Post by Affiliate Chalybis Weyr on Apr 12, 2011 12:31:44 GMT -5
Notes: here, we measure dragons in feet. They fit better on a small island We also subscribe to the firestone-sterilization theory for the sake of play. Personal opinions really don't matter. As it happens, I find the engineered sterility more likely if potentially short-sighted.
In this alternate Pern, AIVAS did not survive the destruction of Landing. As of current RP time, Landing has not been discovered. The Southern Continent was (re)discovered shortly into the Ninth Pass and populated with Oldtimers and bold holders. The Oldtimers did not survive to the end of the Pass, but despite the immunity of the landscape to Thread, the holders requested protection for the holdings themselves. For close to a decade, the fourth of the Pass, each northern Weyr in turn sent a wing or two south. The organization became increasingly difficult as the Weyrs' numbers dropped and the holders' rose, until a brown rider suggested that the lightly injured of each Weyr set up another 'healing Weyr;' they could recover and protect the holders, as the limited range of dangerous Fall would not tax their strength.
The healing Weyr was established near the majority of the current Southern holdings: almost due south of Boll. A small, cavern-riddled island was chosen, just off the coast: a volcano fallen silent, though another island to the northwest, Piemer's Volcano, still glowed upon inspection. The first batch of riders, almost invariably blue and green riders, came from all Weyrs and settled in quite comfortably. Once healed, most of them returned to their homes. A few stayed to manage the newcomers and ease the transition for the Weyrfolk that had begun to gather.
At the end of the Pass, the northern Weyrs wanted to close down the Weyr, but a curious thing had happened to the dragon populations. The numbers of all colours had been thoroughly ravaged by Thread, but there had not been as many fatalities in the ranks of the chromatics, the greens and blues and browns, as normal. This was attributed to the recovery in the South. Whatever the reason, however, it left an issue that needed to be solved. There were enough golds and bronzes to repopulate the Weyrs, but there soon wouldn't be enough room for all of their offspring in addition to the swollen chromatic numbers. It turned out that the Iron Weyr, as locally known for the rusty streaks covering the island officially known as Chalybis, was needed after all, but it would not be a breeding Weyr.
Well, the best laid plans often go awry, and Chalybis could have been better planned to begin with. The initial 'stocking' of the Weyr included fifty greens, forty blues, and three browns. The brown riders were to govern the Weyr jointly.
Things did run smoothly for a few Turns. After a while, though, the six desperately reproducing queens had produced only two more golds, and the rest of the young dragons were becoming cramped. More were sent to Chalybis, including a clutch of a dozen weyrlings, chromatics all, barely old enough to fly to the ship they had been chartered.
With Chalybis on the horizon, one of the young greens Rose, instincts triggered by an adult green on her own Flight nearby. One of the blues who had just lost the adult Flight won the weyrling's, and little was thought of the matter. So little, in fact, that no one realized that the green had not been taught to chew firestone until her belly was swollen with eggs. Four eggs, in fact. Two green, two blue -
and they gave the three brown riders an idea. They'd long served the breeding metallics, and the green's offspring were healthy and normal-sized. Why not challenge the queens in repopulation? A quick calculation showed that the eggs produced per Turn were similar, even if there would be no queens born of greens, and no bronzes unless, possibly, sired by one. Maybe it was time that the queens' throne be stepped down a notch.
And so, the remaining greens of the young transfer class were not forced to chew firestone. They and their riders were given the option. Some took it. Others learned to drill with flamethrowers. More eggs were laid, including a brown when the youngest of the three co-leaders won a fertile Flight. However, not all of the so-called fertile Flights actually produced eggs. Over the next two Turns, only one in three produced any eggs, and more than two or three was shown to be uncommon. Only one bore six, that by the brown, and one egg did not hatch. In the meantime, the golds of the north Rose less and less frequently, and even now there were only five; two had Betweened of old age, and only one gold egg produced in the eight Turns without Thread. Some chromatics elected to return to their former Weyrs, now that the extra space was no longer needed, and Chalybis continued to offer its young greens the choice of potential motherhood.
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