Jump To:

About the Weyr

Dates of the 9th Pass

Cibryen Weyr History

Cibryen Weyr is set in an alternate timeline in which Benden Weyr and Hold were not built. AIVAS was not discovered, so Thread still falls on Pern and the Holderfolk still rely on dragons and their riders to keep Thread out of the sky.  There were no Long Intervals.

Thirty five years into the First Pass, the Weyrleaders of the Three Weyrs, Fort, High Reaches, and Telgar, met to discuss the founding of a new Weyr. Humanity was spreading steadily eastward, and the Weyrs were hard pressed to protect them all from the deadly menace of Thread. The Weyrs were also suffering from overcrowding, and there was little room in the craters for more expansion. It was decided that a huge double crater in the eastern mountains would be the ideal site. Cibryen Weyr was founded on the exact site where Benden is located in the real Pern Timeline. The Weyr took it’s name from Charles Cibryen, also called Ch’les, a Wingleader from Telgar who had died in a Fall, protecting the settlers in the east. Cibryen Hold was founded first, named by the grateful families.

Cibryen Weyr grew and prospered for the remainder of the First Pass. Since then, it has weathered both Fall and fire, Passes and Long Intervals.

At the end of the last Long Interval, Cibryen’s riders and their dragons prepared to face the Ninth Pass of the Red Star. The Weyrwoman was Helena, rider of Golden Kriyeth, and the Weyrleader was R’lin, rider of Bronze Xianith. Both were strong leaders, and a genuinely loving pair. They looked set to lead the Weyr throughout much of the Pass. This was not to be, however. In the fifteenth turn of the pass, Kriyeth rose for a mating flight. The Weyrwoman of Telgar, Rachyl, was at Cibryen to see her lover, a brownrider named F’sem. Her own queen, Osith, was close to her own rising. The strong emotions of both the impending flight and her rider’s passions caused Osith to rise prematurely. The two golds turned on one another, their primal need overriding rational thought. The dragons went between, still locked in battle. Helena and Rachyl did not survive their bond-mates’ deaths. R’lin stepped down as Weyrleader and disappeared into the wilds of the South.

Celaena, rider of Calystath, stepped up to the position of Weyrwoman to lead the demoralized Weyr. Kimana, rider of gold Ramanth, a young gold-rider from Igen, was selected as Celaena’s Second. The two women quickly became as close as sisters, never suspecting that they actually were. J’dan, rider of Bronze Zieneth, became the Weyrleader when Calystath rose.

After only a Turn, tragedy struck Cibryen once again. A terrible plague, begun at a Gather, swept throughout the region. Many of Cibryen’s riders, as well as those of neighboring Igen, perished. One of Cibryen’s casualties was its Weyrleader, J’dan. After several months, the Weyr fought its way back. C’wen, rider of Auvirinath became the Weyrleader, and Cibryen began to rebuild itself. Igen Weyr was harder hit by the Plague, losing all of their Weyrwomen. One of Cibryen’s Junior Queens, Cymyrenth, and her rider Zalyina, went to Igen to take over as Weyrwoman. As her Second, a Jr. Weyrwoman named Lexiana and her gold Arianth transferred from High Reaches Weyr. In a terrible accident, Weyrleader C'wen was injured, and died after lying in a coma for some time. During his absence, Weyrsecond G'brel stepped up to lead the Weyr as Weyrleader until Calystath's next mating flight, seconded by Wingleader H'lerion of Ridge runner. Cymyrenth rose and chose Kizharith, ridden by Cibryen wingleader F'lahar. F'lahar, despite his youth, now leads Igen Weyr as Weyrleader. While Weyrwoman Celaena was recuperating in the South from her grief, Calystath rose to mate with only one bronze in attendance. D'vin, rider of bronze Zamarenth, was now the Weyrleader of Cibryen. G'brel returned to his position as Weyrsecond. 

Ramanth's next rising brought changes...H'lerion's bronze Fortreth won her flight, displacing G'brel as Weyrsecond and causing a rift between the weyrmates. An unexpected fall over Cibryen Hold brought heavy casualties. The clutch resulting from Ramanth's flight suffered for the short duration...only twelve eggs, and no gold. 

Turnover in 2539 was a joyous one, but the turn would prove to be full of many changes. Calystath's next flight was won by bronze Syth, this time elevating the already stressed G'brel to the position of Weyrleader. Two golders were lost, first young weyrling Arwynna to a tragic betweening accident. Goldrider Kesara's riding straps broke during another threadfall, and when she fell, Aserith attempted to go between to rescue her. She did not re-emerge. Kesara, missing half of her soul, managed to survive for several weeks, then committed suicide by leaping off if the Rim by the Starstones. Young Rohawn, a candidate, was with her at the time, and was devastated.

Threadfall became erratic, causing the deaths of many riders unprepared for unexpected Falls. Weyrleader D'vin was one of those casualities, leaving the Weyrwoman bereft of weyrmate and the weyr without a Weyrleader. Weyrsecond H'lerion stepped up to lead the Weyr until Calystath's next flight. This time, G'brel was fated to be Weyrleader.

When Igen Weyr was destroyed in a fiery explosion of lava, the surviving riders moved to Cibryen.

You are welcome to view the timeline of events as we have roleplayed them since Celaena and Kimana became the Weyrwomen of Cibryen. These are a work in progress as we log past RPs.

Return to Top

About the Weyr

The temperature around Cibryen Weyr fluctuates with the seasons. Imagine it as a sort of New England type atmosphere. It is warm in the summer (80 or 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and cold in the winter (able to get down in to the minus teens). It has a distinct spring rainy season and a fall chilly season.

Cibryen Weyr was the fourth Weyr to be built. Much of it was formed with stone carvers, but the aging machines soon ran out of fuel. All expansion since then has been by hand. The passageways are polished and smooth, with intricate, finely carved stonework patterns dotting door frames, walls and alcoves. Cibryen has a very graceful feel to it, with gently sloping caverns, softly lit hallways, polished stairways and lively tapestries dotting the walls. The main dining hall is large, with the capacity to seat over 500 people. Large gatherings, such as hatching feasts, are generally held in the Weyr bowl. There is a smaller cafeteria type kitchen that is open all hours of the day for riders who miss main meals. There are two hatching grounds, the main one and the minor one. The main ground has room for up to three Queens and their clutches. The minor one is quite a bit smaller than the main one, and meant primarily for particularly protective Queens.

At it’s largest point, the Weyr Bowl measures just under two and a half miles across. There is space for almost 400 fighting dragons, 125 weyrlings of all ages and 75 retired dragons. There are five equipped queen weyrs, only three of which are in use. They are lavishly furnished and kept clean and tidy by the lower cavern workers. They are equipped with private heated bathing pools, back tunnels that lead to the lower cavern, service shafts that lead to the kitchen, among many other luxuries. The weyrs all lead on to a huge main ledge that the golds (and their bronzes) share. Off of the ledge, there are stairs leading down to the bowl floor and a tunnel that leads to the meeting room, Weyrleader's offices, and hatching sands.

For their first six months, all weyrlings reside in the barracks. After that, they are allowed to move to joint weyrs, which they share with another of the same gender, often with the same color dragon. They stay in these joint weyrs for another six months until their training is complete and they are assigned to private weyrs. They then have about six more months to get used to their new permanent homes before the females rise for the first time. Most green riders are assigned weyrs that have stone steps or a back exit tunnel leading to the bowl so they can get to their dragons when they go to mate. There are three "convenience" weyrs located on the bowl floor for mating flights. There are also more ground level weyrs for older or injured dragons.

Most of the Weyr bathing pools are heated by a hypocaust system. There is running water throughout the weyr. Only the highest weyrs do without warm water and those are usually assigned to weyrlings or those under punishment. Only high ranking riders (Gold Riders and Wingleaders) have their own bathing pools, while those of lower rank will share a pool with two or three others. As for lower cavern workers and crafters, if they have a family suite, they'll have a private bathing room. Otherwise, they can use one of the communal bathing rooms that are open to all.

There are four Holds that look to Cibryen for protection. They are Cibryen Hold, Bitra Hold, Lemos Hold, and Roaring Cliffs Hold. There are many smaller holds in the region that also fall under Cibryen Weyr’s protection.

Return to Top

Dates of the 9th Pass

We at Cibryen have our own dating system, and includes information about the years that are published in Skies of Pern®, the newest Pern book (due in April). Our corrected calendar reflects an 8 year difference from the time of Anne's current, pre-Skies of Pern® story. We have a date conversion utility, which we kindly ask you to use when dating events. All date are in mm.dd.tttt format. January 1st, 2001 in earth years becomes 01.02.2538 in Pern turns. The current pernese date can be found on every page, just under the celtic dragon graphic.

Return to Top