The Ninth Pass approaches. The six Weyrs ready themselves to fight thread: Fort, Telgar, High Reaches, Ista, Igen, and Atora.

Benden Weyr fell in the mid-years of the Eighth Pass, the Eastern reaches of the Northern Continent devestated by Volcanic eruptions. The Weyrs, overstretched, protected those refugees who survived the passage to the remaining holds, but could not protect the uninhabited territory of Benden. By the end of the Eighth Pass, Benden Weyr, Bitra Hold, and Benden Hold were destroyed by thread and cataclysm.

Excess population were forced into a dangerous move South; two Holds were formed, Daragon by the sea and Jinani deep inland and surrounded by forest. A Weyr was needed to protect the burgeoning population; a volcanic ruin on a tropical island was fashioned into the rough-hewn Atora Weyr, ugly cousin to its traditional Northern brethren. Dragonriders joined the Southern colonists.

There is but one turn till Thread begins to fall again, and the Weyrwoman of Atora Weyr grows old; her putative successor is a girl not yet out of Weyrlinghood. The Weyrs to the North loom threateningly on the horizon, Ista and Igen Weyrs united in their purpose: to disband Atora Weyr and use Atora's wings to bolster the flagging Northern dragonriders. Among the Holders, discontent with the Weyrs is the rule - some unite to protest excessive and unjust tithes; others deny the return of Thread altogether.

Amid all this, some people hope to simply live, freely and happily; but Thread approaches, and Pern, particularly Atora Weyr, is far from suitably prepared.

All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are copyright? Anne McCaffrey 1967, 2001, all rights reserved, and used by permission of the author.