- Kitchen: [DoP/5:96].
- Main Weyr Hall: [DoP/5:97].
- Musical: "There was a tradition of music on Pern, brought by their ancestors and encouraged by not only the Teaching Hall but also Weyr and Hold. Everyone was taught how to read music from an early age and encouraged to learn to play at least one instrument, if not two or three. It was a poor hold indeed that could not produce a guitar or at least pipes and a drum to liven winter nights and special occasions" [RSR/14:342].
- Duties of: look for signs of regular or serious meteoric impacts, signs of gross geological changes, survey the geology, biology and chemistry of a planet, identify the dominant life form, if any. Five possible landing sites must be identified on planets that are colonisable and in addition, potable water, breathable air devoid of methanes or cyanides. No sentient life form may be present or a planet is not colonisable. [CoP-Survey/1:4, DLG2/4].
- Leader: became Shavva after the deaths of Flora and Sevvie (implied to have been Flora previous to her death) [CoP-Survey/1:6].
- Members: the team that explored Pern, amon other planets, consisted of eight members originally, four of which had died before the 5th planet of this survey tour. The original eight members had been together for four previous tour. They were: pilot and chemist Captain Castor, geologist Ben Turnien, biologist and nexialist Shavva bint Faround (ancestor of Avril Bitra) and botanist and nexialist Mo Tan Liu, the other four members of the original eight died because of ill luck or carelessnes before the team discovered Pern. They were: Flora Neveshan, Sevvie Asturias, Terbo and Beldona [CoP-Survey/1:3-4, DLG2/4].
- Pern survey: the Pern survey, done by three members of the team Ben, Shavva and Mo (the Castor had to remain in the ship with a broken ankle) took five days. Because of the reduced number of team members (they had to double up on tasks) the team was unable to give the world more than a cursory examination.
Elgion: journeyman harper at Harper Hall and Hold Harper at Half Circle Sea Hold after Petiron. (His name is misprinted as Elgin in D1-Dragondex and D2-Dragondex).Journeyman Harper Elgion was aghast to discover he was being sent to Half Circle Sea Hold but he was also complimented by the responsibility of replacng Petiron, Masterharper Robinton's father, and reviving learning in the desolate Hold. By nature a volatile man, with an often-whimsical sense of humour, Elgion found the dour surroundings depressing, but rose firmly above them. He reaps quite a good harvest of goodwill indeed, from people starved for wit and music. Although he could not complete the unwritten request to find Petiron's "lost" and talented apprentice, he did find an unexpected companion in Alemi and settled down well in his first assignment as Journeyman Harper [H1; PoP:16].
The picture on the right is the portrait artist Robin Wood made of Harper Elgion for The People of Pern (1988), the wonderful book with portraits of Pernese people by the same artist.
[Illustration used with permission. © Robin Wood 1988]
Elrhan/Hans was one of the Anne McCaffrey's Kitchen Table Forum hosts and administrators. During the second half of the year 2000 and the first half of 2001 he and his friends Anneli Conroy [yes, the one who won the Worlds of Anne McCaffrey Pern slogan contest!] and Cheryl Miller [yes, Sariel of Sariel's Guide to Pern!] worked closely together with Anne McCaffrey -- on her request -- on the Master Character List of Pern: the Who's Who on Pern.
Looking at his name Lord Emelin was probably named for the erstwhile co-leader of the Pern colonists Emily Boll. If this is true this hints at a marriage, or other kind of liaison, between members of the Lord Holder families of Fort Hold and (Southern) Boll Hold that must have taken place during the First Pass or First Interval since it might be assumed that the name Emily was used in the Boll Bloodline to honor the woman it was named for.
Emily Boll: Emily was born on Altair [CoP-RR/215] c. 75 BL. She was governor of First Centauri, co-leader of the Pern Expedition and the Pern colony together with Admiral Paul Benden. She died in 16 (the fever year), probably at Fort Hold . She was a widow when she came to Pern but was married on Pern to Pierre de Courci, cook (chef) and administrator of the mass catering at Landing. Pierre is the founder of the Boll, later called South)ern) Boll) settlement (later called Hold). He probably died during the First Pass (8-58).
Though in The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall Emily Boll is mentioned as "Governor Emily Boll of Altair" other sources clearly indicate she had been governor of First Centauri. I have therefore assumed that Emily originally came from, and was born on Altair and later became governor of First Centauri. Emily was a widow when she came to Pern. She came alone. in Dragonsdawn it is written that none of her children, all adults, had wished to accompany her on her one-way journey [DD]. Emily was severly wounded when the colonists had to move northy "to shield" because of a sled accident. Against all odds she did recover but after that her health failed her and she never became the strong woman again that she always had been.
The relationship between Pierre and Emily, who was called Em for short, started five weeks after the first colonists landed on Pern. Emily and Pierre were "an unlikely combination, but that was half the pleasure of it" [DD/1:118]. Pierre was never actually Lord Holder of Southern Boll Hold because the term was not yet in use early in the First Pass. It seems obvious that there was no issue from the marriage between Pierre and Emily, who was past childbearing age [DD/1:118]. But because of the practice of fostering, a practice that was established relatively soon after the move north because of the fact that so many adults died in the fever year, I have assumed that Pierre did not only founded the settlement that would become South Boll, but that he also started fostering and adopting orphans, thus establishing the line of South(ern) Boll Lord Holders.
Concerning the Boll Bloodline we are also confronted with an inconsistency. Anne McCaffrey has Lessa remark in The Skies of Pern that "Emily Boll held those lands in her own right. I see it that the Holdership has come full circle and about time" [SoP/378], which, considering what was written before in especially The Ford of Red Hanrahan [CoP-FoRH], cannot be the case. This inconsistency could be reasoned away if we consider the fact that historical data about the early period after the move north will have been extremely sketchy since it seems reasonable to assume that not even Aivas would have been able to enlighten the later Pernese generations about that period. Aivas will have had access to data about Emily Boll and her relationship with Pierre de Courci however and might have deduced that, since the Hold was called Boll, she might have been its founder (which we know was not the case, it was only named after her). This theory might be considered strengthened by the fact that, when Lady Janissian is called in (after the voting) an heirloom diamond and ruby chevron pendant is mentioned that "was supposed to have been handed down from Emily Boll" [SoP/381]. If something like that is not entirely sure, the modern day Pernese cannot be sure about the earliest history of South(ern) Boll either.
For the Boll Bloodline Bloodline: click here.
The portrait of governor Emily Boll shown here was the third in the series of Pern Portraits made especially for the Pern Encyclopedia by the American artist and Pern fan Linda Eicher. It is copyright by her and you are asked politely not to reproduce it or use it in any way without prior permission by the artist. You can click the portrait for a larger version.