The Pernese Perspective
Obviously, if you want to RP well, you're going to need to get into your character. You have to know how they'll react to things, and you have to keep this consistent with the world they're in. Pernese have different views on different things to us. For a start, if they saw a dragon while out for a walk, they'd be more likely to go: "I wonder what brings him here?" than "What the heck is that thing?!?" Obviously. However, it can be hard to settle in and figure out what your character would consider routine and what your character would hardly dare to dream of, so here's a look at it. Moreso than the other pages on here, these are very much my own thoughts on the subject and I'm interested in hearing other people's, but these are simply projected IC attitudes for the benefit of RP and are no substitute for your imagination! You know your character best, so go with your gut instincts first and foremost, and just use this for inspiration/food for thought. It's also worth bearing in mind that your character's position in life will affect his or her outlook on it, and I've tried where necessary to note potential differences in weyr, hold, and craft behaviour.
NB, there is a summary, but I think it's worth reading the full page anyway, since the ramifications are always worth knowing for this kind of thing.
Which books to read Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern has the best overall view of general life on Pern if you can just read the one book, but different books may apply more to certain aspects of Pernese life.
Thread It's the most terrifying thing on Pern, and if it comes into contact with you, you're almost certainly dead unless you can get into water or between. Fortunately, the Pernese generally know when it will fall, and all sensible ones will plan to be inside or expect to die.
General Knowledge Your average Pernese person is going to know the leaders and general location of all major holds, crafthalls and weyrs, but remember that these aren't always the same ones that you know from the book. Most Pernese won't have heard of Half-Circle, but will be able to roughly pinpoint the Igen area on a map.
Love Although girls can probably be married as young as fourteen and people in a weyr discover their hormones even younger, it's probably safe to assume that from eighteen onwards, your character is in charge of their own lovelife. Holds are more prudish than weyrs on this matter, since draconic mating flights have forced weyrs to come up with their own views on fidelity and virtue.
Death Remember the Pernese have no concept of an afterlife. They're fairly used to death, since infant mortality (and death in childbirth) is probably higher than for us, but their lifespan is comparable to ours. Dragons will mourn each other but they have short memories and soon forget their grief. They will also suicide if their rider dies, but most firelizards will not die at the same time as their owners.
Dragons and Firelizards Most people will have seen dragons before, but in many cases (depending on the size of the hold) only in the sky, so could well be intimidated of them when they first see them close up. Firelizards are common and just about everybody will have had one around as they grew up.
Search While quite acceptable that your average Pernese dreams of being a dragonrider, it's a winning the lottery sort of thing. Like the way people dream of being movie stars but usually don't sink into depression when it doesn't happen. Remember applications for Search on a game are an entirely OOC process, since ICly, the dragons pick people at their own whim.
If you want to get familiar with all the nuances of Pern, then you should really read the books—which may or may not be feasible. If you don't have time or can't afford to get hold of them all, then I'd suggest reading Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern and maybe Nerilka's Story. Why? Because they're set toward the end of the sixth pass; a time when the Terran customs had evolved into the Pernese social system and there were no radical upheavals taking place. They were used to Thread and until the plague takes hold, we can see them going about their lives as normal. Moreta also divides the narrative fairly neatly between Weyrlife (Moreta), Holdlife (Alessan) and Craftlife (Capiam). Why not Dragonflight and the other more detailed ninth pass books? Because that was a unique period in Pernese history. By the end of the Long Interval, few people believed that Thread would ever fall again. There was only one weyr left and a handful of dragons. The society had deteriorated to the point that women were disdained in the crafts and dragonriders weren't respected. Remember the problems the Oldtimers had adjusting to the new Pern? Even as the pass settled in and things began to slowly revert to the more typical ways, they started uncovering the original settlement in Southern and that affected all Pern.
Obviously your character's attitudes also depend on what timeframe your particular game is working from: an early pass; an interval; post-ninth pass ignoring the events in All the Weyrs of Pern; post-ninth pass accepting the events in All the Weyrs. Moreta and Nerilka work for most games set in a pass. For non-thread games, you might also want to look at Red Star Rising/Dragonseye or Masterharper of Pern. The latter is set entirely within a pass, and few of the characters expected to see Thread for themselves, most believed it was gone for good. The former describes a build-up to a pass, much like Dragonflight does, only in this case, everybody knew that Thread was about to fall. For a game that takes place after all the books, i.e. post ninth pass, with AIVAS having been discovered while still functional, The Skies of Pern takes place chronologically at the end of the series, with Dolphins of Pern just before it.
Of course, all the books are worth reading, and each one contains some new look at an aspect of life on Pern, but I think the above will provide a handy base to work from. Below, I've referred to the different books that I've pulled various attitudes from, so you should be able to read them and decide for yourself how you'll interpret them.
Into each life some Thread must fall
Thread. It falls from the sky in great showers. It can be stopped by stone, but only fire, water or extreme cold can kill it. If it touches anything organic, it consumes it on contact—that includes you! It's a scary concept... imagine having to live with that on a day-to-day basis. If your character isn't living during a pass, then they're probably highly grateful for this fact whenever they stop and think about it. Possibly a character that was romantic to the point of daftness might mentally glorify Threadfall and particularly the rider's role in it, just as you've had your idealistic heroes yearning for a war to prove themselves in fiction since ancient times. As for characters on a game that's in a pass... they'd probably rather be in an interval themselves, and Thread would always have to be taken into account when planning anything—but it can be taken into account. They know almost exactly when it will fall and where. Unexpected Threadfalls can happen, true, but that would be a concern to all Pern if they did, and a TP requiring Thread to fall out of pattern may well need clearing with the weyrs and/or wizards. So Thread might be one heck of an inconvenience to the Pernese, but they can and do work around it. Anybody who gets caught out in Threadfall would quite possibly be considered rather silly unless they have a damned good excuse for not realising that it was falling or not being able to get to a shelter in time.
Of course, just working around it doesn't take away the terror. From the Harper Hall Trilogy (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums) you can see that the average holdbred or craftbred person equated being outside of hold doors during Fall with death. A weyrbred person would worry less about it, since they're used to dragonriders fighting and destroying Thread, not to mention surviving scores. A trader would perhaps be even more blasé, although I doubt they'd be too keen on going off the beaten track in the middle of a pass—they'd have their set routes with mapped shelters and they'd stick to that. Travelers on Pern really aren't all that common, although this rule is frequently bent for games. It's also fairly common for people to use Thread in their background story, but remember that Thread really does kill! If you want your character to have received a Threadscore in the past (which is terribly clichéd, I'm afraid), at least take into account that unless you're in water or on a dragon, a Threadscore is likely to be followed by a rather gruesome death. Even if a single Thread hits you on the arm as you shelter beneath a ledge, the books don't really give the impression that it will merely score you and fall off—it's more likely to stick and consume. Unless there's a pond nearby, your best hope of survival is to chop your arm off and fast. Arguably, you may be able to throw your clothes off and get rid of it like that, as Ongola did in Dragonsdawn (chapter 9), but you'd have to be darned quick about it. Even then, Thread on the ground is dangerous if it burrows. For another, off the wall, look at surviving Threadfall, see this analysis of Menolly outrunning Thread from Pern Demographics. The fact is, most Pernese are going to plan to be inside during Threadfall, and of those who are outside, only sailors and dragonriders are likely to live to show off their scores.
Pop quiz: Is Tillek Hold on the west or east coast of Pern? Answer: west. It's just all fun and games on this site, isn't it? But how many of you knew that without having to check the map in one of the books? It's fairly likely that ICly Foofoo would know it off the top of her head and be able to tell you that their wine's not a patch on Benden's too. Alright, so it's unlikely that in RP you'll find yourself needing to know that, or be in a situation where you can't gloss over the player's ignorance of such general knowledge, but you need to be aware of what Foofoo knows and doesn't know...
Which weyr
is Half-Circle Seahold beholden to?
Foofoo's player: Benden Weyr, isn't
it?
Foofoo: Where's Half-Circle?
While Menolly and Dragonsong may have put Half-Circle Seahold quite literally on the map for us, Foofoo doesn't have the benefit of the Pern books in her library. Unless she's seahold-bred, lives nearby, has visited for whatever reason or has relatives there, she's unlikely to have heard of such a small hold—remember that Mirrim hadn't and she lived at Benden Weyr which flew Thread for it. On the other hand, everybody would know Ruatha's Lord Holder and his marital status (although their geographical knowledge could feasibly extend no further than: "Ruatha—it's somewhere in the middle... you know, near Fort."). It was also suggested in Dragonflight (Weyr Search) that people were expected to know the names of all bronzeriders and dragons at their 'local' weyr, although I don't believe that this would stick any more than you can remember the names and capital cities of every country in Europe after learning it in school. The names of the Weyrleaders would be known certainly, I should think the other goldriders as well and possibly a few of the prominent bronzeriders. Most craftmasters (certainly the Master of a particular craft, such as Robinton and Fandarel) would also be widely known, and a few prominent journeyman.
So, as a rule of thumb, your character's probably going to know the general locations and ruling powers of the weyrs, major holds (ones with a Lord and/or Lady Holder) and main crafthalls. When going on holiday, Foofoo would pack her thermal underwear for High Reaches and her beach towel for Ista, but she'd probably have to check with somebody before realising she'd need a sunhat when visiting Paradise River Hold. Again, don't feel that you have to know all this yourself. As I said before, you can gloss over your OOC ignorance, but remember that, even if Foofoo is visiting Keroon for the first time in her life, she's likely to have heard the Lady holder's name before.
Which books to read Thread General Knowledge Love Death Dragons and Firelizards Search
Love is a many-splendoured thing
Ah yes, l'amour... Well for a start, the Pernese have probably long since forgotten the French word for it. But when, where and how much does their attitude affect them? It's hard to tell... obviously any person is going to have their hormones kick in around puberty, but when would it be IC for your character to consider handfasting or to have a serious relationship without being frowned on? The common convention is to say that the holdbred are prudish and the weyrbred are somewhat easy on the virtue in these cases, but there are limits. I don't think a holder is going to be vastly shocked if it's revealed that two people of thirty are lovers before they're handfasted, while a rider isn't going to chase a girl not yet in her teens no matter how randy his dragon is. Paedophilia and rape are crimes anywhere—you can see weyrs dealing with the latter in Red Star Rising/Dragonseye (chapters 9-11). As for holders giving in to the primal urge, Masterharper of Pern contains plenty of examples of lusty romances among hold and craft, and The White Dragon gives us Jaxom's introduction to that world as a teenager, although being both dragonrider and lord holder, he probably found the girls more receptive than your average lad would. As for homosexuality, as far as I can remember, Anne only dealt with that in the weyrs, where nobody batted an eyelid. In a hold, there might be more prejudice, although I'm not sure if Anne ever implied that homophobia existed on Pern. Leave it up to the discretion of game and gamer.
For handfastings, there are numerous examples of holders marrying off their daughters and sisters for reasons of diplomacy and profit. Agewise, this seems to have happened at around sixteen, although I'd assume that girls as young as fourteen found themselves handfasted to that holder with the very profitable mine just down the valley. This wouldn't always be the case of course. Menolly was under no marriage pressures and she was fifteen when she left her hold in Dragonsong. Boys might also have been married off like the girls, although it's likely that they had more choice—but see what Alessan had to go through in Moreta and Nerilka. There seem to be a few different versions of the handfasting ceremony favoured on M*s featuring coins, rings or other. Read Nerilka's Story (chapter 10), Masterharper of Pern (chapter 13) and Dragonquest (chapter 10) for weddings in the books. Within a weyr, handfastings do not happen—except possibly between non-riders raised in holds. There are also certain roles which require restrictions as far as love-lives go: weyrlinghood for one (see Red Star Rising/Dragonseye, chapter 14) and also apprenticeship within the craft. It's been suggested that a weyrling at least would have their sexual urges dampened anyway because of their mental bonding with an immature creature, but whatever your opinion on the matter, check with people before you break rules. IC punishments can often be more trouble than they're worth, as much for the discipliner as the disciplinee.
In general, I think it's fairly safe to assume that your character is largely left in control of their own love-life from eighteen turns onwards. If Foofoo is younger, unwedded and pregnant, she's probably going to raise a few eyebrows among the holders. If she's been living in a weyr throughout her teenage years on the other hand, it's fairly likely that she'll not reach twenty a virgin. Mating flights broadcast emotions on quite a scale as shown in The White Dragon (chapter 12), so weyr residents certainly have plenty of occasions to lose their innocence. Since riders don't get much choice about their actions when their dragons catch/are caught, it's only natural that less importance is laid on celibacy (and sexuality). And of course, no rider can swear to be completely faithful to his weyrmate because he can't speak for his dragon... it's stated in Red Star Rising/Dragonseye (chapter 11) that the riders can have somebody else on hand, but I've rarely seen that used in a game. Likewise, it's not IC for the weyrmate to break off with the rider just because their dragon flew somebody else's, although they can be upset about it—they just can't rationally blame the rider. On a final note, unwanted pregnancies can be avoided. Contraception exists in family recipes at least (see Masterharper, end of chapter 1) although granted, there were probably as many supposed contraceptives that did nothing. Failing that, a few seconds longer between can induce a miscarriage. Details are in Dragonquest (chapters 3 and 4) where Lessa also mentions that the holdbred girls aren't happy with the idea of abortions.
All good things must come to an end
Death is just as much of a tragedy on Pern as it is here, although with larger families and high infant mortality, it's likely that most people have been touched by it from a very young age and aren't scarred for life by it either. The main point to cover on this subject is a reminder that the Pernese aren't religious and don't believe in an afterlife. Dragonsong (chapter 1), Masterharper of Pern (chapter 14) and All the Weyrs (chapter 20) contain examples of burials at sea, while chapter 8 of All the Weyrs also has a funeral scene; admittedly, Sallah received greater ceremony than just about anybody else could expect. Attitudes can be gleaned from the first two in particular for single deaths. It seems to be assumed that the mind or awareness of the person goes between like the dragons. Ghosts and an afterlife are not a factor. There is a moment in Masterharper when Robinton wonders if ghosts of dragons keep a watch on the abandoned Fort Weyr (chapter 8), but Anne has said that this comes from his own personal fancy rather than a common superstition: "There would be a 'feeling' about a place that has once been so populated - with vigor and all the emotions of living - that might impinge on a person's sensibilities. Young Robie KNOWS dragons lived there and, because dragons figure so profoundly in his culture, he would 'imagine' them there."
Dragon deaths are slightly different since if a dragon dies, the rest of the dragons in its Weyr would mourn for it, and this in turn would affect their riders and thus the rest of the Weyr. If a queen dragon dies, all the Weyrs would grieve: see Fanna's death in The White Dragon (chapter 8). And of course, if a rider dies, his dragon instantly suicides between. Fire lizards wouldn't necessarily do this. Anne seemed to feel it noteworthy that Zair died when Robinton did in All the Weyrs (chapter 20), paying tribute to the lizard for his faithfulness to his Impression. In general, the fire lizard bond isn't anywhere near as strong as the bond between rider and dragon, and Anne has said that most of them would return to their place of birth and the wild when their owner died, although Zair sets a precedent for closely bonded lizards, particularly metallics, maybe flicking between permanently or simply dying. Likewise, while a dragonrider will be permanently affected by his dragon's death, the death of a fire lizard—although terribly upsetting at the time—probably won't leave any long-lasting scars on its owner.
A note on the lifespan of your average Pernese: It's probably more or less comparable to ours, provided the person was healthy. They lack our medical facilities, but they have a healthier lifestyle. Robinton was nearly 90 when he died, judging from the books, and that was from a heart-attack and after a very stressful kidnapping. He was over fifty when Thread started falling and not at all debilitated. In Moreta chapter 5, weyrfolk are referred to as particularly healthy (although this is in the probably biased opinions of weyrfolk), and Masterharper features M'odon, a rider who's over 100 and still active. The lifespans of dragons are much argued over: Dragonsdawn (chapter 20) claimed that a dragon's expected lifespan was many times that of their rider, although that was before they realised dragons suicided when their riders died. In books set in later times, dragons are spoken of as having muzzles grey with age and of being less agile at about fifty years of age: Holth in Moreta; Tagath in Dragonflight. So the jury is still out. Some people say that dragons age in sympathy with their rider—Holth's infirmities seemed to match Leri's, while D'ram aged well and his Tiroth was still sturdy enough to join the expedition against Thread in All the Weyrs; some say that dragons have a lifespan similar to ours. Fire lizards on the other hand can safely be assigned longevity, although just how long has never been resolved. Some people feel that the White Dragon proves that fire lizards from the time of landing are still alive in the 9th pass; others say that the 'memories' are racial ones, inherited from parents. Lizards certainly don't exhibit the dragons' signs of age however, since it was from them that Dragonsdawn's scientists decided that the dragons would outlive their riders.
Dragons, dragons everywhere...
One of the exciting things about PernM*ing is being able to play with dragons and fire lizards, and when you first start, it's very hard to keep your character unaffected by the presence of these creatures. With dragons, this is potentially excusable, but on every PernM* that I've seen, fire lizards are pretty much omnipresent. Just about every character has one no matter what their age or rank. So when 16 turn old Foofoo goes into raptures over Goober's little blue, she had better be an excitable person. Technically speaking, she'd have seen fire lizards every day from infancy most likely, although you can make up what you like for their backstory, and if you don't want that to include fire lizards, so be it. Just remember that your average Pernese is well and truly accustomed to lizardkind... although desiring to Impress one yourself is perfectly IC. Avoid going over the top on it though, since it's unlikely that anybody would be unduly upset over not having one, plus it tends to irritate older players. See Fire Lizards for more details.
Dragons are a slightly different story, unless your character's weyrbred in which case they'd be just as run-of-the-mill as fire lizards. Although most Pernese will see dragons on a regular basis, in many cases this will be as nothing more than a silhouette in the sky. At a major hold, you'd expect dragonriders to visit fairly frequently, although dragons in the courtyard would rate a second look from any holder. In a smaller hold, a dragon visiting would be more of an event (see Dragonsong, chapter 2). Again this is dependent on the game... after all, if watchriders are posted to holds on your M*, then holder characters would be used to dragons in general, although a visiting dragon would still raise a stir. And outside of a Pass, riders would be less visible altogether since there'd be no real need for sweeps. In the most minor holds, it's likely that the residents would not get a chance to see a dragon up close since there'd be no watchrider and little need for a rider to visit.
Attitudes to dragons can vary hugely.... Fear is a common one but also the most IC. Remember that a queen dragon is roughly the size of a jumbo jet (look out for one the next time you go to an airport) and even a green dragon is upward of twenty metres long (these sizes have been debated, but either way, they're huge). Take a moment to stop and really think about a creature that size looming over you... you can't just park them in a garage. If your character sees dragons reasonably frequently however, (see above), they're less likely to feel terror/awe. Depending on how familiar you are with the dragon in question and with dragons in general, your reaction should come somewhere between nervous respect and casual affection. If it's during a pass, you'll almost certainly have been raised to respect these creatures and their riders; outside of a pass, there's more room for improvisation. Distrust of dragons should be reasonably rare though and confined to those who've not ICly had chance to interact with them, since dragons tend to be a lot more honest and better-natured than humans.
When I grow up, I want to be a dragonrider!
Search is frequently what's preying on a new player's mind. OOCly, games differ on how they manage giving out dragons—usually there's some form of application process. ICly, however, all that happens is the riders go out on Search and their dragons sense if a person is suitable, or in the case of weyr residents, they may be asked to stand. So essentially, your character is not expecting to get Searched. Most Pern residents never are and certainly wouldn't plan on it. So just because Foofoo's player applied her for Search, you wouldn't expect her to ICly be saying "Oh, I'm waiting to see if I get Searched for the clutch at the weyr. If not, I might try and get accepted as a harper apprentice." any more than you'd say in real life, "Oh, I've bought a lottery ticket so I'm waiting to see if I win that. If not, I might try and get into a university." The odds of Terran lottery and Pern Search aren't all that different, so that should give you some idea of how it would sound. If your character is hopelessly arrogant or naive, it's more excusable, almost apropos to little girls saying that when they grow up they're going to marry a prince.
Definitely don't say ICly "I've applied for Search! Here's hoping, eh?" Applications are an entirely OOC process, and aren't RP'ed at all. Similarly, Foofoo is unlikely to be heartbroken if she isn't Searched, although having a friend Searched when she isn't might conceivably have an effect on her. This does mean you get to act utterly gob-smacked if you are Searched though! Just don't faint on the rider who tells you the good news... he or she's got to get you back to the weyr, and it's a lot easier if you mount their dragon yourself!
This attitude becomes a little more flexible if you're already at the weyr in question (if you're at a weyr other that the Searching one, your character would still not think of being Searched). In Masterharper of Pern (chapter 6) and Dragonquest (chapter 5), both Falloner and Felessan were quite intent on becoming a dragonrider someday—and bronzeriders at that. Weyr residents can hope to be asked to Stand rather than just waiting until a Search dragon notices them, and it's probably quite likely that most residents put on candidate white at least once in their lifetimes. And if you aren't Searched, there's a greater range of reactions possible in seeing the other candidates, especially since you'll no doubt know some of them, if only NPC's. However it's more of a hope than a plan. If your character is as ambitious as Falloner and Felessan were, you might get anxious about it as soon as you were old enough, otherwise Foofoo's likely to be quite interested in the eggs and candidates, but not openly hopeful about being Searched on this specific occasion... more of a "Maybe it'll happen sometime." And again, she may get a wee bit depressed if her friends Stand and she doesn't, although it's unlikely that she'd throw herself into despair over it, not when she's surrounded by non-riders who seem to survive perfectly well.
Which books to read Thread General Knowledge Love Death Dragons and Firelizards Search
