950 turns ago, Threadfall ended with aid of AIVIS, then the AIVIS system shut down. The penal Islands were once more brought into service, housing criminals considered too unsafe for the normal population to live with. Dragonriders began to be self-supporting, learning a Rider Trade in one of the following fields: Cargo Transport, Passenger Transport, Cartography & Exploration, Mountain Rescues, Travel Guides (helping to arrange and transport people wanting a brief vacation), and the elite Display Wing (taught the ancient Thread Fighting Ways, as well as Spring Games and Stunt Flying).
About 600 turns ago, a series of catastrophes befell Pern. Seismic and Tectonic activity hit unprecedented highs, causing Earthquakes on what was once thought to be stable land. From The Ice Lake of Ruatha to the shore just beyond Ruatha River Hold became an immense Gorge in just about 10 turns, unfit for Human Habitation. Bendan Weyr's tragedy was so sudden that many dragon and rider lives were lost as the volcano once thought to be extinct erupted. The volcano remains active to date. In the Harper-Healer Hall, great rents occurred in the hypocaust systems, leaking toxins into the water supply. It eventually fell to ruin and was renamed the Old Fort College Ruins, as the Harper and Healer Halls moved on and evolved in their own ways. Large underwater earthquakes causes tsunami high enough to engulf as far inland as even Landing School. Nearly all computers and equipment were destroyed, including the Admin building that housed the inactive AIVIS system. Landing was able to be rebuilt, and the Main Healer Hall now occupied a place of prominence there. The Computer and Plastic Crafts, however, never fully recovered and slowly fell into oblivion over the years and subsequent events.
Over the many turns, not only had the Weyrs evolved (including Southern Weyr being renamed Islinne Weyr), so had the Halls. New Crafts opened up, especially with the destruction of the Harper Hall so long ago. Other crafts branched out into sub-crafts with Minor halls of their own. The age of admittance was lowered creating an entire new class of crafter: the student. From 10 to 12 turns of age, a child would be taken into a Craft and taught basic skills that could be applied not only to that craft, but possibly apply to other crafts as well.
10 turns ago, the dragon population took a sweep up. More queens started to be produced. The dragon population soared enough that the Weyrleader Conclave opted to reopen two Weyrs: Xanadu Weyr in the Southern Continent, and Fort Weyr in the Northern Continent. Healers and riders alike were mystified as to why the dragons were producing more. The answer, came from the Starsmith Hall. Gravitational Wells and other cosmic phenomena had caused the Red Planet to change orbits, forming an Elliptical Orbit around Pern that mirrored something in an ancient record from nearly 1000 turns ago. The Red Planet was back in its old orbit, right through the Oort Cloud, and heading close to Pern. Threadfall would return.
It has been 10 turns since that fateful discovery by the Starsmiths, and Pern struggles in a battle of wills: believers are frantically preparing for Threadfall, a foe so old as to be a myth now. Non-believers are rampant, though, making the possible destruction of Pern seem inevitable in their refusal of the ancient proofs.
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