StarRise Weyr Territory

The Eastern Ring Islands

As the Ninth Pass came to a close, the people of Pern's Northern Continent found themselves to be overcrowded and running out of resources. With the beginning of the Ninth Interval, free travel was once again possible and the resulting exodus taxed the seacrafters and dragonriders to their limits.

The Southern Continent was the prime choice for emigrants from the North due to it's lush vegetation and tropical climate. But this was only one of the new lands than men set their eyes on.

Far to the west of Tillek was a small barren continent surrounded by a wall of wind and set in the middle of an ocean 5,000 miles wide. Many could not resist the challenge this land presented to them and made the treacherous voyage west to join the holders and dragonriders who had made that crossing during the Ninth Pass.

A more hospitable land was located to the east of Benden and Nerat, the Eastern Ring Islands. This chain of islands, that stretched from the perpetual pack of ice of the north to the tropics of the equator, presented every aspect of climate possible on Pern.

The islands owed their existence to volcanism and the active tectonics of Pern. Indeed, several volcanos are still active within the chain and are an ever present danger to the settlers the rewards of island life, however, more than compensate for this inconvenience

Map of the Eastern Ring Islands

Eastern Ring Holdings

The settlers of the Eastern Ring Islands were pragmatists. New groups of settlers were welcomed and settled on new islands not yet claimed or that were in need of further development. By the 175th turn of the Ninth Interval, most of the islands on the Easter Ring had at least a cothold of men and women striving to tame the land and make it their own.

The only exceptions to this were Rookery Island, Icelock Island, and the islands located southeast of TwinSpires. All of these islands were judged too dangerous for men to settle. Even today, they are savage places, though there are rumors of renegade bands of the holdless eking out an existence on these inhospitable islands.

The region easily divided itself into four holdings. Horizon, located in the north, is comprised of a large island jutting down from the Snowy Wastes and separated from the continental landmass by a channel and warmed by the southern wind known as Nerat's Breath. SplitRock is located to the east of Horizon. Three Rapids is south of Horizon and SplitRock. The furthest south holding is StarRise. It consists of eleven islands of varying sizes, the second of which is home to StarRise Weyr. The last seven islands are covered by dense jungles and active volcanoes.

There are two huge islands in the territory, a major Hold located on each. Both are at the northern end of the chain - one west of Horizon Hold, the other west and south of Horizon Hold.

Hold, Hall, & Weyr

Each group of settlers brought with them a little bit of the best of their former homes and left behind most of the bad. For man, this was going to be a chance to start over again. For others, it was their only chance.

New crafts were established in this new land and old crafts were brought to new heights. Early in the Ninth interval, the Seacraft divided into three distinct, yet interrelated branches. The Fishercraft was devoted to harvesting Pern's oceans. The Shipbuildercraft saw to it that the best men builds the best ships in the best ways. And the seacraft became the ocean going traders of Pern. The Master Seacrafter of Pern had to be the best at all three branches.

The Starsmithcraft found a home in the Easter Ring as well. Here, near the equator, on the top of a long deal volcano, the Starsmiths found clear views of their beloved night sky.

Other crafts were elevated from hold crafts and found their own crafthalls in the Eastern Ring. The Theatrecraft was formed during the Interval and is a branch of the Harpercraft. Here in the Easter Ring the perform plays based on the heroic people of Pern's past as well as comedies based, loosely, of course, on the foibles of Pern's current Lords and Ladies.

Summer Weather

While the axial tilt of fifteen degrees gives Pern distinct seasons, they are somewhat less severe in their differences than the original Colonists were accustomed to on Terra. The graces of fair winds and currents serve to mitigate even these differences in the Easter Ring Islands.

The summer weather brings the Southern Tradewind up from the equator and along the western shores of the Eastern Ring, all the way up to the Snowy Wastes. Warm temperatures and moisture follow in it's wake.

Eddies spin off the Southern Trade at intervals to circle the islands, making navigation relatively easy for seacrafters of all types. Please boating is a frequent pass of time in the Eastern Ring and many Regattas and Challenges test crafters and novices alike.

Horizon is doubly blessed in summer with the upper half of the Southern Trade and Nerat's Breath, which blows from the southwest off the tip of Nerat on the Northern Continent. This tradewind is drier than the Southern Trade and brings fair weather to the Horizon Peninsula all summer long.

Winter Weather

Winter brings harsh weather to northern half of the Eastern Ring, but the southern half experiences hardly and change in temperature, calling their winter, instead, the rainy season.

The Southern Tradewind moves to the Eastern shore of the islands in the winter, cuts through the Gateway Strait, and heads west, leaving the northern islands to the mercy of the wind of the Snowy Wastes called The Northern Chill. This wind wraps around the northern islands, dropping their temperatures and enlarging the packed ice. Occasionally, small icebergs are spotted moving along the passage between the Horizon Peninsula and the northern islands.

Nerat's Breath is the only saving graces for the Horizon holdings. It remains steady all year round, and moves what warm air is present north to the peninsula and western islands of the holding. It also brings a fair amount of moisture up from the south during the winter. This turns to snow when it mixes with the Northern chill, providing upper horizon with a snow pack that fights off drought during the summer.

The Southern Tradewind is usually quite moist in the winter and brings with it a great amount of rain. Flooding is common in low lying areas during this rainy season. The Northern Chill is usually a dry wind but on occasion will foster a mighty blizzard that all but incapacitates the north.

Oceanic Topography

The Eastern Ring islands exist on two separate sub-oceanic masses. The Horizon Peninsula and the northern islands are part and parcel of the Northern continent, with an area known as the Horizon shelf acting as the foundation for this area.

The eastern edge of the Horizon Shelf is a slide zone for the northern and western tectonic plates. While this does not result in volcanic activity, it does create earthshakes and tremendous amounts of heat, which are noted on the surfaces as hot springs and geysers.

The southern portion of the Eastern Ring is actually the top of an underwater volcanic mountain range formed in the subduction zone of the eastern and southern tectonic plates. This areas is called the StarRise Shelf. The violent action of the eastern plate being forced beneath the southern plate results in earthshakes and volcanic activity on the surface. FireGem, TwinSpires, and Exile are all active volcanoes due to this plate activity.

Ocean currents also play a large role in the weather of the Eastern Ring Islands. The Fair Weather current that moves in a circular pattern in the Eastern Sea helps to keep the horizon peninsula warm and the middle area islands cool. The Weak and Strong Southern Currents, while boons to shipping and fishing, also act as a channel for the infrequent, but devastating, typhoons that occur in the late summer.

Derived from "The Atlas of StarRise Territory", compiled by Seacraft Master Tomas/W. David MacKenzie. More will be added to this page in the future, including more maps.