AIVAS has remained undisturbed since the events of Dragonsdawn some 2,500 years earlier and, in addition to holding a huge volume of stored information long since lost to the Pernese society, claims to be able to eliminate the threat of Thread forever.
[3] This victory resulted in the discovery of Lessa of Ruatha Hold as a candidate for the last remaining queen egg, and ultimately the successful Impression of Ramoth.
Later, he also fought the oldtimer T'ron (who challenged him when he offered to help another Weyr)[4] and T'kul (whose dragon, Salth, had just died trying to fly the queen Caylith, in contravention of an agreement that only younger Bronzes would have the opportunity).
Famanoran or F'nor is the rider of the brown dragon Canth and was the son of Benden Weyr's former Weyrleader, F'lon, and its current Headwoman, Manora.
F'nor is a major character in the books; his most notable deed was his flight to the Red Star in an attempt to destroy Thread at its source.
In his early teens, F'lessan Impressed a bronze, young Golanth, from a clutch of Ramoth and Mnementh, his parents' dragons.
The Impression is considered a nuisance by many, as Jaxom has responsibilities as Lord Holder to uphold, and some feel it might create a conflict of interests.
However, Kale underestimated the greed of his neighbor, Fax, Lord Holder of High Reaches, who had conquered five other holds since claiming his own.
Lessa spends a decade as a drudge in Ruatha's kitchens, where she survives abuse and subtly undermines a hold which should otherwise thrive, to gain revenge against Fax.
When Benden dragonriders arrive in Search for a woman with the telepathic talents to Impress the new queen dragonet, the dragons feel her aura.
She travels to Benden Weyr and becomes Pern's only Weyrwoman, and joins forces with Weyrleader F'lar to fight the resurgence of the voracious alien life-form called "Thread".
F'lar believes she has jumped to her death and is left in despair in the present, but Lessa succeeds in persuading the dragonriders at the end of the Eighth Pass to travel with her to the future.
Several of these Oldtimers later become an additional threat to Lessa's and F'lar's quest to help Pern survive the present Pass.
Her short temper does become famous on Pern and she continues to use her strong psychic ability to influence other people's moods and perceptions.
This leaves Lessa somewhat bitter and she regrets in one book that she was not like Kylara, another Weyrwoman known for promiscuity, who bore several children but wanted none of them.
When Menolly seriously slashed her left hand while gutting fish, her mother deliberately allowed the wound to heal incorrectly to prevent her from playing again, and Yanus told Elgion that the one who had taken over the Teachings after Petiron died had been a boy fosterling who had returned to his own Hold.
Menolly ran away from the Hold and took refuge in a cliff-side cave where, during a Threadfall, she unintentionally Impressed nine fire-lizards: gold Beauty, bronzes Rocky and Diver, browns Mimic, Lazybones and Brownie, blue Uncle and greens Auntie One and Auntie Two (later in the series it is also revealed that she again unintentionally Impressed another bronze fire-lizard, Poll).
At first this interest is merely curiosity regarding Menolly's possession of nine fire lizards, though it grows to a close mutual friendship throughout Dragonsinger, the second book in the Harper Hall trilogy.
These missions include a visit to a nearby sapphire mine, where Piemur discovers that the exiled Oldtimers are taking gemstones without payment.
He hides in a sack in a small storage room and promptly falls fast asleep, presumably due to his recent head injury.
Piemur is involved in a large amount of the controversial "progress" that occurs after the awakening of the AIVAS, and together with Jancis, granddaughter of Mastersmith Farandel and a Smithcraft Master in her own right, rebuilds one of the first computers.
The early stories of Robinton's life allowed McCaffrey to develop characters such as F'lon, father of F'lar and F'nor, and Silvina, Camo and Shonagar of the Harper Hall.
He was faced with professional jealousy (which caused estrangement from his father when young), similar to that which challenged Harpers Menolly and Piemur in Dragonsinger and Dragondrums.
A wise diplomat, teacher and leader, he helped the Benden Weyrleaders, Lessa and F'lar, deal with the return of Thread and the Oldtimers, gaining the love and respect of everyone on Pern.
This friendship reflects the lessening of the isolation and rigidly controlled autonomy of Weyr, Hold and Hall, which was a constant theme of the original Pern Chronicles.
Robinton was laid to rest in the waters of his beloved Cove Hold, and every dragonrider, Lord Holder and Craftmaster on the planet turned out for the service.
In Dragonquest, the gold dragon Ramoth lays a clutch of eggs, one of which McCaffrey describes as small with an unusually tough shell.
In addition to his small size, Ruth is notable for his hide, which though commonly regarded as white, appears to be composed of pale hues from all dragons.
In addition to his physical attributes, Ruth is unusually willing to speak with humans besides his own rider, and has close and friendly relationships with fire lizards, as well as a long memory and heightened intelligence.
Before her marriage to Jaxom and moving to Ruatha Hold, she regularly supplied Master Oldive, Masterhealer of Pern, with exotic plants and extracts he uses in drug preparations.