Pern Reference Reading

[Spiffy]

All this is by Hiko from Equinox Weyr, used with permission. So all credit goes to her: All I've done is edit out the references to Equinox and adapted it slightly to the Western Continent and our plotline.

Each Post corresponds to a particular topic, so make sure to scroll down for the full library!



Term Lexicon

((Taken from the back of Dragonflight. Additional information [such as "candlemark"] added in by Hiko.))

A
Agenothree: A common chemical on Pern, HNO₃

Apprentice: A young or new-to-the-field crafter

B
Basilisk: A draconic species apparently native to the Western Continent. Additional information can be found here.

Belior: One of the two moons of Pern.

Between: An area of nothingness and sensory deprivation between here and there. Dragons, when teleporting from one place to another, use between as a transfer point.

C
Candidate: A young man or woman who has been found by dragonriders as capable of bonding with a hatchling. Boys range in age from 12 to 22, and girls range from 15 to 25.

Candlemark: A fan term taken from a Mercedes Lackey series, used in place of "hour."

Cavern worker: A laborer within the Lower Caverns of the Weyr, either skilled or unskilled.

Craft: Of music, medicine, smithy, and more; the ranks of skilled workers vary from apprentice to Mastercrafter.

Crafthall: A building or stretch of land set aside specifically for training students in the fields of specific crafts.

D
Deadglow: A numbskull, dimwit.

Dragon: A gentle, telepathic beast reminiscent of Earth myths. Found in green and gold for females, blue, brown, and bronze for males.

Dragonhealer: A skilled medic that caters to dragon-specific wounds.

Dragonrider: A man or woman who has completed weyrling training and is part of the Weyr's community.

Drudge: A skill-less, craft-less commoner found in most Holds and Weyrs, usually only able to do menial tasks.

E
N/A

F
Fellis: A flowering tree.

Fellis juice: A juice made from the fruit of the fellis tree; a soporific.

Fire stone: A phosphine-bearing mineral which dragons chew to produce flame.

G
Glow: A small, rounded light source which can be carried in a handbasket.

H
Headwoman: A woman who oversees the activity of the kitchens and supplies of a Weyr or Crafthall.

High Reaches: Mountains on the northern continent of Pern. There is a Weyr named after them.

Hold: A place where the common people live; originally, they were cut into the mountains and hillsides.

Holder: A working-class commoner, usually a farmer or herdsman.

I
Impression: The joining of minds of a dragon and his rider-to-be at the moment of a dragon's hatching.

Interval: The period of time between Passes, generally 200 years.

J
Journeyman: A skilled crafter that has been allowed to practice his/her studies abroad.

K
Klah: A hot, stimulating drink made of tree bark and tasting faintly of cinnamon.

L
Long Interval: A period of time, generally twice the length of an Interval, in which no Thread falls.

Lower Caverns: The lowest level of the Weyr, where the dining hall, kitchens, and ware storage may be found.

Lady Holder: The wife of an acting Lord.

Lord Holder: The leading holder of a specific region; Lords oversee the lands of their region but do not usually work them.

M
Marks: Coins made from wood, used for bartering and buying.

Master: A skilled crafter that specializes in certain aspects of their field. Akin to a professor.

Mastercrafter: The resident head of a specific craft of study.

Middle Caverns: The mid-levels of Weyr, where the libraries, most rider weyrs, and crafter offices are held.

Month: Four sevendays

N
Numbweed: A medicinal cream which, when smeared on wounds, kills all feeling; used as an anesthetic.

O
N/A

P
Pass: A period of time during which the Red Star is close enough to drop Thread onto Pern.

Pern: The third of the star Rukbat's five planets. It has two moons, Belior and Timor.

Q
N/A

R
Red Star: Perns stepsister planet. It has an erratic orbit.

Rukbat: A yellow star in the Sagittarian Sector, Rukbat has five planets and two asteroid belts.

S
Sevenday: Interchangeable with the word “week.”

Shards: An expletive.

Shells: Another expletive.

Smallhold: Also known as a "cothold", it is a minor region within a larger Hold.

Smallholder: Also known as a "cotholder," it is a man or woman who oversees its region and reports directly to a Lord.

T
Thread: Spores from the Red Star, which descend on Pern and burrow into it, devouring all organic material they encounter.

Turn: A Pernese year, consisting of thirteen months.

U
Upper Caverns: The highest levels of the Weyr, accessible only by dragonback. Many weyrs may be found here.

V
N/A

W
Watch-wher: A nocturnal reptile distantly related to dragonkind. Also called a “wher,” these creatures can be used in mines and as guardians for Holds at night.

Weyr: A home of dragons and their riders.

(A) weyr: A dragon's den and the private quarters for a dragonrider.

Weyrfolk: The community living within a Weyr.

Weyrharper: Another term for the weyrsinger.

Weyrhealer: The medic of a Weyr.

Weyrherder: Responsible for overseeing the Weyrs population of herdbeasts and other non-draconic animals.

Weyrleader: The co-leader of the Weyr, with the Weyrwoman; he usually rides bronze.

Weyrling: A dragonrider-in-training.

Weyrlingmaster: An older rider who oversees all training of weyrlings, as well as looks over the candidates of a Weyr.

Weyrsinger: The musician of a Weyr, ocassionally a dragonrider themselves.

Weyrwoman: The leading woman of the Weyr, who rides gold.

Wherhandler: Someone who trains and raises whers for Hold use.

Wherling: A young, untrained wher.

Wherry: A type of fowl roughly resembling the domestic turkey of Earth, but about the size of an ostrich.

[Spiffy]

Pernese Fauna


((The following was taken from the Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, for referencing. The part about the dolphins was added by Spiffy xD))

Native Fauna

Insects

Parasites are rife during the hottest months. Pern has numerous types of insects, most of which were not identified in the Ancient reports. Buzzing flies, fireflies, and a curious type called VTOLs (for Vertical Take-Off and Landing) were caught in large numbers during Landing. Stinging pests like bedbugs and “crawlies” – tiny creatures like six-legged geckos with suction-cup feet – quickly started making nuisances of themselves during the early years of colonization and still can be at times. “Rollers” are a type of wood louse. “Springs” are insects that hang in spiral loops until they find something or someone to cling to; their irritating, prickly bite has to be treated with an antihistamine cream. Millipedes and flat, segmented worms scavenge among the seaweed or fallen leaves in the forests. There are also sandworms and eathworms, two related species of burrowers that can be observed.

There are flying pollinators akin to the Terran bee, but the most active pollinator is the trundlebug. It is a carnivore of small parasites, and can carry pollen and turn the soil, combining in one creature bee, earthworm, and ladybug. Trundlebugs have the most elaborate color camouflage of all the insects, varieties of black, brown, sand, blue-green, and crystal-clear have been found.


Reptiles and Amphibians

All the non-insectoid fauna on Pern is warm-blooded and based on a boron-silicon system, rather than the iron-calcium bond of Terran animals.

Snakes with turtle-like faces exist in the jungles. Most of these are poisonous and leave track marks from the toe-teeth along their length on those unlucky to be caught in their coils. Similar snakes that grow up to near-elephantine size live in the sea.

The so-called tunnel snakes, which actually have legs, are the most numerous pests, appearing in caves and stony outcroppings. There are numerous variations of this six-limbed beast. Most average two to four feet in length. Some have scales, some have smooth flesh. One type has very long legs, but most have short, stubby limbs for creeping low against the ground. Many varieties of tunnel snakes have sharp, powerful front claws for gripping and rending. The rear legs have enough power to push the tunnel snakes' skinny bodies through rodent holes in rock. The middle pair of limbs serve as stabilizers in land-bound varieties and as pseudoflippers with vestigial claws in those species that live in water.

Most tunnelsnakes have hearing organs in their chests, close to the ground, but there exists one variety of deep-tunnel beast that has no less than six ear-spots, to make up for the fact that it is nearly blind.

The water-dwelling tunnel snake's bite is venomous and can be dangerous if not treated promptly. The flesh of the victim can swell up painfully. All tunnel snakes have the ungulate jaw that allows them to ingest small creatures whole. They can go for long periods without feeding, which helps them survive Threadfall. Some hibernate during the cold seasons when prey is scarce.


Fish

Packtails, a tasty but dangerously barbed fish, resembles Terran monkfish. Fingertails, also edible, are a small carplike fish with a whippy tail. Spiderclaws resemble crabs with many pairs of jointed legs.


Wherries

Wherries are the major native hunter/scavengers on the planet. Wherries have no feathers. Their bodies are covered with thick proto-feathers, multiple tufts like marabou. Their wings are cartilaginous and membranous under the thick down. Like the other native animals of Pern, wherries have six limbs: two wings, two front feet, and two back feet. The front feet, which are much smaller than the back two, have one mobile claw that locks into two rigid claws like pincers, which are used to grab and rend. The back legs are well-muscled and can be employed to kick powerfully, as well as to help the bird leap into the air. Their three toes canted backward when they flew, to keep from being caught by animals on the ground or other wherries. The big avians turn cannibal when one of their numbers is wounded or killed.

Wherries nest in caves or rocky outcroppings, much as Terran seabirds did. They eat fish, tunnel snakes, insects, offal, and garbage.


Firelizards

The “graceful flying creatures” of the Ancient reports were spotted first by children out searching for biological specimens. Through good luck and timing, they discovered that the dragonet (as they were known at the time) hatchlings would, not unlike Terran ducklings, Impress on the first being that fed them, human or dragonet.

The firelizards are self-sufficient. They can fly almost from the moment of hatching, and they hunt for themselves after accepting the first meal offered by the impressor.

A fair of firelizards will begin humming when a hatching is imminent (and experience proves that the creatures can predict human and animal births, as well). They surround the eggs with a ring of seaweed and fill it with small fish and crawling creatures that would provide hatchlings with their first meal. As soon as the newborns break shell, they are greeted with cries of joy and offered food. A hatchling has a fierce birth hunger, and the first being – firelizard or human – that offers it food will Impress it.


Imported Fauna

Strong but fairly small horses were bred during Ancient times, blending Connemara and Welsh strains for riding. Shire horses were bred as draft animals and for the nomadic wagons. Llamas served as beasts of burden and to provide hair for spinning.

The pigs were useful as disposal systems, transforming slops into protein-rich meat. Since not as many pigs were bred as other herd animals, pork came to be regarded as a special treat.

The standard, Tenth-Pass canine is a ferret-dog breed, coming from the Jack Russel strain. These have long been employed to hunt and kill tunnel snakes. The other common breeds are the herder, descended from breeds such as the Border Collie, Alsatian, and Australien Shepard, and the guarding breed, the largest which is used to guard smaller holds and cots who cannot afford a watch-wher. Domesticated felines, coming from mixed tabby strains, are also useful against vermin.

Chickens, geese, and quail exist on modern-day Pern, but only in the warmest holds and in batteries where they are protected from wherries. Ducks as well exist, but only the most prosperous Holds breed them.

Spiders were successfully introduced onto Pern, and survive to kill parasites that invade habitations, though they are now known as “gossamer spinners.” Ladybugs and other insects were brought along to help propagate crops, but most are normally eaten by the native and more numerous insects.

Dolphins, long known as shipfish, were introduced early into Pern's seas to aid the early sailors, but since the crossing were all but forgotten about by humans. They only came into contact with sailors, who respected them as an intelligent species. The seacrafters were taught not to bother them, and if ever a fishing crew caught a dolphin by accident, they let it go with apologies. The dolphins were in effect 'rediscovered' in the 9th Pass by a young boy. The human speech, given to them by the metasynth enhancement they recieved early on, was initially diluted from disuse, but with some work contact was reestablished, and humans and dolphins again began to work, and play together. The Dolphin Hall was established to specifically train young Pernese to work with these magnificent creatures.

They are of particular use to the Fishercraft, as they rescue struggling men who've fallen overboard or from ships sunk in storms, and can lead a ship to the best fishing spots and away from dangerous currents and tides. They also work closely with the healercraft, for their ability to use their ultrasound to detect foreign bodies, swellings and deformaties in humans and detect pregnancies early on has become invaluable to the post-AIVAS rise in surgical proceedures.


Adaptations

Fish and other marine life from Earth were introduced to the waters of Pern with a minimum of adaptational changes.

Horses were improved somewhat by genetic tinkering. A number of genotypes coexisted and interbred for hundreds of years, until the Sixth Pass Plague. During the plague all of the remaining true horses died out, leaving only “runnerbeasts.”

The “grubs” which rendered a piece of protected ground inimical to Thread, were engineered. Twenty-five hundred years after colonization, most of which was uninhabited by humans, the Southern Continent became an unchecked jungle because of the grubs' protection.

Forests of adaptable trees were grown during the Intervals. They had to be protected during the Falls, so only those species that would continue to be useful to humans were consciously preserved. Any sports that remained in the Southern Continent after the First and Second Passes managed to avoid being destroyed by Thread until the grubs had spread.

The creator of the grubs also experimented with cheetah fetuses, trying to a metasynth-enhanced feline that would kill tunnel snakes and other dangerous creatures. He was familiar enough with the equations to know that cats reacted poorly to metasynth, but he recklessly ignored that knowledge. His bioengineered animals killed him and escaped before he could call for help. They bred in the wild, unseen by man again until the Sixth Pass.


When the population moved to the Northern Continent, herds of dogs, goats, sheep, and cattle were left behind to go wild. Some of the dogs still thrive in the wild, but the other breeds have been wiped out by predators.

[Spiffy]

Medicinal Herbs


((The following information was taken directly from the Dragonlover's Guide to Pern. For a more detailed look into the healercraft, please buy the book, or check it out from your local library.))



Barley
This cereal grain can also be brewed as a tea to combat the symptoms of cystitis, which is a common complaint of female dragonriders.

Citron
A citrus fruit that contains vitamin C.

Fellis
Fellis trees are branchy and small and have easily recognizable yellow blossoms with pointed petals. The juice boiled from the leaves and stems is a narcotic painkiller. An herb that commonly grows nearby is used as a cure for the addiction that can result from the constant use of fellis, known as Fellisbane, but the healers are aware of the tendency and keep an eye open for overdosing.

Fellis is not recommended for dragon use.

Mosstea
An herb used to pack wounds against injection. It can also be infused to make a soothing tea.

Needlethorn
This succulent brush will shoot its hollow, toxic spines at anything that disturbs is during its growing season. When the flowers of the ging tree open (needlethorn and ging are always found growing together), the plant has fallen into its dormant stage, and the needles can be gathered without danger. The barbless needles are strong enough to be used with a syringe for giving intravenous and subcutaneous injections and for drawing blood.

Numbweed
Very early on, it was noticed that injured dragonets bruised the leaves of a twiggy, sagelike shrub with their snouts or claws and rubbed their wounds against the sap that oozed out of the plump, sagittate leaves. Touching the sap caused total numbness at the contact site. The colonists quickly learned to imitate their dragonets and use the sap to deaden the pain of Threadscore.

The gray-green plants sprout tufts of blossoms like statice, and grow in plenty in jungle areas.

Redwort
Redwort grows in clumps ow to the ground. The thick stem has reddish veins running through it and produces flat-topped, purple or rose flowers.

This clean-smelling herb is used as an antiseptic wash and protects the skin from being affected by numbweed salve. Redwort wash leaves a characteristic red stain on the skin.


Other Herbs and Their Uses

Analgesic: red willow salic, meadowseet
Anodyne: aconite, whitethorn, adonis, glovecap, hops
Antispasmodic: parsley, basil
Burns: aloe, dragon's tongue (pern aloe), comfrey, cucumber, witch hazel
Cough medicine: tussilago, comfrey, hyssop, thymus, borrago
Diaphoretic: box, exob
Diuretic: ash bark
Febrifuge: sweatroot, spearleek, whitebulb
Tonic: featherfern, nettleweed, tansy