 June 22, 2001
Eastern Weyr
Alternate 12th
Pass Timeline
Guide Created:
December 24, 1996
Guide Updated:
December 14, 1999
Guide Version:
7.0
Welcome to the Guide of Eastern Weyr. We are an online
Pern Fandom Weyr dedicated to role-playing and story writing. The Weyrleadership
asks that you read this entire Guide before you do anything else. It contains
very important information regarding creating a persona as well as the
rules that Anne McCaffrey has requested we follow. Rules in effect at another
fandom Weyr might not pertain to us here at Eastern. To eliminate any confusing
situations, please look this Guide over completely. Thank you, and please
feel free to e-mail the Weyrleaders
with any further questions you may have.
Table Of Contents
Section 1: Disclaimer
And Welcome
Section 2:
About Eastern Weyr
Section 3:
Rules And Regulations
Section 4:
How To Play
Section 5:
Dragon Information
Section 6:
Writing Requirements
Section 7:
Personas
Section 8:
Persona Sheet
Section 9:
Weyr Directory
Section 10:
Weyr Council
Section
1: Disclaimer And Welcome
"The World of
Pern" (c) 1967 and "The Dragonriders of Pern" (r), have copyright laws
in effect. These rules have been set by Ms. Anne McCaffrey and her lawyers
for us to follow in order to maintain and run this fandom organization.
We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in this matter.
Eastern Weyr
is a not-for-profit fan organization, created solely for the enjoyment
and pleasure of the members. At this time there are no application fees
or membership fees, since the majority of the Weyr's publications are handled
via private e-mail. The costs for any publications sent via US Mail will
be determined at the time of publication, and will be posted to the membership
at large. Please note that such items are completely voluntary and their
purchase is -not- required for membership in Eastern.
1.1 Salutations
Greetings, and
thank you for requesting a copy of Eastern Weyr's Guide. In this volume,
you will find needed information to get you going, or maybe answer questions
you might have. Included is information on how to play and write in Eastern
Weyr Alternate 12th Pass. You will also find some information about other
additions to the Alternate 12th Pass, Igen Weyr and Palisades Weyr. We
hope that the addition of these weyrs will make our 12th Pass a more interesting
and a richer environment in which to play and write.
Please read through
the Guide completely.
It is very important for you to understand the rules and regulations set
by Anne McCaffrey and by Eastern's leadership. If you have any questions
regarding this Guide, please contact the Weyrleaders at the following addresses:
Weyrleader Rrdan
RrdanEW2@aol.com
Weyrwoman Valada
atarahpern@hotmail.com
As Eastern Weyr
gets older, changes in the Guide have to be made and it is always under
construction. If you find anything that is missing or can suggest anything
else that you think needs to be covered please contact either of the Weyrleaders
at the above addresses with your suggestions. They are greatly appreciated.
Remember that
the Weyrleadership always wants you to have fun, subject, of course,
to the due consideration of others.
Because of the
requirements of school and family and due to the mature content of some
stories, the Weyrleadership has instituted a minimum age of 13 years old
to join the Weyr. You must state your birthdate in full on your persona
sheet. Your persona will not be approved without it and you may not join
in our role-plays until your persona is approved. There are no exceptions
to this rule, and we apologize for any hard feelings this might create.
Section
2: About Eastern Weyr
Eastern Weyr
is located on the Southern Continent of Pern. If you look at any of the
maps included in the Pern books, Eastern is situated just to the right
of Cove Hold across the river and near the Two Faced Mountain. Eastern
was the last weyr founded in the 9th Pass. Eastern is located in a tropical
climate so it is very hot and humid during the day but very pleasant at
night. It is very common to see people lounging in hammocks during the
heat of the day napping. Due to the heat, life at Eastern proceeds at a
slower pace than most other weyrs. Currently, our web page is at http://www.oocities.org/easterna12/welcome.html.
Take a look -- we think you'll find it worth the time you spend there!
Clothing is generally
loose and flowing, in colors that will repel heat and the sun. Both sexes
wear wide-brimmed hats to keep their faces covered against the merciless
sun.
Listed below
are the Major and minor holds in the territory around Eastern Weyr. When
making a persona who hails from Eastern, use the following Holds. Please
do not make up any Lord and Lady Holders.
Eastern Hold
-
Highlay Hold
-
Red Sea Hold
-
Wicklow Hold
-
Sidhe Hold
Crafthalls:
-
Healer Hall
-
East Harper Hall
-
Smithcraft hall
Paradise Falls
Hold
-
Eastern Sea Hold
-
High Run Hold
-
Popsan Hold
Crafthalls:
-
Beastcraft Hall
-
Tannercraft hall
Monaco
Bay Hold
-
Cardiff Hold
-
Sunfar Hold
-
Isle Hold
-
Fareast Hold
-
Rathlyn Hold
Crafthalls:
-
Fishercraft Hall
-
Dolphincraft Hall
-
Weavercraft Hall
2.1 Eastern Weyr's
History
During the 12th Pas of the Red Star, Turn 22 (1996) Eastern Weyr saw unusually
heavy rains and extremely high tides. In one of the many coves near the
Weyr, it was noticed that the sea foam and beach were slightly orange in
coloring. No one was unduly alarmed by this and merely thought it was an
odd occurrence. Normal use of the cove for sunning and swimming continued
unabated. Shortly after this coloration first appeared, the rains and high
tides subsided back to their normal levels and the coloration was not noticed
again.
Less than a sevenday after this coloring was gone, the first people began
to fall ill. They were initially stricken with a high fever that quickly
escalated to life threatening temperatures. Within 24 hours of the fever,
large areas of flesh were apparently being eaten by some sort of fungus.
People who were lucky died shortly after this stage. Those less fortunate
suffered another two days in which it appeared as if their internal organs
melted within them. While this outbreak caused some concern among the hold
folk, no one really expected that the Weyr would be affected. They were
proven wrong quickly however when it became apparent not only was the Weyr
struck, but a sizeable portion of the Weyr was hit.
The WeyrHealer, Master Darya, quickly realized that a major disaster was
in the making and called in the Master Healer of Pern and all his assistants
in an attempt to halt or slow down this deadly viral fungus. Nothing they
had ever encountered matched these symptoms and there was apparently nothing
that could be done for the victims except hasten them to their death through
an overdose of painkilling potions. Luckily it seemed as if this virus
was not contagious after the initial exposure. After extensive questioning
of everyone in Eastern's Holds and in the Weyr itself, the Healers tentatively
concluded that the orange tide had been the cause of this. This did not
help really but at least now the Weyr and holds knew what to look for to
prevent a second outbreak.
As added precautions to avoid a secondary outbreak, it was decided to burn
all the bodies, clothing, bedding and anything used to care for those who
were ill. The healers, along with the remaining senior riders at Eastern,
decreed that the beach cove would need extensive cleaning. The sand was
cleaned with a watered down version of ageenothree and all driftwood and
residual sludge was burned. Any vegetation that was thought to have been
touched by the tide was also cut and burned. Normal use of the cove was
suspended until declared safe. Most people find the cove unlucky and have
avoided it thus far.
Eastern Weyr was hit severely by this outbreak. More than 1/6 of the Weyr's
fighting wings were lost, to include two queens. The only remaining queen
at Eastern was the young gold Boudiccath ridden by Tamsin. The Acting Weyrleader
at Eastern saw the dire straights of the Weyr and immediately appealed
to the other Pern Weyrs for assistance. A conclave of all the weyrleaders
and their seconds was called in a meeting at Fort Weyr to determine the
fate of Eastern Weyr.
There were several suggestions put forth in this meeting but the one that
the majority of the weyrleaders favored was sending replacement riders
to augment the thinned ranks and send two queens to provide eggs and restrengthen
the Weyr. Until the Weyr was back up to strength, it was agreed that riders
from all of the Weyrs would fly fall with Eastern. The two queens chosen
to go to Eastern were Ailish of Southern Weyr, rider of Thehabeth and Coriana
of Telgar Weyr, rider of Selanith. Ailish was named the temporary WW until
a deciding mating flight was held since she was senior to Coriana. L'renz
of Fort Weyr, rider of Alinanth were one of the pairs sent to help augment
the wings at Eastern. L'renz and Alinanth were a well matched pair, strong
in fighting skills and well liked at Fort Weyr, where they Impressed.
The permanent Weyrleaders would be decided by whichever
queen rose next in an open flight. Ailish's gold Thehabeth rose on 23.01.13
and to the surprise of many was flown by L'renz and Alinath. Eastern celebrated
the hatching of the resulting 28 eggs that included a gold. Less than a
turn later, L'renz was injured in a Threadfall. Unable to ride for Thehabeth's
flight, R'rdan, rider of bronze Caramath, became the new Weyrleader of
Eastern. R'rdan has proved to be an excellant wingleader and the Weyr was
pleased to welcome him as their new Weyrleader. L'renz agreed to become
the Weyrlingmaster. In another development, Coriana requested a transfer
back to High Reaches Weyr and Firielle, rider of gold Perianth, became
the new Weyrwoman 2nd. When Palisades Weyr opened, Firielle transferred
to accept the position of WeyrWoman. Tamsin, the lone surviving goldrider
from the disaster, is now WW2 with the recently graduated Seriann and gold
Faylith as Junior Weyrwoman. Life at Eastern has settled into a nice routine.
The 12th Pass is now half over, the Weyr has recovered from the disaster
that hit and life is good. There is the troublesome Southern Weyr to still
contend with and it seems as if there is something nefarious going on,
but no one is sure just what. The uneasy feelings came to pass when Ailish,
the Eastern Weyrwoman, was killed during Threadfall. Jerioth, a recent
transfer from Denbe Weyr, rose, making Valada the new Weryrwoman. Once
again, life has settled at Eastern and we are looking forward to many clutches
from our golden Queens.
Section
3: Rules and Regulations
Anne McCaffrey
has set the following rules, and the Eastern Weyrleadership enforces them.
Please pay close attention to them and follow them to the letter, because
Anne has every right to take Eastern A12P from us if we don't obey her
laws. She has done it to others, so be warned!
3.1 The Dragonlady's
Rules
Anne McCaffrey
has stressed that we cannot use any of her characters as direct
descendants. These are her characters and they are protected under copyright
laws. Persona sheets sent in claiming any form of relationship with any
of Anne's characters will be returned to their author for revision. Furthermore,
Ms. McCaffrey has also stated that no one on Pern can trace their ancestry
to anyone from Earth.
A further requirement
is that our Pern be somehow different from the Pern in the books.
This is primarily why we play in the 12th Pass, but, as a further and fundamental
point of difference, in our timeline AIVAS was not found in the 9th Pass.
Nor will it ever be found. Our dragons also know nothing of timing and
no stories will be allowed using any mention of timing.
Dragon colors
have been strictly laid out -- blues, greens, browns, bronzes, and golds.
Period. No other colors can exist, or will be accepted. Also, as of 31
Oct 97, Ms. McCaffrey has limited the dragon colors females can ride. Females
are limited to golds and greens only. Males can ride bronzes, browns, blues
and some greens. All Eastern personae must comply with the above restriction
regardless of date created -- no exceptions.
There is no religion
on Pern. The people of Pern would rather acknowledge living, breathing
heroes than something that is unseen. There is no such thing as magic.
The only thing remotely "magical" is the Impression that occurs between
candidate and dragon and the telepathic link between rider and dragon.
Additionally there are no religious artifacts such as talismans, or religious
oaths, nor should there be references to Earth mythologies.
Certain places
on Pern are off-limits for both story settings and character development.
These are Ruatha Hold, the Harper Hall, Benden Weyr and Benden Hold. Due
to the negligence of some in the past, the Weyrleadership has declared
these places totally off limits. Please do not submit character sheets
claiming to be from any of these locations. They will be returned for changes.
Hearing all dragons,
also known as HAD, is a very rare talent. Anne McCaffrey has asked that
only queenriders have this rare skill. Eastern has decided not to use HAD
in our timeline.
3.2 Weyrleadership's
Rules
Due to the nature
of some stories and live roleplays, Eastern Weyr has a lower age limit
of 13 years. You must have reached your 13th birthday before your persona
will be approved. Your full birthdate must appear on the character sheet.
There are no exceptions to this.
Should you wish
to write an Impression story, please be creative in your approach for Impression.
The "Impression from the Stands" or the "Impression Off the Sands" approaches
have been used many times over, and the 'zine editor is heartily sick of
seeing them. This is not to say that we won't -print- your Impression story,
but we would like to encourage you to be creative with yours. There are
several ways to Impress a dragon, some of which are explained further on
in this Guide.
The Weyrleadership handles Firelizard or flitter hatchings. New characters
may claim a flitter as a pet as long as the following are observed:
-
The character is
not a candidate. Pets are not allowed to weyrlings because those with new
dragons to tend will have far more to do than they realize.
-
The flitter is a
brown, blue or green. Golds and bronzes are reserved as gifts or rewards
from the Weyrleadership.
-
NPCs cannot have
gold or bronze flitters.
-
You many not have
more than two flitters as a new member.
From time to time,
the Weyr will sponsor firelizard hatchings and you may request an egg at
that time. Clutches cannot be found by anyone unless it is part of a scheduled
roleplay established by the Weyrleadership.
Clutches laid
by green flitters are not viable and will not hatch.
No persona will
be allowed more than 3 flitters. Personas with a gold may only have a total
of 2 flitters. Personas without a gold may have a total of three firelizards.
Personas may have a gold or a bronze, but not both, unless they are given
as a reward for exceptional service to the Weyr.
Flitter names
may not end in the "th" that is reserved for dragons.
No flitters or
other pets are allowed in the dining area.
Runners may not
be brought to the Weyr except by those crafters who require them as transportation
to serve the holds nearby. The Weyr exists to fight Thread and to support
those who do so. Weyr resources would not be used as pet food nor to house
and care for personal pets.
Incoming characters
may only have flitters as pets. Any canines or felines already in existence
before the removal of pets form the persona sheet are grandfathered in,
but are generally frowned on. These pets may not have litters and the young
may not be passed on to other personae.
The Weyrleadership
reserves the right to make changes to an Eastern persona if the persona's
owner disappears, if he or she stops reading weyr email or deletes it (not
including rp emails), or if his or her e-mail address becomes an "Unknown
user" at any time. This rule was created to prevent a horde of unwanted
or abandoned personas. You are responsible for keeping us informed of your
current email address at all times. A persona whose creator has disappeared
or quit the Weyr may be granted WNPC status or as the property of Eastern
Weyr, may be dealt with in rude or dramatic ways. Sometimes harshly --
Thread is merciless, you know!
Section
4: How To Play
The first thing
to do is completely read this Guide. Once you've decided what type of character
you want to play, copy and paste the blank persona sheet at the end of
the Guide. Fill it out as completely as you can, then send it to R'rdan
for approval. If you have any problems or questions in general about creating
a persona for Eastern Weyr, please email the Weyrleader at RrdanEW2@aol.com.
If you happen
to have NPCs (Non-Player Characters) you wish to use as part of your storyline,
please make a note of them at the bottom of your persona sheet. The NPCs
to list are only the ones you will use for stories, and then generally
we only need to know about the ones living in Eastern's territory. There
is no need to list the entire family as NPCs if you won't be referring
to them in stories. NPCs may not claim bronze or gold dragons nor
may they be lord or lady holders. NPCs are not ranked personas so they
are not entitled to special privileges.
The Weyrleader
will review your persona in a timely fashion and respond to you with any
necessary changes. It is his duty to make certain that you have followed
the rules set by Anne McCaffrey and the Weyrleadership to protect our agreement
with her and our continued existence. Please don't take comments made or
corrections asked for personally. Everyone's sheet is reviewed as closely
as yours.
If there are
any corrections needed, just make the changes and send it back to the Weyrleader.
From then, if there are no other corrections needed, you and your persona
will be announced to the rest of the Weyr population!
Gold and bronze
dragons are given out as awards/rewards and anyone who wants to Impress
one should expect to work for such a color. This cannot be stressed
enough. Many people want a queen or a bronze but few understand the hard
work that having one will entail, or the responsibility that will come
to rest on the recipient's shoulders. The Weyrleadership reserves the right
to remove any Eastern bronze or gold dragon from personas who do not comply
with the yearly writing requirements or duties that are listed later in
this Guide.
For the continued
stability and enjoyment of Eastern, the Weyrleadership reserves the right
to revoke the membership of anyone who breaks Ms. McCaffrey's expressed
rules or the rules of the Weyr. Furthermore, any member who goes to Anne
with a question relating to Pernfandom will be summarily removed from the
rolls of Eastern Weyr as Ms. McCaffrey has often stated she does not wish
to become involved in fan affairs.
Why? First off,
historically whenever someone has gone to Anne, especially with a dispute,
her reaction has been to solve the problem by removing the source. This
is where, for instance, Pernfandom got the restriction limiting female
riders to greens and golds only, and fandom Weyrs have lost their permission
to exist in this way! Again, you go to Anne, you run the risk of getting
us all hurt. Don't do it!
Secondly, this
is fandom. Our world is different from hers. It has to be. A better
course of action is to find someone who's been in the fandom for a while
and ask them your question. Additionally, the membership of anyone who
continually disrupts role-plays with rude and unacceptable behavior or
harassment of other members will be revoked.
The Weyrleadership
encourages others to roleplay their personas at the monthly Weyr meetings,
and to mingle with other members. Doing so can result in good writing partnerships
and help in storyline development. What is done in the RP sessions can
be adapted and placed into stories, provided that if a persona that is
not yours is being used you get permission from them before creating your
story.
Only those with
approved personas can roleplay. Only members of Eastern or Igen may attend
our RPs. If you wish to bring a guest to an RP for some reason, please
clear it with the Weyrleadership first. Please contact the Weyrleadership
if you do not know the RP channel name. You can Instant Message either
of them requesting it. Because we have had unpleasant experiences in the
past, please do not give out the channel name.
RPing can be
done by live meetings or through private e-mail. When RPing through e-mail,
it is important to respect the wishes of other members. If they ask to
be removed from a certain thread, please do so ASAP. This will avoid any
unnecessary conflicts that could evolve.
A handy-dandy
guide to joining in during Eastern's roleplay sessions:
One of the most
fun parts of belonging to Eastern Weyr is getting together with other members
for a role playing game (RPG). We RPG through both online chat sessions
on AOL and/or by Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and through e-mail. Role play
makes our world come alive, and it lets you show everyone else what your
character is like. At first, RPG can be very intimidating. You don't know
anyone else, you never quite know what to say or how to say it, and there
seems to be so much going on around you! Well, with these suggestions,
you'll have fun and fit right in, so read on!
Email rps
Please feel free
to join in the on-going e-mail RPG at any point. Members are encouraged
to introduce their own storylines as they wish, in order to encourage as
wide a membership participation as possible. It is always good to check
with the Weyrleadership before starting any email rp's. Just be certain
to include use the Subject heading RPG on your email, and be sure to delete
any members who do not wish to participate.
Online rps
The disclaimer
is always run at the beginning of the RP session. This is to protect Ms.
McCaffrey's work, and to comply with agreements all fan weyrs make with
the Dragonlady. It is required. After that, everyone takes a moment to
introduce the characters they will be playing that evening. Usually its
a simple line or so such as:
G'ran: ((G'ran,
blue weyrling and R'rdan, Weyrleader....Denise))
This tells you
the screenname of the player, the character's names and ranks, and the
mundane name of the player. You may see one character listed or sometimes
more. Once all these things have been done, the fun begins!
Shorthand
It takes a little
while to get used to roleplaying online. There are shorthands we all use
to make things a little clearer. These include:
To indicate
dragon speech, use French quotes {{ }}
Harth: {{ Its
about time you came to feed me, F'lore }}
To respond to
your dragon, use the angle brackets < >
F'lore: <<
Ya big oaf! You could have flown to the pens yourself! >>
To show action,
use double colons :: ::
Harth: ::looks
down at his rider with a wicked grin::
If your dragon
addresses another dragon, make it clear who is speaking and to whom
Harth to Sith:
{{ Well, I never said I liked to swim in ice water! }}
If you are playing
more than one character, indicate who is talking,which will show up after
your screenname like this
Rakib123: Panzera>
I didn't think dragons liked eggplant ::looks confused::
Rakib123: L'zna>
They don't. They usually prefer red meat. ::grins::
Sometimes you
will also need to show who your character istalking to, especially if there
are a lot of people playing
Rakib123: Panzera
to L'nza> Are you sure we are alone? ::shy smile::
Rakib123: ::L'nza
takes Panzera by the hand:: Quite sure. ::kisses her hand::
If you need
to make an Out of Character comment (OOC) on screen,surround it with double
brackets
Rakib123: ((Ack!
I have to go. Lightning storm! Bye all! ))
If your character
changes the inflection of his/her voice, you can use abbreviations to indicate
them
(w) - whisper
(m) - mutter/mumble (g) - grumble
Points of Courtesy
You may not speak
or act for someone else's characters without their permission. It would
be very rude, and most likely confusing.
If you want
to chat out of character, please IM the player you are interesting in chatting
with. It is much less confusing to those roleplaying.
Members of the
Weyr come in all ages. Try to keep onscreen activities and language to
PG.
Please be patient
if you ask a question or make a comment onscreen. Other players sometimes
have many things going on at one time and might not see your comment immediately.
If you think they missed it, you could have your character try the following:
::Ahem:: Panzera? Are you distracted this evening? I said (and then repeat
it) This is often the case when a player is handling more than one character.
Logic
One of the things
that can be toughest to remember is that most of our characters act in
logical fashions. There are certain behaviors that should be true down
to the lowest drudge. These can include:
When the weyr
is at meals in the cavern, our dragons would be at their weyr, in their
wallow, on the beach or sunning someplace. But never in the dining hall.
Keep in mind that Eastern Weyr does not have ledges, our weyrs are a cot
and a sandy wallow nearby. Other pets would not be running around near
the food either. Pets belong outside. Uncontrollable animals would probably
be sent away from the weyr lest they upset the dragons. Also, remember
that firelizards do not speak in words. They use images to communicate
with their friends.
No dragon would
ever disobey the senior queen. Most likely the other queens would be obeyed
as readily.
If your character
does something foolish, expect to pay a price. If you are hurt, you will
need time to heal. Things on Pern follow a normal timeline since there
is no magic. Recovering from broken bones or bad burns will take a long
time. Work it into your character's behavior. Or better yet, be careful.
Your character
should address anyone of a higher rank with their proper title. A weyrling
would call a full-fledged rider "Sir" or "Ma'am", or by their position
"Wingleader" or "Weyrlingmaster" unless told to do otherwise. When in doubt
about someone's rank, "Sir" and "Ma'am" are always acceptable. Once they
offer their name, it is a sign you may call them that. If you are uncertain
of a character's name, either play it out on the screen or send the player
an IM and ask. Everyone forgets sometimes!
The Weyrleadership
will not tolerate what is called Plot-Breaking. Any onscreen activity that
is not related to the scenario posted in advance of the session or set
at the beginning of the session is plot-breaking. This does not include
normal conversation between characters, eating, etc. If there is a sub-plot
you would like to combine with a scheduled RP, you must clear it with the
Weyrleadership first.
If a person takes
it upon himself or herself to start a separate plot during the RP that
interferes with the "whole" group, they will be asked to leave the rp.
If during this "Plot-breaking" a persona is put into a perilous position,
that persona will suffer injuries commonly sustained in such a rash action.
For example, if a member decides to place their persona into a life-threatening
situation, possibly to attract attention from the other members, that action,
if not in the plot to begin with, will be considered a plot breaker and
that persona will suffer the dire consequences of the position the member
put him/her in. This could very well result in the death or maiming of
that member's persona.
RP sessions generally
go quickly and it is very hard to keep track of who is in the channel,
let alone the status of new members. The Weyrleaders try to greet everyone,
and will try to include Persona Greeters in each RP session. These are
people assigned to the role of welcoming new people, introducing them to
others, and doing their best to get new members involved in the RP.
Eastern Weyr
and Igen Weyr RP sessions take place on Saturdays, and alternate between
each Weyr on a regular basis. Eastern has the 2nd -OR- 4th Saturdays and
Igen has the 1st and 3rd Saturdays. 5th Saturdays are nights off unless
a special rp has been announced. Dates and times are sent out via e-mail
and are placed on the bulletin boards (BB) for each Weyr. We look forward
to seeing you there! If you want to come and take a look, email the Weyrleader
of the Weyr you want to check out -- RrdanEW2@aol.com
for Eastern and DkotaIW@aol.com
for Igen.
If there are
RPs that must be cancelled or postponed, whenever possible a notice will
be possible a notice will be posted on the BB's and sent out in e-mail
as well.
4.1 Impressing
Your Dragon.
There are three
methods of Impressing a dragon at Eastern Weyr. One, the most common, is
transferring from another Weyr, meaning your persona has Impressed at another
Weyr and is moving to Eastern. If transferring, your dragon must be at
least five Turns (years) old in order to move. This gives him/her
time to go through weyrling training, and learn how to fight Thread. A
dragon takes up to 20 months to graduate into a fighting wing.
Remember, Benden Weyr does not exist in our timeline!
NOTE: Transfers to Eastern did not occur before the Pernese date of 23.01.15
(15 January 1997). Any transfers to Eastern Weyr must occur after that
date. Personas can come from the following Weyrs:
-
High Reaches
-
Fort
-
Southern
-
Igen
-
Ista
-
Telgar
-
Denbe ***you must
ask if you would like to be from Denbe
Eastern also practices
what has become commonly known as Instant Dragon, or backdating. This concept
is simple enough. If you want your persona to be born, grow up, and Impress
at Eastern Weyr, contact the Weyrleader with your request, including an
approximate date of Impression and color dragon desired. We have extensive
clutch charts that cover Eastern hatchings and Impressions and for all
the Weyrs of the Alternate 12th pass, so if a dragon of appropriate color
is available from a clutch close to your desired date, you'll be given
that information to use with your persona. In the event the Weyrleader
cannot closely match your desired date, or your desired color, a range
of available clutches will be given to you to choose from.
The third way
to Impress your dragon is to be a candidate. Eastern's golden queens provide
us with several clutches throughout the Turn and we always welcome young
people to Stand in hopes of Impressing one of the dragonets. We need a
completed persona sheet from you and you may join the field of candidates
for the next Hatching once it has been approved. You may ask for a specific
color dragon or ask to be surprised. Female personas will not be classified
as "queen" or "regular" candidates. All candidates are equal until the
shell cracks and the dragonet decides.
4.2 Battle
of the Sexes
Eastern follows
what we refer to as the Oct97 rule. This comes directly from Anne McCaffrey
and cannot be negotiated. She has mandated that females will only ride
golds and greens. Males will ride bronzes, browns, and blues. There is
limited availability for males to ride greens, but it is not common. Igen
will not go against the expressed wish of Ms McCaffrey.
Candidate age
limits are from 15-21 Turns. All candidates are considered equal and receive
equal training. Should a gold be impressed, that rider will receive any
additional training necessary and is expected to fulfull all the duties
and obligations of any other weyrling in training.
Female riders
do not use honorific names after Impression. Male riders do. This prevents
confusion in RPs, in stories, and for those responsible for keeping the
many rosters and timelines that Igen has to keep. No one who is not a male
rider may use an honorific for their name.
Section
5: Dragon Information
After Impression
a candidate becomes a weyrling. He/she is then subject to the tender mercies
of the weyrlingmaster and his assistants for several months. During this
time, weyrlings are taught how to properly take care of, feed and ride
their dragons. Male and female weyrlings are separated during sleeping
hours. During the day while practicing, they all work together for training
and chores.
Shortly before
graduation, dragonpairs move into the Weyrling Wing, which is an active
fighting wing but is usually kept with the Queen's Wing down where the
threat is low. Once sufficient experience is gained, they can move into
the fighting wings of the Weyr. Weyrlings are usually "tapped" by the Wingleader
of a interested Wing to join them. The pair then becomes a real dragonrider
team.
A female dragon
generally reaches sexual maturity at two Turns. Golds and greens can rise
a little after the two Turn mark, but it is not uncommon for a gold or
green to not rise until she is three. Queens rise up to three times a Turn,
but usually no more than twice. Before her mating flights, a queen will
blood several kills -- sometimes as many as five herdbeasts -- before she
takes flight. She needs the blood for quick energy for the long flight
ahead, and the males will also blood kills prior to a queen's flight. A
queen's flight is a long one, and lasts at least 45 minutes. The most clever
and strongest male catches her. Clutch sizes vary, depending on whether
it is a Pass or an Interval. During a Pass, the egg count is high. During
an Interval, the count is low. Gold eggs are laid infrequently.
Greens can rise
up to four times a Turn. Greens do not blood more than two, but the basic
principle remains the same. A green's flight is spontaneous, but she is
proddy and usually in a rather foul mood a few days prior to the flight.
Her flight will generally last no longer than fifteen minutes, as she is
more concerned with who is chasing her than trying to avoid them for as
long as possible. If two or more greens rise at the same time, they do
not fight like queens would. It is up to their riders to take their dragons
in different directions during the flight. Greens do not lay eggs, as they
are sterile from chewing firestone.
5.1 Size Matters
Yes, it does,
to a dragon. The chart below gives average sizes for small, medium, and
large dragons by color. It is calibrated in feet -- so a small gold is,
on average, 125 feet long with a wingspan of 208 feet fully extended.
Body Length (in feet) Wingspan (in feet) |