Chap. 66 The Conclave

Chap. 66 The conclave

A week after Thread had stopped falling,  the dragonriders of Pern had recovered from the celebrations. Now they were reflecting on what the future held for them.

F'lar and Lessa, the de facto Weyrleaders of the planet, had called for a conclave of all weyrleaders, Weyrwomen, riders who'd explored and opened the Southern Continent, and even Crafthall leaders and Holders, such as Lord Jaxom and the treacherous Lord Toric. 

Upon his return from the meeting, M'rvin, the Weyrleader, had called a for a general meeting of dragonriders, the team chiefs and Masters of all  the various sections of the Weyr. He was the type of man who believed in letting everyone know what was going on.

"It was interesting, I must say, and a bit awe-inspiring, to meet F'lar and Lessa," he said. "F'lar could easily have boasted that he'd been right all along, when he'd made a promise to get rid of Thread. But he didn't."

"I'm surprised he included Lord Toric, though. He was never a friend. I wouldn't trust him any further than I can throw my dragon," said someone. 

"Despite his age, he's not improved a bit, he's still Toric. But being that his Hold is the largest in Southern, I'm assuming that he expects to get the largest number of migrants from North. I agree with you, I wouldn't have had him there, but…it's better to have one's enemy in front where you can keep an eye on him. F'lar, when it was just us dragonriders, quoted someone from the Ancients time: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"It also lets him know that we're on to him," one said. 

"Aye." He took a sip of his ale and frowned. It wasn't quite right. This batch, somehow, tasted a bit odd. Wasn't bad, just..odd. What had he done wrong? Were the others drinking it out of politeness, him being Weyrleader? Ach, M'rvin, some of the older ones would drink anything.  Back to business, M'rvin, back to the meeting. 

"F'lar continually emphasized two points," he continued, "the first being, an awful lot of folks are planning on moving down here from the North. Toric's  Hold is going to fill up quickly. He's got the room, for now. 

But do WE?  I fully expect our Weyr to begin seeing an influx of dragonriders. We have the room, at the moment, but there will come a time when every individual weyr is occupied. It means an increase in EVERYTHING: more people. More dragons. More water needed, more food for humans, more beasts for the dragons, more staff for Our Hariko, maybe a larger kitchen/dining hall. More latrines, more halls for families, honestly more work for me and Siena. Or whomever takes our place as Leaders."

"The second thing he emphasized that, we, as dragonriders, must continue to be relevant to Pern as a whole. I don't think anyone wants a repeat of the last Interval, when Lessa risked everything to bring the Oldtimers forward. By that time, the Holders had fairly well dismissed us as useless. I do NOT want to see that happen, ever again."

D'nis spoke up. "It's why we all have been exorting everyone to find a 'job', utilize a skill, learn a 'trade'. We will still have all the tasks we've done as dragonriders in the past, with the exception of not having to fly Thread anymore. Thank  Aivas …and F'lar! for that! But I see a need for us becoming a bit more independent. Not a just a little bit more. I mean, almost totally independent, able to sustain ourselves, just as the Holds do. The time we've spent training for and fighting Thread will be more than filled up with tasks such as managing herds, harvesting food, that sort of thing."

B'rant, the Weyrling Master, spoke up. "I can see, too, that Weyrling training will be, um, shortened. The time it will take to train them up will be drastically cut. I really cannot see a reason to drill and drill, throwing firestone sacks in the air, when there is no need for it. I don't see the need to know how to fly in fighting wings when there's nothing to fight." 

M'rvin looked out over the audience. These are my people, he thought, all of them..from the lowest drudge to Siena, the Weyrwoman. I didn't know how much I would love being their Weyrleader. But now, will it mean the same? As it did before?

"Some of you may want to leave, move elsewhere. You are free to do so, of course. I can see some people taking employment with Holders. Some of you may want to return to your home hold or cothold. Some of you may want to move to other weyrs elsewhere on Pern. I have no issue with that.

What I will say is that, should you choose to remain here at Kahrain Steppe, you will be expected to do your part, as you have in the past, in running it, in doing work."

The audience of riders nodded. Some had nodded off.

Some groaned.

"This isn't to say you won't have time to do things that you want. As I said, I fully expect a large number of dragonriders to transfer here. The more hands available, the less work. But I don't know what the Oldtimers did when there was no thread falling. Did they stay in weyrs? Did they move out? N'orald? Can you enlighten us?" 

M'rvin looked at N'orald. The Oldtimer was in his mid-80's and was showing signs of it. 

"Someone wake him. Gently." 

B'rant got up and touched the old man on the shoulder.

"Aye! Agreed!" N'orald shouted, then, looking at the faces of those around him, protested, "I wasn't asleep."

M'rvin…and everyone else…grinned.

"We know that. Sir, we need your wise counsel. You were a dragonrider when there was no Thread. Before you came forward, what was it like, not having Thread to fight?"

N'orald, unaccustomed to the attention being suddenly paid to him, sat upright and thought.

"Why, sir, it was boring. Boring. Nothing to do but eat and sleep. It's why I came forward. I didn't like fighting thread all them years, but it was better than sitting about doing nothing."

M'rvin groaned inwardly. This wasn't what he expected.

"No tasks at the Weyr? Did dragonriders move out, or stay in the weyr?" M'rvin asked, trying to coax the old man's memory into working. The  man was slipping into his own quiet, peaceful world. 

"Oh,  that was the boring part, my lad! T'was like being in a Hold. Do this, go there, help the cooks, clean out the barns, cut down this tree, handle this beast. Go fishing, go hunting, that was good, but usually it were nothing but tasks. Aye, they needed doing, it's true, and I learned a lot, but still, I found it boring. I was first one to say I'll go when Lessa came and talked to us. Wouldn't want to make that time jump ever again, but it was worth it."

Not very reassured, M'rvin said, "Thank you, sir." 

N'orald unexpectedly rescued him, though. For a few moments, his mind cleared of it's fog, and  he was the vibrant wingleader he'd been at one time.

"But sir, these days is different. You have Aivas. That thing has brought in all new things that need doing and learning. If the Holders are like they were in my time, they won't take too long to forget that the weyrs depend on them to provide. Not saying all Holders are the same, but, in my time, the Holders treated dragonriders like a nuisance, a parasite. Dragonriders who did leave to go out on their own usually came back, as no one would support them. It was a sad thing, aye, it were. But this time, the Weyr needs to be independent. You will all need to know how to do things like breed herdbeasts, and grow fruit trees, harvest firewood and grow food.  You need to learn how to do things that we didn't have the time or the inclination.  Weyrlings can be taught skills in the place of drills. Just about every dragonrider came from somewhere else, a Hold or a Crafthall, and he needs to be able to use the skills he learned as a boy, even when he's a dragonrider. Don't waste the opportunity."

M'rvin felt better. "Thank you, N'orald, and we appreciate your advice and presence."

N'orald slipped back into his warm, ancient mind. 

"You're welcome, sir."

"I'm glad you brought up weyrlings," M'rvin said, "Ours…well, the last two classes, seem to be filled with young minds with an interest in exploring more than the continent…they want to explore the innovations that Aivas resurrected. For instance, our Master Healer, Billek, has done a wonderful job in digging through the Landing's "database", a thing I've never had an experience with, to find new herbs, plants and methods of healing that I'd never heard of when I was a Weyrling. Or Rendel, our master harper-he and K'ndar, there, have been building up our library of books. The children are already using it!"

Everyone turned to look at K'ndar. Astonished at being pointed out-he and his classmates were the most junior of riders in the Weyr-he shrunk into his boots. 

B'rost, sitting next to him, pounded him on the shoulder. 

"Good on you, K'ndar!!" he said, a bit too loudly.

"Shhhh."

M'rvin finished his ale.

"We're entering uncharted skies, if you will, now that we are free of Thread. I hope you all find meaning in this, and see how we can make Kahrain Steppe Weyr as self-supporting as we can.

And me? I'm going to learn how to use that 'database', I will, to find out just what I did wrong with this batch of ale."