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Date Posted: 10:33:21 07/22/05 Fri
Author: Daine
Subject: Aerius; our fate in the stars

The reign of F�lar and Lessa had been a prosperous one. Dragon clutches, right up the line to the great Queen Ramoth, were immense, Queens became more numerous and the dragons themselves grew in both power and size. But not only did the dragons prosper. Medicine and science steadily increased as well. Cures for common illnesses and diseases were found as being more effective then remedies that had been used before and Healers were able to heal injuries that could not have been done before. It seemed that nothing could plague Pern now. After F�lar�s death, Lessa had stepped down from Benden Weyr and the people were eager to know who their next Weyrwoman was to be. Ramoth�s last clutch at that time was nearly ready to hatch�32 eggs including her last daughter. The hatching came two sevendays later, and new Queen hatched and much to the utter dismay of Benden, did not impress. A huge search began and searchriders were sent to every Weyr and Hold inhabited on Pern. Every potential candidate was brought back to Benden�and refused by the little Queen. Out of desperation, Benden sent out a second search party�and had indeed discovered they missed one candidate, a soldier in one of the smaller and older cotholds named Ayla. They brought her back to the young Queen and Ayla impressed, thus becoming Benden�s new Weyrwoman.
After Lessa�s death and the end of Ayla and Cyrilayth�s weyrling training, word of a new discovery that would change the history of Pern had spread to Benden Weyr. Astrologists in Benden Hold had discovered an element called Ioline, very similar to Carbon Dioxide, which could potentially strengthen the atmosphere around Pern, thus creating a shield that would deflect Thread. This however was a problem for the Dragonriders since they would no longer be needed to protect Pern from Threadfall. The Weyrs advised against it, creating tension between the Weyrs and the Holds, who supported the scientific discovery. This was the beginning of a 200-turn period of strife between Weyr and Hold. During this time, a strong curiosity in gene splicing and DNA was at a height. One of the most famous geneticists, Sirius Liker began to pick up off the studies of the genetic engineering, and the creation of the dragons. He began to experiment with the genes of certain species of animals on Pern, including the firelizards, wherry, wher and runner. During this time, other geneticists began to follow Liker�s example. Certain names as Kylan Triton, Michael Istar and Rystan Durton became common. The population in Holds and Weyrs had become so big�since the natural ways to weed the weak off, such as disease and sickness had been fought by advanced medicines and remedies and Thread no longer fell; that people had to be exported from one place to another. People�s tempers were running high, and Pern was on the brink of war. Dragonriders now overlooked the whole of Pern and excavated new sites for Holds when one became too full. With less need for Dragons, clutches became smaller and less frequent, and fewer people began to impress hatchlings. This continued through generations. And each generation remembered less and less about the Dragonriders and Thread. And while this was going on, the holes in the atmosphere began to grow bigger and bigger.
And genetic engineering had grown tremendously, some geneticists even daring to combine creatures to develop new ones. Word of horrible mutations in some geneticists� labs had spread among Pern but they had been dismissed as rumors and not brought up again. It was the next decade that Pern started crumbling. Dragonriders stumbled across Rystan�s lab and discovered terrible mutations�among them, numerous Hippogryffs�animals with the head and upper bodies of eagles, the front legs and wings of dragons, and the lower bodies and hind legs of runners. They discovered these animals had major healing properties and so one specimen was taken back to Benden Weyr. Along with these animals there were several other mutated specimen including Pseudi, creatures the size of small dogs that resembled Medieval Dragons and have mindspeech abilities, replacing firelizards which suddenly vanished; and a few other creatures. The others, including twisted versions of dragons, felines and whers were often too unstable and usually died of unknown causes. Soon after the infiltration of his lab, Rystan mysteriously disappeared. Two turns later, the atmosphere that had protected Pern gave way without scientists knowing. Thread however had evolved�it could devour twice as fast, which proved to be ultimately fatal. Pern was not prepared for this, and the majority of the population perished, leaving only a few survivors and even fewer dragons.
After this Threadfall, Pern fell into a period of decline. Geneticists, those who were left began to experiment with dragon and Pseudi DNA to bring back the species that was so closely teetering on the brink of extinction. However the �old-world� species: Gold, Brown, Blue and Green could not be brought back without some sort of genetic mutation, however Sirius did manage to create the first of the �new-world� species, a Sapphire Queen mutation that began to look less like their old-world versions, and more like larger versions of their Pseudi ancestors. This dragon was faster, lighter and more maneuverable than the �old-world� Queens, which made it possible to fly in Threadfall. The Queen who was later named Edenayth, impressed the young Laurana, and became the Weyrwoman of Corinth, the first reconstructed Weyr. However as he continued to perfect the Sapphire mutation it took a turn for the worst, future Queens continued to get larger and slower, even bigger than the Gold Queen, although capable of clutching immense clutches. Using the genes of one of the last Bronzes left, he slightly modified them and came up with the first Chrome. Several tries later to perfect this dragon and he came up with several new colors: Steel, Copper and Opal dragons. The Ruby and Emerald Queens had been introduced in a clutch by Sapphire Isiyth and the Topaz dragon, a mutation of an Opal experiment Sirius had been working on. The turn is 2073 and winter in Corinth. Since the first of the �new-world� dragons, the Weyr has bloomed under the young Weyrwoman�s care. A new day has dawned and the change has begun.

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