Post by Desert on Nov 23, 2008 18:03:34 GMT -5
despite Eden's mixed origins, several colors have cropped up that exist only in Eden - perhaps due to the odd mixes of mutant bloodlines that occurs only in Eden.
There are a few trends that can be seen amongst Eden's native mutants that are counter to the trends on almost every other Weyr:
Whereas it usually takes males and nonclutching females two Turns to reach maturity and clutching queen three Turns, that time is less for Eden's natives. Blacks, roans, jades and cyans need only about eighteen months to reach sexual maturity, and ravens have even been known to Rise at only two Turns.
Also, instead of the lower-ranking dragons like cyans, jades and roans being the most sensitive Searchers, it is the reverse. Cyans have practically no potential as Searchers, and most jades and roans have little skill. The more powerful telepaths, blacks and ravens, are quite adept, and in the past ravens have led Searches due to their surprising sensitivity. Blacks are nearly the ravens' equals, though few blacks have been inclined to go on Search.
Raven
queen-rank
Ravens hatch the size of bronzes -- the first was originally mistaken for a small, sport black until she Rose -- and quickly grow to overtake golds and reach half the size again of the canon queens until they reach sexual maturity.
Their hides have a rich black base, lacking any variation of hue, with an iridescent sheen that ripples blues and greens across their skin like an oil-slick when light hits it just right. They are usually built tall and slim, usually with abnormally short, broad wings for a queen.
Personality-wise they can vary with the temperament of their rider, but as a rule tend to be on the easy-going, amiable side. They have a flair for mischief or drama, but are always responsible.
If treated as a normal queen, they lay massive clutches, up to sixty eggs in a Pass. They can flame, but flaming cuts down their clutch sizes to average gold-clutch size, maybe smaller.
Black
king-rank
Most blacks tend to stay in the lower range in terms of size. They are build brown-like: stocky and brawny, with long, thin wings. Their hides can hold under- or overtones of color, and they often have colored markings.
Blacks are stubborn, possessive, self-centered, arrogant, short-tempered, independent, and often rebellious. They tend to be sadistic to some degree, and quite sarcastic and sardonic. They don't bond as closely with their rider as most colors do, but they are often fiercely protective of their riders -- as protective as they are of anything else they consider theirs.
Some blacks, though this trait is fortunately very rare, have the ability to flame without chewing firestone. This ability has only cropped up a few times in Eden's history, so the chance of one with this gift showing up is slim to none.
Roan
male (brown-rank)
These males are broad and stolid, with long, broad wings that can propel them through the air with surprising speed. Their hides are mottled several shades of gray up close, with the barest tinge of steel blue, but the farther away a viewer is, the more blue a roan appears to have in his hide. That is how the mutant got its name, from the salt-and-pepper gray coat of some runnerbeasts who also look blue from a distance.
Roans epitomize browns, in a way: they are laid back, impossible to provoke, affectionate, tend to indolence, and very sweet-natured. They often aren't the brightest dragons in the Weyr, but they're mellow enough that few hold it against them. They often pair with candidates with snappier dispositions -- the dragons mellows the rider, and the rider keeps the dragon from becoming fat and lazy.
Jade
female (green-rank)
Jades are very much like their green counterparts. They tend to be slightly bigger, though most are lean and lanky. Their wings are stubby and broad, making them very agile fliers. Their hides are usually slightly paler than their green cousins, with an almost metallic sheen to them.
Just as roans epitomize browns, jades seem to intensify the stereotypical green traits: flirty, vain, self-centered, and tending toward obnoxious. Some jades can be quite clever, and most usually aren't as dim as their bigger brothers, the roans. They often partner the shy girls and help them open up. They are light-hearted, and never take life very seriously. Many tend to be mischievous, though none of their pranks are anything but harmless, innocent jokes.
They are infertile, whether or not they flame.
Cyan
male/female
Cyans have blindingly bright hides, ranging in hue from sky blue to teal. They are tiny, but usually well-proportioned with broad, long wings for their size to send them zipping through the air. In all, they are quite handsome creatures, on the outside. Their hides are usually soft and smooth, almost silky. Some cyans, for some inexplicable reason, are scaled -- their hides are scaled like a Terran shark's, where the scales are actually tiny razor-sharp teeth, layered like fish-scales. If stroked against the grain, these sharp tooth-scales will lacerate skin. It is a trait
-- some say another trait -- they share with magmas.
They take all of a black's unpleasant personality traits and intensify them. Cyans have been compared to Crystal Caverns' infamous magma queens, and so far the comparison seems quite apt. They are rarer even than any of Eden's other unique mutants, which are all quite rare indeed. Only a handful have every appeared in clutches, and fewer of those have Impressed. Those that have grew to be hale and strong, so it's not certain why most cyans between at their Hatching. Not until after they've carved bloody paths through the candidates and hatchlings, but once their bloodthirst has been sated they simply go between unless a candidate manages to force-Impress one, or the cyan deigns to pick a candidate to bond with (usually one of their victims). If a cyan does Impress and live on, half the time the cyan ends up inflicting crippling injuries on its rider in fits of rage, or outright killing the rider. A cyan, having an extroardinarily loose bond with its rider, might be able to live riderless, but all who lose their riders between just like any other dragon.
The gender of the cyan and the gender of the rider has no correlation, because the few cyans who Impress care nothing for who they Impress; most of the time, it happens to be whichever candidate is the one at their mercy at the time they decide to Impress.
Females Rise, though infrequently, and are infertile. In the air, a female cyan is mostly inclined to maul her chasers, and once caught they may kill their mates. Males usually don't chose to chase anything, being too small to last long. This is a good thing since, like felines, a male cyan's anatomy tends to be painfully spiky. And, like a female, sometimes they may kill their partner, and are certain to inflict massive damage on the other males in the Flight.
these aren't the only mutants in Eden by far, so don't everyone go wanting a roan or a jade. please note that when i say they are rare, i mean it. at most one cyan, two blacks, and one raven are all i'll allow in Eden at once. and a cyan's bio better be pretty damned impressive. also, there can only be one black in Eden at one time who can flame without chewing. and since our resident black, Dharth, has this ability, that's it.
fire lizards come in canon colors or mutants, but canon flits are more common than canon dragons in Eden.
[/size]There are a few trends that can be seen amongst Eden's native mutants that are counter to the trends on almost every other Weyr:
Whereas it usually takes males and nonclutching females two Turns to reach maturity and clutching queen three Turns, that time is less for Eden's natives. Blacks, roans, jades and cyans need only about eighteen months to reach sexual maturity, and ravens have even been known to Rise at only two Turns.
Also, instead of the lower-ranking dragons like cyans, jades and roans being the most sensitive Searchers, it is the reverse. Cyans have practically no potential as Searchers, and most jades and roans have little skill. The more powerful telepaths, blacks and ravens, are quite adept, and in the past ravens have led Searches due to their surprising sensitivity. Blacks are nearly the ravens' equals, though few blacks have been inclined to go on Search.
Raven
queen-rank
Ravens hatch the size of bronzes -- the first was originally mistaken for a small, sport black until she Rose -- and quickly grow to overtake golds and reach half the size again of the canon queens until they reach sexual maturity.
Their hides have a rich black base, lacking any variation of hue, with an iridescent sheen that ripples blues and greens across their skin like an oil-slick when light hits it just right. They are usually built tall and slim, usually with abnormally short, broad wings for a queen.
Personality-wise they can vary with the temperament of their rider, but as a rule tend to be on the easy-going, amiable side. They have a flair for mischief or drama, but are always responsible.
If treated as a normal queen, they lay massive clutches, up to sixty eggs in a Pass. They can flame, but flaming cuts down their clutch sizes to average gold-clutch size, maybe smaller.
Black
king-rank
Most blacks tend to stay in the lower range in terms of size. They are build brown-like: stocky and brawny, with long, thin wings. Their hides can hold under- or overtones of color, and they often have colored markings.
Blacks are stubborn, possessive, self-centered, arrogant, short-tempered, independent, and often rebellious. They tend to be sadistic to some degree, and quite sarcastic and sardonic. They don't bond as closely with their rider as most colors do, but they are often fiercely protective of their riders -- as protective as they are of anything else they consider theirs.
Some blacks, though this trait is fortunately very rare, have the ability to flame without chewing firestone. This ability has only cropped up a few times in Eden's history, so the chance of one with this gift showing up is slim to none.
Roan
male (brown-rank)
These males are broad and stolid, with long, broad wings that can propel them through the air with surprising speed. Their hides are mottled several shades of gray up close, with the barest tinge of steel blue, but the farther away a viewer is, the more blue a roan appears to have in his hide. That is how the mutant got its name, from the salt-and-pepper gray coat of some runnerbeasts who also look blue from a distance.
Roans epitomize browns, in a way: they are laid back, impossible to provoke, affectionate, tend to indolence, and very sweet-natured. They often aren't the brightest dragons in the Weyr, but they're mellow enough that few hold it against them. They often pair with candidates with snappier dispositions -- the dragons mellows the rider, and the rider keeps the dragon from becoming fat and lazy.
Jade
female (green-rank)
Jades are very much like their green counterparts. They tend to be slightly bigger, though most are lean and lanky. Their wings are stubby and broad, making them very agile fliers. Their hides are usually slightly paler than their green cousins, with an almost metallic sheen to them.
Just as roans epitomize browns, jades seem to intensify the stereotypical green traits: flirty, vain, self-centered, and tending toward obnoxious. Some jades can be quite clever, and most usually aren't as dim as their bigger brothers, the roans. They often partner the shy girls and help them open up. They are light-hearted, and never take life very seriously. Many tend to be mischievous, though none of their pranks are anything but harmless, innocent jokes.
They are infertile, whether or not they flame.
Cyan
male/female
Cyans have blindingly bright hides, ranging in hue from sky blue to teal. They are tiny, but usually well-proportioned with broad, long wings for their size to send them zipping through the air. In all, they are quite handsome creatures, on the outside. Their hides are usually soft and smooth, almost silky. Some cyans, for some inexplicable reason, are scaled -- their hides are scaled like a Terran shark's, where the scales are actually tiny razor-sharp teeth, layered like fish-scales. If stroked against the grain, these sharp tooth-scales will lacerate skin. It is a trait
-- some say another trait -- they share with magmas.
They take all of a black's unpleasant personality traits and intensify them. Cyans have been compared to Crystal Caverns' infamous magma queens, and so far the comparison seems quite apt. They are rarer even than any of Eden's other unique mutants, which are all quite rare indeed. Only a handful have every appeared in clutches, and fewer of those have Impressed. Those that have grew to be hale and strong, so it's not certain why most cyans between at their Hatching. Not until after they've carved bloody paths through the candidates and hatchlings, but once their bloodthirst has been sated they simply go between unless a candidate manages to force-Impress one, or the cyan deigns to pick a candidate to bond with (usually one of their victims). If a cyan does Impress and live on, half the time the cyan ends up inflicting crippling injuries on its rider in fits of rage, or outright killing the rider. A cyan, having an extroardinarily loose bond with its rider, might be able to live riderless, but all who lose their riders between just like any other dragon.
The gender of the cyan and the gender of the rider has no correlation, because the few cyans who Impress care nothing for who they Impress; most of the time, it happens to be whichever candidate is the one at their mercy at the time they decide to Impress.
Females Rise, though infrequently, and are infertile. In the air, a female cyan is mostly inclined to maul her chasers, and once caught they may kill their mates. Males usually don't chose to chase anything, being too small to last long. This is a good thing since, like felines, a male cyan's anatomy tends to be painfully spiky. And, like a female, sometimes they may kill their partner, and are certain to inflict massive damage on the other males in the Flight.
these aren't the only mutants in Eden by far, so don't everyone go wanting a roan or a jade. please note that when i say they are rare, i mean it. at most one cyan, two blacks, and one raven are all i'll allow in Eden at once. and a cyan's bio better be pretty damned impressive. also, there can only be one black in Eden at one time who can flame without chewing. and since our resident black, Dharth, has this ability, that's it.
fire lizards come in canon colors or mutants, but canon flits are more common than canon dragons in Eden.