Threadfall Calendar for 2859

Kadanzer Weyr covers a territory that is almost the size of the entire Northern Continent. Usually only one Flight flies each Threadfall, although in the event of bad weather or other problems, the Weyrleader might decide to send two Flights up in shifts. During each Threadfall, the Flight that is scheduled for the next 'Fall is "on deck" in case bad weather or injuries make it necessary to use them as reinforcements. Should they be called up, the rotation shifts a notch and the next 'Fall will be flown by the Flight after them.

It works out that Thread falls approximately once every three days somewhere in Kadanzer territory. As of 2858, 'Falls now last five hours, and occur at any time of the day or night. Thread also, of course, has no respect for such man-made conventions as restdays. Another natural event that has no respect for convenience is Hatchings, and these also sometimes occur on Threadfall days, which makes for hectic activity at the Weyr! Mating Flights, on the other hand, never occur on Threadfall days because the instinct to fight overrides a female dragon's instinct to mate.

The chart below indicates where and when Thread will fall during 2859 (Real Time 2005 and 2006). It also indicates which Flight is scheduled to meet 'Fall. Gold mating flights, clutch dates, Hatching days, major annual gathers, and other important events are also indicated on this calendar. (Note that at this point, the dates of gold flights, Clutchings, and Hatchings are only estimated.) Click on the location of the Threadfall in the calendar to see a more detailed description of that 'Fall.

Please use this chart to schedule Threadfall events in stories for the Weyr.

If you are interested in a more technical explanation of this calendar, click here.

Go to Threadfall schedule for 2861
Go to Threadfall schedule for 2860
Go to Threadfall schedule for 2858
Go to Threadfall schedule for 2857
Go to Threadfall schedule for 2856
Go to Threadfall schedule for 2855

Threadfall calendar for month 1:

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Threadfall calendar for month 2:

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Threadfall calendar for month 3:

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Threadfall calendar for month 4:

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Threadfall calendar for month 5:

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Threadfall calendar for month 6:

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Threadfall calendar for month 7:

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Threadfall calendar for month 8:

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Threadfall calendar for month 9:

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Threadfall calendar for month 10:

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Threadfall calendar for month 11:

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Threadfall calendar for month 12:

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Threadfall calendar for month 13:

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134 Threadfalls in Kadanzer territory this Turn.

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Zone Descriptions

Since the return of Thread, the dragonriders at Kadanzer have learned the patterns of 'Fall over their territory.  The pattern of Thread is not what it was in the previous Pass; 'Falls in the southern hemisphere now start near the equator and move southwest in a straight line.  The pattern of 'Falls has been charted with a fair degree of precision, and has been divided into geographic tracks that tend to repeat.

Here are the basic tracks recognized by Kadanzer's charts, listed under the names by which they are most commonly known:

"Cibola Tip" - Sea, tip of Cibola Peninsula, sea, far West Izmir.
This 'Fall is one of the easiest.  It is almost entirely over the open ocean, but a bit over half the time it makes landfall over the barren tip of the Cibola peninsula two and a half hours into the 'Fall.  The Flight usually is mustered at this point if the path of 'Fall is even close to land, as the winds are tricky here and sometimes make the Leading Edge shift unpredictably.  Politically astute Flightleaders will take extra care here, knowing how unpleasant a meeting with Cibola's Lord can be.   However, the 'Fall only takes a few minutes to head out to sea again, so accidents over the peninsula are rare.  The next hour of 'Fall is far out to sea, giving the Flight the chance to rest up before the Leading Edge makes landfall in far west Izmir.  About half the time, the wind is from the east and the Thread falls harmlessly over the barrens outside Izmir's borders.

"Cibola-Izmir" - Sea, Cibola Peninsula, Sea, Western Izmir.
This is another fairly easy 'Fall; again, the first half is over open ocean. Sometimes the path crosses the barren volcanic island off the tip of the Thornblaze peninsula about an hour into the 'Fall, but it has never been known to hit the peninsula itself even in the strongest winds.  Sweepriders monitor this area just in case, though, and if the island is hit, Flightleaders sometimes order the Wings to fight there as a warm-up, even though there is nothing for Thread to eat.  Generally, the Flight first meets Thread on the northern edge of the Cibola peninsula near the main hold.  The Leading Edge takes only half an hour to cross the peninsula, though the riders cannot afford to relax since there are tricky updrafts over the Spine at the southern edge of the peninsula.  After that the path heads back out to sea, though if the prevailing west wind happens to be strong that day, Thread sometimes reaches as far as the west coast of Cibola's marsh region.  Most of the time, though, the riders can relax for nearly an hour before the Leading Edge makes landfall again in western Izmir, after which time they have about an hour's fighting before the trailing edge crosses into the southern barrens.

"Thornblaze Tip" - Sea, Thornblaze Tip, Great Bay, Cibola, Izmir.
About an hour and a half into this 'Fall, the Leading Edge crosses the Thornblaze peninsula near its tip, where the main hold and the Pottercrafthall are located.  The desert peninsula sometimes produces tricky winds, but as with the Cibola tip the trailing edge is soon out to sea again.  The riders have about an hour and a half to rest as the Thread crosses far out in the Great Bay, before making landfall in Cibola.  The first part of the Cibolan section can be tricky, as the hot scrubland produces updrafts, culminating over the Spine.  After leaving the Spine the 'Fall usually heads over the marshland region of western Cibola, though sometimes it blows west to the more fertile lands. The prevailing west wind also sometimes brings in rain squalls from the nearby ocean.  About an hour after the Cibolan landfall, the Leading Edge crosses the wide river that separates the territories of Cibola and Izmir, and heads inland near the main hold of Izmir.  It generally takes a full hour from this point before the 'Fall peters out over the southern barrens.

"Thornblaze-Cibola" - Sea, Thornblaze peninsula, Great Bay, Cibola, Izmir.
The Wings muster at the eastern side of the Thornblaze peninsula, where the Leading Edge arrives an hour and a half after the 'Fall begins.  About half an hour later the path of Fall takes it away from the arid peninsula and out over the Great Bay.  Close to an hour after that, it hits the shore of Cibola, near the Seacraft's Cave Harbor.  The hot climate here can mean tricky winds, though they are usually not too bad here since in this region the Spine is shorter and much less craggy than it is to the northwest. Once the Spine is left behind, the path of 'Fall takes it over the breadbasket of Cibola. Again it takes about an hour from landfall to the Izmir border, and about an hour more over Izmir before the 'Fall ends.

"Offshore Dorado" - Sea, offshore Dorado, Thornblaze, Great Bay, E Cibola, Izmir.
An hour into this 'Fall, the path begins to parallel the coast of Dorado, and often blows onto the shore.  The whole Flight generally must follow the 'Fall, though they generally only need to fight for brief periods until the Leading Edge crosses into Thornblaze.  Over half an hour later the combat Wings get a break as the Trailing Edge reaches the Great Bay.  The bay is still wide here and it is nearly an hour until the Wings must meet Thread again over the desert coast of eastern Cibola.  The land rapidly turns more fertile and after crossing the lowest part of the Spine the Flight will find itself over Cibola's forest plantations.  Close to an hour after landfall, the forests get wilder as the Leading Edge crosses into Izmir, whose eastern regions are not very highly populated.  An hour later the 'Fall ends over the southern barrens.

"Dorado Coast" - Sea, Dorado coast, S Thornblaze, Great Bay near Ierne Island, Cibola/Dawn Sisters border, E Izmir.
Just over an hour into this 'Fall, the Leading Edge hits the northwest coast of Dorado.  Occasionally the wind will blow the Thread out to sea, but this is not common.  After an hour of this, the coast falls behind and the 'Fall crosses southern Thornblaze, and about half an hour later heads back out into the Great Bay.  The Wings must remain vigilant, though, because partway through the bay, the path crosses near the northern end of Ierne Island.  More often than not the 'Fall does not hit land, but experienced Flightleaders will be especially careful since a single stray clump hitting Ierne's shore means an uncomfortable session with the prickly Lord of that hold. About an hour after leaving Thornblaze, the path of 'Fall takes it onto land again near the border between Cibola and Dawn Sisters, which it follows for nearly an hour.  After that it heads into Eastern Izmir, which is almost completely wilderness so no ground crews are available. An hour later the 'Fall ends.

"Windsong Tip" - Sea, Windsong tip, Sea, Delta coast, Dorado, NW Riverdance, Ierne Island, Dawn Sisters, Far SE Izmir.
This 'Fall hits land very soon after it begins, often right over the Weyr itself.  After a brief fight it heads out to sea again, though if the west wind is strong, occasional clumps will reach Windsong's western shore.  The path then takes the Thread along the coastline of Delta hold for somewhat less than an hour before crossing the narrow bay near the main hold and heading inland over the fertile plains of Dorado hold.  An hour later the Leading Edge reaches Riverdance territory; less than an hour after that, it heads out to sea near the Dolphincrafthall.  The riders have rest here, but only a brief one as the Great Bay is quite narrow here and almost completely filled by Ierne Island.  Half an hour later the Leading Edge heads over the vast grain fields of Dawn Sisters for an hour, and crosses into the wilderness of far southeastern Izmir shortly before dying out.

"Windsong-Delta" - Sea, Windsong, Delta, Dorado, Riverdance, Great Bay narrows and S Ierne Island, Dawn Sisters.
This Fall is one of the longest of all, with only a few chances to rest.  It makes landfall almost immediately, and takes most of an hour to cross Windsong's jungles, and goes through Delta and into Dorado less than an hour after that.  Riverdance is next and the path of 'Fall usually takes it near the main hold close to the end of the hour-long crossing.  There are brief rest periods over the Great Bay narrows northeast and southwest of Ierne Island, but on the island itself the Wings need to take extra care because ground crews cannot always be counted on in that isolationistic Hold. The fight resumes in earnest over Dawn Sisters, and the Leading Edge crosses near the main hold soon after making landfall.  Nearly an hour after that, the 'Fall is over.

"No-name" - Sea, Windsong, SE Delta, SE Dorado, NW Drake, Riverdance, SE Dawn Sisters.
This 'Fall is the longest combat with no breaks, not even the short ones found near Ierne.  It also features the fewest major landmarks.  There's no common name for this one; most Wings call it something like "the long slog" though most of the variations aren't very printable.  It first makes landfall less than an hour after beginning, then takes an hour each to cross Windsong and Delta, then half an hour each for Southeast Dorado and Northwest Drake, then an hour for Riverdance.  It crosses the Great Bay at its very narrowest point, where it is barely more than a river and offers no respite at all.  This is, however, a sign that the fall is mostly over, though it can be fatal to relax at that point because the 'Fall still takes most of an hour to cross southern Dawn Sisters before ending in the southern mountains.

"Windsong-Waterfall" - Sea, Windsong, Waterfall, Drake, S Riverdance.
This is also one of the longest 'Falls.  An hour after this 'Fall begins over the ocean, the Leading Edge makes landfall on Windsong's eastern coast.  It takes less than an hour to pass over Windsong's main hold and enter Waterfall.  It passes over that hold's main center as well, and just under an hour after entering that hold's territory, it crosses into Drake Hold, and over an hour later continues on to southern Riverdance which it crosses in a fairly short time before petering out in the Great Bay's southern widening, occasionally hitting the sparsely settled southeastern coast of Dawn Sisters Hold if the wind is strong from the south or east.

"Sunstone-Waterfall" - Sea, Sunstone tip, Windsong/Sunstone border, Waterfall, Drake, NW Barrier, Far S Riverdance.
This is considered a fairly long 'Fall, as the leading Edge makes landfall only an hour into its path, and as usual with 'Falls starting over sea, the Wings must be ready to jump in early if the weather pushes the Thread a bit ahead of schedule.  Thread falls over the northernmost region of Sunstone hold for nearly half an hour, then the track follows the Windsong/Sunstone border for just under an hour before crossing into Waterfall.  After an hour over the thick forests of Waterfall, it crosses into Drake for another hour, then into northwestern Barrier for less than an hour, and finally peters out in the chilly far southern reaches of Riverdance.

"Drake's Lake" - Sea, Sunstone, Kadanzer/Waterfall border, Drake's Lake, Barrier, mountain barrens.
The Leading Edge of this 'Fall reaches the Sunstone coast not quite an hour and a half after starting over empty sea.  It spends an hour and a half over Sunstone territory, crossing over the main hold and the Tannercrafthall in the process, then tracks roughly along the boeder between Kadanzer and Waterfall holds for another half hour.  Then the riders usually get a respite as the 'Fall passes over Drake's Lake for about half an hour (though if the wind is strongly north or south, the shoreline communities will be threatened.)  The last hour is spent over the more populated regions of Barrier Hold, including the Main Hold and the Minecrafthall.

"Sunstone-Kadanzer" - Sea, Sunstone, NW Kadanzer, Barrier, mountain barrens.
This 'Fall makes landfall a bit before the two-hour mark, in Sunstone Hold territory. It spends one hour over Sunstone, then another hour in Kadanzer Hold, then the last hour in mountainous country in eastern Barrier Hold, which is only sparsely populated.  The 'Fall need not always be fought over the entire region; more often than not there are stretches where the Thread track falls between the small inhabited areas.

"Old Weyr" - Sea, Sunstone/Maori border, Kadanzer, mountain barrens.
This 'Fall usually reaches land just over two hours along.  It spends about half an hour over the Sunstone/Maori border, then heads into Kadanzer hold for an hour and a half.  At the end of this time it passes over the main hold, and the riders are treated to the melancholy sight of Kadanzer's old mountain home, cratered and often still smoking.  The final half hour of the 'Fall is in far southeastern Barrier, full of barren and forbidding mountains; however, a few cotholds and minecraftholds cling to this region, so the 'Fall must be tracked carefully and fought if it comes anywhere near any of these places.  The winds here can be very tricky due to the mountains.

"Maori-Kadanzer" - Sea, Maori, SE Kadanzer, mountain barrens.
The Leading Edge of this 'Fall generally does not reach land for two and a half hours, though as always the Wings will be ready to meet it should weather conditions make it come early.  The Leading Edge hits land in Maori Hold, taking an hour to reach the Kadanzer Hold border and crossing over the main hold in the process.  Once crossing the border, the 'Fall spends an hour and a half in the southeast region of Kadanzer hold, the last half hour of which is over mountain barrens which have nothing for Thread to threaten.

"Maori-Cathay" - Sea, Rubicon Tip, Maori, Maori Lake, Cathay, mountain barrens.
This 'Fall starts over the sea and only makes landfall at the two-and-a-half-hour mark, over the northernmost tip of Rubicon.  As usual for 'Falls that start at sea, sweepriders will be posted just offshore at least a half hour before the Leading Edge is scheduled to arrive, and the Wings will be on full alert ready to go at a moment's notice if the wind blows Thread in early.  It then heads into Maori territory for just under an hour, then briefly crosses Maori Lake before reaching Cathay.  The last hour and a half is over the flatter and more fertile regions of Cathay, including the main hold.

"North Rubicon" - Sea, Rubicon, Maori/Rubicon border, Cathay, mountain barrens.
The Leading Edge of this 'Fall generally reaches land just before the three-hour mark.  After making landfall, the track passes over the northern section of Rubicon for about half an hour, then follows the Rubicon/Maori border for another half hour before passing into mountainous Cathay territory for an hour and a half.  Of this, the last half hour or so is over mountain barrens in the far south, and generally need not be fought.

"Eastern-Rubicon" - Sea and Eastern Weyr territory, Rubicon, Cathay, mountain barrens.
This 'Fall starts in Eastern Weyr's territory and is fought by their Wings for nearly three hours.  The switchover usually takes place over the Rubicon bay, though if luck runs bad the 'Fall will blow south and there won't be an easy chance to hand off.  In any case, the 'Fall takes most of an hour to cross Rubicon hold, passing near the main hold soon before it reaches the Cathay border.  Cathay is mostly mountains, but there are many fertile valleys scattered through this region, and the riders cannot afford to relax.  It generally takes more than an hour for the Trailing Edge to leave the last fertile area.

"Cathay Mountain" - Sea and Eastern Weyr territory, Rubicon, E Cathay, mountain barrens.
This 'Fall is a short one, as the first three and a half hours are over Eastern Weyr's territory (including Eastern Weyr itself).  The changeover, which can be a bit of a tricky maneuver, is made when the Leading Edge crosses the Rubicon river, and not much over half an hour later the 'Fall crosses into Cathay, which is very mountainous in that region.  The winds can be dangerous here, but since there aren't many fertile valleys in the area it often doesn't matter if a few clumps get through the cover.  Less than an hour after entering Cathay, it leaves the last fertile areas and need no longer be fought.

"Azov" - Eastern Weyr territory, SE coast Rubicon, SE coast Cathay.
This is one of the easiest 'Falls, and certainly the shortest for Kadanzer.  Most of its path is over Eastern Weyr territory, and those riders hand off to the Kadanzer Wings over the Rubicon river.  If luck is with the fresh riders, the wind will be strong from the north or west and blow the Thread out over the sea of Azov, but even if it does stay on land it only takes half an hour to pass along the coastline of Rubicon and reach Cathay, which is almost completely barren at this point. At the most, the Wings must fight Thread for another half an hour.

Technical explanation of the Thread calendar:

The calendar is based on the idea that Thread falls somewhere in the southern hemisphere every 27.5 hours, and that succeeding Falls are spaced 142.5 degrees longitude apart (that's nine and a half time zones.) I came up with these numbers through trial and error, because they produce a Fall approximately every three days in Kadanzer territory and keep the pattern of Falls from repeating too neatly. This number started out at 29.5 nad has decreased slowly as the Pass moved along.  I also added a bit of an extra random factor that moves the schedule around occasionally.

Each Fall starts near the equator and follows a 45 degree track heading southwest.  (Yes, I know this is not what's described in the books or the DLG.  For what it's worth, AM contradicts herself here too; the charts in _Dragonflight_ are described as having horizontal lines, while the Falls in _Dragonsdawn_ follow a 30-degree diagonal.  We justify our change by saying it's an effect of the conjunction that our version of AIVAS thought was going to throw the Red Star out of range of Pern forever; instead, it only produced another Long Interval and changed the pattern of Thread somewhat. And yes, we know this is BS, but so is the whole concept of Threadfall; we just have to accept certain things on faith in order to enjoy playing on Pern. ;-}) The calendar divides Kadanzer territory up into 20 overlapping bands that span ten time zones, but a single Fall is not as wide as the whole zone and may snake back and forth within it, or even into other zone if the winds are strong.  Because Kadanzer territory is ten time zones wide but Threadfalls occur 9.5 time zones apart, a Fall in the farthest west zone is followed just over a day later (27.5 hours, to be precise) by another Fall in the far east of Kadanzer territory.  I figured this is not an undue burden as both of these are short Falls; the far west because it's mostly over ocean, and the east because it's mostly over Eastern Weyr territory.  The rest of the time, Falls in Kadanzer territory occur either 55 or 82.5 hours apart.

Starting times of Falls are given both at Kadanzer time and local time. Since the Weyr is in time zone six, a Flight rising to fight Thread in the far west may easily take off in broad daylight but arrive when it is not yet dawn where Thread is to fall.  Note that the Flight will not usually have to take off at the exact start time given, since in most zones Thread will fall over the ocean for at least an hour before making landfall.  Be sure to check the detailed description to see when the Wings need to muster.  Also note that times are not exact; start times are given in terms of how close they are to morning or evening rather than as clock hours, since clocks are hardly ever used on Pern.  The calendar also takes into account the changing length of days between summer and winter.  Thus a Fall that starts at 7 in the morning may be described as 'predawn' in winter and 'morning' in summer. (Don't forget, we're on the Southern Continent, so the seasons are reversed from the northern pattern that most of us are used to: Turn's End day comes in midsummer.)

The calendar includes a random storm chance as well, to provide some extra excitement; within each month there is a certain chance that any fall will be a high-wind situation that requires two Flights to fight.  Needless to say, this chance is higher during winter and spring months, though storms do sometimes happen in the summer and autumn.  In each fall, the Flight that is due to fight the next Fall is on deck for backup; should a storm force them to fight that day, the Flight after them will take the next Fall instead.

All this is done with a program I coded up; it's written in Perl, in case anybody is curious.  We can now generate Thread calendars for any Turn in the future, provided we know how fast the Falls will speed up as the height of the Pass approaches.

Any questions or problems with this calendar may be addressed to me at morgav@kadanzer.org.

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