Threadfall - What is it?
May 29, 2014 15:16:02 GMT -8
Post by Sigyn on May 29, 2014 15:16:02 GMT -8
Life during a Pass is pretty much centered around Threadfall. Even during an Interval, it stays in mind as the vigilant strive not to let all that’s been learned be forgotten. So, great. What is Threadfall?
Threadfall is an 'attack' on all organic material on Pern. Spores fall from the sky, and consume any organic material they come into contact with. The only things that can kill thread are water and extreme cold or heat. In cold, thread freezes into crackdust (from the Ballad of Moreta's Ride) and heat, which is a rider's primary weapon against thread, chars the stuff harmlessly to ash. Modern Pernese believe that Thread originates from the Red Star, a planet with an erratic orbit around Pern. A Pass is the period of time when Thread comes close enough to fall on Pern and lasts approximately 50 Turns. It is indicated by the Eye and Finger rocks, the star stones of each weyr that warn the riders to prepare for the coming turns. After the Pass, the Red Star's orbit takes it out of harm's way for 200 turns, called an Interval. So far, there have been two 'Long Intervals' in Pernese history - a period of an interval, fifty turns of no thread, and then another interval. And each time, the planet holds its breath, thinking that the menace is finally over.
From The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern
Observation of living thread is difficult, since it seems to have no more than twenty minutes of life - unless fed organic materials. Feeding thread changes color, shifting from its normal hot silver to sickly green, gray, pink and yellow tones. It appears to elongate from the center of the original strand outward towards both ends.
Thread always comes from the east, which is why all traditional holds face this direction, to be on constant watch for the menace. Thread clouds often are mistaken for a storm by the unwary, heralded by towrig silvery clouds. However, as soon as the leading edge of the Fall comes close, it can be heard, sizzling like sausage in a pan.
Riders bear the primary responsibility in Threadfall, though everyone in the weyr is involved, from the youngest resident carrying water to thirsty workers, to the caverns women serving up meals on the run, to people breaking and sacking firestone, to the healers treating injured riders and dragons. Many people also serve on ground crew, both at the weyr and at holds, taking agenothree sprayers to dissolve thread burrows that get through the fighting wings.
More from The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern
The first Fall the colonists experienced was actually the fourth Fall of the Pass. The other three had fallen in the sea, in the polar ice caps where mycelia could do no damage, or onto unoccupied terrain.
An aerial survey of the areas attacked by Thread revealed that the Thread appeared at predictable intervals in the predicable locations. It would traverse three time zones for a period of four hours, covering twenty degrees longitude northeast to southwest. In the Second Long Interval, much of this vital documentation was lost and had to be tediously reconstructed by the Weyrleaders from the Record Rooms.
Thread always fell within five degrees north or south of the strip predicted. As the Pass went on, the attacks came more and more frequently but did not vary from this pattern which spiraled from north to south, matching the rotation of the planet.
The colonists used the term "Leading Edge" to denote the wave of Thread advancing during a Fall, and "Following", or "Trailing Edge", to refer to the line behind which no Thread fell. Once the Following Edge was in view, the fighters knew that the Fall was about to end. At sea level, Thread is visible on the horizon thirty minutes before it will be overhead.
An aerial survey of the areas attacked by Thread revealed that the Thread appeared at predictable intervals in the predicable locations. It would traverse three time zones for a period of four hours, covering twenty degrees longitude northeast to southwest. In the Second Long Interval, much of this vital documentation was lost and had to be tediously reconstructed by the Weyrleaders from the Record Rooms.
Thread always fell within five degrees north or south of the strip predicted. As the Pass went on, the attacks came more and more frequently but did not vary from this pattern which spiraled from north to south, matching the rotation of the planet.
The colonists used the term "Leading Edge" to denote the wave of Thread advancing during a Fall, and "Following", or "Trailing Edge", to refer to the line behind which no Thread fell. Once the Following Edge was in view, the fighters knew that the Fall was about to end. At sea level, Thread is visible on the horizon thirty minutes before it will be overhead.
