Holders and Crafters

The three important holds of the southern continent - Atora Island Minor Hold, Jinani Hold, and Daragon Hold. Atora Island is not attached to either of the Major Holds, but is not considered to be a Major Hold itself due to its small size.

Atora Island Minor Hold

This small holding is on the same island as the Weyr; the Weyr is on the western end of the long, narrow tropical island, and the Hold is on the eastern edge. The small holding is one of the most beautiful places that humans inhabit on Pern; steep, rocky cliffs of volcanic rock fall away to a deep blue ocean, and the Hold, partially carved out of the cliff face, has a view of the Mainland and the strip of water, roughly one hundred dragonlengths long, that separates the island from the Southern Continent.

The main rooms and halls of the holding are carved from the cliffs; the hold structure is more vertical than horizontal. The lower levels of the hold are a good five dragonlengths above the water, carved directly out of the cliff face. There is no outer access to these rooms; the only way to get to this part of the Hold is by the main stairway that leads up to the surface of the island, fully above the cliffs. Windows look out onto the water below. Generally, children are forbidden to go into these rooms alone, for fear that they will climb out the windows. The fall is a long one, and the rocks below are steep.

The rooms climb up the cliff face; a few dragonlengths from the top of the cliff a wide stair begins, leading from the top of the hold down to the mid-levels of the hold. The most important rooms - the main halls, the rooms for the holder and his family, and the guest rooms - have windows facing the water, and are on the upper levels. The lower rooms are mainly used for stores and for the drudges and minor staff of the hold.

On the top of the cliffs is the Southern Continent's Beastcraft Hall. This is an autonomous establishment from the Hold, but in general resources are shared. Many of the Holders work for the Beastcrafters, and vice versa. The Beastcraft supplies the food animals to the Weyr, sending on those of bad breeding, conformational defect, or bad temperament. Due to the close proximity of Weyr and Hold, sometimes dragons will simply feed from the "cull" herds at the Hold, if there are too few beasts in the Weyr paddocks, or too many feeding at one time. The holders are not afraid of the dragons, and the runners bred here are unusually tolerant of dragonkind, making them useful as mounts that travel to and from the Weyr.

Atora Island has very little political influence; it was not really a planned hold, as it started as a home for the workers and stonemasons of the Weyr. However, once the Weyr was completed, many workers stayed on at their original camp, tunneling out rooms from the cliff face over time in a disorganized fashion. A little farming is done here, and there is a small group of weavers here as well, who supply cloth to the hold and Weyr.

Daragon Major Hold

Daragon is the major link between the North and South for the commoners. Possesing an excellent deepwater harbor, sheltered by a series of barrier beaches, it is the main point at which fishing and sailing boats are moored, and it is here that holders and crafters can book passage to the North, if they have need of transport and are not ranked enough for dragon assistance. It is also the major source of fish and ocean produce for the Southern continent. Daragon Hold is primarily a seahold, and the Southern Seacraft Hall is located in this Hold's territory.

Daragon Hold is not located conveniently near any cliffs or rock formations; only the surpassingly fine harbor convinced the Conclave that this was a suitable place to found a Hold. The Hold had to be constructed out of stone quarried quite far away; due to this, parts of the Hold are still under construction - the boathouses, for example, are still mostly wood, a problem as thread is now very near at hand. However, the living quarters of the Hold, as well as for the Seacraft Hall, have all been completed. As per tradition, the approaches of both Hold and Hall face East; this is rather inconveniant, as the harbor is to the North, but it was insisted upon. A wide trac leads to the Hold, connecting it both to its harbor, and to Jinani Hold.

There are no minor holds in Daragon territory, but there are a series of small holdings along the coast, small fishing cots for the most part, all with populations less than one thousand. Their tithes are every two months, and the Hold tithes to the Weyr every month. The tithes are carried in by boat, with the boats mooring near the small stretch of beach on Atora Island. It can be a dangerous crossing in stormy weather, as the strip of water between island and mainland is treacherous, and the island's coast is rocky, with occaisional hidden reefs. Therefore, a dragon will often escort the tithe, to make sure that no boat comes to grief, and to rescue any sailors who are lost.

Daragon's youthful Lord, Pelinor, is currently single; many young women of good families in the area have been trying to seduce him and then guilt him into marriage, but as yet there has been no success. There are a variety of unhappy fathers whose children have been "ruined" by their Lord, and as the man is not particularly adept at running a Hold, as well as being very inexperienced, he is quite unpopular. However, there is no real way to get rid of him, so the hold is stuck with the man. He was the only son of his deceased father, and the Conclave was hesitent to apoint an heir not of Blood. Daragon traces its bloodlines back to Ista Hold; a young son of the Ista Holder was the first Lord of Daragon.

Daragon does not have much influence in the council of Lords, and neither does it have much influence in Southern politics, despite the small number of parties. Pelinor is inexperienced, and viewed as a fool by Jinani's lord, Zarik. Pelinor is a fairly exacting holder, demanding a heavy tithe from all of the small holds that look to him as their Lord; he also has very little people skills. However, he tithes regularly and ungrudgingly to the Weyr, so the Weyr has placed no pressure on him to relax his stringent tithe requirements.

Jinani Major Hold

Jinani is the major producer of fresh produce for the Southern Continent. Located several miles into the continent, with no water access, it is very isolated. The jungle around the hold has been clear-cut, creating farmlands to grow grains and vegetables on. However, the soil is poor, and erosion is high; as a result, more forestland is stripped each turn to provide more arable land. However, the Farmercraft is making genuine effort to replant trees; while the soil is not necessarily suitable for certain kinds of crops, it does support excellent redfruit trees. The fruits produced in Jinani are widely recognized to be superior to all orchard produce except, perhaps, Nerat.

The Hold is built partially of stone, partially of wood. The Weyr has been trying for decades now to get the stubborn Lord Zarik to make the necessary modifications to his Hold, but he refuses; he sees no need to, when there's no real evidence that thread will be coming back, anyway. Didn't one of the Weyrs explode at the end of the last Pass? Doesn't that indicate that there's no more need for Weyrs, anyway? The Hold does, at least, face to the East; Zarik's father was pressured into that basic requirement when the Hold was first built. However, only the main Hold building is entirely of stone, encompassing the Great Hall, Lord and Family's quarters, the kitchens, main storehouses, and offices of the steward, headwoman, and Lord. However, the homes of the minor workers, drudges, and crafters are all of wood.

The Farmcraft Hall, which is only a few dragonlengths away from the Hold, and indeed on the same circular courtyard, is built of stone, for the Master is at least somewhat more knowledgeable of tradition than Lord Zarik. The storehouses of grain, seedlings, plows, wheelbarrows, and other farming tools are all of stone, too; it took many, many years to accomplish, and the buildings have a hasty look about them, but it has been completed in time for the pass. The Farmcraft regulates all of the farming in the Southern Continent, and is also in charge of investigating the edible plants and herbs of the Southern Continent. Interestingly enough, when plowing, several odd artifacts have been found in the soil - rusty bits of metal and the like - that cannot be accounted for, as no settlements in Southern have ever been recorded that would explain the materials. It is still a mystery as to what they are.

Lord Zarik is one of the most hostile Lords in Pern, and is a demagogue in the Council of Lords to boot. Atora Weyr has always been fairly lax with him, lacking firm leadership until the Weyrwoman Santara, and even then they lacked appropriate means to punish him politically. His tithes are often late, usually of poor quality, and given only grudgingly. Only the fiercest of negotiations won an increase in the amount of grain tithed, twenty-one turns ago, and he has refused point-blank another increase, despite the coming Pass. In the Council of Lords he has been agitating the other Holders, attempting to get them to band together to stave off the "aggression" of the Weyrs and prevent "excess" demand. Few listen to him in the North, as the old Weyrs have too much power and influence, but Pelinor, the young Holder of Daragon, listens to and obeys Zarik in almost every political movement. Atora Weyr would love to get rid of him, and appoint his more traditional son as Lord, but he refuses to cede leadership, and in any case, the Weyr has no power to interfere with the Holders.