Igen Weyr Description

Igen Weyr is the land of Sand and Wind. But it has one of the largest areas in the Northern Continent to protect. Igen was founded to protect Igen River Holds and to the borders of the inhabitated lands of Telgar. All else was desert or moutain. Now Igen Weyr protects all of its territory, for even the desert is not without its inhabitants, rare though they are.

The above pic shows Igen's Weyr Bowl, though it is during a major drought as the Weyrlake is drying up. The various weyr ledges can be easily seen.

Igen is in the center of the Northern Continent's Central Desert, atop the world's highest mountain chain, in an extinct volcano named Igen. The climate is unforgiveably hot and the only things living there are desert creatures, Dragons, and sweaty people. If Igen has plants it is because its people like greenery and grow whatever they can where ever it can survive. Igen's emblem is three sand dunes - not by accident.

The Bowl of Igen is the center of an extinct desert mountain chain volcano and it is roughly round. Igen Weyr's Bowl is a tremendous place, being over a mile across at ground level, and filled with black volcanic sand. The rim of the extinct volcano has been eroded into sharp patterns by the constant desert wind. The Bowl also contains a Weyrlake of good sized, being several hundred meters across and is encircled by a black sand beach

The place is honeycombed with mined corridors and rooms. Looking at the Bowl from above, with 12:0O Noon being toward the North - "UP": The WL and WW have their quarters here, raised above their offices which are at ground level. To the right (1:00) is the Hatching area and the Sands. The Weyrlake begins at around the 1:30 position, stretching a good 1/2 mile, until it borders on the Beastpens. The Beastcraft takes care of the "Dragonfood" in the Bowl at the 4:00 position IN the Bowl under an extended roof at the Bowl's floor level and connected to series of beastpens. Next to it is the Smithy at about 5:00. The Weyrling barracks and classes are at 6:00, directly across the Bowl from the WW and WL's offices. Entry to the Bowl from outside is thru a cavern running from the 7:00 position out, down thru several levels. Ground weyrs stretch from the tunnel to the Infirmary Complex, consisting of the Healer's Hall and DragonHealer's Hall, located at the 8:00 position. The Kitchens and Dining caverns in that order from 9:00 to 10:0O. The Candidate Barracks have an entrance at the 11:00 position, just 'west' of the WL's office, and above the Dining Cavern entrance. There ARE accessways INSIDE the Weyr for those who have to service these weyrs but are used by groundlings. These stairs and halls inside are dark, narrow, winding and therefore Riders disdain them - unless they are drunk (etc) and CAN'T fly or have an injured Dragon.

The Gold weyrs are to the west of the WL's office, which is next to the WW's office. The most senior jr.ww has the weyr closest to the WL. The weyrs of the rest of the riders are scatterred throughout the Bowl, all above ground level with the exception of the ground weyrs for injured or invalid dragons. The weyrs closest to the bottom of the Bowl tend to be the biggest, thus the weyrs reserved for bronzeriders, with the smallest weyrs towards the top being held for greenriders. The weyrs that overlook the Weyrlake tend to be reserved for Flightleaders, Wingleaders, and Wingseconds. These weyrs have a beautiful view of the sun setting over Igen's western Bowlrim, with the light reflecting off the waters.

Igen is located in an extinct volcano of a mountain range that begins at the southern tip of the continent, and runs north until it joins the Northern Barrier Range near Telgar Weyr. There are 3 main territories in Igen. There is the the Igen Desert, directly east, the Dragon's Foot with its hills, plains and ocean cliffs to the south, and the River Banks on the west foothills of the moutains, where the ocean inlet becomes a river.

The marvelous thing about living in an extinct volcano is the fact that the original builders of the Weyr were able to take advantage of the geothermal heat stored deep in the earth. We use that heat, even today, to supply the kitchens, the Queen's weyrs, the Weyrleader's Weyr, and some of the luckier Riders and Weyrfolk with private, heated baths. For the less priveleged ... there are heated community baths available on each level of the Weyr. Foul water is allowed to drain back down through an elaborate filtration system of charcoal and other minerals and then recycled and used again and again.

Many of the Weyrs and some of the common rooms in the Lower Caverns also have hearths in them. These hearths can be used for light cooking purposes or for heating purposes in the evening ... but they are NOT kept burning constantly... the climate is just too hot for that. Wood is an expensive commodity on Pern ... and is rarely used as a kindling. Along with twigs, tumbleweeds, and unsalvageable wood or other flamable materials .... Igen is especially fond of using manure in their fire places.

The Lower Caverns on the western front consists of the general living and working areas for the non-riders of the Weyr. It contains the Kitchen, the Dining Area, the Candidate Barracks, the Harper Classrooms, The Infirmary, meeting rooms and offices, workrooms, storerooms, an exercise room, the laundry room, guest quarters, and the living quarters of the weyrworkers. All of these rooms are divided into 2 areas: living and working. The "living" area is simply the living quarters, while the "working" area is all of the other aforementioned areas. Glowbaskets in the main hallways provide a "map" of the way from one to the other. Small pieces of colored glass are found in the panes of the glowbasket. Each color pertains to a particular area. The darker the colored glass, the closer you are. Yellow denotes the living quarters, blue the working area, and green the infirmary.