Weyr Description
((You may notice some similarities with Blackstone Weyr,
this is intentional. Of course. It's the same description in places.
So smack me. I'm lazy.))
DragonHope Weyr was created at the very edge of the habitable area of
Pern's Northern Continent, near an island which supports a strong fishercraft
hold, and two smaller lower laying wood-holds on the mainland. The weyr
is closer to the Eastern Continents than anything else, but is walled
up on the east and south by ocean, and on the north by huge, frigid
mountains. The west offers the only pass other than walking on the coastline.
The coast itself is rugged and often enshrouded in mists, and the water is nothing short of prohibitively freezing. The air currents bring clouds and frequent storms dropping many feet of snow even in the more mild months. The summer of Dragon Hope Weyr warms enough to have a good strong coating of wild grass on the ground and the windswept trees offer huge blooms and pollen. The summer is short, however, never more than a handful of sevendays. The winters though are harder to pin down, but there is often a blizzard which tops off the season.
The weyr is situated not in an extinct volcano, but in a sheer mountainside. The front of the weyr is on the south face of the mountain, overlooking the beaches (such as they are, being rocky and turbulant tidepools) and at the top of the mountain the view on a clear day can see the distant island of Snow'sBreath in DragonHope bay.
The main hall extends from a wide opening low on the face of the mountain, the only other obvious openings are the weyrs of the dragons dotting the mountain's south face, and the drum and fire heights where the starstones are at the very peak of the mountain. The weyrling training is done on the east face of the mountain, on a ledge specially excavated for protection but ease of access for rescues.
Inside the weyr is a marvel of airy, breeze-aided rooms. Even the most lowly drudge's dorms are fitted with built in warm-water heat and drinking water. Each room and every hallway usually has a runnel at around a man's head height like a rain gutter, into which glows are spread, for a wonderfully suffusing indirect light. In addition, there are many other sources of light available, as oil is in ready supply from the huge fat-bearing tunnel snakes which inhabit this part of the world. There is little danger of smoke suffocation, as the designers of the weyr kept a strong flow open on the upper northern side of the mountain. Those airways are always kept open.
The main leaders of the weyr live in the largest of the weyrs. Though there are only two inhabitants of those right now there is room for up to a whopping ten Queen dragons! The Weyr is serviced by three hatching sands, though only one has ever seen any use. The Sands are heated through geothermal vents proving that this mountain is in fact part of a volcanic range, however none of its neighbors are remotely active either.
The normal bathing area of the dragons is the truly different part of this weyr as opposed to those which are made into naturally occuring caldera lakes: this lake in the middle of the excavated chamber is entirely artificial! It has several shallows, fit for different sizes and ages of dragon, and is separated into nodes for privacy by sheets of stone left by the workers who excavated it. This room is truly the marvel of DragonHope Weyr. Smaller sized human bathing chambers sprout from there, but also many of the largest weyrs and the craft masters weyrs support private bathing facilities.
Up into the fire heights there is a series of more rough-hewn steps and ramps leading a twisting but comfortable pace up to the top of the moutain. To facilitate quicker transport or purely get a message up there immediately there is a talk tube which is a simple set of metal pipes which resonate when a forge-bellows is blown into them. The Starcrafter of the weyr usually resides in their comfortable suite near their office, along with the drummer and watch-riders weyrs.
Down below, in the Lower Caverns, the cold storage room opens almost literally into an ice field outside. Chilled from the glacier beyond it is truly a dangerously cold area and no person is to be sent there alone. Nearer the south face of the low areas is the craft hall maze and the Gather grounds, which all simulate being out in the open, without actually having a moment of sunlight appear on the grounds. Tall ceilings, upwards of 50 feet, tower over head. There is a very clever system for dropping glows into hanging nets from the next floor up. During gathers, these nets are slung higher and literally filled to the brim with glows, making the whole ceiling bright!
The craft halls are of moderate size compared to the rest of Pern's weyrs, but they are suited for any sort of craft imaginable. To the delight of harpers everywhere the stores of knowledge include quite a bit of ancient's knowledge. That they do not share it is an odd unspoken rule, only those born and raised and slated to serve in this weyr the rest of their lives are allowed any access to any of the ancient's information, and no outsider has ever been able to even know of its existence.
The meeting hall is a huge affair with vaulted ceilings and many rows of built-in seating and tables. Most of the tables are curved and seem to spread away from the central speaking area in waves or like the scales of a fish. From above, this arrangement is seen by small balconies reached only by the higher floors of the weyr.
***
Note that in the years leading up to the Pass, the Weyr has expanded into Snow's Breath peak, and the Outlook is filling rapidly with younger dragons and non-fighting riders.
(description on the way)