Renegades of Pern - Chapter Two

[kalinara]

Happy Birth of the Zombie King, for those who celebrate! Happy ordinary Monday to those who don't!
--

So last time, we saw how nomadic traders deal with the first Threadfall in four hundred years.

Translation: very badly. Also the Oldtimers continue to be cartoonish dicks.



So we start this chapter in Northern Telgar Hold, with Thella. This intrigues me. I haven't yet figured out what kind of villain Thella is going to be. Will she be genuinely monstrous? Or just a pain in the ass? At the moment, I'm inclined to sympathize with her. I don't dislike Larad, but why SHOULD he get precedence over an equally competent sibling of either gender?

Anyway, Thella, we're told, has just heard about the upcoming Gather at Igen Hold. She learned about during a late night foray acquiring seedlings from a nearby Hold, for her garden. This is giving her ideas:

Knowledge of a Gather was very reassuring to the renegade Telgar Blooddaughter. Before she could hope to attract folk to work in her high mountain hold, she would have to supply basic needs, and legitimately. In one trip to a large Gather, she could quite possibly acquire all she needed. She was already making plans as she waited for the men to leave so she could sneak to the greenhouses and help herself to the seedlings.

I'm guessing that she's not planning to acquire these things legally, but well, the feudal system of Pern is pretty appalling anyway. I'm intrigued to see what she'll do.

Apparently the first Threadfall was pretty rough. She'd lost a few of her runners (apparently they'd panicked when the dragons flew overhead and ran off the precipice) and it disrupted her ability to establish herself. If Thread had fallen a year later, she'd be fine.

We get to hear a bit about the place:

She had found the place during one of her ramblings in the high country. Someone had once lived — and died — there, for she had removed twelve skulls, the only part of the dead that mountain snakes had been unable to masticate. What had killed the holders would always be a mystery, although Thella had heard of instances where entire hold populations had been wiped out by virulent disease. But they must once have lived well. The hold still held wooden furnishings; the stout slab table and the bedframes, dry and dusty, were usable. The metal fittings and utensils had a thin coat of rust, but that could be sanded off. There were cisterns for water and basins for bathing. Most of the south-facing apertures, protected by deep embrasures, had retained their glass. Four good hearths for warmth and cooking needed only to be cleaned to be used. In her initial investigations as a young and optimistic girl as yet unthwarted by the Threadfall that had destroyed her plans, Thella had even found cloth, brittle with age, in the stone storage chests of the sleeping quarters and grain in the beasthold. There were stone walls around enough highland pastures to support adequate meat animals, and pens were set into one side of the cavern. Thella knew the Masterherdsman had hardy strains that would thrive on mountain fields. She did not like the notion of sharing her living space with beasts, but she had heard that it was one way of generating additional warmth. One would need all the heat one could get in these hills.

Ooo, it does sound pretty swanky. And apparently under "ancient Contract Law" it's legal. If she'd gotten it established and self-sufficient, she could insist that the Conclave of Lord Holders permit her to rule it. She's done her research too: it's been untenanted since the last pass.

Unfortunately, with Thread, she's stuck living hand to mouth in an existence "which even traveling folk would have scorned." Hm, not sure about that, considering what happened to THEM.

Now in case we got the idea that we were reading an interesting story about an ambitious woman establishing herself, we get reminded that Thella is a villain due to her opinion about dragonriders:

Insult was added to injury as once again all of Pern, Hold and Hall, had to rely on those wretched dragon-riders who should have been thoroughly redundant. Her father had held that opinion. No dragonrider had minced through Telgar’s Hold since that last Pass had ended. It was all part of a giant concatenation of circumstances ranked against her, Thella of Telgar. But she would prove her durability and resilience. Not even Thread would thwart her in the end.

I mean...she's not really wrong. They were basically parasites for four hundred years. But we're not supposed to acknowledge that part.

I am a little annoyed though. This is a really interesting set up, with the kind of compelling, ambitious female lead that we haven't seen since Lessa. It annoys me that she's the villain. At this point, she's infinitely more interesting than Jayge or Aramina.

To be fair, McCaffrey's also tripping over one of my personal taste pet peeves. I tend to dislike how ambition is treated in fictional works. God forbid a character want a position of power and to use it well. We're only supposed to like characters that get their position by accident essentially: birthright or some act of heroism that has nothing to do with governing people. It's annoying.

We see it with Toric a little bit. Though Toric does get a bit more nuance than most - he's an adversary in White Dragon, but not a full on villain. Given the comparisons to Fax though, it's clear we're not really supposed to approve. But what makes fucking Jaxom any more worthy a leader than Toric or Thella.

I mean, McCaffrey COULD have taken the time to SHOW us why Jaxom deserves his role. But he was too busy lazing around down south and whining about his lack of egg-recognition.

Sorry.

I'm sure Thella will prove worthy of villain status soon enough. But right now, I like her.

Things are looking up this year, we're told:

Thella had finally wintered comfortably, having located three secure, well-concealed caves that were small but adequate for shelter. She had left each of them provisioned for reuse should she require them again. By that time she had become deft at extracting supplies from minor holds in Telgar and Lemos. Except for boots. She had hard-to-fit feet — rather long, wide across the ball, and narrow in the heel — and no matter where she had looked, she had been unable to find suitable footwear. Before she had always had the hold cobbler to supply her boots and shoes; she had left behind a locker full of them, and as hard wear had lacerated worn leather, she regretted her lack of foresight. But then, she had not anticipated living in the rough for nearly two full Turns.

Ah, but in case, we decide we like her too much, McCaffrey makes sure to add a bit of nonsensical snobbery here:

She had acquired all other items of clothing as needed. There were quite a few tall men in Far Cry and one of the other nearby holds, so clothes were plentiful. She took only new trousers and shirts, of course — not even in extremity would Thella of Telgar wear used clothing. She had no trouble getting her hands on an appropriate jacket, a shaggy winter hide, and she had lifted furred sleeping bags, one for each of her three boltholes. Those supplies, along with the food she took, were after all no more than a modest portion of the tithe due a Lord Holder’s family, so she had no compunction about her acquisitions; she merely did not wish to be seen — yet. But boots… boots were another matter, and she might have foregone principle to get decent boots.

Why on Earth, or Pern, I suppose, would she be opposed to used clothing? Especially in a pre-industrial society? Where are they getting the cloth for that matter? I mean, I guess egregious here than in Moreta's time: they would likely have some kind of textile crop that went untouched by Thread for centuries, but you'd think there'd be something of a shortage now.

Anyway, Thella is thinking that Igen's Gather might be a way to end her footwear problem and deal with a few other minor needs for her prospective holders. She might even be able to hire a herdsman..."preferably one with a family to supply her with drudges. "

Is THAT where drudges come from? The families of lesser workers in the Hold? I suppose that's better than outright slavery. Maybe. Can they leave if they want? Do they get their own wages or just what their husband/father gets?

Anyway, they'd be able to camp in the beasthold section and not interfere with her privacy.

So Thella plans her trip. The Gather is scheduled for ten days from now. Per the maps she's taken from Telgar, there are camping caverns all the way down. There'll be one Threadfall to the north, and she'll likely have to wait out another in Igen and Keroon. She wishes she had a way to know exactly when Thread is due as she's had some narrow escapes hiding from ground crews and riders.

It's always nice to see someone appreciate F'lar's charts. And I get why she can't get a copy. Too bad they don't have a way to mass produce those things for the common folk as well as the Lord Holders.

The journey goes well. One campsite is fully occupied, which leads to "fury", but then she finds an unmarked cave with a stream that makes a pool against the wall. She can treat herself to a bath. She marks the spot unobstrusively so she can find her way back and starts looking out for secondary caverns.

She makes it to Igen the night before the Gather. She stores her gear behind a boulder and acquires "the voluminous draperies worn by desert holders" from a "careless cotwife". I thought she didn't like used clothing?

Sorry, I'm being bitchy. Actually this section is really good. I have nothing to complain about. Thella's clever, resourceful, and interesting to watch. My ONLY complaint is that I know she'll be the villain. I want her to be the hero, damnit!

So anyway, she uses the headdress to hide her hair, begrimes her face and uses charcoal to thicken her eyebrows. I'm not sure why that's necessary, given that it's not like they've got cameras or photographs. Even if they did notice a random blond woman at the gather, how would they figure out who she is?

So she makes it to the Gather. She gets to buy some hot bread and cheese. She's annoyed at being overcharged for a mug of klah. Unfortunately, she doesn't have her own utensils. She'd always been accommodated at the Lord Holder's Hall and hadn't thought about it.

There's some interesting bits here about the set up:

Replete, she strolled toward the great, colorful Gather tents, her critical gaze noting storage creases and recent repairs to tunnel-snake holes. Igen Gathers had unusual accommodations. With the sun at near equatorial intensity by midday, traders could not have endured its fierce glare, so stalls were erected under a square of tented corridors, where flaps could be rolled up to provide both ventilation and quick exit. Thella had already noted scrawny brats sneaking in and out. At the first corner entrance the Gathermaster was overseeing the setting of the poles for an awning against the vicious noonday sun. The air inside was still cool from the chilly desert night. Already many stalls were ready, journeymen enticing the trickle of Gatherers walking the tented square.

She sees the tannercraft stalls with the sizing tools. She notes the sign saying that the leathers were THreadscore-proofed and scoffs, before touring the rest of the stalls. When she comes back to the tanner's she's foisted off to an apprentice so the master can serve some better dressed clients. However, the journeyman ("a softspoken man with big hands") is soothingly deferential and efficient. So Thella gets her shoes. (A midcalf set and ankle-high set. She pays half in advance for full leg boots which should be ready before high noon.)

I mean, all things considered: a master is not necessarily better than a journeyman. See: Robinton.

Things get a bit more interesting when Thella notices "the big man":

Even at a Gather he was exceptional — exceptionally ragged, too, with a brooding angry look that made people give him a span or two of distance from themselves. There was something almost pathetic about his air of aloofness, as if he knew, and even expected, to be shunned and avoided. He grudgingly gave up a quarter credit to pay for bread, carefully choosing the biggest of the pieces on the metal sheet, then waiting for them to finish baking. But he was very strong, and that commended him to her. She would need strong men, preferably ones who would be very grateful to her for taking them on.

Oh, I bet this is that wrestler guy from the prologue! And in fact, Thella realizes that there's an unusually large number of Holdless at this Gather. They're not in the tent, which makes sense as they likely don't have money, but they're circulating outside. Thella seems to have the same attitude toward Holdless as a lot of people in the real world have toward homeless people. She makes sure her belt pouch ("full of good Telgar currency") is hidden safely and looks about for the guards that should be posted.

After a bit, she realizes that there are always more holdless during a pass.

Holders, with absolute authority over those within their walls, made sure that everyone they supported in such parlous times was efficiently worthy of his or her keep. A holder, major or minor, could withhold shelter from travelers even if the leading edge of Fall was close. In such times, people worked harder and obeyed right sharp, or they lost their sanctuary. As it should be, Thella thought with complete approval.

Pern really does have a terrible system.

Thella realizes that this is an opportunity for her though. With the Pass - people are going to be pretty desperate for shelter and might be willing to work even in a high, isolated hold. She starts evaluating the people she sees: their craft knots, strength and desperation.

She also hears the latest news: Basically Lessa's ride. I like Thella's reaction:

Thella found the mechanics of the feat hard to believe, but the fact was clearly demonstrated by the appearance of swaggering dragonriders wearing the colors of Telgar, Ista, and Igen Weyrs, as well as Benden. And all too clearly, Hold and Hall deferred to them in everything.

There's a point where Thella sees the apprentice who's supposed to work on her boot (I thought he was a journeyman, but maybe he outsourced) sucking up to a Dragonrider and gets annoyed. I don't really blame her. She's able to glare him into submission at the least.

Oh, just in case we get our good dragonriders and bad dragonriders confused:

And yet, despite her disenchantment, Thella noticed a definite difference between riders from Benden and those of the other three Weyrs. The — what was the term she had heard? Old-timers? — the Oldtimers walked with the unmistakable swagger of those totally assured of their eminence, while equally obvious was a certain eager, almost apologetic deference in the Benden riders. Thella approved of neither stance. Without the Lord Holders’ support, the Weyr — Weyrs, she corrected herself, though she still found it difficult to believe in the restoration — could not have continued to exist.

I mean. She's not wrong. They rested on their laurels for FOUR HUNDRED YEARS, after all.

She does end up getting her boots by the way, in case you were in suspense. (I kind of was, not going to lie. I like Thella.)

I have to give credit where it's due, at least so far, McCaffrey is managing to give Thella an interesting amount of nuance. She's still got those little Bitra-esque moments where it's pretty clear that she's supposed to be evil: the snobbery, the dislike of ALL dragonriders, and her inclination to exploit the homeless.

But she's also clever, resourceful, and honestly, there's nothing yet to prove she'll be any worse a Lord Holder than the dude from the prologue who just shoved those poor tenants out of their home. At least some of her anti-dragonrider resentment has perfectly valid justification.

I find the shopping fascinating because it's part of the whole survival element of the story. She buys some seeds and spices, then finds a space to nap away the high heat of the day. Only to wake up to see someone trying to rob her neighbor. She's quick to stab the would-be thief in the leg. The thief bolts.

The herder whose pouch she saved is defensive and annoyed. He gives us the whole "It's getting so that honest folk can't be protected with all these homeless holdless people around rants. He thinks more of them should speak out, "make some examples".

Um, dude. What do you mean by that?

Also, while I won't pretend we're particularly nice or supportive of homeless people in the real world, it takes a particular sort of callousness to argue that people should be banished out in the open where they can get killed by death rain.

The dude is a little offended when she says she won't speak up with them, but is mollified when she expresses sympathy but explains that she has to leave. Mistaking her for a man, he asks her if he'll see him to his holding. He'll make it worth her while.

Thella, considering his bulging belt pouch, age and relative lack of fitness, makes plans to knock him over the head and rob him. I mean, I SHOULD disapprove, but well...

I do appreciate her contemplation of how easily deceived an honest man is - seeing his own honesty in others.

Anyway, post nap, they get some meat and wine (the herder's treat) and chat a bit. The herder is looking for someone who limps (the thief), while Thella watches the big man grab a fallen piece of meat and run off with it. He's starving from the look of it - eager to eat it, sand and all. Just in case we didn't realize Thella is evil, she's not sympathetic. Instead, she thinks about how gatherers should be able to enjoy their food without intrusions.

I mean, yeah, evil. But is it any worse than her would-be victim?

Actually, it seems like the herder might have secrets of his own.

‘I thought you said we’d be at your croft by the moonset,’ she said, giving him a quick stare.

‘To be sure, to be sure,’ the herder hastily agreed. He said no more as she folded the meat into the pocket of the water skin.

But she had caught a note in his voice, an air about him, that she distrusted, though she was quick enough not to give him any clue of her suspicion. He bought them both more wine, and she let most of hers leak out of her cup while she pretended to match him sip for sip. Winking at Thella, he paid the vintner to fill his travel bottle. She was beginning to find him tedious indeed.

She notes that no-one is likely to miss him when she takes him out.

And so they leave the gather. Thella realizes that they're being followed. There's someone four lengths behind them. We actually get a name for one of the moons, I think, as the herder notes Belior is just rising.

She fakes drunkenness. Then:

They were in the shadow of the shelf when she heard the faint scrape of shoe in sand. Every sense alert, she waited a fraction of a moment longer, then grabbed the herder and yanked him over just as a body hurtled through the air, dagger flashing in the moonlight. She grinned as the herder cried out once, the assailant’s knife slicing his throat. Then she acted, her own knife on the nape of the attacker’s neck, pricking his skin as she shoved a knee in his back and pushed his head down, half smothering him in his victim’s cloak and travel bag.

Hah, evil vs. evil. Go Thella.

So she learns from the henchman that there are others marked. He was supposed to finish Thella off and go back for the others. Thella asks what he promised:

Half of what they took - enough to buy into a Hold.

WELL NOW.

Apparently there are holds where you can buy a place for a season, and if you satisfy, you can be a regular. This dude is good with a flamer. He just wants shelter.

Thella is tempted to kill him, to see if she has the strength, but she can use a strong holder more than the gratification of a kill.

Okay, yeah, NOW Thella is blatantly a villain. She's still pretty awesome though. She gets his name from him: Dushik. We've seen him before. She reminds him that she can turn him in, and during a Pass, he can be chained out in Fall as execution.

Jesus.

I mean, Thella's evil, but I kind of feel like Thella vs. every other Lord is basically evil vs. evil in this fucking world. Maybe not Lytol. I'd be pissed if anyone overthrew Lytol.

Anyway, this dude knows what to say:

‘Aye, lady, I understand. But I acknowledge you with heart and mind as Lady Holder and will give loyal service.’

He actually sounded as if he meant it, so she released her hold on his arm and jumped backward, replacing her belt knife with her dagger in a fluid motion but ready to throw both at him if he made a suspicious move.

So now, Thella has a henchman. She has him throw him the dead guy's pouch and look for anything else useful. They switch Dushik's clothes with the corpse, and heave the body in the river. She notes that there are a lot of other "holdless wights" at the Gather. Would any of them be trusted to do a good day's work for their keep?

‘For you, lady,’ he said deferentially, going down on his knee to her, ‘I would see that they will.’

Thella was well pleased.

As am I. Well done, McCaffrey. You've finally given us a villain worth watching. I'm generally no apologist. I'm sure, when the heroes come to clash, I'll be siding with them as appropriate.

But as long as we're talking evil vs. evil... I'm looking forward to seeing Thella wreak some havoc.