings.
In The Weyrs
The place where the children are cared for also can be called a creche or a nursery, but the workers tend to be called Fostermothers, though can also be called Creche Worker or Nursery Worker, depending on where the persona is from. Fostermothers cover a wide range of care.
They can be part-time or full time. The part-time fostermothers either work in the creche/nursery taking care of drop-in children, or in a weyr and care for the children of one particular family.
Full time fostermothers are charged with raising a child, often from infancy, as if they were their own. The children of dragonriders, for instance, are usually given up to a full-time fostermother unless their weyrmate is a non-rider, or they have made special arrangements for partial fostering of the child.
There are no "nurses" at the Weyr as all are treated equally.
Women in the Holds and Halls vs. Women in the Weyr
Before the Plague swept through the South, killing nearly half of the population, women enjoyed the same freedoms and privileges as men. They were allowed to craft, inherit leadership roles, and travel freely. However, after the Plague, women were in high demand as they would bear the children that would replenish the decimated population. It was deemed necessary that they give up their duties to craft, as well as their positions of leadership, and concentrate instead on raising children and caring for their families. Even after more than forty turns, the population has not recovered, and so women are still seen as breeders. The generation born after the Plague does not remember a time when women were the equals of men, and so the idea of women crafters and women leaders is strange and ‘unnatural’ to most of them. Even most of those who survived the Plague and witnessed the changes to the southern way of life realize that the role women are playing in the new South is of vital importance and are reluctant to change things back to the way they were.
Crafthalls hold much the same view as their Holder neighbors. Though there might be the odd female crafter wandering about their Halls, they had received their knots before the Plague. However, most female crafters after the Plague gave up crafting to return to their homes and start families, or moved to the Weyr where they were allowed to practice freely. New female apprentices were banned from joining most Southern crafthalls and, like in Holds, the thought of women as crafters became ‘obsolete’. Male crafters caught teaching the craft to females are often subject to severe consequences. The only exception to this are those crafthalls that maintained their close ties to the North. Since the North did not suffer the Plague, northern women still enjoy equality with men. As such, crafthalls allied with the North still welcome female apprentices. These Halls are the Printer Hall (now incorporated into the Harper Hall), the Technicians Hall, and the Dolphin Hall. The Harper Hall has only recently allowed females to craft once again (leading to retaliation from angry Holders who burnt down their Crafthall).
It was quickly realized that in this new South, women had become a precious commodity. As such, they were deemed valuable. Families could now use their daughters for their own advancement if they should choose by betrothing them to the man of their family’s choice in exchange for marks, privileges, political alliances, or other commodities. Some women are not even given a choice as to whom they will marry, especially women of a higher social status. After marriage, the role of the woman is purely to produce and care for the family that they provide for their husband. Though in most Holds and Halls the physical mistreatment of women is not tolerated, there are those Holds that turn a blind eye. The minimum age at which a girl can marry is 15, and this is strictly enforced. Knowing violators face severe penalties.