Post by Rose of Pern on Feb 17, 2012 20:54:50 GMT -5
General Information
Physical Description
Whers are similar to dragons, but they are incapable of Flight. While they do possess wings, they are stunted and incapable of doing much more then movement. Whers are also a lot smaller then your typical dragon. Despite the smaller overall size, Whers are far more muscular and reach full growth nearly half a turn before a dragon will.
Like dragons, a Wher has multi-faceted eyes but their eyes are highly photo-sensitive. A Wher can see far better in the dark then a dragon can but this means they are hampered during the day. A Wher's eyes do shift into the same colors are a dragon.
Like their relatives, Whers come in the five colors. Whers also bleed the same coppery colored ochor as their draconic cousins.
Wher Imprinting
Whers can imprint, or impress, on people similar to firelizards. A Wher imprint can also be transferred to another should the need arise but this is rarely done. Wher handlers will also only have one wher at a time, like a dragon. Impressing a Wher is closer to impressing a Firelizard then a Dragon, being that the handler merely needs to provide food for it to be completed.
Whers will typically share images and feelings with their human. The strength of the image will depend on the strength of the bond between a Wher and a Human. While Wher bonds cannot be 'broken' they can be transferred to another person. Should the Handler die, a Wher can be rebonded to someone new but it is not necessary for them to live. A Wher handler is just as easily affected by a wher's mating urges as a dragon's rider or a firelizard's owner.
Should no humans be present when a clutch is hatched, the Whers will become "feral". Unlike true wild Whers, these Whers will be untrustworthy and very aggressive compared to Whers with handlers. It is also considered common practice for a prospective Wher handler to ask a Gold Wher's permission to impress one of her young prior to it's hatching.
Gaining an Egg
When approaching a gold Wher for her approval to take an egg, it's common place to be polite and make appropriate noises. It's also common place to show your right hand to the Gold Wher. If she accepts, she will lick the palm of your hand. Afterwards, the Wher will retract her wing to reveal the eggs hiding behind them. This is often seen as approval to approach and choose an egg.
Wher eggs do not remain with the mother after they have been chosen/given to a human. It is up to that person to properly care for the egg until it hatches. Wher hatching is treated as a much more practical manner then the ceremony that accompanies a dragon's hatching.
Wher Eggs
Wher eggs are half the sizes of dragon's eggs. They are also not smooth like a dragon's often having strange marks along them. Like a dragon's eggs, they need to be kept warm; most places employ heated bricks or stones beneath hay to keep the egg warm. These bricks must be checked regularly (at least once every candlemark) to ensure that they maintain the same level of heat.
Common Uses of Whers
Whers are most commonly used by minecrafters due to the fact that they can carry a great deal, easily twice their own weight. They are also capable of betweening, allowing them to teleport into pockets during cave-ins. The other common use is for them to be Watch-Whers which are basically draconic guard dogs. A Watch-Wher is trained to recognize members of a Hold and their particular Lord Holder (along with his family). Whers, in general, are extremely protective of their humans and those important to that human.
The process of showing a Wher who it answers to is called Blooding, via which the human (or humans) split open their thumb and spill blood in front of the Wher. The Wher will lick the wound.
Wher Naming
Wher names will always end in -sk. Their names do have meaning and are based on the name of their bonded human, the closer the name is to the human's, the stronger the bond is (Dalask to Dala would be a strong bond while Dask to Dala would be a weaker bond). A Wher's name will always change depending on who their bonded human is.
Wher Communication
When speaking to humans, Whers generally use sounds for different things. These sounds can be considered a language but a Wher's communication involves more then just noises. They do understand human language and can often respond using their own noises. This 'language' often varies from Handler to Handler as it depends on what both the Wher and Handler have agreed upon for noise meanings. Whers can speak to dragons and vice versa. Like communication between Whers, the communication between a Wher and Dragon is completely telepathic.