Against the demands of the Guardmaster (somebody's gonna get in trouble!), J'aro has publicly sent a warning out to everyone that Island 2 (the living island) is "unexpectedly" infested with tunnelsnakes. The details of the discovery are not all publicized, but here is what characters would know:

● The eggs were clutched on top of one of the islands mountains (not high enough to be very cold, mind you, and the islands have a generally warm climate). Only three goldrider and two blackrider weyrs are carved into this mountain, many placed directly under the current hatching ground.

A pair of unusually large tunnelsnakes (twice their normal size) showed up during the touching, but all the candidates managed to get out free of injury. J'aro was called in to have Rajath eliminate them, which they did. However...

● One of the two guards watching over the clutch while the gold was off eating was attacked and killed by three more, albeit they were smaller, according to the guard that lived. This was not told to them by J'aro but spread through public gossip.

● J'aro has insisted anyone who encounters any tunnelsnake, big or small, flee the scene and contact White Guard immediately.

● Wherhandlers working on Island 1 (the prison island) were informed right away. Island 1 has had no known problems with these creatures.


Here's what your character (unless your character happens to be part of the cover up) does NOT know:

● Tunnelsnakes have been an increasingly bad problem for a while now, practically infesting that particular mountain. They have shown up a few times in the black/goldrider weyrs (which are mostly empty).

● Some (not all) of these have been confirmed poisonous. If your character is bitten by one, they can be poisoned. But, please be aware (if you opt not to kill them) recovery from this takes a long time, and they may not be able to stand for the hatching if you're bitten.

● Dragons can also be poisoned if bitten.