Did F'lar discover Timing first?

[Brenda]

...Because it's the only explanation!

Actually, I'm referring to another inconsistency in Dragonflight - we all know about Larth being a green, and T'ton/T'ron, but I never noticed this one before.

I was working on my current story about Kylara being Searched, and for the trip from east Telgar to Benden Weyr I was going on my memory of Menolly's trip west from Benden to the Fort Harper Hall, at the beginning of Dragonsinger. Menolly leaves the Weyr when it is deep night, but arrives at the Hall when it is just dusk. So I had Kylara, leaving Telgar just at dusk, arrive at Benden Weyr when it is deep night.

Then I started reading through the first section of DF to get the details of the Hatching straight, and noticed that F'lar and Lessa leave Ruatha just at dusk, and arrive at the Weyr in bright daylight! There's no way that works - unless he instinctively timed it to get there before the Hatching! Which would be an interesting alternate storyline, I suppose...

Anyone ever notice this little "Anne-consistency" before?

[Eriflor]

Computer just ate my reply.

If they left Ruatha at dusk at Midsummer, they'd reach Benden early next morning, though possibly not in daylight. But I think the season is spring, and the time difference doesn't seem enough.

Maybe if the rider specifies the place but only a vague NOW for the time, the dragon will sometimes choose to arrive in daylight rather than darkness. Lessa and F'lar were both thinking of a particular date and time when they first went between times.

Eriflor.

[skywaterblue]

Why wouldn't it work? Think of Benden as the California to Fort/Ruatha's New York. Benden is three hours behind Fort, so that if you go to fight Thread in the Southern Continent and it's early dawn for Fort, it will still be deep night for Benden. (As discussed in RSR/DE.)

If you jump from Benden (California) to Fort (NY) you lose daylight hours. When you go the opposite way, you gain, because you're following the path of the sun. So it's not the Lessa and F'lar trip that is wrong. It's the Menolly trip which is inconsistent with Pern's timezones and that happens well after they discover timing it, which they may have done for her convenience.

Also, Telgar should be the rough equivalent of Chicago, a couple of hours behind Fort and one or two ahead of Benden.

[Kath]

Originally Posted by skywaterblue

Also, Telgar should be the rough equivalent of Chicago, a couple of hours behind Fort and one or two ahead of Benden.

You've got that backwards. East=ahead, West=behind.

[Brenda]

Fort, Ruatha and Telgar aren't that far apart as far as longitude, so it would be relatively close time differences between them and the east coast.

[skywaterblue]

Originally Posted by Kath

You've got that backwards. East=ahead, West=behind.

http://youtu.be/-J1NHzQ1sgc

Well, I'm going to need to walk this off.

[Kath]

HA! That was funny.

[Brenda]

Oh, that one was good! I really have got to watch all of The West Wing someday - I watched some of it when it was on, when my parents were watching, but I missed most of it.

Here's another good one, by the Animaniacs.

[GinnyStar]

Originally Posted by skywaterblue

Why wouldn't it work? Think of Benden as the California to Fort/Ruatha's New York. Benden is three hours behind Fort, so that if you go to fight Thread in the Southern Continent and it's early dawn for Fort, it will still be deep night for Benden. (As discussed in RSR/DE.)

If you jump from Benden (California) to Fort (NY) you lose daylight hours. When you go the opposite way, you gain, because you're following the path of the sun. So it's not the Lessa and F'lar trip that is wrong. It's the Menolly trip which is inconsistent with Pern's timezones and that happens well after they discover timing it, which they may have done for her convenience.

Also, Telgar should be the rough equivalent of Chicago, a couple of hours behind Fort and one or two ahead of Benden.

isn't there a six hour different between Benden and Fort? I just found it, in Dragonquest, F'nor back at Benden Weyr after being in Southern Boll, searching, six hours different.

[Brenda]

Benden is on the EAST COAST. Fort is pretty near the center of the continent. Therefore, Benden HAS to be later than Fort.

Six hours would work... assuming they leave the Weyr at well past midnight in Dragonsinger to arrive at Fort (the Harper Hall) as it's just turning dusk. Which fits, considering all that was going on at the Weyr that night!

[Kath]

There are timezones in the atlas and dlg, you know...

[Brenda]

I don't have mine with me, so I was just guessing based on what I remembered. Are Telgar, Fort, and Ruatha in different time zones?

[Kath]

Fort and Ruatha share a time zone.

Tillek is 2.5 hours behind.
Crom is one hour ahead.
Telgar and Ista share a time zone and are two hours ahead
Igen Weyr and Lemos are three hours ahead, Igen hold 3.5
Keroon and Bitra are five hours ahead
Benden: 5.5
Nerat: 6 hours ahead.

[Kath]

Back to DF: F'lar arrives late morning at the Pass, but it takes awhile for Fax to ride down to the Hold itself, and I don't think they sit down to dinner until sunset - F'lar uses sunset as an excuse for Mnementh's roar, and a little later, when Less a is fetching the midwife, the dragon's eyes are said to be sparkling in the gathering darkness, so it's well into twilight by then. Gemma's birth is unlikely to be quick - there's flexibility for timelag in several spots in the prose, between the women doing the midwife's bidding and Lessa's reflections, for instance. Then, after the fight, F'lar carries Lessa to his room and she doesn't rouse instantly, nor does Mnementh catch her after her escape until she's had time to reach the upper windows on the heights. When they're all outside again, it's properly dark except for moonlight, so it could easily be past midnight in Ruatha by the time they get the Wing organised and depart. It's *tight*, getting to Benden at a bright, local 8am-ish time of the morning, but I don't think we can rule it out as a possibility.

Put it down to firstnovelitis and Anne not knowing the scale of the continent/world yet.

[Brenda]

I thought it was dusk when the watch-wher died. I guess there were just a lot of lights in the courtyard?

[Kath]

Originally Posted by Brenda

I thought it was dusk when the watch-wher died. I guess there were just a lot of lights in the courtyard?

Moonlight. F'lar muses that Lessa's face is much more appealingly lit.

[P'ter]

That's not a nice sentiment from F'lar: his future mistress/wife looks better in a dim light.

[mawra]

Lessa probably did not look that good then. She had been living as s dirty druge for a long time. She probably did look better in the dim light.

[P'ter]

She probably still smelt the same however.

[Brenda]

Ah, thanks Kath! I guess I skipped that scene when I was rereading bits the other day.

Something else I noticed - F'lar assigns F'nor to get Lytol and arrange for some of the other riders to stay at Ruatha to back Lytol's authority. Then, F'lar drops Lessa off in his weyr, goes to feed Mnementh, and there's F'nor, already feeding Canth, and already having gotten the latest gossip about the other candidates! Of course, we know F'nor's an expert at getting things done quickly and quietly...