The Holdless
The Holdless on Pern are those who do not owe an allegiance to a particular Hold, Craft or Weyr. Becoming Holdless is generally brought about by expulsion for breaking rules, though there are many ways in which those who would be termed 'deserving' Holdless, expelled for reasons beyond their control - such as the conquering of their native Hold by a brutal tyrant, as happened to Dowell and Barla, parents of Aramina when Fax invaded Ruatha. Being made 'Holdless' is seen as a punishment on Pern, as the cliff-hewn Holds are the population centres, and with the peril of Thread, then living outside of a Hold can be deadly during a Pass, a time when being made Holdless truly is a serious matter and problem for the individual(s) upon whom the punishment is served, but during an Interval this punishment, whilst still severe (as it is depriving people of a home and possibly a livelihood, and to someone who has lived all of their life - and has descendants dating centuries back - living inside a cliff, a wide open space can be scary), loses much of its impact as the possibility of Thread is not falling, imminent, or possibly even due within their lifetime. Of course, not all the Holdless are bad people, as we see in The Girl Who Heard Dragons and The Renegades of Pern, where Dowell is a skilled craftsman who became Holdless due to Fax and could not gain any other Hold due to Fax's reputation and the timidity of the other Lord Holders who would not take them in. And again, whilst the Holdless are generally seen as theives and scroungers, and this may even be true about the majority of the Holdless (we do hear of a "pilfering Ista family" in The Girl Who Heard Dragons) some, like Dowell and Barla, will not even accept charity.
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