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 Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:00 am
Dragons
Intelligent, empathic, and capable of teleportation
have long been the saviors of Pern. Through their
telepathic/empathic bond with their human riders, Pern has
been saved repeatedly from the ravages of Thread.
Like the creatures of Earth myth, dragons are winged
quadrupeds who are capable of breathing fire after the
digestion of firestone, a coal-like rock. The dragons of Pern
are sentient, although not necessarily as intelligent as their
human partners. They have a weakness for remembering
past events, as well as a difficulty in naming individual
humans other than their riders. Dragons have wedge-shaped
heads and faceted, multi-colored eyes, the color of which
changes to indicate the creature's current emotional state.
Dragons have forked tongues, forked tails, strong
talons, and strong but delicate-looking wings. Their hide is
mammalian rather than reptilian, and is often described as
soft, smooth, or suede-like. Dragons need constant oiling
and grooming from their riders to keep their hides from
being damaged by the abrasion of air-borne particles as well
as the shock of cold between.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:00 am
Eyes
Multifaceted eyes that seem to whirl with emotion (the faster the motion the stronger the emotion). Though this movement is only caused by the light off the facets.
Dragons have no lashes, just eye ridges for protection, and three (the inner is transparent, thickening out to the outer) membranes that close depending on the need. When all three lids are closed, it's usually for sleep.
The protruding brow ridges, when offered for rubbing by the dragon, is a sign of trust.
Their eyesight is sharper than humans, even able to see in banks of fog.
They have the ability to look through their riders' eyes, even if they're not together.
Moods are reflected in the color of the eyes. Green and blue are the most natural tints to a dragon's eyes, often portraying vast ranges of pleasant emotions, such as contentment, humor, interest, and satisfaction. Other colors have more defined meanings, as follows:
Blue -- Contentment, possibly want
Green -- Entertainment, satisfaction
Yellow -- Fear
Red and yellow -- Battle ready
Orange -- Anger
Red -- Hunger
Purple -- Mating Lust
White -- Danger
Grey -- Pain
Very rarely are they a solid color other than blue, green, or purple (and purple lasts only during a mating flight). More often, the colors for pain, alarm, and anger will swirl over another predominant sensation, or be mixing together.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:05 am
Mentality Unlike their fire-lizard ancestors, dragons are fully sapient. They communicate fluently in human language (although only telepathically), and have personalities and opinions distinct from those of their riders. However, their intelligence does seem to be somewhat lower than that of the average human. In particular, their long-term memory is severely limited. Dragons' telepathic communication is usually limited to contact with their rider and with other dragons, however a dragon sometimes communicates well with a person with whom their rider has close emotional ties. They do understand spoken human language and occasionally reply telepathically to people whom they choose to speak. As a safeguard against the possible damage that could be caused by such powerful creatures, Ping engineered dragons to be profoundly psychologically dependent on their riders. Any dragonet that fails to Impress to a human shortly after hatching will die. If a dragon's rider dies, the dragon immediately suicides by going between without a destination. The only exception in the books is a queen dragon whose rider dies while the queen is gravid; the dragon waits just long enough to lay her eggs and see them hatch before disappearing between. (Humans who lose their dragons typically commit suicide as well. However, some do survive, although the experience leaves profound psychological trauma.) Ping also designed the dragons to be fairly calm in temperament. They never fight one another, unless two queens come into estrus at the same time. They are also not dangerous to humans except shortly after hatching, when it is common for confused and frightened dragonets to maul or even kill humans hoping to Impress. When a dragon hatches, they announce their names to their new riders upon Impression. Pernese dragons' names always end in -th. A watch-wher's name will end in "sk".
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:19 am
Colors of Devon  Golds
¤ Impresses heterosexual females only ¤
Queen, full female, about 140-150ft long. The bearer of the young, the queen is traditionally mated by whichever bronze can catch her. Although browns can mate with queens--and sometimes do--this is unusual and not encouraged. The queen is fertile and bears eggs, which she oversees until they hatch. Clutch 10-40, generally larger clutches during a Pass. The senior queen, usually the dragon of the oldest rider, is the most prestigious dragon and is responsible for all the dragons in her Weyr and for the majority of the egg-laying.Bronzes
¤ Impresses heterosexual males only ¤
Male, about 125-140ft long. These are the "kings" of the dragons. All bronzes compete to mate with the golds; the rider whose dragon succeeds becomes Weyrleader. Bronzes are generally trained for leadership and assume Wingleader and Wingsecond positions along with browns. Bronzes and their riders often act as Weyrlingmasters, training the young dragons and riders.Browns
*~* Impresses People of Masculine 'Personality', with a preference towards males. Will {extrememly rarely} impress female if suitable. *~*
Male, about 110-140ft long. Larger than greens and blues, some well-grown browns are as big as smaller bronzes and could actually mate with the queens if they so dared. The browns are the real wheel-horses of the dragons, reasonably agile and strong enough to go a whole Fall without faltering. They are more intelligent and less flighty than blues or greens, with greater powers of concentration. Browns and their riders often make Wingleaders and Wingseconds, and sometimes Weyrlingmasters.Blues
*~* Impresses People of Masculine 'Personality', regardless of Gender or Sexuality *~*
Males, about 85-110ft long. These are the workhorses of the dragons. Medium-sized, the blues are as tough as the greens but not as maneuverable. They have more stamina under pressure and are capable of sustaining flame longer than greens.Greens
*~* Impresses People of Feminine 'Personality', regardless of Gender or Sexuality *~*
Females, about 65-85ft long. Greens are the
most numerous of the dragons in the Weyr, with approximately half of a Weyr's population being greens. A green may rise to mate as frequently as four times a year or as few as two. They are infertile; this is thought to be due to the use of firestone. They are the fastest and most agile of all the dragons, but have noticeably less stamina than the rest.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:24 am
Abberrant Colors These are 'availible' in both Weyrs, however they are of such rarity that usually only one or two have appeared in history. Whites  *~* Impresses it's rescuer, regardless of other factors *~* They are not albino, as their hides contain very faint patches of all the normal dragon colors. Due to the forced nature of their births, it is likely that white coloration in dragons is normally a lethal mutation. White dragons are extremely small: about 35 feet in length. They are completely sterile and have no urge to participate in mating flights. They can be of either gender. Usually, due to their under-formation in body and mind, they are closer in intelligence and personality to their rider, and more open telepathically to other humans. Whites have shown an instinctive ability to navigate time while Between. Throwbacks  *~* Impresses as any dragon of its color would *~* While not technically an aberrant color, Throwbacks are dragons that are unusually small. The chart above shows average Dovan dragon sizes, including whites, as well as a 'throwback' Bronze. These dragons are simply the size that dragons were originally, a small amount larger than a large horse. While the Dragon Genetics specify that dragons should get larger with each passing generation, some simply do not. Because of their limited size, they often die unhatched, unable to break their own shells. Due to their less advanced genetics, these dragons have extremely limited genetic memory, a carryover from their fire-lizard ancestors. They remain as intelligent as a normal beast, however.
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