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(Bitey chewy curious thieving little bastards...)

Firelizards are the original dragons of Pern. They provided the genetic blue print Kitti Ping used to create their larger cousins. Firelizards vary in size but in general can be compared to parrots. They are popular and useful pets, who come in as many types of personality as dragons or people do. Firelizards can be trained for a variety of simple tasks, such as delivering messages, locating individuals, and fetching small items from one location to their owner's location. Firelizards are capable of chewing firestone and have faceted eyes like their larger cousins that whirl with the color of their emotion. They tend to be very vocal little creatures, speaking in a series of clicks, whistles, trills, and other bird-like sounds, rather than using the mental speech of dragons.

Firelizards are also capable of going Between and have a weak form of telepathy that allows them to communicate images and feelings among themselves, their owner (in the case of domesticated firelizards), and anyone else willing to 'listen'. Once they hatch, a firelizard reaches its adult size by about two months of age. The females begin to Rise shortly thereafter.

Unlike dragons, firelizards do not need to Impress to a human in order to survive, but Impression is possible and necessary if one wishes to have a firelizard as a pet. To Impress a firelizard, the prospective owner must be the first individual to feed the flit and must feed the newly-hatched baby until it is so stuffed that it falls asleep. At some point during this exchange, the human has imprinted on the firelizard and, when the baby awakes, the human will discover that it has "Impressed" to him or her.

Once Impressed, the firelizard is able to communicate via emotion and imagery. They do not speak as humans or dragons do. Additionally, a single person can Impress multiple firelizards, unlike dragons or whers, where you can Impress to only one creature. How many firelizards a person Impresses is entirely up to luck and how much time the person has to devote to caring for and feeding their little beasties.

Firelizards often go between when their owner dies, but it is also common for the grief-stricken creature to revert to a wild firelizard and join one of the wild fairs. On very odd occasions, a firelizard who has grown close to a friend or loved one of their original owner may loosely "Impress" to that person and will remain domesticated, but with a new owner.