Sean Connell was the Weyrleader of Fort Weyr during the majority of the First Pass. He was one of Pern's first weyrleaders, alongside Sorka Hanrahan, as well as one of the original eighteen dragonriders. His dragon was bronze Carenath, who was genetically-engineered by Kitti Ping and Wind Blossom.
Biography[]
Sean came to Pern as a child with his family on board the Yokohama. His parents were part of the Irish Traveling Folk. He befriended Sorka Hanrahan, though he was at first wary and awkward around her, and eventually fell in love with her and married her. He was one of the group of young adults aged between eighteen and thirty who were chosen to Impress during the very first Hatching of Kitti Ping's biogenetically engineered dragons, and Impressed one of the final dragons to hatch, bronze Carenath.
After Impression, Sean became the unspoken leader of the dragonriders alongside Sorka, and led them through the Second Crossing. He was one of the first to discover that dragons could fly between and chew firestone to breathe fire, and hence organized dragons and riders into a suitable force to fight Thread over the Northern Continent. After the Crossing, Sean became Fort Weyrleader, with Sorka acting as Weyrwoman. Every time Faranth, Sorka's queen, rose for her mating flight not a single dragonrider dared to outfly Carenath, out of respect for Sorka and Sean's relationship.
Decades after the establishment of Fort Weyr, the Weyr was becoming overcrowded due to a rise in population. Sean announced the planned creation of three Weyrs: one on the east coast, one on Big Island, and another near Telgar. To fairly decide who would be Weyrleader and Weyrwoman in each new Weyr, he declared that the queen who rose to mate first would decide the leadership. This was deliberate on Sean's part, for he wanted Torene Ostrovsky (whose queen Alaranth was next to rise) to be Weyrwoman of what would eventually be called Benden Weyr. Sean's own son M'hall would be the first Weyrleader of Benden.
Sean was Weyrleader of Fort until his death at age sixty-two, and continued to lead his Weyr into battle against Thread. During one battle, however, he and Carenath were badly scored, and went between forever due to the severity of their injuries.
Personality[]
Sean was very impatient and hot-blooded. As a child he tended to be distant and clipped toward others his age, and it seemed as if he had a lack of social skills and etiquette. However, he grew less so as he grew older and Impressed bronze Carenath, thus becoming the leader of the dragonriders. As leader, he cared deeply for the well-being of the riders and dragons in his care, and was strict on his riders' movements during Threadfall, always lecturing them if they and their dragon were injured out of stupidity and carelessness on their part. He was always said to put the dragon before the rider, and would drill this hard into his riders.
Sean was clever and sly, seen at times in Dragonsdawn when he would discover a certain skill essential to dragons and their riders. This made him a leader of worth, and not a man to make an enemy of. He was also extremely stubborn; when he made a decision, he would not back down from it, no matter what.
Sean also tended to be quite impulsive at times; in Dragonsdawn, for example, it was due to an impulsive decision on Sean's part that he discovered that Carenath was ready and able to fly, and though he earned the ire of Paul Benden and Red Hanrahan for such a risky choice, he did not regret it. Sean did not show his emotions very easily. He had a fearsome temper, and it was said that only Sorka could calm him and deal with him when he was in such a way.
He was described fondly by Admiral Paul Benden as a "young rogue".
Appearances[]
- Dragonsdawn
- The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall
- Red Star Rising/Dragonseye
- Dragonsblood (mentioned)
- Dragonheart (mentioned)