Post by Whim on Oct 10, 2012 22:13:33 GMT -5
Terms, definitions, and other tidbits about the world of Pern.
If there's anything else that you'd like to know, or think should be added to this list, please PM Whim.
- Measurement: A turn is a year, and a sevenday (or se'enday, if your character had a strong accent) is a week. Things are often measured in handspans (which may be either a length or a surface area) and distances and very large things, such as ships, are measured in dragonlengths.
- Medicine: Healers of the Healer Craft study and train in the art of healing. Once they reach advanced journeyman status they may begin to specialize; if they do, the description of their specialization may be added to the beginning of the title Healer (such as Dragonhealer). Healers commonly use numbweed, a plant which is boiled down into a creme that is a numbing agent, a disinfectant, and known for a very strong smell. Fellis or fellis juice is a liquid which will put those who drink it to sleep. Too strong a dose of fellis can kill, so it is often mixed with wine instead of being used by itself.
- Society is essentially feudal, with the Lord Holders and Masters of crafts as kings and the Holders as minor nobles, though dragonriders are a rank of their own. A Hold is similar to a castle, but built into a cliff or caves. However, while a Lord Holder is Lord Holder for life, when he dies, his heir must be confirmed by a council of Lord Holders, and is not required to be the child or even a relative of the previous Lord Holder, though this is preferred.
- Genders are not truly equal, but they are closer than one might expect; women are allowed to do everything men do, even if they are not expected to, and generally will not be persecuted for it, even if many people will be determined that "my daughter will be a proper woman and do no such thing." A woman technically could take the title of Lady Holder to rule, but it never happens.
- Between is the place that dragons seem to travel through when teleporting. Between is cold, and dark; described as "absolute" cold and darkness. It is impossible to see or hear anything in Between no matter how close it is, though things that you touch can be felt, and it seems to be possible to breath. A trip Between takes three seconds.
- Impression is a mental and emotional bond between a dragon and a human, from then on known as the dragon's rider. A dragon Impresses to a human upon hatching; if they cannot find a suitable human to Impress, they suicide by going Between and not emerging. If a dragon's rider dies, the dragon does the same; if a rider's dragon dies the rider will either suicide or go insane, with only very rare riders managing to survive and retain their sanity. Even those who do survive seem to suffer from depression to varying degrees for the rest of their life.
- Names on Pern are, mostly, evolved forms of Earth names; some can still be recognizably traced to their Earth origin, but many cannot. If a boy becomes a dragon rider, his name will be contracted, with an apostrophe placed after the first letter of the name (such as Nalikem to N'kem). Should the dragon die, the apostrophe will be taken out and replaced by a vowel. Female dragonriders do not contract their name. Dragons' names always end in -th, and they know their names upon hatching, and will tell their riders their name when they Impress.
If there's anything else that you'd like to know, or think should be added to this list, please PM Whim.