Margatta of Fort Weyr

[pernever]

I have been recently rereading my Pern books and have been wondering how the situation unfolded for Margatta becoming Weyrwoman after the exile to the south of Marda and T'ron did she come forward in time with them or did she impress during the ninth pass?

Also I have wondered how her relationship unfolded with N'ton and Ludeth's with Lioth was it more like Moreta and Sh'gall's or more of a romance?

[Hans]

I don't think it is mentioned that Margatta came forward with the oldtimers. So, if it is not mentioned we should assume she was not an oldtimer?
Her dragon Ludeth is called Luduth in the UK and US editions of The Whiet Dragon. She is mentioned in Dragonquest, The White Dragond, Dragondrums and Skies of Pern.

[Kimi]

I find the minor characters among the Oldtimers difficult to track.

First, supposedly, the entire Weyrs, with all their inhabitants, came forward. That's thousands of people, some of whom may have NOT gone forward (who knows, a kitchen drudge has a romantic attachment in a near Hold, why would they go forward -,- and who would notice, either way?). Second, couldn't a rider or inhabitant have left the Old Weyrs after coming forward, or joined one upon their reappearance?

Aside from the conflicts that arise, there's so little information about those Weyrs. Certainly not information about relationships and mobility between Weyrs, especially Benden. My biggest question has been how much inter-Weyr activity and movement there was before the exile. How about Searches? Inter-Weyr mating flights? It's a point of conflict that certain Oldtimer Weyrleaders won't allow open flights with Benden, but what about with each other? Or junior Oldtimer queens with Benden? Hard to imagine in the early, happy days, with their newfound knowledge of genetics, that would NOT have been encouraged.

And why is Orlith so much larger? We know larger is built into each successive generation until design completion, but isn't it odd that the largest dragons would clutch in the generation the Red Star is defeated? And why the heck wasn't the draconic ability to lift 'any' weight noted during Crossing? In fact, dragon fatigue is used as an excuse for some nasty hunting of domestic animals in the middle of that resource crisis. But I digress....

Anyway, since Orlith has several clutches hatch before all the conflict, and the Weyrs interact so much (and across times), it's hard to imagine there was no human movement or inter-breeding, human or dragon.

None of which answers your question! I'm just imagining the possibilities, amplified by the unusual cultural-political circumstances and draconic abilities.

[Kennet]

Margatta would have been the second-in-line gold rider at Fort Weyr when they came forward, and would probably be in her late forties.

Total population of a Weyr at the end of a Fall would be about 600: 360 riders, 40 or so Hatch/Year/Weyrlings, and 200 Lower Cavern folk. The isolated location of the Weyr impedes outside romantic attachments, and the LC folk may not have been told exactly what was going on. All they would know was that the dragons were going away somewhere.

Larger is built into each generation because there was, at the time this was set, NO END to the threat of the Red Star.

Regarding Crossing: there were NO DRAGONS! Crossing came eight Turns after Landing and the Pernese had only just found fire lizards.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by Kennet

Total population of a Weyr at the end of a Fall would be about 600: 360 riders, 40 or so Hatch/Year/Weyrlings, and 200 Lower Cavern folk. The isolated location of the Weyr impedes outside romantic attachments, and the LC folk may not have been told exactly what was going on. All they would know was that the dragons were going away somewhere.

I always thought Weyr might have a couple of thousand people (location depending) so it's interesting to see different takes.

[Eriflor]

Originally Posted by Kennet

Margatta would have been the second-in-line gold rider at Fort Weyr when they came forward, and would probably be in her late forties.

<snipped>

Regarding Crossing: there were NO DRAGONS! Crossing came eight Turns after Landing and the Pernese had only just found fire lizards.

In fact, Sean and Sorka discovered a fire-lizard clutch shortly after Landing and rescued 3 of the hatchlings. Bay and Pol worked on fire-lizard DNA not long after that and produced "menta" dragonets with enhanced ESP. But they didn't make any assumptions about the extent of the dragonets' ESP and never expected they would have telekinesis.

I think this all happened in Year 1 after Landing.