The Crafts of PernThere are two sorts of crafts on Pern: the “official” Hall crafts that have buildings and ranks and Hold crafts which are so common and widespread that it makes no sense to have a centralized location or system for learning them such as baking, hunting, and trading. Basic skills like singing, sewing, and fishing are obviously not limited to their respective crafts; however the highest quality and trade secrets are only found among crafters. Also few people would buy expensive goods not marked by a crafts seal of approval (ex. Tanner boots with a seal of the hall would show that it is a decent quality good while a random pair made by Joe Nobody might trade/sell but for much less because they aren’t guaranteed to be a certain standard)
Now let’s get started with Hall crafts!
Craft Structure(Apprentice>Journeyman>Master>The Craft Master)Each craft uses an apprenticeship system to teach its students. Young boys and girls that show promise, are craft children, or simply want to learn a specialized skill are brought to a particular craft hall around 10-12 Turns of age and begin an apprenticeship. During an apprenticeship students live together, take classes on their crafts subjects with Journeymen and Masters, and are marked for a specialization within their craft if they show promise. (Ex. A harper with excellent writing may begin special training to become an archivists/scribe during their apprentice years)
An apprenticeship generally last 5-6 Turns during which a child learns the fundamentals of their craft and gains some “on the job” experience. If the masters deem them experienced they will eventually “walk the tables” a ceremony of advancement where a Journeyman of their craft walks them from the apprentice dining table to the Journeyman dining table, marking their rise in the ranks. Most crafters are Journeyman and achieve no higher rank, though being a Journeyman is nothing to sneer at!
A Journeyman is often stationed at far away Holds or sent on special errands, trusted that their skill will see them through without supervision. Journeyman may also teach apprentices, sell their wares for high marks, and study independently. Most Journeymen have a specialization of some sort and the few that do continue to study will become specialized master crafters, the few elite of their craft. It is the master craftsmen who teach and elect one of their peers to become the Crafts master who generally holds that position until he dies.
Women in Hall CraftsWith the number of problems facing the general population on Pern there are going to be less women permitted to work in crafts than men. If you would like to have a female character in a particular craft you might want to run it by the Admins and make sure that your bio is well made. We are currently allowing women to be in any and all crafts but it is limited.
The Hall and the HoldWhile Craft Halls are located at Holds and Journeyman often serve in Holds it is long standing tradition that Hold and Hall are autonomous. What’s this mean? It means that no Hall is obligated to send its craftsman to a Hold and no Hold may impede the wishes and will of the Crafts. A Lord Holder who mistreats his crafters or abuses them will find not just that particular craft pulling its crafters and refusing services but often in a show of support other crafts doing so as well. Hall and Hold need one another and even when relations are tense few on either side would risk alienation by overstepping their bonds.
The Harper Craft(Color: A rich deep “harper” blue)
Major Craft Hall: Fort
Harpers are the teachers, record keepers, instrument makers, musicians, and yes professional singers of Pern. However while they are the primary entertainers of Pern they serve a far more important duty. Journeyman harpers teach hold children basic writing and reading as well history often through “Teaching Songs” and even if it isn’t their specialization most Journeyman are proficient in at least one or two instruments to help the process. They also act as a communication hub making the giant message drums and training their harpers to send and interpret drum code when living at a Hall. Through song, words of mouth, drum, and message they keep all of Pern connected and store its history. Traveling harpers are also often asked to serve in a civil capacity officiating weddings or dispensing justice.
The Healer Craft(Color: Dark Purple)
Major Craft Halls: Fort/South Telgar
The Healer craft is the oldest most respected on Pern and has long had close ties with the Harper craft who also reside at Fort. If Harpers are respected Healers are sacred and to injure or impede a healer is one of the gravest offenses short of murder a man can commit. Due to the high demand for their skills it’s not unusual to have several healers stationed at Major Holds and many others doing regular routes through the smaller more isolated holds. Healers do serious work and their students must be hearty often faced with “on the job training” as there are no dummies to dissect or samples of plague to practice on.
The Vintner Craft(Color: Dark Red)
Major Craft Halls: Benden/Smaller Tillek Hall
The Wine craft is special in that it is both a Hall Craft with a centralized location, ranks, and study and a Hold craft in that you’ll find people practicing it all across Pern! In fact you’ll be lucky to find a hold where someone isn’t making their own wine or beer. However to make the best and make a good mark off it a person has to learn from the Vitner Hall at Bender where craft secrets are close kept! In fact of all the crafts it’s said the master vintners of each region are the most stingy with their knowledge and slow to share with their own students much less other masters.
The Fisher/Sea Craft (Color: Sea Blue)
Major Craft Halls: Tillek
The structure of the sea craft is slightly different than most other crafts. There is of course the Master Fisher the head of the craft and under him the Master Captains and Master Craftsmen. The Captains however have a different way of ranking their Journeyman and apprentices using old sailor traditions. Apprentices start off as cabin boys and lure tiers before progressing through the Journeyman level ranks of seaman, able-bodied, second mate, and fist mate. Craftsmen however use the traditional apprentice and Journeyman titles.
The Weaver/Tailor Craft (Color: Lavender)
Major Craft Halls: Southern Boll
While many holders practice the basics of this craft there’s no competitions in terms of quality. The weavers and tailors of southern boll have not only access to superior quality raw material and stores of knowledge but also giant looms and closely guarded craft patterns from the ancients. The hall is also very diverse making everything from sturdy work boots to fabulous gowns and all the cloth in-between. There is an ongoing rivalry between the weaver and tanner halls over which is the fashion center of Pern.
The Miner Craft (Color: Black)
Major Craft Halls: Crom
While the biggest craft Hall and mines are in Crom there are many minor halls all over Pern. While the Hall has a large influence it is deliberately downplayed and the miner hall has a reputation for being solid, honest, reliable, and most of all discreet. Due to conflicts between miners wanting to mine land that the farm craft wants to plant there is a rivalry between miner and farm craft. If they are often on uneasy terms with the farm craft miners work hand in hand with the smith craft. Traditionally they are a very forward thinking craft. Women in the craft tend to be focused on refining extracted materials or in charting rather than the actual mining process itself.
The Smith Craft (Color: Bright Red)
Major Craft Halls: Telgar/Glass smith specialty Hall is located at Ista
The Smith craft works closely with the mine craft, taking the raw materials supplied by the mine craft and forming them into everything from simple cooking pots, tiny elaborate jewelry, to the big life saving flame throwers used by gold riders and ground crews. Smith craft apprenticeships are the longest on Pern however for those that last they have the honor of joining one of the most prestigious and respected crafts on Pern.
The Tanner Craft (Color: Sienna Brown)
Major Craft Halls: Igen
Stationed in the trade heavy Igen the tanner craft is constantly competing with the weaver hall for dominance in style and fashion. The tanner hall also has one of the largest non apprentice students, people who simply want to learn the basics and have no desire to make a profession of tanning. Due to the high demand and many uses of tanning the craft doesn’t see such people as a threat and eagerly takes on any student who wants to learn the basics. Like Vinters Tanners are blends of hold and hall craft with the best techniques and recipes privilege of craft members only.
The Beast Craft (Color: Yellow)
Major Craft Halls: Keroon
The beast craft doesn’t just breed and raise animals; they also trace the best blood lines and act as the veterinarians of Pern. They make sure over ambitious lord holders don’t breed too many animals for speed and strength or weaken the blood lines through too much inbreeding. While anyone can raise animals those of the beast craft have the best insight and knowledge of the various species on Pern. While they mainly deal with runners, heardbeasts, ovine, llamas and the like they have also raised and studied wherries, chickens, and even the occasional tunnel snake… They DO NOT deal with flits or dragons.
The Farm Craft (Color: Golden Yellow)
Major Craft Halls: Tillek
Like the beast and weaver craft the farm craft is seen as science for the average folk. Known to be at times blunt or gruff experts of the farm craft share their superior knowledge with holders big and small in hopes of having the beats yield. While some smaller more isolated holds may initially chaff at an outsiders suggestions the wisdom of the farm craft usually wins out over stubbornness. Farm crafters have an ongoing rivalry with the miner craft over land.
POST AVIAS ALTERNATIVE TIMELINE CRAFTS
As the title suggests these are crafts that came into existence during the 9th pass or depending on the game are part of an alternative Pern history. These crafts did not exist prior due to limited technology and previously lost knowledge.
The Wood Craft (Color: Forest Green)
Major Craft Halls: Lemos
Originally a very small subdivision of the smith hall after long interval where trees were allowed to flourish the craft grew in prominence and has since broken off from the smith craft though those who work with wood are still called wood smiths. A fast growing craft the wood smiths are responsible for the study and preservation of forests as well as the collection of raw materials and its manufacture into luxury goods such as furniture.
The Glass Craft (Color: Pale blue*)
Major Craft Halls: Lemos
With the discovery of new technologies and the push for more glass products it was decided that the glass craft would split from the smith craft. Like the wood craft glass crafters are known as “glass smiths” acknowledging their former attachment to the smith craft. They are responsible for the production of glass from the delicate lenses of telescopes to the artistic blown glass.
*Couldn’t find a color for this one so I made something up…
The Star Craft (Color: Red)
Major Craft Halls: Lemos
The advancement of technology in other fields led to the creation of the star craft, a division of crafters who study the sky and all that reside in it. Their research allows them to accurately predict thread fall and to a lesser extent weather.
THE HOLD CRAFTS
These are the crafts that are so common or widespread that having a centralized location just makes no sense! Unlike Hall crafts hold crafts have no rank or center for learning. Instead someone interested in learning works under someone experienced until they are deemed acceptable.
The Vintner(Color: Dark Red)
The Wine craft is special in that it is both a Hall Craft with a centralized location, ranks, and study and a Hold craft in that you’ll find people practicing it all across Pern! In fact you’ll be lucky to find a hold where someone isn’t making their own wine or beer. However to make the best and make a good mark off it a person has to learn from the Vitner Hall at Bender where craft secrets are close kept! In fact of all the crafts it’s said the master vintners of each region are the most stingy with their knowledge and slow to share with their own students much less other masters.
The Baker(Color: Light Tan)
It’s not uncommon for the best bakers to have frequent offers from various Lord Holders, all eager to have the finest sweet rolls and breads to be made. Unsurprisingly many bakers keep the finer points of their recipes to themselves and are fairly competitive.
The Trader(Color: Steel Gray)
Traders are technically Holdless, they owe no allegiance to no Lord Holder and have no guaranteed shelter from storm or Thread. Instead they make their living traveling in wagons and trading goods across Pern. Many traders travel in packs and keep a few Journeymen of various crafts in their ranks to both appeal to holds and guarantee fair deals are made. The life of a trader isn’t glamorous however and it’s not uncommon to face mistrust from holders and heavy fees from Lord Holders when circumstances require them to stay within the Holds shelter.
So what if I wanna be a…Artist-Sure! There are plenty of mediums for artists! Designing furniture and clothing, painting patterns on cloth to create one of a kind fabric, designing tapestries, and in rare cases portrait painters just to name a few The truth is all the crafts have use for someone with a good eye and the ability to draw whether it’s a smith making schematics or a scribe harper.
Circus Performer-No. Nope. And well….no. The average Pernese simply doesn’t have the marks to waste on something so blatantly frivolous. Let alone the time to indulge it. While there are probably some harpers with acrobatic talents it’s not their “main” duty and probably amounts to that cool friend of yours who can do back flips.
Gypsie- Nope. When faced with the threat of Thread the traveling people either died, became traders, or assimilated into the Holds. They did not sing and dance for their dinner. See “Circus”.
Thief-Sure!
Actor/Actress-Would be a skill used by harpers but not necessarily their prime duty. There certainly are no “famous” actors renowned across Pern.
Pirate-Ummm….yes and no. Check with your admin team.
Inventor-Yes! Every craft could benefit from a creative mind wishing to improve things! Smiths especially are always tinkering with “toys” and making crazy useless crap. However keep in mind that for an active crafter this would be a hobby and possibly a passion but not their “job”.
CREDITS: Compiled by Desh using
these amazing resources.
