Post by Topaz on Dec 17, 2008 6:20:27 GMT -6
AVIAS failed, and Thread returned to Pern, ending a seven-hundred turn Interval.
The Weyrs had not expected Thread to ever be a problem again, so the dragon population dwindled down to a mere three-hundred, barely enough to fill Telgar and certainly not enough to survive fifty turns of unexpected Thread.
- - -
Gold Erisath's out-of-schedule Flight was the first clue. Everyone could see the queen was getting up in turns, still nothing was thought amiss when she rose scarcely a turn after her last clutch and flew for hours. Usually the old queen's Flights lasted no longer then a green's, and produced a scant five to ten eggs, all quite small with a bronze only once in a few clutches. However, this clutch produced what looked like two queen eggs and forty-one others, all much larger then usual. Erisath's most magnificent clutch by far.
Then there was the Red Star's rise towards the Star Stone. Only a few had taken any real notice in it, but it was not enough to convince the masses of impending doom. When Thread finally fell, it was sporadic and decimated many of the continents Holds. By the end of the first Fall, Telgar was the only Weyr left, holding the entire Pernese population, which was now a third of what it had previously been. The three-hundred dragons had been brought down to a mere one-hundred.
- - -
Then Erisath's eggs hatched. The clutch produced twenty greens, eleven blues, seven browns, and three bronzes; all larger and healthier then any dragons before them. The two supposed queen eggs waited until the very last minute to hatch, and revealed two spectacular dragons. The first was a huge, midnight black male who immediately mauled a Candidate close to death, before finding his mindmate R'wign and claiming himself Onyx Arryth.
The second massive egg indeed produce a queen, but one the Pernese had never seen before. A large, silvery-white dragon emerged and quickly set on killing two female Candidates before Impressing to Cezine, and declaring herself Diamond Enalath.
- - -
Most people looked down at the pair as abominations, and therefore did not make much of a fuss when Cezine had secretly let Enalath chew firestone and practice Thread-fighting drills. The wings grudgingly allowed her into their ranks, alongside Arryth, since no one could detest either dragons prowess in the skies.
When Enalath rose, it was no surprise to anyone that Onyx Arryth caught her. The two had been nearly inseparable and viciously possessive of each other ever since the Hatching. Many figured that the queen was now sterile like the greens, since she had chewed firestone. Even when she produced a magnificent clutch of forty-nine, many prayed that they were duds. But every egg Hatched into large, healthy dragons, which..to the dismay of the Weyrfolk..were just a strangely colored as their parents.
Twenty Pearl dragons hatched. They were male, and smaller then even the greens, sporting a creamy white hide which reflected a myriad of colors deserving of their name. The next color were female, eight in number, all a rich violet. They were dubbed Amethysts. Next were fifteen red males, slightly smaller then the average bronze, which were named Garnets. The last six eggs were all Onyx's, little replicas of the original.
- - -
Five turns later, tensions are at a breaking point. Enalath rose twice more in that time, producing a total of 73 Jewel dragons, including Diamond Eloqueth. Eloquenth rose once and produced 32 Jewels, no queen among them. Gold Erisath rose twice, producing 39 in all, with Gold Angelasth. Unfortunately, one turn, Eloquenth and Angelasth rose at the same time, fought, and both perished.
After that incident, Telgar Weyrfolk and the original dragonriders demanded that the Jewels leave the Weyr. R'wign and Cezine begin a desperate search for a new Weyr, and finally find one in the Southern continent. All the Jewels, and a small group of supporters, quickly relocated to the new Weyr, which they name Lapis.
- - -
Another of Enalath's clutches will be on the Sands soon. Can you Impress a Jewel dragon? Or will you side with Telgar to the north, and plot the end of the Jewels?
Join the fight today, at Jewels of Pern.
The Weyrs had not expected Thread to ever be a problem again, so the dragon population dwindled down to a mere three-hundred, barely enough to fill Telgar and certainly not enough to survive fifty turns of unexpected Thread.
- - -
Gold Erisath's out-of-schedule Flight was the first clue. Everyone could see the queen was getting up in turns, still nothing was thought amiss when she rose scarcely a turn after her last clutch and flew for hours. Usually the old queen's Flights lasted no longer then a green's, and produced a scant five to ten eggs, all quite small with a bronze only once in a few clutches. However, this clutch produced what looked like two queen eggs and forty-one others, all much larger then usual. Erisath's most magnificent clutch by far.
Then there was the Red Star's rise towards the Star Stone. Only a few had taken any real notice in it, but it was not enough to convince the masses of impending doom. When Thread finally fell, it was sporadic and decimated many of the continents Holds. By the end of the first Fall, Telgar was the only Weyr left, holding the entire Pernese population, which was now a third of what it had previously been. The three-hundred dragons had been brought down to a mere one-hundred.
- - -
Then Erisath's eggs hatched. The clutch produced twenty greens, eleven blues, seven browns, and three bronzes; all larger and healthier then any dragons before them. The two supposed queen eggs waited until the very last minute to hatch, and revealed two spectacular dragons. The first was a huge, midnight black male who immediately mauled a Candidate close to death, before finding his mindmate R'wign and claiming himself Onyx Arryth.
The second massive egg indeed produce a queen, but one the Pernese had never seen before. A large, silvery-white dragon emerged and quickly set on killing two female Candidates before Impressing to Cezine, and declaring herself Diamond Enalath.
- - -
Most people looked down at the pair as abominations, and therefore did not make much of a fuss when Cezine had secretly let Enalath chew firestone and practice Thread-fighting drills. The wings grudgingly allowed her into their ranks, alongside Arryth, since no one could detest either dragons prowess in the skies.
When Enalath rose, it was no surprise to anyone that Onyx Arryth caught her. The two had been nearly inseparable and viciously possessive of each other ever since the Hatching. Many figured that the queen was now sterile like the greens, since she had chewed firestone. Even when she produced a magnificent clutch of forty-nine, many prayed that they were duds. But every egg Hatched into large, healthy dragons, which..to the dismay of the Weyrfolk..were just a strangely colored as their parents.
Twenty Pearl dragons hatched. They were male, and smaller then even the greens, sporting a creamy white hide which reflected a myriad of colors deserving of their name. The next color were female, eight in number, all a rich violet. They were dubbed Amethysts. Next were fifteen red males, slightly smaller then the average bronze, which were named Garnets. The last six eggs were all Onyx's, little replicas of the original.
- - -
Five turns later, tensions are at a breaking point. Enalath rose twice more in that time, producing a total of 73 Jewel dragons, including Diamond Eloqueth. Eloquenth rose once and produced 32 Jewels, no queen among them. Gold Erisath rose twice, producing 39 in all, with Gold Angelasth. Unfortunately, one turn, Eloquenth and Angelasth rose at the same time, fought, and both perished.
After that incident, Telgar Weyrfolk and the original dragonriders demanded that the Jewels leave the Weyr. R'wign and Cezine begin a desperate search for a new Weyr, and finally find one in the Southern continent. All the Jewels, and a small group of supporters, quickly relocated to the new Weyr, which they name Lapis.
- - -
Another of Enalath's clutches will be on the Sands soon. Can you Impress a Jewel dragon? Or will you side with Telgar to the north, and plot the end of the Jewels?
Join the fight today, at Jewels of Pern.