F'lar

The Weyrleader Benden Weyr, F'lar is the protagonist of Dragonquest. He rides the mighty bronze dragon, Mnementh, and is permanently attached to - and well matched with - Lessa, the Dragonwoman of Benden Weyr. In the seven turns preceding the novel's opening, F'lar has relinquished the singular authority he exerts when Benden Weyr is the planet Pern's sole surviving weyr. He earlier achieves that authority when after some 400 turns (years) destructive Thread and the undermanned dragonriders fill out their ranks with "Oldtimers" brought forward in time through the between. F'lar's "three-day miracle" becomes legendary, but the Oldtimers want to stay to themselves and observe the old ways. They resent F'lar's progressive attitudes and policies.

When the predictable pattern of Threadfall inexplicably alters, F'lar looks for explanations, and accepts an obvious but non-heroic one: grubs appear to have inoculated the Southern Weyr against Thread. Scientific experiments confirm it. F'lar...