Big Bay Hold

Big Bay Hold is a chief trading center for beasts and good of all kinds. It is a small sea hold that grew out of a cluster of storehouses built by traders in this sheltered cover in the curve of Igen's Claw. The dry air serves to keep goods from spoiling or mildewing.

Every trader has his own warehouse or beastfold, depending on the nature of his goods. Holder Jivan is an utterly fair man who keeps track of the comings and goings of beasts and goods on lengths of hide in his own shorthand, which no one else can read. He has copies of all the brands and hallmarks that the holders and crafters use, and adjudicates all disputes between traders in the calm voice that no one has ever heard him raise.

Adjuncts from every Crafthall live in Big Bay. Their job is quality control, to see that those products which are represented as being of a certain value and skill level are of that quality. The Beastcrafthall is the second largest on Pern, and several animal healers are in Jivan's employ.

Some disputes solve themselves when all the facts are brought out. If, for example, a trader claims that a herd of white-faced black bovines is his, but that it was moved in the night to another trader's fold, it is easy to check the manifests to discover the stops along both traders' routes to see which one of them was latest in northern Telgar, where that type of beast is raised. Dishonest traders get the word that they and their goods are no longer welcome to use the facilities of Big Bay Hold.