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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:38 pm
Whers
The other dragonkind
Whers were the creation of Wind Blossom and lacked the graceful proportions and strong need for human attachment of Kitti Ping’s dragons. There has been much dispute throughout Pern’s history as to the reason for this, many claiming it to simply be a mistake, others claim they were a genetic contingency plan in the event of a disease wiping out dragons and firelizards, and there are even those that claim whers were designed to fight thread at night. Despite the many claims people have made, the real reason is likely to remain a mystery and there are few out there who really care enough to argue the point.
When it comes to wher behaviour they are painted with an unsavoury image. Often described as aggressive, stupid, stubborn and anti-social, however a wher has just as much ability for a varied personality as a dragon if treated properly. Few people will see a wher off-duty and a guard wher is not something to be toyed with, leading to the anti-social reputation. The stories of unbonded and wild whers wreaking havoc and attacking humans is certainly the leading cause of this idea. Most bonded whers are very unlikely to attack unless provoked, this only being proven wrong when the wher has been abused by its handler and developed a dislike of humans as a result. An off-duty, well treated, wher has as much chance of being a playful goof as any other dragonkin. This is most prominent in youngster as, although they reach maturity at a turn, whers will not take up active duty until two turns old and much of that time is dedicated to ensuring the bond between wher and handler is as sturdy as possible.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:40 pm
Anatomy
Unlike dragons and firelizards, whers are not considered by many to be particularly attractive beasts. With their large, blockish, heads; giant eyes, stocky bodies and stunted wings; and tough, rough, hide they are an acquired taste. The most noticeable thing about a wher is its eyes; not just because they are large, but because they are specially adapted to living in the dark. Whers have superb night vision, not able to see in colour they are still able to see in complete darkness with a startling level of detail. This gift however comes at a price, as dragonkind lack pupils a wher has no way of protecting its sensitive eyes in bright light and can be easily distressed by being brought out of the dark. A wher will stay inside during the day as even an overcast day is bright enough to blind them. It is not just their eyes however that help whers move in the dark, their smell and hearing best any animal on Pern and have made them invaluable to miners across pern.
Coming in the same five colours as the rest of dragonkind, whers show much less of a colour class. The colours often overlap in size and whers will often rely more on their size to establish a pecking order than colour alone. A large green could be a fair rival for a small gold and easily force smaller blues and browns under her control. The colours are also less bright than dragons or firelizards, potentially because in the dark and to a colour-blind creature these have little purpose. Gold and bronze whers are often of similar size, the same being said for blue and green, with browns fitting into either size class. It tends to be build that decides a whers task in life, a muscular blue potentially being chosen as a guard over a leaner bronze even though the bronze is taller.
Wher sizes (Length in ft)
Gold and bronze – 17 – 19
Browns – 16 – 18
Green and blue – 15 – 17
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:42 pm
Abilities
A wher’s intelligence rests somewhere between a firelizard and a dragon. They communicate mainly through vocalisation, but will also supply pictures and emotions to their handler if they prefer or care enough that their handler may prefer it. Whers cannot speak as dragons do, but it is not uncommon for an experienced pair to have formed their own sort of language that is a combination of the whers natural grunts, whistles, click, purrs and other assortment of noises mixed with sounds that the wher finds easy to imitate. For example a growl ending in a hiss would signal a trespasser, the wher taking the ‘S’ sound he can imitate and adding it to his own sounds. Letters such as ‘b’, ‘p’ and others that require the lips prove too difficult for whers, as their mouths do not have the dexterity of a human’s. Intelligence seems mainly based on interaction; a wher that is interacted with frequently may prove to be a very intelligent one, whilst a wild or unbonded wher would have more trouble understanding things they had not already experienced. Wher memory is described by handlers as ‘selective’. It is not as short as a dragons, but they lack the race memory of firelizards. As such a wher remembers things it deems worth remembering. Which can lead to some very hard to train whers.
In regards to the dragon abilities of Betweening and flaming, whers can do neither. Whers do not instinctively go between and one has never been taught to do so. They would appear to simply lack the ability to do so. Whether they possess the ability to flame however is known. Whilst a wher physically can produce flame if they consume firestone, to do so would cause the wher to blind itself almost instantly. It is well documented the attempts to get a wher to flame and it is considered off the scale level of stupid for somebody to attempt it.
Due to their stunted wings, flight is a tricky issue for whers. It is not achievable by all and if the behaviour is not encouraged most whers seem quite content to stay on the ground. However with careful training and exercise a wher can be taught to fly. They do not fly far, nor very high, getting a meter off the ground is an accomplishment for a wher and few will get much higher. Being as muscle heavy as they are whers are a heavy load to carry and their small wings are rarely up to the task, but the ability can be called upon if needed. Flying with a rider further increases the difficulty of the exercise and drastically shortens the already brief time the wher will manage to stay in the air.
A note on mental control: Unlike gold dragons, a gold wher cannot necessary force another coloured wher to obey her. The ability is very weak in whers, with many golds lacking the ability all together. Those that do have it are unlikely to use it unless they are physically inferior. Whers prefer to decide their pecking order by displays of strength and fighting for dominance if need be. No wher would take kindly to another trying to mentally force them to submit and the situation would not end prettily.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:44 pm
Breeding
Since flying isn’t exactly a strong suit of the wher species, they come up with their own way of doing it: runs. Now how much actual running is involved in these can vary from candlemarks worth to none at all. It all depends on the females and males participating. While some females prefer to test their potential mates’ endurance by running until one catches her or only one is left, others prefer a more direct approach. These females will either flirt outrageously with all her suitors until fighting breaks out, choosing to mate with whichever proves himself the strongest or they’ll take them on themselves and the male that wins is the one that can best her in combat. That’s not to say the whers who actually run are in for any more of a comfortable experience. It is not uncommon for males who are running to attack his rivals to beat out the competition, nor is it unusual for a female to decide the male who reaches her first is not good enough and attack him. Suffice to say, wher runs can be extremely violent affairs depending on the whers that are involved. Not all runs will be, but it’s something to consider before letting your blue run after that green you just met. The effects on handlers and surrounding individuals to a wher run are similar to that of a dragon, but not as strong. A handler can choose to ignore the urge and will not suffer any physical unpleasantness from doing so.
A gold wher will run about once a turn, a green running on average three times. Each gold run will be successful and approximately two months later she will lay a clutch of between six and ten eggs. Duds are common among whers with one in ten eggs being a dud. A mother wher will keep her eggs warm with her body and during colder times may discard eggs to allow her more time to focus on fewer eggs. This is unusual in bonded whers as she can be aided by her handler in heating the eggs. A mother wher will often create a den for herself, either by procuring a cave or digging herself a den and many wher clutches have been cared for deep in the bowels of the Weyr, in the lesser used sections. Green wher runs are far less successful, although they have been known to clutch, it is uncommon for them to do so. The rate of duds however does not increase as dramatically as it does with green firelizards and a green is likely to lay between two and five eggs if she is successful in clutching. As whers are more territorial by nature, green whers are better at caring for their clutches than green firelizards, though they may need some help from their handlers on how to do it properly. The eggs laid by both green and gold are wrinkly and as unflattering looking as whers themselves and about a foot in diameter. The eggs will hatch roughly a month after laying and should be removed from the mother no more than a sevenday before hatching if they are to bond.
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:46 pm
Bonding
A newly hatched wher will impress in a similar fashion to firelizards, in that it’s not so much the personality of the person, but the willingness of that person to feed them. Unlike firelizards though a wher bond forms slowly, a wher will not instantly adore its handler and the bonding process can take anything from half a day to a sevenday. Blooding a wher is seen as a good way to get the creature to bond to you easily and quickly, though it is disputed whether this is actually true. The fact that whers can impress to almost any human led to the tradition of candidates choosing their egg, rather than the other way around. Like dragons a wher egg has a mental feel to it, though it is generally much weaker than a dragon, and so a candidate can have a rough idea of what the wher will be like. This allows candidates to select an egg based on a personality they think would suit the job they have in mind for themselves and the wher. There have been exceptionally rare cases where a newly hatched wher will refuse to bond with the candidate who chose them, these hatchlings are usually destroyed and it is extremely uncommon for a mother wher not to sense if there is something in a candidate her offspring would object to. Candidates whose whers refuse them often looked on with a certain amount of suspicion.
A wher’s name comes from the name of its handler, taking part or all of the name and adding –sk to the end. The amount of the human’s name the wher takes indicates the closeness of their bond and whers have been known to change their names throughout their lives to include more or less of their handlers name as they see fit. Unlike a dragon a wher can choose to break the bond with its handler if it wants, a wher’s love is not unconditional and mistreated whers have been known to savage abusive handlers. A handler can also break the bond if for some reason they cannot or wish not to be bonded to that wher any longer. A wher whose bond breaks can either rebond to a new handler or go feral. The latter not being desirable as an animal like a wher with no fear of humans and no one to control it is a dangerous thing. A similar choice will occur should the wher’s handler die, it is an extraordinarily rare occurrence that a wher may die after their handler. A wher cannot blink between as a dragon would with their rider, but there have been cases of whers simply giving up after a handlers death, refusing to eat and simply wasting away until they too perish.
A common practice in the past, now heavily frowned upon, is to avoid bonding the wher at all and having it bond to the territory. These whers will guard territories just as holds and crafthalls as if it were their own lair without the aid of a handler. Although this can lead to very effective guard animals, the dangers of having an unbonded wher kept in a populated area are obvious. The usual solution to this was to chain up the wher and clip their wings. Wing clipping has since been forbidden by the Wherhandlers and anyone found doing so is to be punished under their authority.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:50 pm
Handling
Wherhandling has become a sort of craft in its own right in recent centuries, though it lacks a crafthall of its own. Wherhandling covers several fields and a wherhandler may choose which they would like to join taking the role of guard, mining aid or search and rescue. Training of potential wherhandlers can take place wherever there is a number of whers; this tends to be large mining communities, Holds and Weyrs. A bonded wher is expected to wear some form of identification, the most easily recognisable being a leather collar identifying their territory and job. An unidentified wher will be assumed to be wild and are at risk of being hunted and destroyed.
A wherhandlers stand in their craft is not linked to their whers age, task or colour. A wherhandling candidate is considered to be at apprentice level, varying in skill and knowledge depending on how long they have been one. Wher candidates are not searched, instead the option to join them is open to anyone, wherhandlers do not charge an apprentice fee to become a candidate. To bond a wher successfully is viewed as reaching Journeyman status in the Wherhandling craft, again these can range dramatically in experience and ability and a pair is judged mainly by their action, their proficiency in their task and the handler’s knowledge of the field. If a handler’s wher should die they retain this status, rather than going back to apprentice level. They are given first shot at new clutches. Reaching Masterhandler status takes turns of experience and an understanding of all areas of wherhandling. Masterhandlers are often called upon to teach and instruct candidates and the newly impressed.
The one thing that seems to universally trouble all wherhandlers is ability to buy into wherhandling with no knowledge of the beasts or supervision. Despite the crafts attempts to crush it there is a blackmarket for wher eggs and these can be bought for a large price. The craft does its best to seek out breeders of whers and eradicate their practices, but there is a never ending supply of people stupid enough to take on a wild wher for her clutch. Bands will often target smaller females, entering their lairs in the daytime with lit torches to blind the wher. The female is almost always killed and her eggs then taken and sold on to whoever is willing to buy them. These whers can end up as luxury pets, personal guards for individuals or trader caravans or, in the absolute worst case scenario, illegal wher fighting.
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:53 pm
Wherlings
Before someone can call themselves a wherhandler, they must get through wherlinghood. This is a much less regimented than weyrlinghood. The first six months prioritise the wher’s health, growth, happiness and bond with its handler, rather than training for a specific task. A newly hatched wher is toothless and must be fed a porridge of oats, water and blood. The first sevenday or two the pair will be largely left to their own devices, to encourage them to bond as much as possible. After a few sevendays ground meat can be added to the mix to satisfy the wher’s desire for meat. Once their teeth come through, at about 2 or 3 months, the youngsters can begin eating meat. The pieces can gradually increase until the wher is large enough to hunt for itself.
The first six months focus on very basic training. Mainly the handler enforcing that this is not good to eat; the wher cannot go to the bathroom wherever they please; people are not chew toys and other such important things for a young wher to know. The wherlings are encouraged to interact with other wherhandlers and wherlings as much as possible and many wherling classes will create a hierarchy at this time with a female or particularly large male proclaiming themselves at the top of the pecking order. The clutch will have lessons together and help is available to the wherlings if they are struggling with something.
Once a wher has reached six months old it’s time for proper training to begin. The wher and handler will be taught all the basic skills that could assist them in the jobs. Scent identification, retrieval from various perils, tracking, as well as various other skills and talents. During this time the handler can begin to think about what role they would like the pair to have, if they haven’t already. It is important that no skill is ignored as it is entirely possible that a wher’s confirmation may make it unsuitable for the job the handler desires, but this will not be known for sure until the wher is full grown.
By a turn the wher will be fully grown and specific training will begin. This is where the clutchgroup will diverge and take on individual roles. Wherling pairs will be placed under the responsibility of their chosen branch of wherhandling. Some groups choose to train the wherlings as a group, the entire force responsible for training and teaching; the preferred method for search and rescue teams, while others will assign the wherling pair to an already serving pair for exclusive training, a popular method for training prospective mining whers. Although it is at the group the pair have been assigned to’s discretion when the pair take up active, solo, duty, this very rarely happens before the wher is two turns old. Simply because the pair must learn how to do everything without guidance and with whers there is rarely room for error.
Growth rate of Whers
Hatching - 20%
1 months - 30%
2 months - 40%
3 months - 50%
4 months - 60%
5 months - 65%
6 months - 70%
7 months - 75%
8 months - 80%
9 months - 85%
10 months - 90%
11 months - 95%
12 months - 100%
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 2:54 pm
Wild Whers
Wild whers are dangerous creatures. Unable to bond these whers are a threat to any human who enters what they have claimed as their territory. A wild wher is generally less intelligent than a bonded wher, since they have not had their minds encouraged past the animalistic needs required to survive. This also makes them less calm as they are used to conflict and aggression. A wild wher will not hesitate to attack a human who has entered their territory. Much like felines they cannot be befriended or tamed and anyone who attempts this is likely to only live long enough to find out why. Because of their aggressive tendencies any wild wher that decides to take up residency too close to a human population will be hunted and destroyed.
For those whers that stay away from human homes they are free to live their own lives. Large female whers will carve out territories for themselves. These females tend to attract satellite males that will live in territories bordering or occasionally overlapping hers. A female will violently defend her territory from other females she sees as a threat, but may allow smaller females to stay. The females may form a small pack, the largest ever recorded being five females living together and hunting as a unit. Males can become very violent while trying to gain a female’s attention and, because of this, smaller males will rarely survive in the wild for very long.
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The_Muffin_Puppy Vice Captain
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