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Dragon Information
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Topic Started: Jun 8 2014, 08:55 PM (40 Views)
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Bluejay
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Jun 8 2014, 08:55 PM
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Dragons are described as carnivorous, oviparous, warm-blooded creatures. Like all of Pern's native large fauna, they have six limbs - four feet and two wings. Their blood, referred to as ichor, is copper-based and green in color, they have multifaceted eyes that change color depending on the dragon's mood. Their head and general body type is described by McCaffrey as being similar in shape to those of horses. On their heads they have small headknobs, similar to those of giraffes, and no visible ears. Unlike the dragons of Terran legend, they have a smooth hide rather than scales; the texture of their skin is described as being reminiscent of suede with a spicy, sweet scent when clean. They are described as having forked tail ends with a defecation opening between the forks; however, most artistic renderings depict their tails as having spade-shaped tips. The dragons usually get from one place to another by going through a teleportation process known as 'going between'.
Kitti Ping designed the dragons to gradually increase in size with each generation until they reached pre-programmed final dimensions. The dragons of the first Hatchings were not much bigger than horses. By the Sixth Pass (1500 years later) they had reached their programmed size and remained at that size until a single isolated dragon population suffered severe inbreeding, resulting in much larger beasts. In the 9th Pass, when the most of the novels have so far been set, the largest Pernese dragon on record, Ramoth, hatched. According to the novel All the Weyrs of Pern these dragons were roughly three times the size of the largest first-generation dragons. Ramoth's great size is often attributed to mutation and the genetic isolation of Benden Weyr for over 400 years (or Turns). Ramoth, at full length, was forty-five feet (Although the Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, written by Jody Lynn Nye with input from Anne McCaffrey listed it incorrectly as forty-five metres). In All the Weyrs of Pern, AIVAS, an artificial intelligence still in operation after all this time, notes that all of the primary Benden dragons, Ramoth, Mnementh and Canth, are notably larger than Kitti Ping's specified end-size of the dragon species. Newly hatched dragons are the size of very large dogs or small ponies, and reach their full size after eighteen months. Because young dragons grow so fast, their riders must regularly apply oil to their hides to prevent the skin from cracking or drying out.
Dragons, like their fire lizard ancestors, can breathe fire by chewing a phosphine-bearing rock, called "firestone" in the novels, which reacts with an acid in a special "second stomach" organ. This forms a volatile gas that can be exhaled at will and ignites upon contact with air. The flame is used to burn Thread from the sky before it reaches the ground. However, the chewed firestone must be expelled from the body after it is used up, for the dragons cannot digest it. This is done by regurgitation. If a dragon does not do so (usually because of inexperience), the need becomes so great that they will expel it involuntarily.
A favorite activity of dragons is sunning themselves. They will find a high place to perch that is exposed to sunlight and often spread their wings to catch as much sunlight as possible. A favorite place is even better if a vertical surface is nearby to reflect more light and solar heat. They appear to do this especially after going between.
Despite their relatively low intelligence, fire-lizards communicate through a form of weak telepathy. They also imprint on the first individual who feeds them after they hatch, creating a telepathic bond with them; the Pernese call this phenomenon "Impression". In creating dragons, Kitti Ping intensified the creatures' telepathy, greatly increased their intelligence, and gave them a strong instinctive drive to Impress to a human. Upon hatching, each dragonet chooses one of the humans present (usually) and Impresses to that person; from that moment on, the pair are in a constant state of telepathic contact for as long as they both live. Dragons also use telepathy to communicate with each other and with fire lizards. They are capable of speaking telepathically to humans besides their own riders, but not all of them will do so except under unusual circumstances.
Dragons and fire-lizards can also teleport. They do this by briefly entering a hyperspace dimension known as between. Both humans and dragons experience between as an extremely cold, sensory-deprived, black void. After spending no more than eight seconds in between, the dragon or fire lizard can re-emerge anywhere on Pern, along with any passengers or cargo they carried. This ability is explained as having evolved in fire lizards as a defense against Thread; not only does it allow them to quickly escape from Threadfall, but the intense cold of between kills any Thread that has already burrowed into them. If a dragon attempts to teleport without a clear mental image of the place where they intend to reappear, they may simply fail to emerge from between and thus, be gone forever.
Going between allows dragons to travel through time as well as space, as long as they have a clear picture of what a particular place looked like (or will look like) at the desired time. However, the practice is highly dangerous to both dragon and rider and is severely restricted. Existing in two places at once for extended periods of time, or in close proximity, causes severe weakness and psychological disturbance for humans but not for dragons, the effects of which are discussed in several novels. In addition, while teleporting through space always takes the same amount of time, when a dragon travels through time, the amount of time they spend in between increases depending on how long ago or how far in time the destination is. Thus, traveling to remote times poses severe dangers from hypothermia and oxygen deprivation. In the first Pern novel, Dragonflight, Lessa passes out after having travelled back over 400 turns.
The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern states that dragons defecate while between. This idea originated with a statement by Anne McCaffrey herself, in answer to a fan's question about the subject at a con. However, McCaffrey may have been joking when she first said this. As the idea has never been referenced in any of the Pern novels, (in fact, defecation was probably only mentioned a scant few times in all of the books ever written in the Pern series.) it cannot be considered definitively canonical. If true, it would eventually cause serious ecological problems for the planet, as large amounts of Pern's organic matter would be regularly disappearing into an alternate dimension, although when dragons and riders die, they go between, and organic matter is also lost. It should be noted that The Skies of Pern references the use of dragon dung as a repellent against the large felines inhabiting the southern continent. Given the energy needed to take something between, It could be that anything taken between will eventually find its way back into normal space, though not necessarily back to Pern.
Dragons are also capable of telekenesis, though this ability is unknown and used in an unconscious manner (to augment flight) until it is discovered as a conscious ability by the green dragon Zaranth and her rider Tai in the 31st turn of the Ninth Pass. It is speculated that the undersized wings were intentionally created in the dragons by Kitti Ping to reduce the surface area of a dragon that is exposed to possible Thread injury, and that the telekenisis was intended to make up for the loss of wingsail. It is said in many books that a dragon can carry whatever it thinks it can carry. This is likely an extension of the telekenesis, mentally "lifting" the extra load. This is the most likely explanation as to the great loads that dragons sometimes carry during emergencies.
(Information from Pern Wiki)
Edited by Bluejay, Jun 8 2014, 08:56 PM.
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Bluejay
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Jun 8 2014, 09:25 PM
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Dragons are currently known to only come in five colors. There has been one incident of a sixth color, white, but it is believed that this was a one off. Impression on Rebuild is not sexuality based.
Gold The highest ranking of the dragons, they are often referred to as queens although this is not entirely correct. Gold is the rarest of the five colors, and also the only fertile female, which earns them a lot of respect from other dragons and people. Golds are allergic to firestone, and cannot chew it to produce flame like the other colors however in threadfall tend to fly on the lowest level, their riders wielding flamethrowers. Eggs which hatch golds are, typically, larger than the rest of the clutch with a golden shell. Length: Typically 40-45 feet Impression: 100% female Rising: Infrequent-Rare Clutching: Yes
Bronze The highest ranking males, bronze hides tend to have the same metallic sheen as a queen's although they are significantly smaller. They are almost always (95% of the time) the ones to catch a queen and tend to occupy the highest ranks in the weyr. Bronzes can hatch from any medium or large egg. Length: Typically 35-40 feet Impression: 100% male Chases: Gold, Green
Brown The middle ranking male, browns make up about 15% of the dragon population. They chase queens and have, on the odd occasion, been successful in queen flights. Any ranks not taken by gold or bronze riders tend to be filled by brown riders. Browns can hatch from almost any egg. Length: Typically 30-40 feet Impression: 80% male, 20% female Chases: Gold, Green
Blue The smallest males, making up around 30% of the dragon population. They are agile, but also have the stamina to fly for a long period unlike greens, although they do not have the endurance for gold flights, meaning that they only chase greens. Blues are noted for having high levels of search sensitivity, and are often used to seek out new candidates or to teach new weyrlings. Length: Typically 24-31 feet Impression: 50% male, 50% female Chases: Green
Green The smaller of the two female colors, and the most abundant of the five colors making up around 50% of the population, greens are agile and able to produce flame. Due to their lack of stamina, greens often have to switch out during threadfall. It is typically assumed that even if greens did not chew firestone, which is believed to cause infertility, that greens would be unable to clutch due to their small size. If they were to clutch, they would probably only produce very small clutches with low ranking dragons. Length: Typically 19-26 feet Impression: 50% male, 50% female Rising: Fervent-Rare Clutching: No
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Bluejay
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Jun 8 2014, 09:27 PM
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Rising Patterns Fervent: Six+ times a turn Frequent: Five times a turn Average: Three-Four times a turn Infrequent: Twice a turn Rare: Once a turn
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