Post by Jay Kitten on Aug 17, 2013 6:33:20 GMT -8
During Turn 1758, Thread began falling once more. The Weyrs were all populated, and so it was deemed easy enough for them to handle; however now that the Interval was over, having lasted long enough for the predicted date of the Interval's end to be lost, nobody was quite ready. The first Threadfall of the Pass had happened over High Reaches Hold, during a Gather, and the results weren't pretty. Many of the citizens were killed, and the Holders who lived were threadscored or shell shocked from all of the screams and panic of that day. But the Weyrs didn't let that happen again, at least not to the Holders, however for the first few Falls since none of the dragons were experienced, it tolled heavily on their numbers as well. And as such, a rush for supplies was called for, the Holds each sending their biggest tithe possible for that run, but it wasn't enough for some Weyrleaders. They wanted more, to protect what was theirs.
Early on in the Pass, it was decided by the southern-most Weyrs that they would start a colony on the Southern Continent, after initial reconnaissance, a place where they could send families to get away from the Threadfall with a small garrison of Riders to protect them. The join operation was spearheaded by Ista, but backed by Igen and Fort, who's Weyrleaders were all seen as progressive and non-traditional. The northern-most Weyrs grew bitter, telling themselves that this act was a terrible idea, viewing the lower Weyrs as "abandoning" their people by sending Riders away from them. Tension grew high and several arguments about this move broke out.
In particular, up at High Reaches where the weather was cold, they found themselves in short supply of basic cloth to make blankets or warm clothing with when they found their major tithing Hold decimated by Threadfall. It was no secret that the man leading the Weyr at the time- a grouchy old Rider named F'gar- didn't care much for how the other Weyrs were faring. And so, he decided to order his Riders to take what they needed from the Holds just north of Ruatha, which were normally on the other side of the border from their territory and in to Fort's.
The Cotholds didn't fare well, most of their supplies were raided within a couple days, and some of the more unfriendly Riders had taken it upon themselves to take advantage of the situation, seeing a pretty girl and deciding she was their's for the picking. This trend was typical on Pern, for Riders in power to do what they would with the Holder girls, but usually it could be stopped, however in these raids it was impossible to do so without retribution. A few men were killed trying to stop the looting, and reports soon flooded in to Fort of this rampant outrage.
A Council was called, of all the Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen, to discuss the future of Pern. It didn't help that the leader of Fort was young and green, his ideals clashed heavily with those of the High Reaches leadership, and a shouting match took place instead of peaceful talks. It was then that F'gar decided that rather than simply loot the Cotholds, he would take them; he had decided to force the Holders there to produce more of what he needed. And in a rallying speech later that same day, back in Fort, the young leader T'san told his men that if they wanted their Holds back, they would have to take them. And so they did.
After raising militia, they marched northward, through the Cotholds, and killed each and every High Reaches personnel they could find, liberating their fellows from the forced annexation. But it was a bad move, because nobody expected what F'gar would do about it. In a bold move, he had his Riders appear directly over Fort, and sack it as much as they could, using firestone to ruin their supplies in retribution for denying him his. The side effect was death, and the blood ran thick as the casualties of war were first struck against Riders directly. T'san was beside himself, but appealed to his allies elsewhere, and rose up to speak with the Lords and Weyrleaders of the southern territories. Some were convinced to join his outrage, and militias were created in many of the major Holds, and sent north to forcefully annex more territory for the South.
The Sacking of Lemos was a direct result, and Rider and Holder alike marched in, burning and pillaging and looting and raping anything that they could find, killing any who resisted in a brutal display of Southern "loyalty". Lemos, as a whole, had been more neutral to either side's cause, being about half way between both Igen and Telgar Weyrs, and having seen their skies defended by neither one more often than the other. It's denizens were confused about what they had done, but this had been the major deciding factor in the North's actions against the South, and they used it to brainwash their fellow countrymen into War.
Since then, the War has raged and torn the lands between the two factions apart, the border now a no-man's-land of dead and dying Holds. Refugees of the borderline have fled into the further Holds, though this doesn't protect from dragon raids, and recently, the North has seen their flamethrowers turned on people as well as Thread. War never changes...
Early on in the Pass, it was decided by the southern-most Weyrs that they would start a colony on the Southern Continent, after initial reconnaissance, a place where they could send families to get away from the Threadfall with a small garrison of Riders to protect them. The join operation was spearheaded by Ista, but backed by Igen and Fort, who's Weyrleaders were all seen as progressive and non-traditional. The northern-most Weyrs grew bitter, telling themselves that this act was a terrible idea, viewing the lower Weyrs as "abandoning" their people by sending Riders away from them. Tension grew high and several arguments about this move broke out.
In particular, up at High Reaches where the weather was cold, they found themselves in short supply of basic cloth to make blankets or warm clothing with when they found their major tithing Hold decimated by Threadfall. It was no secret that the man leading the Weyr at the time- a grouchy old Rider named F'gar- didn't care much for how the other Weyrs were faring. And so, he decided to order his Riders to take what they needed from the Holds just north of Ruatha, which were normally on the other side of the border from their territory and in to Fort's.
The Cotholds didn't fare well, most of their supplies were raided within a couple days, and some of the more unfriendly Riders had taken it upon themselves to take advantage of the situation, seeing a pretty girl and deciding she was their's for the picking. This trend was typical on Pern, for Riders in power to do what they would with the Holder girls, but usually it could be stopped, however in these raids it was impossible to do so without retribution. A few men were killed trying to stop the looting, and reports soon flooded in to Fort of this rampant outrage.
A Council was called, of all the Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen, to discuss the future of Pern. It didn't help that the leader of Fort was young and green, his ideals clashed heavily with those of the High Reaches leadership, and a shouting match took place instead of peaceful talks. It was then that F'gar decided that rather than simply loot the Cotholds, he would take them; he had decided to force the Holders there to produce more of what he needed. And in a rallying speech later that same day, back in Fort, the young leader T'san told his men that if they wanted their Holds back, they would have to take them. And so they did.
After raising militia, they marched northward, through the Cotholds, and killed each and every High Reaches personnel they could find, liberating their fellows from the forced annexation. But it was a bad move, because nobody expected what F'gar would do about it. In a bold move, he had his Riders appear directly over Fort, and sack it as much as they could, using firestone to ruin their supplies in retribution for denying him his. The side effect was death, and the blood ran thick as the casualties of war were first struck against Riders directly. T'san was beside himself, but appealed to his allies elsewhere, and rose up to speak with the Lords and Weyrleaders of the southern territories. Some were convinced to join his outrage, and militias were created in many of the major Holds, and sent north to forcefully annex more territory for the South.
The Sacking of Lemos was a direct result, and Rider and Holder alike marched in, burning and pillaging and looting and raping anything that they could find, killing any who resisted in a brutal display of Southern "loyalty". Lemos, as a whole, had been more neutral to either side's cause, being about half way between both Igen and Telgar Weyrs, and having seen their skies defended by neither one more often than the other. It's denizens were confused about what they had done, but this had been the major deciding factor in the North's actions against the South, and they used it to brainwash their fellow countrymen into War.
Since then, the War has raged and torn the lands between the two factions apart, the border now a no-man's-land of dead and dying Holds. Refugees of the borderline have fled into the further Holds, though this doesn't protect from dragon raids, and recently, the North has seen their flamethrowers turned on people as well as Thread. War never changes...