Post by Lyrikitty on Jan 16, 2009 15:39:19 GMT -5
Dragons:
Gold, Bronze, Brown, Blue, Green, Illusion, Wildfire, Misery
All dragons hatched in Black Sands Weyr have a dull, flat black six-pointed star on their right flank, no exceptions, and the same applies to the hides of all canon dragons taking a dull, black cast. Where transfers are concerned, a Black Sands dragon who is transfered out of the Weyr will slowly loose the metallic shine of their hides, and loose their talents. Similarly, if a dragon is transfered to Black Sands, their hides will slowly start to take a darker cast. Never does the star fade or change, nor does it appear on a transfered dragon.
Non-mutation dragons hatched in the Weyr have slightly higher telepathic abilities than most, their range broadening, as well as heightened teleportation abilities, fewer errors in location, fewer lost Between accidentally, and more accuracy, to the point where an experience dragon could disappear inches off the ground, and reappear the same distance above the ground. Again, this is a level of skill that has to be developed, and is generally only seen in dragons of thirty or more turns.
The rules above also apply to the non-mutation firelizards. Black Sands Weyr does not have any mutation firelizards of it's own. The only colors found in the area are Gold, Bronze, Brown, Blue, and Green.
Unknown? None have hatched yet. The first will likely be in our next clutch.(Yes, before anyone says it I am basing them off of a peacock feather, because the colors on the feather are incredible. The males take the color from the very center and the color right next to it, the females the brown-gold outside the blue-green,and the green-purple-gold of the longer parts. Also, I'd like some suggestions for name, so far a favorite is Vahran, but no real choice has been made.)
This dragon comes in male and female, and they are the highest ranking dragons in the Weyr, king and queen. Extremely rare, and perhaps the most powerful dragons hatched of Black Sands. The females are about five feet larger than Golds on average, and the males are five more than the females. Both genders are built with sleek frames, long bodies and tails, shorter, thinner legs, and long, narrow wings. While not so serpentine in appearance as a Misery, you can see that they are made for agility and grace. Unlike some dragons, there is no difficulty in telling them apart at a glance.
The males have more muscle through the chest region, where the females are more focused on the shoulder and flank, for extended flight, and their coloring is entirely different.
Males are more vibrant, flashy, just short of gaudy perhaps. Their base color is a deep, blue-purple, that is very close to being black, highlighted with a middling blue-green, generally not in large patches, but streaks or other ornate designs along the spine and wings. The female base color is a color that is hard to describe, for it all depends on the lighting. It can shift from a green-gold, dark green, purple, or any mixture of those, as light plays over muscles there could be a spectrum of different colors. Markings are a rich, brown-gold to bronze color, and are generally focused toward the lower body, most often covering the belly, inside of the legs, chest, and under-side of the tail. Like all of Black Sands mutations they have a metallic sheen to them, though it is neither silver nor gold tinted.
Their personalities do not differ to greatly, both genders are calm, regal creatures, very proud, and though not power-hungry like the Wildfire's, they have a deep dislike of anything not of Black Sands. The males tend to be more possessive, and will allow no one to lay a hand on their bonded without permission from the rider. Also, in general the males tend to try to bond for life with the female they catch in a Flight, for they cannot stand the though of the female belonging to anyone else, and if they do become weyrmates, the possessive streak extends to their mate's rider as well. The females are less forward about being possessive, and rarely make any move to show that they are. One of the few queens a Wildfire will not try to control, for fear that the queen will turn on the Wildfire quickly. Both genders are highly intelligent, and and are unusually good with names and places, as well as time. They do not have as many violent tendencies as some dragons on Pern, rather they are cunning and sly about what they do, and their alliances are split fifty-fifty in the Weyr.
They wouldn't be considered true mutations of Black Sands without some defining skill, and indeed, their's is perhaps the worst of all in the Weyr. The males are more limited, and are able to only preform the first of these skills, while females have access, by the age of fifteen, to all, and by age thirty can preform them well. The first is the ability to control emotions, not of any one single creature, but of an area. It is useful to both genders, being high ranked, as they can manipulate the Weyr's attitude about some things in general, hence the over-all dislike of anything foreign in the Weyr, and this is a born-trait, one which both genders have from the moment of hatching, though it must be honed like every other power in the Weyr. It is the queens though, that are perhaps the most devastating, for they have two more tricks up their sleeves. The first is that they are not restricted to what they can clutch. A queen will clutch any dragon color she has been exposed to for a minimum of three days straight, during the first month of egg development. (This is something that will have to be RPed out! You can't say your queen went around to all the Weyrs and so she clutched every color on Pern.) Exposure to other Weyrs and dragons also increases the clutch size. The more dragons a queen is around, the more eggs will be in her clutch, if restrained to only her own Weyr, the clutch will be about 15-20 eggs, but a RARE few with enough exposure can clutch close to 50, and this trait comes to a female between six and eight turns. Their final ability is hard to explain, and little is known about it, but what is known is that they combine the power of a Misery and a Wildfire. They can tear into the heads of others, and make them feel not only excruciating pain, but as if their target were being burned alive, and death was never going to come as a mercy to the sufferer, however, access to this ability comes only at age fifteen, and to gain control or use of it is extremely difficult, most managing little more than an uncomfortable heat.
Illusion (a note, their size changing is only an illusion, like the changing colors. One could appear to be as big as an Amber, but if you went to touch it you'd go through the illusion and find the real dragon beneath.)
Illusions have deep, velvety black hides, with a glossy metallic silver sheen over their skin. They are roughly Brown-sized, and Impress only males. They chase any non-clutching females, though they are disdainful of Greens and prefer not to chase them unless there is no other available.
Illusions are cunning, manipulative and mischievous, loving to play pranks but always having enough maturity to know when it's time to stop. They are also quite observant and intelligent. They can be a bit petulant when they don't get their way, and are uncannily good at getting out of trouble.
The most striking feature of these males is their hides. Though the silver-sheened black isn't unduly unusual, they have an extra trick up their sleeves. Illusions can change the color of their hide. It takes a long time for this skill to be honed to any about of proficiency, and they have to be trained to do it. At first they can only manage splashes of one color across parts of their bodies, but as they get better they can cover more of the black and add more colors, until a very skilled illusion could send a veritable rainbow of colors dancing across his hide. Not only can they change their color, but they can change the appearance of their size, and even a rare few can alter their features. The truly talented can range their appearance from a massive Amber to a runty Green, can blend into rock and water, forest and plain. They can become utterly undetectable, but to gain this much skill takes many, many turns, and is often found only in those who were among the first or second clutch of them, meaning only those who are looking at about forty turns would have this level of skill.
The six-pointed star that marks all dragons hatched of Black Sands Weyr is nearly invisible on their hides, only because it is a dull black, no sheen to it, can it ever be seen.
Wildfire
Infertile females, the size of a large Blue. The Impress to females only, and they tend to those of a nature similar to their own, for few others would be able to handle them. They Rise once every three to four months, and are chased by mostly Brown-ranked and larger males, though a rare Blue will try and win.
Their hides look, literally, as if they were set on fire. Like tongues of flame licking over their figures, deep reds, oranges, and a few sparse yellows are most common, though like any true fire, there are those who show tones of blue, purple, and even green or white on their bodies. Over this is a metallic sheen, with an odd gold overlay. They are not built like the Blues they resemble in size, for they are longer, leaner. Their wings are thinner as well, not as broad, and it may seem like a poor structural evolution, but when looking at the entire dragon, it isn't at all. Wildfires do not have one set of wings, but rather three. The first is the largest set, placed where every other dragon's wings are. The second pair is about half the size, placed over the rear flanks, the third and final at about a quarter of the size of the second pair, mid-way down the tail. When it comes to sheer speed alone, none match the Wildfire.
Their tails are about half-again as long as the normal dragon, and the end is not forked at all.
Wildfires can be troublesome to those who they do not like. These dragons are sly, devious, and though they are not queens, they are often among the smartest of the Weyr, making close friends to a higher-ranked dragon of lesser wit and manipulating them to their own purposes. Wildfires enjoy power, but have no desire to be the face of it, enjoying being puppet-masters of those who think them simple females, looking at the mutations as if they were Greens.
Like the Illusions of the Weyr, they too have a trick that no other possess. Wildfires are able to change the temperature around them, though only making it hotter. Hatchlings can only manage small variations, and like the shifting appearances of the Illusions it is a skill that grows with time and practice. Some of the older females can make areas around them so hot that water, and on a rare occasion blood, will boil. The downside of this trick is that if they are not careful, they can bring their own blood to a boil, and drive their body temperatures to fatal peaks, ultimately killing themselves.
Misery
These are small dragons, mutations of the fable White dragon come back. They are smaller than even a Green, and come in either gender. Where Impression is concerned they choose those of the opposite gender, males Impressing to girls, and females Impressing to boys. It is no reflection of sexuality, for the females Rise rarely, if ever, and the males are unlikely to chase much of anything.
Their hides are white, with an odd, silver sheen to them. There is no variation to this, just a pale, ghostly, eerie white, topped by the faint sheen that shows with each move they make. They have not got any eyes, where the sockets would by is bone, no hole, no indent, no sign that ever the dragons were meant to see. Their wings are built for sustained flight, strangely, and their bodies are almost serpentine in length. They have whiskers, sort of, growing from the sides of their maws, feelers is more accurate, which allows them to walk about unerringly, a natural sense of direction and location is well-matured in them.
These dragons earned their name because of what they can do. Like many of the mutations Black Sands produces, these dragons are talented, and dangerously so. They have no need to see for themselves, because they are able to look into the minds of others, no matter how strongly another fights to block off their mind, none can hide from the Miserys. Not only can they see through the eyes of others, but they can cause unimaginable pain, toying with the neurons to fire them all wrong, leaving victims writhing on the ground and incapacitated.
They are not generally violent, and use of their talent is rare, only when they are threatened will they cause such pain in others of their own accord. However, they are often the targets of Wildfires, the manipulative females playing with the minds of the Miserys to form an alliance, and a dangerous one. Given the choice, a Misery would be happy to lead a peaceful existence, and they are one of the very few in the Weyr to want such a thing.