Story of Dark Moon

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Dark Moon Weyr took a full five Turns to complete. By the time the Weyr was complete, those that had decided to settle the Weyr were older than they had intended. The Weyrwoman Cylene and her Queen Heleth were not young and they wanted to transfer to the Southern Continent to rest and be in a place where they did not have to endure the harsh winters that were associated with the Northern Weyrs. The riders that joined her were mostly older riders as well. The few younger riders who did join eventually left or fell victim to Firehead and other Southern diseases that they were not immune to. The Weyrs were in disfavor because Pern believed the menace of Thread was gone and Dragonmen were useless. The Weyr’s tithes became fewer and fewer, and then stopped altogether, forcing the already struggling Weyr to supply itself.

By the time the Senior Queen laid her last clutch, the Weyr was in desperate straits. This clutch, though small, was the last hope of the weyr. As the Queen egg hatched upon the sands and chose her lifemate, Weyrwoman Cylene took her last breath and her Queen vanished into the void of between. It was up to the new Weyrling Weyrwoman to take up the mantle of duty. Christae, and her massive Queen Kaith, along with Rhia, rider of brown Mneith, and Akki, rider of the mute blue Ebbeth stood by their Weyr as others came and went. The new Weyrlings only had scrolls and the one or two older riders who still held on to life after their Weyrwoman passed away.

After Kaith’s first clutch, things began to look up for the small Weyr. Some of the other riders from Heleth’s last clutch had not remained, but some, like bronzerider G’han, had transferred in. Kaith was caught by a Benden bronze and Sh’iron of bronze Myranenth took over the Weyrleadership. Christae bore a son and Brownrider Rhia, weyrmated to G’han, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

Kaith's first clutch hatched out a young Queen, Reinath, who chose the girl Maya as her rider. Maya was forced to transfer out for health reasons shortly after graduating, leaving the Weyr with only one Queen once more. In between the time of Kaith's first and second clutch, there was a renegade attack on the Weyr which left many wounded including Rhia of brown Mneith, but luckly none dead, and other troubles arose because of their small numbers. The Weyr feared that if Thread did come, they would be sorely unprepared. They had a shortage of dragons, and shortage of people in general-how would the Weyr survive?

It was two turns later, and the Weyr needed candidates once again for Kaith had laid her second clutch after being flown by Myranenth. Few still believed in the dragonriders' purpose on Pern but some brave candidates came forth. Wolf, R’xis, Hasima, Anassa, P’rin…these and more stepped up to take the chance. The clutch was a large one, but unfortunately, lacking a Queen or so everyone thought. One foolhardy Candidate stole one of the eggs to try to use a dragon to defeat her stepfather. The Weyr was turned upside down until, on the day of the Hatching, the small egg was returned safely and a tiny dragonet hatched out, healthy, but strange. All walked away from the sands with dragons-but not all walked away from the hatching with what was considered ‘normal’ dragons. Somehow, in Dark Moon, the dragons had begun to mutate. Wolf ended up with Gold Serinth, a smaller Queen that Kaith had hidden beneath the sands so that her daughter would be safe. R’xis walked away with a brown-a female brown named Ersith. P'rin impressed bronze, while Anassa impressed green. The first mutant to appear at Dark Moon had been a copper in Kaith’s first clutch. Sorcha, the egg thief, impressed a female dragon dubbed 'Moonstreak' Lirlith...and Hasima impressed the strangest of all. Hasima impressed to a small, pale yellow dragonet named Rimith. She had hatched from the egg that Sorcha had stolen. Dark Moon became known for 'distinctly different' dragons. Ebbeth had been mute. Rhia had impressed a male brown. The first copper had been a sensation when she hatched. Ersith was a female brown and then there were the moonstreak and the yellow. Yes, Dark Moon had interesting dragons, to say the least.

Word eventually got out that Dark Moon had two queens now, and that their dragons had somehow produced strange ‘mutations’. Shi’ron had been the rider of the bronze dragon to catch Kaith the first and second time-a transfer rider from Benden Weyr. He and Christae fought to gain more prestige for the weyr and for the Holds to reinstate their tithes. It seemed as if Dark Moon would prosper under their guidance, but alas, it was not so for on the day of Kaith’s second Hatching, Sh’iron was absent. He turned against his Weyr, and stole Chiron from Christae as she watched the children of their dragons hatch. Apparently he had found Dark Moon too small, and had ambitions of being Weyrleader in a much bigger Weyr. The mating flight for Benden’s Senior Queen was approaching and he wished for the chance at becoming Weyrleader there. Christae was devastated and left to run the Weyr alone, and she was also bereft of her son. Still, she went to get him with her golden Kaith and returned triumphant-but with issues of trust and fear of what the next man to catch Kaith would be like. Fear of feeling for another again..

Christae ran the Weyr alone for more than two turns since Shi’ron rose against her. Though Wolf had graduated, she still had much to learn about being a Junior Weyrwoman. Another transfer rider caught the Queen, and N'kal, rider of bronze Azuth, was now the Weyrleader. However, the shy bronzerider had little experience in leading and trouble with his speaking voice led the bronzerider to step down from the position.

For this clutch, having heard strange tales of Dark Moon, more Candidates came than before The hatchlings picked a horrible time to emerge from their eggs. A hurricane, predicted by the shipfish, was slamming into the coast of the Southern Continent that Dark Moon was located on.. Kaith’s clutch, though it did not hold a gold in it, was the largest yet. This time, however, there were more mutations. A male green, another copper, a white, a female blue, and a strange dragonet that they decided to call ‘Hawk’s Eye’, whose sibling died in the shell with it, which they dubbed ‘Tiger’s Eye’ . Every other dragonet, however, was hatched normal and healthy. Two bronzes and a couple of large browns, and many greens and blues tumbled out onto the sands to find their chosens. The Weyrlings were led away as the waters began to rise in the vast cavern. Dark Moon now had hope but there was a hurricane to rebuild after and the Candidate and Weyrling Barracks were severely damaged during the storm. The Weyr issued out in force to help repair the holds that tithed to it and to help replenish its depleted food stores.

Shortly after the Hurricane and just before a new clutch was transferred in from Ista, Dark Moon's Junior Queen Serinth and her rider Wolf transferred out of the small weyr and her brother R'xis followed. Dark Moon now is lacking a Candidate Master after Aarora decided to decline the position and Rhia is continuing with the position until another can be chosen. The Weyr lacks a Junior Weyrwoman again but the transfer clutch from Ista is a welcome addition to the Weyr's numbers.

All of the signs that predict Thread fall are there, even Pern senses its malevolent presence. The Queens’ clutches are larger and more frequent and the Red Star comes ever closer to the star stones. Dark Moon desperately tries to rebuild after the Hurricane and prepare itself for Thread. How will this small, close-knit weyr who’s members are more like family than just riders manage to survive?

Welcome to Dark Moon Weyr!