Ramoth was the senior queen at Benden Weyr late in the Eighth Interval and early in the Ninth Pass, and is known to be the largest gold on Pern.
Her rider was the Ruathan-bred Lessa.
Biography[]
Impression[]
Ramoth was hatched from the last clutch of Nemorth and was, at the time, the last queen dragon on Pern, making her the sole hope for the future of the species. At her hatching, she mauled two female candidates before Impressing Lessa, making her the new Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr.
Weyrling Training and First Flight[]
Due to Ramoth's status as the last queen dragon on Pern, R'gul, the current Weyrleader, forbade Lessa and Ramoth from flying or training with the weyrlings. Instead, he insisted that queens only flew to mate.
Ramoth's first mating flight came soon after she was two years old. Because of the desperate shortage of food in the Weyr, Lessa had sent a young bronze rider, K'net, out to do steal supplies from various Holds. Since F'lar had gone after K'net to put an end to his pilfering, he nearly missed Ramoth's first mating flight and his long-awaited chance to be Weyrleader. Lessa was able to call F'lar's Mnementh and K'net's Piyanth back at the last minute, much to R'gul's annoyance, who would have preferred that F'lar not become weyrleader.
As Ramoth prepared for the mating flight, Lessa forced Ramoth to submit to her iron will to only blood her kill, not to eat the hot flesh that would weigh her down in her furious race against the smaller bronzes. When Ramoth finally rose, she began with seven chasers, which eventually came down to R'gul's Hath, T'bor's Orth, and F'lar's Mnementh. Ramoth couldn't stand Hath, but was seriously considering Orth when Mnemeth claimed her, thus making F'lar the new Weyrleader.
The day after F'lar became Weyrleader, the Lord Holders marched on the Weyr, in an attempt to put an end to tithes. While F'lar and the rest of the wings were busy dealing with the Lord Holders, Lessa took the opportunity to fly Ramoth for the first time. As a result, F'lar taught Ramoth and Lessa how to go between. Lessa's boredom with the weyrling practice led Lessa to picture Ruatha Hold as a location. However, Lessa remembered the Ruatha of the past, leading the pair to travel back to the night of Fax's invasion. This led to Lessa's discovery that dragons could travel between times and was the first flight between times in four hundred Turns.
Clutch[]
Ramoth's first clutch produced the gratifying total of forty-one eggs, more than three times the twelve that Jora's Nemorth had always produced. Among the dragons hatched from this clutch were Lioth (whose rider was N'ton, Fort Weyr's future Weyrleader) and Prideth (whose rider was Kylara, Southern Weyr's future Weyrwoman).
Lessa's Ride[]
After Thread started to fall and the scant 200 dragons were not enough to keep all Pern Thread-free, the need became desperate to somehow repopulate the five empty Weyrs. F'lar looked to Ramoth and her queen daughters to solve this, but it was clear that this would take more time than they had. Lessa realized that the opening lines of the Question Song held the answer… «Gone away, gone ahead…»
Lessa realized that the «ahead» referred to between times 400 years. She believed that the five Weyrs had come forward 400 years, to solve the desperate situation in her time. Records already showed that that time was during the last Long Interval, when dragonriders were not needed to destroy Thread. Knowing they would need someone to guide them to the future, Lessa took the coordinates from a 400-year-old tapestry of Ruatha, and — against F'lar's strictest orders — she and Ramoth jumped between in a journey far longer than any trip between had ever taken. The trip took so much time that Lessa was delirious for weeks after she arrived in the past and Ramoth emerged above ancient Ruatha a pale echo of her former robust self. The then Lord Holder of Ruatha Hold had been so surprised by the appearance of a staggering rider and a pallid queen that he had sent for his daughter Mardra at Fort Weyr for help. Lessa and Ramoth were then transported to the Weyr and the Ruathan Lord kept quiet about the matter.
Ramoth, upon arriving at Fort Weyr, was said to «perch on the fireheights and keen constantly as if she owned them». Lessa arranged for the creation of the Question Song, so that her younger self could receive the clues she needed to time travel. Lessa later managed to convince the five Weyrleaders to bring their Weyrs forward, saving the Pern of 400 years in the future.
Egg Theft[]
Even though the repopulation of the Weyrs meant that Ramoth was no longer solely responsible for the future of the dragon species, she remained as senior queen of Benden Weyr. As senior queen, she would only tolerate two junior queens. She continued to produce large clutches, with several queens, and developed a reputation for allowing only Mnementh to mate with her.
After the Oldtimers were exiled to the Southern Continent, they developed and executed a plan to steal a queen egg laid by Ramoth, in the hopes of having a young, healthy queen to allow their Weyr to perpetuate. Jaxom secretly rescued and returned the egg safely. The egg hatched as Nimath, who impressed Mikay. However, both Lessa and Ramoth developed a poor tolerance for fire lizards, who had indirectly helped the abduction take place. At the hatching, Ramoth was worried about the safety of her clutch, but was mollified after displays of respect from the candidates.
A short time after this, Ramoth was instrumental in saving the life of Masterharper Robinton. After Robinton had a heart attack while witnessing a mating flight at Ista Weyr, Ramoth and several other dragons mentally connected with him, forcing Robinton to remain awake and alive until help could arrive.
AIVAS[]
Unlike some dragons, Ramoth took little personal interest in AIVAS, preferring to lie in the sun. However, she took part in several important projects to end Thread. Ramoth was one of the first dragons to experience free fall on the Yokohama. Soon after, Ramoth, Mnementh, and Ruth traveled to the Red Star, looking for potential sites to place engines for moving the Red Star out of its orbit. Ramoth was initially considered to be one of the dragons to lead the actual expedition, but she was replaced due to the fact that she was in clutch. It was later implied that Mnementh and F'lar had intentionally arranged for Ramoth to be in clutch to prevent Lessa from participating in the expedition.
Fireball Flood and Telekinesis[]
During the Fireball Flood, Ramoth remained at Landing, helping to coordinate incoming and outgoing dragons with Benden's junior queens. In addition, she gave out orders to all the dragons regarding the evacuation plans.
Some time later, Ramoth traveled to Honshu Weyrhold due to a distress call by Zaranth. Zaranth, Golanth, and their riders, Tai and F'lessan, were under attack by felines and unable to defend themselves. After being shown how by Zaranth, Ramoth used telekinesis to fling the felines away. Ramoth also timed one of her attacks to prevent an otherwise fatal blow aimed at Golanth. After the attack, Ramoth credited Zaranth for the idea of timing the attack and described telekinesis as a useful ability for all dragons to learn. After much practice, Ramoth became skilled at using telekinesis in combination with Mnementh.
Personality[]
Like many queen dragons, Ramoth could be demanding and easily riled up. After mating and clutching, she was prone to foul moods. As the senior queen of Benden Weyr, Ramoth was one of the most important and respected dragons on Pern, and few could dissemble before her. When laying clutches, Ramoth rarely produced less than thirty eggs, and she hatched several queens. Her clutches were in high demand, making it easy to find candidates for Impression. In times of crisis, Ramoth was courageous and quick to intervene.