Weyr - Social Mores

Social Mores

There is no marriage in the Weyr, as dragonriders are so involved in their dragons' needs that it would be unfair to a romantic partner to commit to a permanent relationship. Instead, Weyrs have "weyrmates." In rare cases, weyrmating is as deep and permanent as a marriage. However, a weyrmate would usually be the equivalent to a long-term "boyfriend" or "girlfriend": a form of serial monogamy. A weyrmate might be another rider, a crafter or a lower caverns worker. The term indicates that the pair usually share living quarters, for the time being. Such relationships can be severed at any time by either partner for any reason.

Parental ties are loose, and children are considered to be the property of the Weyr, not of the parent. Usually a child knows who his or her parents are, but many have no more contact with them than any other Weyr resident. There is often some fondness between parent and child; a parent might give a "birthing day" or "Turn's End" gift to their child and keep tabs on the child's development. Other parents completely ignore their child's existence. Severing a child's emotional ties with their natural parents is also considered to be a balancing factor, as expectations for Weyrbrats are not tied to the rank or qualities of their parents. Children are seen as individuals who must succeed or fail on their own, not on parental merit. During a Pass, when a dragonrider parent risks life and limb fighting Thread, this also limits the child's trauma should a parent die.

Sexual relations in a Weyr are typically very liberal. Sex is a form of tension release, and can be triggered through telepathic cues that are produced by the dragons in mating flights. A goldrider can be expected to be open to sexual relations with multiple males (especially bronzeriders) and greenriders are expected to not mind having many sexual partners as well. Sexual contact during mating flights is not considered to be any indication of a dragonrider's preference in either individual or gender preference. In addition, sex with a person other than a weyrmate during a mating flight is not considered to be "cheating." This behavior is considered anathema to the Holders (who are very conservative in their morals) and, to a lesser degree, the Crafters.

Homosexuality is accepted in the Weyr as a necessity for the dragons' well-being. Green dragons prefer to impress a female or gay male rider while blue and some brown dragons may choose gay or bisexual male riders. However, homosexuality is not well accepted outside of the Weyr, so the Weyr often becomes a sanctuary for homosexual men and women.

Suicide is considered to be a "normal" response to the loss of a dragon. A dragonrider whose dragon has died is usually given the option of accompanying another pair between and releasing from the pair before emerging, effectively killing him or herself. Few riders would ever deny a dragonless rider due to the strength of the bond between dragon and rider, losing one's dragon almost always results in insanity in all but the strongest of character such as Lytol, though these people remain emotional vulnerable to any mention of Dragons.

Abortion is also accepted in the Weyr, while Holders and Crafters believe abortion to be "evil". Going into the absolute cold of between during the first trimester of pregnancy usually causes a miscarriage; therefore any female dragonrider risks aborting before she even knows she is with child. As such, there can be no stigma against abortion within a Weyr. Any woman in the Weyr who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy has the option of asking assistance from a dragonrider. "A short ride between" is a common euphemism for ending an unwanted pregnancy.

For dragonriders, social and Wing status are completely dependent on the colour of their dragon. This is due to the natural/instinctual social structure of the dragons themselves, a legacy of their firelizard ancestors. Gold and bronze dragons and their riders are at the top of the social/military structure. Brown dragons and their riders have the most flexibility and can achieve rank nearly equal to bronze dragons or fall to lower ranks, according to ability and personal preferences of the Riders. Blue and green dragons and their riders are at the bottom of the social and military hierarchy, the dragons because they will obey gold and bronze (and sometimes brown) dragons generally without question, their riders tend to have matching "follower" personalities and are usually content to do so.

While the Weyrwoman and the Weyrleader hold the same rank as a Lord or Lady Holder or Mastercraftsmen, even the lowest ranked adult dragonrider is equivalent to a senior journeyman in a craft, and are given the respect due any dragonrider as the protectors of Pern.