The story thus far
Nearly two hundred and fifty hundred turns ago Pern was almost saved from thread. AIVAS had been uncovered and the strange relic of Perns first colonists was busy calculating a plan to end the menace that had plagued the planet for so long. It was not meant to be however as early one morning a meteor entered the atmosphere and neither AIVAS nor the dragonriders could prevent it from destroying Landing and much of the surrounding area. Many lives and much hope was lost in the effort. While some of AIVAS' teachings would live on there was still much lost knowledge that had not been returned. On top of that Thread would remain a threat to the planet despite the best efforts of the dragonriders.
Life carried on with little changing, the ninth pass ended, the Weyrs shrunk as the need for fighting dragons decreased and queens rose less. Riders did their best to provide arial defense from meteors and the like in the future, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. It was the south that was most commonly in danger and riders there enjoyed a bit more prestige as the need for them was more pronounced.
The Holds grew and prospered and the people of Pern continued on, using the thread free centuries to advance themselves little by little despite knowing that in due time the red star would return and they would one day rely on dragons to defend them.
3 turns ago a large asteroid connected with the southern continent despite a massive effort including timing it from every dragonrider the weyrs could spare.
Once again many dragons and riders were lost in the effort and those that survived returned to their weyrs emotionally distressed by the loss of their fellows and their inability to prevent the destruction that followed. The impact caused a series of earthquakes, the force of which was felt through much of Pern.
However it was what came after that dealt the harshest blow. Living inside the asteroid were things. Strange alien creatures that could not be reasoned with and sought only the destruction of those that stood between them and whatever they wanted. They come in a variety of forms, flying, crawling, slithering, each body a sort of semi corporeal mist. The invaders as they came to be known could seep inside another creature and control them giving them a fully corporeal body to use until such time as they abandoned it.
To the pernese the only thing that mattered was that the invaders could be killed, dragon flame would destroy them in their natural form. Should they inhabit a host body, sword or claw will destroy the host and take the invader inside with it. Despite their population being severely depleted , with the entire south being a quarantined zone the people of Pern have been fighting to reclaim their world.
Life will not be easy but it is in the darkest moments that we appreciate light all the more.
Recent update!During her recent mating flight High reaches junior gold was attacked when an invader slipped out from cloud cover just as her suitor captured her. With the aid of non lust addled greens the invader was destroyed before it could completely disappear into the queen.
However several eggs in the queen's recently laid clutch have a suspicious gleam to their hardening shells and the queen herself grows weaker day by day.
Nothing like this has ever occurred in the past 3 Turns and while no one is making any hasty decisions the upcoming hatching will be carefully monitored lest drastic measures are required.
