This guide was written up to better explain and clarify how rank, position, and power is held on Pern. It is often very easy to forget that Pern is a different planet, and that the people don't adhere to equality, equity, and inclusion like the people on Earth. While there are many similarities, Pern has its own culture, its own beliefs, and is more akin to Feudalism than current democratic societies.

Indeed, perhaps the easiest and simplest of ways to consider Pernese rank is by studying the definition of Feudalism:

"the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection."

Holds -- Lord Holder, Holder, Cotholder, and their people
At the head of everything according to the definition is the Crown, who owned all the land of a specific area. In this case, it would be the Lord Holders, who own every inch of land on Pern. Every region of Pern is entitled to a Lord Holder in some form or another. That said, there are some areas that are more neutral ground, such as the uninhabitable snowy wastelands or ocean waters that are far from land.

For example, the Lord Holder of High Reaches -- his land covers all of High Reaches Territory which includes the Major Hold High Reaches, all the various Minor Holds, the land on which the Crafthalls sit within his territory, all the minor cotholds, and every blade of grass and stone from one edge of his territory to the other. Even the mountain ranges in which the Weyrs were created are owned by one Lord or another--though, similar to Crafthalls, what happens within the walls are the Crafter or Weyr's business and a Lord has little power or jurisdiction; it also behooves a Lord Holder to keep such illustrious Halls and Weyrs content, and they aren't often bothered or heckled by the Lords in question. They are, in a sense, neutral ground.