While Pernese politics can get downright Byzantine in their application, their actual organization is fairly simple.

There are three main institutions on Pern: Holds, Crafts and Weyrs.

-Holds are governed by Lords or Ladies Holder. They give tithe to the weyrs in exchange for protection of their lands
-Crafts are governed by a Craftmaster. They recieve land and support from the hold their crafthall is located in. They tithe goods or services, in the form of posted crafters, to the weyrs, post craft members to holds, and trade goods produced.
-Weyrs are governed by a Weyrleader and a Weyrwoman. They provide protection from Thread, and aerial reconnaisence. They cannot produce their own goods and supplies, and are supported by tithes from Holds and Crafts.
-Crafts, Weyrs and Holds are all autonomous. They can make their own internal rules and enforce them without interference, so long as they don't violate the overarching precepts of the Charter. (This doesn't mean that councils of holders, crafters or weyrleaders can't strongarm a misbehaving craft, hold or weyr back into order via pressure tactics.)

Your should know:

-Who most, if not all of the Weyrleaders and Sr. Weyrwomen are.
-Who the Lords/Ladies of the Holds under the weyr's protection are, and at least a few of the other holds.
-Who at least some, if not all, of the Craftmasters are.

Everyone should know their own rankers, and those who their weyr has close contact with, and the more politically aware should know all the major players by name.

Holds:

Holds are the most common; they're where the average Pernese lives and labours. There are sixteen major Holds on Pern: Bitra, Benden, Nerat, Keroon, Ista, Igen, Lemos, Telgar, Crom, Nabol, Ruatha, Fort, Southern Boll, Tillek, High Reaches, and Southern. An average major hold contains around two thousand people, the equivalent of a small town. Each major hold controls several minor holds, of a few hundred people each, like villages. There are also cotholds, which consist of a family or two. The initial Charter gave the settlers the right to claim as much land as they could successfully farm, but with the North Continent having been settled for millennia, most land is now inherited down family lines.

Each major Hold is ruled by a Lord or Lady Holder, with a steward assisting administrative matters, and a headwoman handling the day to day workings of the hold, such as seeing people fed and clothed. Minor holds have Holders (No lord or lady) and the same steward-and-headwoman arrangement.

Lords and Ladies Holder form an aristocracy known as the Blood. While most major Holderships are inherited down the family lines, new Lords and Ladies must be approved by a vote held during a Conclave of Lords. It is not unknown, or even uncommon, for a Lord or Lady Holder to name a distant relative or unrelated, but capable, person as their heir when they don't deem their close relations suitable.

Cotholds give a portion of their crops or stock to the nearest minor hold in tithe. Minor holds tithe to their major hold. Major holds send tithe to the specific Weyr in charge of protecting their territory. Major holds may also provide supplies for Crafthalls if a Craft wishes to operate within their territory.

Crafts:

Crafts are a place for higher education, research and training. There are many crafts on Pern, with various subdivisions and specialties within them. Harper, Healer, Herder, Smith, Weaver, Starcraft, Vintner, Dolphincraft and Seacraft all are major Crafts and have their own specific Crafthalls located across Pern. Bakers are another Craft, but lack a specific Hall, instead scattered throughout the kitchens of Pern.

Crafts are run by their Craftmaster, titled Masterharper, Mastersmith, Masterherder etc. They have one or more Craftseconds serving beneath them. Secondary Halls, such as the second Harper or Healer Halls in Ista Hold, are run by a Crafthead, usually a master, who has equivalent rank to a craftsecond. While individual crafts may have various subdivisions of rank, the general ranks are apprentices, (the entry-level students) journeymen, (fully qualified members of the craft who either stay at the main Hall and teach in addition to practising their craft, or who are posted out to various holds and weyrs, or even other crafts) and masters. Masters are those who hold mass amounts of knowledge and skill in a specific field and perform most of the research of a craft.

A Crafthall is supplied with food, clothing and other needs by their host Hold. A Crafthall functions rather like an embassy, in that inside its walls, Craft laws apply, rather than those of the host Hold. Raw materials unavailable at the host Hold may be traded for, although most Crafts are set up to take advantage of a Hold's production.

Posted Crafters maintain their rank and often outrank local authorities. They are under the authority of their Hall rather than the authority of the area they are posted to.

Weyrs:

There are seven Weyrs on Pern: Fort, the original, Benden, the second, and then Ista, Igen, Telgar, High Reaches in some sort of order, with Southern as the most recently established. Each maintains a coverage area of around two to three major holds, and their territories.

A fully-staffed fighting weyr during a pass houses approximately 350 dragons and their riders, about half of which are greens, and around 2000 support staff in the form of weyrfolk.

Because the weyrs are located in mountainous regions, built into old volcano calderas, they cannot grow their own food. They subsist on tithes from their assigned holds, and provide Thread protection in return, as well as the aerial reconaissence of sweeps, and a certain amount of transport duties.

A weyr is run by a female Weyrwoman, the rider of the senior gold dragon, and a male Weyrleader, the rider of the bronze or brown dragon who last caught the senior gold in a mating flight. The Weyrwoman handles the day to day internal running of the weyr, aided by the junior weyrwomen, a headperson, and a bevy of assistants overseeing various areas. The Weyrleader is in charge of the external affairs of the weyr, as well as overseeing the fighting wings, and leading them in Threadfall. He is assisted by one or more weyrseconds. ''A weyrleader counts himself lucky to have nine good wings of reasonable strength"* and each wing is made up of between one to two dozen dragonpairs.

Interarea Meetings

Conclaves:

In general, Conclaves are a forum to air concerns that affect more than one area. Conclaves of Lords generally discuss things like trade agreements, succession quibbles, squabbles over territory or other political concerns. Crafts get together to discuss trade, collaborations, report on new discoveries or rediscoveries, and other issues. Occasionally they may band together to impose sanctions on a Hold where the Holder is being unreasonable or harsh. Weyrs tend to be very autonomous, with meetings of all the weyrleaderships called only during crises or times of import, such as the beginning or end of a Pass, although the individual weyrs talk amongst themselves.Conclaves are usually attended by the top two levels of leadership of each area, and are often mediated by a Harper if requested to do so. There are also usually Harper archivists present to take the minutes in an unbiased fashion.

Weyr Interaction:

Weyrs might assign a wing or two to help out another weyr that's taken a lot of injuries or is otherwise shorthanded. Because High Reaches terrain and latitude combine to make them the weyr who has the least to worry about with flying Fall, (cold weather kills Thread, and it can't eat mountains) High Reaches is often called upon to loan wings or riders.

Informally, Weyrleaders, Weyrwomen, Weyrseconds, and wingleaders may keep in touch to discuss various issues of leadership and keep up good area relations. Sometimes when one level of leadership is unable to come to an agreement, another level may be able to work something out. They can also provide support and advice when needed.

• Dragonlover's Guide to Pern