Post by Topaz on Jan 31, 2010 23:01:10 GMT -5
Firelizards
Also called flitters, flits, or lizards, firelizards were the most crucial part of early Pernese human survival. From these small, flaming reptiles, dragons were engineered and coupled with their riders they kept Pern’s inhabitants safe from savage Threadfall.
Body
Firelizards have slender bodies with long tails and six limbs; four legs and two wings. Both their front and hind feet have three clawed toes. However the hind toes all face forward, while the toes on the forefeet are Tridactyl, meaning two face forward and one faces backward, giving the firelizard a pincer-like grip. Their front legs are also shorter than the hind legs, making them a bit awkward on the ground.
Firelizard wings are bat-like, with a thumb and a membrane stretched across three elongated fingers. The wingspan is always somewhat longer than the length of the flit from nose to tail tip.
The hide of these creatures is soft and suede-like, and with proper care it can be extremely supple. When injured firelizards bleed a green, copper-based ichor instead of red blood like humans and animals of Earth. Because of this, their muscles are a silver color when drained of ichor, and otherwise are a muddy mix of the two colors.
On top of the flitters' heads are headknobs, generally cylindrical protrusions of bone connected to the skull, and they function as their ears. They also have ridges; softly pointed, triangular protrusions beginning from the back of their skull to the base of their neck, then begin again at the base of their tail, tapering nearly all the way down. The tail of the flit tapers down to an even fork at the end. Above their eyes are a much smaller set of ridges, aptly dubbed eye ridges, which are often a favorite spot for affectionate scratching by their bonded.
Firelizards eyes are like a bug’s; two large, multifaceted lenses. They have three sets of eyelids; one transparent, one translucent, and one opaque. Instead of an iris or pupil, a fireliazard’s eye is a plain orb behind it’s facets, which swirls and changes hue depending on the lizard’s mood. The faster the swirling, the more intense the emotion.
Green/Blue: calm, pleasure, sleepiness
Purple: love
Red: anger, hunger, lust
Orange: uncertainty, suspicion
Yellow: alarm, surprise
White: fear
Grey: grief, sorrow, mourning
Rainbow: impression
Abilities
One of the firelizard’s most important features are their two stomachs. One is for digesting food, and the other firestone; a phosphine bearing rock that allows the lizards to produce a flame. All firelizards can chew firestone and breath fire.
Another incredible feat of these little creatures is their teleportation abilities. They blink, or between, out of thin air, to appear in another location entirely. They can only manage this feat if they have a clear mental picture of the location they want to teleport to, otherwise they may find themselves inside a rock.
Colors
Firelizards come in five colors; gold, bronze, brown, blue and green. Golds and greens are females and the rest are males. Each color has it’s own unique features and abilities, mostly due to their size. Golds are the largest of them all. They command attention from their subordinates without a question, and with their perfect body proportions they have both the strength and stamina to control any situation. Bronzes are second in rank and size. They are strong and full of stamina, most with attitudes to match. Browns are smaller than their bronze brothers, yet have a stockier build. This makes them slightly less agile in the air, but they make up for it with incredible stamina. Blues are next on the totem pole. These males are small, but very maneuverable in the air and quicker than any of the higher ranks, yet they pay for that skill with a shortage of stamina. Greens are the next agile and swift in the air, yet they have even less stamina than the blues. Whites, the very strangest color of all; a mutation, many think. What they lack is stature however, they make up for in blinding speed and unrivaled agility, besting even the quickest, and most slender of greens.
Gold: 38-40 inches in length (3 feet 2 inches-3 feet 4 inches)
Bronze: 36-38 inches in length (3 feet-3 feet 2 inches)
Brown: 34-36 inches in length (2 feet 10 inches-3 feet)
Blue: 32-34 inches in length (2 feet 8 inches-2 feet 10 inches)
Green: 30-32 inches in length (2 feet 6 inches-2 feet 8 inches)
White: 28-30 inches in length (2 feet 4 inches-2 feet 6 inches)
Development
Little hatchling firelizards begin their life at about 30% of their full body size. They grow to their full size in about 8 months after hatching.
Hatching (30%)
Gold: 14-16 inches in length (1 foot 2 inches-1 foot 4 inches)
Bronze: 12-14 inches in length (1 foot-1 foot 2 inches)
Brown: 10-12 inches in length
Blue: 8-10 inches in length
Green: 6-8 inches in length
White: 4-6 inches in length
Two Months (50%)
Gold: 18-20 inches in length (1 foot 6 inches-1 foot 8 inches)
Bronze: 16-18 inches in length (1 foot 4 inches-1 foot 6 inches)
Brown: 14-16 inches in length (1 foot 2 inches-1 foot 4 inches)
Blue: 12-14 inches in length (1 foot-1 foot 2 inches)
Green: 10-12 inches in length
White: 8-10 inches in length
Four Months (70%)
Gold: 26-28 inches in length (2 feet 2 inches-2 feet 4 inches)
Bronze: 24-26 inches in length (2 feet-2 feet 2 inches)
Brown: 22-24 inches in length (1 foot 10 inches-2 feet)
Blue: 20-22 inches in length (1 foot 8 inches-1 foot 10 inches)
Green: 18-20 inches in length (1 foot 6 inches-1 foot 8 inches)
White: 16-18 inches in length (1 foot 4 inches-1 foot 6 inches)
Six Months (90%)
Gold: 34-36 inches in length (2 feet 10 inches-3 feet)
Bronze: 32-34 inches in length (2 feet 8 inches-2 feet 10 inches)
Brown: 30-32 inches in length (2 feet 6 inches-2 feet 8 inches)
Blue: 28-30 inches in length (2 feet 4 inches-2 feet 6 inches)
Green: 26-28 inches in length (2 feet 2 inches-2 feet 4 inches)
White: 24-26 inches in length (2 feet-2 feet 2 inches)
Eight Months (100%)
Gold: 38-40 inches in length (3 feet 2 inches-3 feet 4 inches)
Bronze: 36-38 inches in length (3 feet-3 feet 2 inches)
Brown: 34-36 inches in length (2 feet 10 inches-3 feet)
Blue: 32-34 inches in length (2 feet 8 inches-2 feet 10 inches)
Green: 30-32 inches in length (2 feet 6 inches-2 feet 8 inches)
White: 28-30 inches in length (2 feet 4 inches-2 feet 6 inches)
Mating
Firelizard mating is an aerial dance of speed, stamina, and grace. The female’s hide will take on a unique shimmer, or glow, up to a few days before she is ready to mate. During this time the female can be quite proddy, or irritable, making tantrums and outlandish, queenly demands far more likely; regardless if it is a gold or a green. Males, especially those experienced in mating, will often notice this, possibly hovering over the female in some way, sometimes for days, waiting intently for her to begin the mating dance.
Golds will Rise to mate at about 6 months old, and greens at as early as 2 months of age. There is no specified time for a female to Rise, but when she does she will announce her readiness to the entire area, enticing every able male to Chase her as she soars high into the sky. This mating ritual is an instinctual affair, and while previous preferences of the flits may incline them one way or another, the majority of their consciousness is devoted to flying and very little to their surroundings. Mild violence is also not uncommon during a Flight, whether it’s between male competitors or even between the female and a suitor.
The actual dynamics of the Flight is the only factor that separates golds and greens. Gold firelizards are built for long, physically taxing flights. Their Flights can last for hours in some cases, as the queens are determined to find only the most powerful and resilient male to sire her offspring. Greens on the other hand have rather short Flights, given that they have fairly low stamina, but they make up for it in aerial acrobatics. A green Flight is possibly the more entertaining to watch, as most greens will fly intricate and erratic patterns around her Chasers, often flying through obstacles to test their agility. These Flights can be from mere minutes long, to maybe a half an hour at best.
At the end of the Flight, both gold and green females will soar a good distance up into the sky. There, they will choose their mate, latching onto him as their tails and necks entwine. The reason for the boost of height at the end is because once the mating pair have locked onto each other, they will plummet down to the earth as they consummate. The longer the fall, the longer the chance to mate and better the chance of fertilization occurring. Sometimes only feet before they reach the ground, the male and female disentangle and push off from one another, pulling up just in time.
If they’re so inclined, the mated pair might then sleep together to rest their bodies. Some firelizards, especially queens, have been known t grow very fond of their new mate, possibly favoring them in Flights to come, and becoming a sort of couple. Greens are far less likely to bond with their males in this way, as they are rather flaky, but it is not unheard of.
Terms Used
Flight - Referring to the entire mating ritual.
Rise - The female’s initiation of the Flight.
Chase/Chaser - The male’s role and general title during the Flight.
Catch/Caught - The male the female has chosen is said to have Caught her.
Gestation/Clutching
The gestation period for firelizards is three months, and then the eggs must harden for five weeks in a bath of hot sand. Egg-heavy females will begin to eat more, and desire more time alone, away from other firelizards and humans; aside from their bonded of course. Golds can produce 10-15 eggs while greens can only produce 5-10 in a single clutch. Golds are also the only females that can produce other golds and bronzes, never more than one gold per clutch. Greens can clutch up to browns but it is rather uncommon, as they usually clutch greens and blues. Greens are also very irresponsible mothers, and tend to loose at least one of their eggs to the elements or predators, if not abandon the clutch all together. In contrast, golds are the picture of motherhood, tending to their clutched eggs day and night, not letting anyone but their bonded near them.
Hatching/Impression
When firelizards hatch from their eggs, they are ravenously hungry and cry piteously for food from any source. A good parent in the wild will have fresh food already scattered about the nest for her babies. If the hatchlings are without food, they will and often do turn to cannibalism.
When around humans with food, a hatchling will rush to the first meat filled hand it sees, gorging itself on the food. It’s eyes swirl with all the colors of the rainbow as it looks into the eyes of its feeder, forming a bond called an ‘impression’. The feeder and the hatchling are now permanently bonded to one another through an empathetic mind link. Through this link, emotions and images can be passed between human and lizard. Immediately after feeding, the hatching will fall deep asleep for hours and when it awakes it will be hungry again. Hatchlings are hungry very often for the first few weeks of life, but they eventually grow out of it.
If a firelizard's bonded dies, it will not suicide like a dragon, but it will not re-impress onto another human. It can also leave it's bonded if it is neglected or abused. It may stay around it's former bonded's home or venture off into the wild, depending on the flitter.
Care
The ravenous food consumption, and consequential growth, that hatchling firelizard's experience causes a strain on their supple skin. The hide stretches and becomes dry, and will crack and then bleed if not cared for properly. A firelizard owner must regularly wash and oil a hatchling after it wakes up from each food-induced nap. This becomes less and less of a hassle as the firelizard matures and it's appetite stabilizes, however bathing and oiling is still necessary at least once a week.
Firelizard owners should also be aware of when their flitters Rise and Chase. There is a feeling passed from flit to human during mating, and it can make the owner feel slightly more promiscuous. However said feeling is certainly no where near the intensity of a dragon's mating flight emotion, and can be ignored entirely if the owner so chooses.
