Welcome/Avalon Guide/Avalon's history/
members of Avalon/Dragon art/Dragon Info/Persona Sheet/
Avalon
Major Changes Made: 5/31/98
Minor Changes Made: 5/31/98
The World of Avaoln is copyrighted by Sara Patterson & Courtny Snyder ©1998.
This file includes most pertinent information about Avalon; other files, such as persona sheets, wing lists, member roster, and maps of Avalon are available from the Dragon Ladies. In the happy event that you decide to become a member of Avalon, you will receive a story helps file that contains a calendar conversion chart, rules for keeping editors happy, and similar. (G) We also ask that all members have their own text file of this guide -- to be sent one e-mail the Welcome Wagon at draggie@hotmail.com
CONTENTS
- Introduction and Welcome
- Joining Avalon
- The Scenario
- Range and Description
- 'Zines, Dues, and Other Mundane Stuff
- Requirements for Major Personae
- Dragons
- Avalon Persona Guide & Sheet
- In Conclusion
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
Hello there, and welcome to Avalon Weyr. If you're reading this right now, it probably
means that you're thinking about joining, but haven't decided yet. Therefore, it's up to us
to convince you. If you see anything that you have a question about, or something that just
doesn't make sense or looks wrong, feel free to let us know. We'll do our best to correct it.
Now, here we go with the fun stuff!
JOINING AVALON
Joining is very simple. First, read through this manual. Then decide what kind of persona
you'd like to have. Before you choose, make sure you've read over the section on
Requirements for Major Personas, found later in this guide. You don't have to have a
major persona to write for our 'zine, and you don't have to write at all if you don't want to.
Now that you've chosen your persona type, be it dragon, elf, shapshifter or wizard, fill
out the Avalon Persona Sheet. When you're finished, e-mail it to one of the
Dragon Ladies for approval. We'll let you know when your persona is approved, and you are
officially a Avalon member.
Sending in your sheet:
The Avalon persona sheet was made up specifically for this club and we request that
you please do not use another club's persona sheet. Also, when sending in your persona
sheets, please send them as attached files, not in the body of an e-mail. How do you do
that? Create your persona sheet by copying the form found in this manual and save it as a
.txt file, with the title being the name of your persona. Please, do not send us files called
'persona.txt', as this makes it very difficult to identify your persona sheet. Then, when
composing an e-mail, there is a button on the left-hand side that says "Attach" (if you are
on AOL.) Press that button, highlight the name of your persona, and hit "OK". Then send
it to us. This makes it much easier on your Weyrleaders.
TIME CONVERSIONS AND OTHER CONCERNS
We are currently in the second pass of the Dragonwinds. The second pass started when the winds repeated there patern. If you don't know how to convert to Avalon time, or are
unsure of it, please send the mundane equivalent and we will be happy to convert it for
you. If in doubt, please contact one or more of the Dragon Ladies and we
will be glad to help with any concerns you may have. A conversion chart can be found on
this web site, or e-mail one of the Dragon Ladies for your own text file.
'ZINES, DUES, AND OTHER MUNDANE STUFF
Avalon is a bit different from most other E-mail clubs.
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
Hello there, and welcome to Avalon Weyr. If you're reading this right now, it probably
means that you're thinking about joining, but haven't decided yet. Therefore, it's up to us
to convince you. If you see anything that you have a question about, or something that just
doesn't make sense or looks wrong, feel free to let us know. We'll do our best to correct it.
Now, here we go with the fun stuff!
JOINING AVALON
Joining is very simple. First, read through this manual. Then decide what kind of persona you'd like to have. Before you choose, make sure you've read over the section on Requirements for Major Personas, found later in this guide. You don't have to have a major persona to write for our 'zine, and you don't have to write at all if you don't want to. Now that you've chosen your persona type, be it dragon, elf, shapshifter or wizard, fill out the Avalon Persona Sheet. When you're finished, e-mail it to one of the Dragon Ladies for approval. We'll let you know when your persona is approved, and you are officially a Avalon member.
Sending in your sheet:
The Avalon persona sheet was made up specifically for this club and we request that you please do not use another club's persona sheet. Also, when sending in your persona sheets, please send them as attached files, not in the body of an e-mail. How do you do that? Create your persona sheet by copying the form found in this manual and save it as a .txt file, with the title being the name of your persona. Please, do not send us files called 'persona.txt', as this makes it very difficult to identify your persona sheet. Then, when composing an e-mail, there is a button on the left-hand side that says "Attach" (if you are on AOL.) Press that button, highlight the name of your persona, and hit "OK". Then send it to us. This makes it much easier on your Weyrleaders.
TIME CONVERSIONS AND OTHER CONCERNS
We are currently in the second pass of the Dragonwinds. The second pass started when the winds repeated there patern. If you don't know how to convert to Avalon time, or are unsure of it, please send the mundane equivalent and we will be happy to convert it for you. If in doubt, please contact one or more of the Dragon Ladies and we will be glad to help with any concerns you may have. A conversion chart can be found on this web site, or e-mail one of the Dragon Ladies for your own text file.
'ZINES, DUES, AND OTHER MUNDANE STUFF
Avalon is a bit different from most other E-mail clubs.
2) All of Avalon's publications are done through e-mail, thus we have no expenses, and charge no dues. Some good things really are free :)
3) We are flexible on almost any rule you may find in this guide, so don't think things are written in stone. If you don't think a rule is fair, or you aren't sure, just ask. Chances are you may be right.
Fan Fiction and Submissions
While we try our level best to be fair and flexible about most things, there are some rules which you MUST follow. Magic has come up with a series of no-no's for writing fan fiction:
We have a few special limitations on the club
1)Breeding rights
Highbred dragons don't exist! Dragons only mate with dragons. Colors may interchange but the baby will always be born the color of the mother. The only exception to this is a when a silver mates with a blue and this won't happin without our concent. The baby will always be white.
2) A creature That was raised by a different species
This can be acceptable if you are willing to work for it. See the Requirements for Major
Personae section later in this guide. The is very rare and we can only support one
or two personas with this uniqe background.
3) Abandoned as a baby and grew up all alone
At Avalon, we have no limitations on this type of story. Just keep in mind that it's
very popular and reading the same kind of story over and over gets rather boring. The
best guideline for this type of story is to have this be a sideline and not the focal point of
the story.
4) Dragon colors
Sara and Courtny have imposed certain limitations on what colors dragons are.
Gold
Bronze
Silver
Copper
Brown
Blue
Green
purple
black
red
Now, Avalon does have a set of rules pertaining to the small creatures known as
dragonetts. Again, we can make exceptions to these rules if you have a good reason.
a) You may only have one if you are human
b) There is a waiting list for gold dragonetts. First come, first served. Remember that there must be certain number of other colors before we will allow a gold. Gold dragonetts are not common and you will never simply "find" one on the beach.
c) If you'd like your persona to own a gold dragonett, you may not have more than one other dragonett of any color. Gold Dragonetts are extremely protective and territorial. The require a lot of care.
d) Don't give your dragonett a name ending in "th." This creates confusion as to whether the dragonett is a dragonett or a pernese dragon, since NO Avalon names end in "th."
1) Please don't try to create a "superpersona". This is one who is beautiful, kind, athletic,
smart....etc. Someone like this is no fun to write about and even less fun for other
members to read about.
2) Try to avoid those "stereotype" personas. The short redhead with the fiery temper.... etc. If you feel you must, go ahead. Just remember that about fifty billion fans before you have done the same thing. The following is a list of persona traits which are seen frequently and make the Dragon Ladies groan when they read the persona sheet. You are welcome to use these traits when creating your persona, but keep in mind how common they are.
a) Physically petite or frail, but not nearly as weak as he/she looks. As a matter of
fact, he/she is actually very strong. ::groan::
b) Purple eyes ::moan::
c) Special Magic training, especially Musical and Teleporter. This has got to be the most
over-used trait in fandom. Not everyone has craft training. Also, a Archmage persona
with no formal training is very popular and has become overused.
d) Twins. From looking at the persona sheets, you'd think every other persona was a
twin.
e) ageless::puts gun to head::
3) We follow the Prime Directive in Avalon. This is Avalon, not FinalFantasy3. That means there will be no Klingons, chocaboes or wookies! or any other non-Avalonian fictional characters. Nor will there be any off-world contact -- Don't even think about writing any kind of Star Trek meets Avalon type of thing. Avalon is so far out in the middle of nowhere that the No one can get there without the right spell.
4)No applications will be accepted for white, black or crystillian dragons. If you want a color that does not exist we will see what we can do.
REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR PERSONAE
A major persona is someone of rank or status on Avalon. We do not give these out lightly. At Avalon, we have a policy concerning major personas. It's very simple -- you have to earn them. How do you earn them? You write, you promote, do artwork, etc. Also, there are requirements for keeping a ranking persona -- keep in mind you have to fulfill all of them, for every ranking persona you may have. I wouldn't want more than one or two. Be forewarned -- if you do want and EARN more than one ranking position, you may be asked in the future to give one up so that someone who does not have one can. Otherwise, it's not fair to the rest of the members. Keep in mind that moaning, groaning, or otherwise carrying on if we ask you to give one up is a good way, and one of the few ways, to get yourself removed from the membership roster. Don't be greedy now. If you can't fulfill the requirements, don't ask for the persona. Maybe you've had a persona for a while now but you won't be able to continue your work for some reason. Or perhaps you have two or three ranking personas and we've asked you to give one up. In that case, you have three options:
2) Give up the character for adoption. Perhaps another member wants your persona.
3) Have the character get demoted. Note that this won't work easily if you're a gold or bronzerider, unless you have the dragon die in some way. Let us know if you're going to kill off a queen or bronze dragon.
If you are at a loss as to how to get rid of your ranking persona, please feel free to contact one of the Dragon Ladies -- we are always (well, almost always) bursting with ideas about how to kill people (EG)
Note -- the "per year" means you need to have at least that many stories in four consecutive issues. You may have more than one story in a single issue, and you may have no stories in an issue. As long as you've finished your requirement by the time four issues have come out.
Council Member
Three (3) stories per year
At least two Specie's reports per year
Active involvement in some mundane aspect of Avalon
Jr. Council Member
Two (2) stories per year
At least two specie's reports per year
Active involvement in some mundane aspect of Avalon
Wizard
Three (3) stories per year
Active involvement in some mundane aspect of Avalon
Archmage
Two (2) stories per year
WingLeader (leads when fighting winds)
One (1) story per year
One (1) wing update every two issues (six months apart)
If your character is a Gold Dragon and wingleader, the
Gold dragon requirements must be met
as well. This extra story does -not- apply to the Jr. Council members, but does to the Senior membors.
Please keep in mind that a wingleader or wingsecond earns the position through experience. Unless there is some sort of exception made, no fighter with less than 5 passes of active experience (beyond weyrling training) will become a wingsecond, and no rider with less than 8 Turns of active experience will be made wingleader. Remember that getting a position this early is very rare! This doesn't mean the position won't be available to you, it just means you will need to backdate your dragon's hatching.
Wingsecond
One (1) story per year
Help wingleader with updates. No update will be published
without at least going by the
wingleader and wingsecond(s).
This extra story does -not- apply to black or white
wingseconds.
Non Dragons being raised by dragons
Three (3) stories per year
one (1) essay on why you deserve this Uniqe Background.
Flight instructer
Two (2) stories per year
Persona must be active in Avalon
Anything Else Depends on the position. Ask us.
The requirements in one area sometimes cancel out the requirements of another, depending on the positions. If you're a Councilmember AND wizard, you have to fulfill the requirements for both. But, if you're a Councilmember who was raised by dragons, that's an essay and three stories per year, not six stories per year plus essay. Use your own judgment: the requirements that remain would be whichever are greater, but if the lesser of the two includes updates, those are still required. Always, ask us.
A story can be written by you or co-written by you and someone else, as long as your persona is featured. A walk-on part is not a feature.
Articles/journals may be admitted on a case-by-case basis in place of stories -- ask the Weyrleaders and use your own judgment. Is it something someone outside your wing or Craft or Hold might be interested in reading, or does it bore even you?
A wing/hold/specie update need be no longer than a paragraph or two, telling of roster changes, deaths, additions, major activities like weddings and such.
A poem or tuning may be substituted for a story if it's long enough -- at least one page, typed.
Artwork for stories other than your own may be substituted occasionally -- for stories--you cannot use this to get out of writing. The limit on artwork is 1 piece-instead-of-story per year, per character. If you do not have access to a scanner and need one, please let us know, and we will connect you with someone who can scan your artwork for you. Please be aware that computer artwork is not required, anything Pernish is great. We can and will get it scanned for you; and if you include return postage, we will also make sure it gets back to you.
Please keep in mind that you don't have to have a ranking persona. It's just as much fun writing about a greenrider as a queenrider, and much easier to come up with good storylines.
DRAGONS
If you'd like your persona to be a dragon, there are two ways to go about this.
1) Hatch!
Look at the Clutch Charts and let us know what clutch you would like to be hatched from, and we'll let you know if you've been hatched and the color of your new persona. The
DragonLadies will announce any upcoming Hatchings on the bulletin board and those
Hatchings will be run "live," if possible. If you have a particular color dragon you'd like to
be, please let us know of your request in advance, and we'll see what we can do.
Letting us know what you'd like to do for the club never hurts either, if you'd like one of
those "status" colors. However, please keep in mind that a weyrling will not be able to teleport for almost a year, and mating flights won't be on your dragon's mind for
another year after that.
2) Backdate
Avalon does practice what's become known as "instant dragon." In creating your persona,
if you want a dragon that came from a past clutch, just let us know how old your persona
is now, and the color you'd like. We will check over the clutch chart and see if there are
any eggs left un-Impressed at the time you were a candidate. Then we'll let you know the
exact date of your Impression, any clutchmates you may have, and the parents of your
dragon. Remember, gold, silver, and bronze dragons, of any age, must be earned.
Avalon dragons are a little different from the huge beasties we're used to reading about -- after all, they've only had 270 Turns to grow, so they're not nearly as big as they are in most of the dragon books. These are the maximum/medium/minimum lengths and wingspans for the 2nd longpass dragons:
Color,Length,Wingspan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crystillian, 100/96/83, 165/153/149
Gold & Silver, 74/70/66, 148/140/131
Bronze & Copper, 70/66/58, 140/136/122
Brown & Red, 66/56/47, 131/115/99
Blue & purple, 49/45/40, 105/97/87
Green & Black & Whites, 40/36/33, 90/82/70
We may accept slightly larger or smaller dragons, considering that they are still evolving and growing very quickly. This will depend on the age, origin, and bloodline of your dragon, and just how persuasive you can be when it comes to talking us into it (G) The largest dragon currently on Avalon is Crystillian Magic, Avalons empress and Senior Council Member.
For Avalon's persona guide and sheet, see the Persona Sheet page.
IN CONCLUSION
If you need a question answered, here are the people to ask:
**If it's about this guide or the information in it, contact
shierkhan@hotmail.com
**If it's about persona approval, contact alemni@hotmail.com
**If it's about the winglist, contact jsnyder@cbd.net
**If it's about story requirements, contact any of us
**If it's about meetings or RP ideas, contact Shierkhan@hotmail.com and Jsnyder@cbd.net
**If it's about editing or the zine, contact alemni@hotmail.com
**If it's about new members or a welcome pack, contact alemni@hotmail.com
**If it's about obtaining copies of meeting logs, contact Jsnyder@cbd.net or shierkhan@hotmail.com
**If it's about the web page, contact alemni@hotmail.com
Anything else, talk to the Dragon Ladies -- Magic or Cameron. It's a good idea to at least CC: all questions to the entire Dragon Ladies, no matter what you need to know.