Post by Topaz on Mar 14, 2010 2:41:33 GMT -5
Whers
Whers, or watch-whers, are often thought of as genetic failures of Kitty Ping’s foolish granddaughter, Wind Blossom Ping. While not the most attractive creatures to come out of Pern, they are extremely useful in many ways.
Body
Whers come in the same colors as dragons and firelizards, and have the same general physiology, but the resemblance ends there. Whers are compact and stocky, with ample muscle mass to make up for their smaller stature compared to the dragons.
Their wings are small for their size, only just able to lift them off the ground with a sufficient breeze and thick air quality. They can fly at night on Pern, but as the climate and gravity is different on Earth, they are not capable of flight in any condition there.
Both the front and back feet have two clawed toes that face forward. Because of the limited surface space to stand on, each foot is protected by a large, rough pad, similar to a dog or cat’s.
If you look closely enough into a wher’s eye, you would be able to see a number of malformed lenses, which will be discussed further in the Abilities section below.
Abilities
Whers can teleport just as dragons and firelizards can. On the other hand they can neither breathe flame or truly fly, but they do have some other interesting abilities. The first is an incredibly keen sense of smell. Because of this they were used on Pern to sniff out ‘bad air’ in mines.
While some may see it as a defect, the whers’ deformed eye lenses have given them the ability to see in infrared. This means that they see in heat, white being very hot, and purplish black being very cold, with the entire color spectrum in between. Therefore they can see clearly even in pitch blackness. The deformed lenses also happen to reflect light right back into the wher’s eyes, and because of this, whers are strictly nocturnal. Wherhandlers can also use their wher’s vision the same way a dragonrider can.
While not as intelligent as their dragon cousins, the whers are capable of limited telepathic speech. Greens and whites, being the least intelligent, may only say a single, simple word to describe what they want, and rely more heavily on emotions and images to convey their thoughts. Bronzes and golds on the other hand have the ability to speak as intelligently as a four year old child would; sometimes a complete sentence, but most often grammatically incorrect.
Colors
Wher colors are just the same as dragons and firelizards.
Gold: 14-15 feet long
Bronze: 13-14 feet long
Brown: 12-13 feet long
Blue: 11-12 feet long
Green: 10-11 feet long
White: 9-10 feet long
Development
Whers hatch at a mere 30% of their full grown size. They mature and are fully grown by a year and a half.
Hatching (30%)
Gold: 5-6 feet long
Bronze: 5-6 feet long
Brown: 5-6 feet long
Blue: 4-5 feet long
Green: 3-4 feet long
White: 2-3 feet long
Five Months (40%)
Gold: 7-8 feet long
Bronze: 6-7 feet long
Brown: 6-7 feet long
Blue: 6-7 feet long
Green: 5-6 feet long
White: 4-5 feet long
Nine Months (60%)
Gold: 10-11 feet long
Bronze: 9-10 feet long
Brown: 8-9 feet long
Blue: 7-8 feet long
Green: 6-8 feet long
White: 5-6 feet long
Fourteen Months (80%)
Gold: 12-13 feet long
Bronze: 11-12 feet long
Brown: 10-11 feet long
Blue: 9-10 feet long
Green: 8-9 feet long
White: 7-8 feet long
Eighteen Months (100%)
Gold: 14-15 feet long
Bronze: 13-14 feet long
Brown: 12-13 feet long
Blue: 11-12 feet long
Green: 10-11 feet long
White: 9-10 feet long
Mating
The mating ritual of whers is very similar to dragons and firelizards, aside from one major difference; whers cannot fly. Therefore, whers females have Runs. They run at high speeds and their male Chasers follow in the same fashion. They usually run on all fours, but are able to run for short distances on two, their small wings keeping them balanced. Said wings can also be useful in stopping quickly and turning. These Runs have the same length and characteristics as dragons and flits, including the differences between the golds’ and green’s tendencies. When the female chooses her mate she stops her Run and the two consummate; whether this is right out in the open or they slink away for privacy is up to the individual female.
Gestation/Clutching
Whers have the same gestation and egg hardening periods as dragons; three months and then five weeks. Golds never clutch more than 10 eggs at a time, and greens clutch about 5 eggs. However, duds are common amongst wher eggs, and up to half of the eggs in any clutch might be so.
Wher clutchmothers are extremely protective, equal to the most irate queen dragon, but much more inclined to physical violence. Once the clutch is laid, Candidates must go to the clutchmother and ask for her permission to even Stand at the hatching. If a Candidate is rejected, the mother will physically throw he or she out of the hatching if they dare show up, assuming she is not mentally restrained by a handler.
Hatching/Impression
There is no humming to signal the hatching of a wher’s clutch, unless there are dragons or flits present, which is quite unlikely especially for the former. Instead, the clutchmother bellows deafeningly, both an audible and mental call to everyone in the area.
Candidates do not need to wear robes or sandals, as the wher would never clutch in the Hatching Sands. They are however presented with knives, if they don’t bring one themselves. This is because, to bond with a wher, a Candidate must draw their own blood and let the wher ‘taste them’. This creates a stronger bond than any wherling pair bonded out of empathy alone. The wher hatchling’s eyes swirl with the colors of the rainbow and an Impression is made.
The element of danger that is present during a dragon hatching is at least doubled during a wher hatching. Whers being naturally aggressive and violent, there will almost certainly be some kind of injury by the time the hatching is over; aside from the ceremonial bonding cuts of the Candidates, of course.
Like dragons, whers will tell their new handler their name. This name will resemble the handler’s name, however always ending in ‘sk’. The more of the handler’s name that begins the name of the wher, the stronger the bond. Once Impressed, the new wherling pairs will be led to bowls of food and instructed by a wherlingmaster.
Care
Whers are just like dragons and firelizards in that they need bathing and oiling regularly, as well as ample amounts of food as they grow. Unique to whers and wherlings however, is that once bonded to one, a wherling must become almost completely nocturnal, just like their draconic companion.
