Rocky Weyr

• Pernese found Earth.
  
• Firelizard eggs are distributed around the US and a few other countries to locate possible Candidates for dragon Hatchings.
  
• Hatchlings on Pern begin showing sicknesses/defects and so are no use on Pern.
  
• Rocky Weyr is established on Earth for those dragons so they do not cause trouble on Pern and have a better chance of healing if they can.
  

After a sudden boon, Pern’s human population has gradually leveled off as the planet’s resources are monopolized and space becomes limited. Since the dragon population continued growing as usual, there is now a scarcity of Candidates for Hatchings, forcing more and more dragonets to between after only a few minutes of life.

Some ten turns ago, a reckless weyrling betweened without permission, and ended up on a completely different planet; Earth. Emerging from between they crashed headlong into a mountain, both sustaining some cuts and bruises, but perfectly fine otherwise. The young weyrling hadn’t realized he was on a different planet (not being a very good student), until he and his brown flew for a few miles and still did not recognize any Pernese landmarks. Panicking, the weyrling pair betweened back to their starting point on Pern.

For a week or so they kept their secret, until the boy developed an infection in one of the cuts on his arm. The healers of the Weyr were baffled by the foreign bacteria, and demanded the boy explain how he acquired the injury. Spilling his guilty conscience to the healers, the Weyrleaders were immediately notified and a conclave of all the great minds of Pern was held. They decided that since the planet had already been discovered, and had proven relatively harmless, that they would send a small wing of experienced riders to the same location to explore.

Within the year, many trips to the new planet had been made, but contact with the humans on the foreign planet was temporarily forbidden. The United States military, however, was keeping close tabs on the strange UFO’s that were reported soaring over the Rocky Mountains. Finally, a little over a year after the first sighting, jet fighters were immediately sent up as soon as one of the UFO’s appeared. Stunned by what they saw in just an initial flyby, the pilots rushed back to report these ‘dragons’ to Homeland Security.

At first the government was not sure how to respond, but eventually a series of laws were made regarding the alien people and their mythical beasts, and one of the larger creatures, a bronze, was flagged down during his sweep of the mountains. From there forwards, the US was friendly towards the Pernese, and they exchanged much information about each other’s planets.

The current President of the United States was sympathetic to the Pernese’s crisis involving Candidates, and offered a radical solution. He declared that the little cousins of the dragons, the firelizards, could distribute their eggs in a controlled fashion around the US; as well as a few other ally countries who were discretely notified about the visitors. With their ability to bond to humans, they could be used to draw out some Earthlings who might be willing to leave Earth to take on an important responsibility on Pern.

This system went on for a number of years until the Pernese began to experience yet another difficulty. For some unknown reason - although many possibilities were constantly discussed - a significant number of dragonets were developing sicknesses or hatching with defects, making them unable to fight Thread and be successful on Pern. Again, the generous man that he was, the President decided that he would allow a Weyr to be constructed on Earth to help alleviate the stress of the Weyrs on Pern with the ill-suited hatchlings causing such chaos. He thought of no better location for said establishment than the Rockies, where the Pernese had first appeared on Earth.

It seems to hate the url so I'm reposting ^^