Ierne Weyr: History

History of Ierne Weyr

The Ninth Interval was a good one for the dragons, and they experienced a population surge. This was a problem in some ways, however, as it led to overpopulation of the Weyrs, particularly that of Xanadu. In the 100th turn of the Interval, Ierne Weyr was founded in a volcanic crater on the island of the same name, led by Alystia, rider of Gold Syralith, and T'ral, rider of Bronze Zoth, and made up of the overflow dragons from Xanadu.

Without the rockcutters of the ancients, the construction of the Weyr was very difficult, made even more so by the conflicting personalities and styles of the weyrleaders. Nevertheless, the Hatching Cavern was completed in time for Syralith to lay her clutch. Soon thereafter the candidates started a tradition by having to carve out the chambers that became the new weyrs of the lucky Impressees. Among that clutch of 38 was a treasured gold egg, hatching Zahlyth, who Impressed Syrrina.

The work on the Weyr continued for many turns. T'ral was killed in Threadfall long before the process was completed, and was succeeded as weyrleader by A'zien, rider of Bronze Yiolth. Eventually under his leadership, the Weyr reached a level where it was considered "finished," though improvements continued and candidates continued the excavation of the weyrs that might become their own. Syrrina eventually took over as senior weyrwoman and continued improvements in her own way, commissioning many tapestries that gave the Weyr a touch of elegance and comfort.

The turns passed again, and so did the Pass, leading into the Tenth Interval. This was a very prosperous one for Ierne Weyr. Detailed explorations of the island were conducted, small settlements came into being, and many of the predatory felines were driven off. Healers made many discoveries of uses of the plants of the island. Riders helped with all of this, transporting people, aiding in the studies, or just guarding against the felines. These activities precluded many going to aid in the Landing excavation.

When news of the disease got out, Ierne riders were very grateful for avoiding Landing for the most part, and paranoia began to reign. The Healers were needed and requested transportation, but almost all refused. Though there wasn't any evidence of infection, those riders who obliged the healers were forced into quarantine on their return by their fellows. However, unbeknownst to the Weyr, the disease was airborne and capable of infecting water supplies. With no technology to create seperate airspaces, the quarantine failed, and the disease soon flourished throughout the Weyr.

With the rampant infection afflicting most, the Weyr mistakenly quarantined itself. The disease festered without any outside aid, leaving Ierne more affected by the scourge than the other Weyrs. When the infection had finally passed, the Weyr was only able to muster two full fighting wings, with a few left over. Their single queen dragon left was an older dragon who had not risen in over eight years. When the Lessa-like excursion was proposed, Ierne's leadership jumped on the opportunity, insisting that among the dragons brought forward there be a fertile gold for the Weyr as well as enough other dragons and riders to bring it to Thread-fighting strength.

A number of riders came forward, volunteering to relocate to the denuded Weyr. As well, a number of young, fertile queens came forward, and it was decided that the first to rise would become the new senior weyrwoman at Ierne. It was a relief to Miryel, the old weyrwoman, and T'vrel, the acting weyrleader, both when Aleamyth, ridden by Winter, rose. It was far less of a relief when the big bronze that caught her was Eadranth, ridden by Sh'drian, a rather irresponsible, womanizing, crass young man from the past.

While Sh'drian almost immediately began to attempt to abuse his authority and bully the Weyr, Winter quickly kept that from getting out of hand. That didn't Sh'drian from making wild decisions on things under his jurisdiction, though. He picked Shava, rider of blue Roketh, as a wingleader, a job she had done in the past. However, he also picked young L'yan, rider of brown Vorsanth, as the new weyrlingmaster, despite the brownrider's inexperience. The two new weyrleaders clashed many times over the next weeks, though things calmed down a bit after Alaemyth laid a respectable 35 eggs. That didn't stop conflicts between the oldtimers and new, however, especially after several oldtimers raided the Weyr's stores.

The Hatching day arrived, and all 35 eggs hatched and their dragons found their lifemates. Among them was gold Nenyaeth, who found her match in Orielle. The weyrling barracks was no longer empty, for the first time in over a decade. This happy event didn't stop the conflict in the unhappy Weyr, though. There was little confidence that L'yan would be able to handle the teaching of the rambunctious weyrlings, Sh'drian foremost among the doubters.

L'yan, frazzled by knowing his own inexperience as well as the hostility from Sh'drian and others, was somewhat wild and his competence varied greatly depending on the subject. Fortunately, T'vrel, relieved from his duties as acting weyrleader, volunteered to help, so when the green weyrlingmaster picked K'rien, an equally inexperienced greenrider from the past, to round out the weyrling staff, it wasn't a complete disaster.

In fact, the brownrider seemed to have a stroke of luck, as despite the numerous conflicts that erupted between weyrlings and the staff over the next turn and a half, only three weyrlings were lost in training, leaving 32 new riders to help fill out the ranks of the fighting wings when weyrlinghood finished. The happy occasion of graduation was quickly spoiled to many when Sh'drian flexed his contrariness again and tapped D'ven, newly graduated rider of bronze Trenoth, as weyrsecond.