Post by hrsegrl on Mar 25, 2007 17:00:06 GMT -5
Pernese dragons differ from those of Terran legend. They have no scales, instead having an almost suede like hide. The structure of the dragons allows for no spines or spikes. The books vary on how the tail looks, it is supposed to split at the end though it is pictured most often in ending in a spade.
They have four legs, two wings and multifaceted eyes.
There are 5 dragon colors Golds and Greens are female (g=girl). Blues, Browns and Bronzes are males (b=boy)
~Gold dragons, also called queens, are the largest dragons (38-42 meters long) and the only fertile females. Gold dragons are by far the rarest dragons on Pern, at just less than 1% of the population. They are dominant over all other colors; any non-gold dragon will invariably obey a queen's orders, even against the wishes of its own rider. Queens are incapable of digesting firestone and producing flame; however, they do fight Thread - they fly in the lowest wing, with their riders armed with specially designed flamethrowers to flame any thread missed by the above wings. Queen eggs are significantly larger than other dragon eggs, and bear distinctive coloration. Gold dragons Impress only to heterosexual women.
~ Bronze dragons are the largest males (35-38 meters long), although they are significantly smaller than the queens. Bronzes only comprise of about 5% of all dragons. They are almost always the ones to mate with queens, as the smaller colors generally lack the stamina to chase and catch the gold dragons. Due to the 5-1 bronze/gold ratio and the infrequency of gold mating flights they often mate with greens (the losers of a gold flight almost always seek a green for their needs), but their size often puts them at a disadvantage in chasing the agile smaller females. Bronzeriders are always heterosexual men.
~ Brown dragons are the next largest color (30-35 meters long). About 15% of all dragons are brown. They may occasionally mate with queens, although this is rare, and becomes even more rare as the dragons increase in size; by Ramoth's time in the Ninth Pass it is unheard-of. All brownriders in the Pern novels are men, most are straight but bisexual or masculine homosexual brownriders are not rare.
~Blue dragons are the smallest males (25-30 meters long) and make up about a third (30%) of all dragons on Pern. They are nearly as agile as greens, but unlike the greens, they often have enough stamina to last for an entire Threadfall. They mate only with greens, as they are simply too small to keep up with a massive queen over a long mating flight. There are few prominent blue dragons or blueriders in the books. The blueriders who do appear in canon books are always male and can be straight, masculine homosexual or bisexual.
~ Green dragons are the smallest normal color (20-25 meters long), and make up about half of all dragons on Pern (50%). They are female, but unlike the queens, they are infertile and can produce flame. They are extremely valuable in Threadfall because of their agility, but they lack the stamina to last an entire Fall and generally fly in two or three shifts. Originally, greens Impressed to girls, however, after various natural disasters and plagues decimated Pern's population, women were needed to help repopulate the planet. Since going between during pregnancy can induce miscarriage and because removing pregnant riders from the Wings reduced the effectiveness of the Wings, it became impractical to present large numbers of women as candidates for Impression. Thus, green dragons began Impressing to effeminate homosexual boys; by the time of the end of the 2nd Pass female greenriders are becoming rare. By the time of Moreta in the 6th Pass female greenriders are entirely forgotten, although greens gradually begin Impressing to women again in the 9th Pass. In our roleplay, Telgar Weyr is the only Weyr with women riding fighting dragons both blues and greens.
They have four legs, two wings and multifaceted eyes.
There are 5 dragon colors Golds and Greens are female (g=girl). Blues, Browns and Bronzes are males (b=boy)
~Gold dragons, also called queens, are the largest dragons (38-42 meters long) and the only fertile females. Gold dragons are by far the rarest dragons on Pern, at just less than 1% of the population. They are dominant over all other colors; any non-gold dragon will invariably obey a queen's orders, even against the wishes of its own rider. Queens are incapable of digesting firestone and producing flame; however, they do fight Thread - they fly in the lowest wing, with their riders armed with specially designed flamethrowers to flame any thread missed by the above wings. Queen eggs are significantly larger than other dragon eggs, and bear distinctive coloration. Gold dragons Impress only to heterosexual women.
~ Bronze dragons are the largest males (35-38 meters long), although they are significantly smaller than the queens. Bronzes only comprise of about 5% of all dragons. They are almost always the ones to mate with queens, as the smaller colors generally lack the stamina to chase and catch the gold dragons. Due to the 5-1 bronze/gold ratio and the infrequency of gold mating flights they often mate with greens (the losers of a gold flight almost always seek a green for their needs), but their size often puts them at a disadvantage in chasing the agile smaller females. Bronzeriders are always heterosexual men.
~ Brown dragons are the next largest color (30-35 meters long). About 15% of all dragons are brown. They may occasionally mate with queens, although this is rare, and becomes even more rare as the dragons increase in size; by Ramoth's time in the Ninth Pass it is unheard-of. All brownriders in the Pern novels are men, most are straight but bisexual or masculine homosexual brownriders are not rare.
~Blue dragons are the smallest males (25-30 meters long) and make up about a third (30%) of all dragons on Pern. They are nearly as agile as greens, but unlike the greens, they often have enough stamina to last for an entire Threadfall. They mate only with greens, as they are simply too small to keep up with a massive queen over a long mating flight. There are few prominent blue dragons or blueriders in the books. The blueriders who do appear in canon books are always male and can be straight, masculine homosexual or bisexual.
~ Green dragons are the smallest normal color (20-25 meters long), and make up about half of all dragons on Pern (50%). They are female, but unlike the queens, they are infertile and can produce flame. They are extremely valuable in Threadfall because of their agility, but they lack the stamina to last an entire Fall and generally fly in two or three shifts. Originally, greens Impressed to girls, however, after various natural disasters and plagues decimated Pern's population, women were needed to help repopulate the planet. Since going between during pregnancy can induce miscarriage and because removing pregnant riders from the Wings reduced the effectiveness of the Wings, it became impractical to present large numbers of women as candidates for Impression. Thus, green dragons began Impressing to effeminate homosexual boys; by the time of the end of the 2nd Pass female greenriders are becoming rare. By the time of Moreta in the 6th Pass female greenriders are entirely forgotten, although greens gradually begin Impressing to women again in the 9th Pass. In our roleplay, Telgar Weyr is the only Weyr with women riding fighting dragons both blues and greens.