Post by Kouga on Sept 8, 2006 23:40:07 GMT -5
Yes there is alot here, but not everyone knows much about Whers. These are the rules for Rosuto and may or may not be the same in other places.
Whers were created by the granddaughter of the highly esteemed Kit Ping Yung, Wind Blossom, in an attempt to duplicate and modify the dragons created by Kit Ping, most concerned with their faceted eyes. Unfortunately, Wind Blossom was unable to do the genetic modification as well as her grandmother, and managed instead to create another new species: whers.
Whers are essentially malformed dragons. They come in the colours of dragons : gold, bronze, brown, blue and green. Whers are more muscular than dragons, but remaining smaller. This is a measurement taken at their shoulder; watchwhers have the long, sinuous necks that both their cousins possess.
Whers can see in the dark, but they do not see light. Watchwhers see heat signatures-the amount and "level" of heat in an individual. When they are aware of the identity of the owner of a particular heat signature, they are capable of going between to that individual, regardless of place. This capability of viewing heat signatures is what makes going out in the sunshine so difficult-they view a world of heat, and it is an overload to them. This is also what makes them the most beneficial in cave-ins and underground situations, as they can view the heat of trapped miners or children, and "see" tunnel snakes in pitch black.
No mention is made of the gender-bonding preferences of whers, so we will say they are like Firelizards for that much, it is non gender specific. Loss of their person does not automatically mean death for the wher, though if the wher is older or was particularly attached, it *can* die with its handler. Of course, how and where the handler dies factors into whether the wher dies as well. If they survive their handler's death, they can re-bond to someone else.
Whers "run", not fly, to breed. Golds can lay 2-3 clutches a turn but are generally only allowed to lay one clutch a turn to control the population of whers. Clutches are small, no more than ten eggs, and because of the genetic deformities inherent in the breed, dud eggs are a common occurrence. Gold and bronze whers are very very rare. The effect of mating on the humans would be closer to a firelizard mating flight ... they'd feel it but they *would* be able to resist if they were of a mind to do so. The breeding of watchwhers is supervised by the WherMaster. The WherMaster is, most likely, bonded to a golden wher.
Whers have a mixture of fire-lizard and draconic traits when it comes to the Hatching and Impression process. An individual must first convince the WherMaster that they should have the right to try for an egg. If the WherMaster decides to let them try, that person must then convince the queen wher to let them have an egg. The eggs are small enough to carry in a well-padded haversack.
A wher will Bond to whomever is present and feeding them, similar to dragonets and firelizards. Whers choose their own name, always ending in "sk". They take their name from their Bonded [ex. Nuella = Nuellsk; Kindarin = Kisk; Renlian = Resk, etc]. It may take several days for the Bonded to ‘discover’ their wher’s name. Watchwhers are extremely territorial and protective of their Bonded, as well as the place they are considered in charge of. As evinced by cases such as Ruatha and Lessa, they become protective of the Bloodline as well.
Like with firelizards, intelligence depends partially on hide color. Golds and bronzes have more smarts than the others, but even the dumbest green would have probably the smarts of say a five turn old. A gold or bronze would be adult-human normal. All colors are trainable, especially when treated well, and can be taught to recognize word commands or some other type of signal (like dogs). When treated well, a wher can be trusted not to shred every person on sight, and can be trusted unchained in a contained environment (like in a mineshaft testing for bad air etc). It is only when they are abused that they become dangerous to one and all, or if they are trained soley as attack whers to defend a hold against thieves. They communicate with the same basic range of noises as firelizards and dragons, but their mental communication tends more towards the firelizard end of the spectrum, consisting more of emotions than actual words, though they can manage simble words such as ‘come’ ‘go’ or ‘bad’.
Wher hide does not crack and dry like dragon or fire-lizard hides; it is possible to never need to oil them except for show. They mature more quickly than dragons do, both in growth and in capabilities. Whers can communicate easily with dragons, even over extremely long distances-this telepathic capability, combined with their heat signature sight and territoriality, is what makes whers the prime guardian creatures for a Hold, Camp or Hall during the nighttime hours. However while Whers can communicate with Dragons the Dragons do not seem to like doing so to much and tend to avoid doing so. This means also that Whers are not often found at Weyrs for very long periods of time. Meaning that more then likelyonly travlers or people who are based at Rosuto Hold will have whers.
The above is a picture of a Gold Wher and her Hatching Clutch
Whers were created by the granddaughter of the highly esteemed Kit Ping Yung, Wind Blossom, in an attempt to duplicate and modify the dragons created by Kit Ping, most concerned with their faceted eyes. Unfortunately, Wind Blossom was unable to do the genetic modification as well as her grandmother, and managed instead to create another new species: whers.
Whers are essentially malformed dragons. They come in the colours of dragons : gold, bronze, brown, blue and green. Whers are more muscular than dragons, but remaining smaller. This is a measurement taken at their shoulder; watchwhers have the long, sinuous necks that both their cousins possess.
Whers can see in the dark, but they do not see light. Watchwhers see heat signatures-the amount and "level" of heat in an individual. When they are aware of the identity of the owner of a particular heat signature, they are capable of going between to that individual, regardless of place. This capability of viewing heat signatures is what makes going out in the sunshine so difficult-they view a world of heat, and it is an overload to them. This is also what makes them the most beneficial in cave-ins and underground situations, as they can view the heat of trapped miners or children, and "see" tunnel snakes in pitch black.
No mention is made of the gender-bonding preferences of whers, so we will say they are like Firelizards for that much, it is non gender specific. Loss of their person does not automatically mean death for the wher, though if the wher is older or was particularly attached, it *can* die with its handler. Of course, how and where the handler dies factors into whether the wher dies as well. If they survive their handler's death, they can re-bond to someone else.
Whers "run", not fly, to breed. Golds can lay 2-3 clutches a turn but are generally only allowed to lay one clutch a turn to control the population of whers. Clutches are small, no more than ten eggs, and because of the genetic deformities inherent in the breed, dud eggs are a common occurrence. Gold and bronze whers are very very rare. The effect of mating on the humans would be closer to a firelizard mating flight ... they'd feel it but they *would* be able to resist if they were of a mind to do so. The breeding of watchwhers is supervised by the WherMaster. The WherMaster is, most likely, bonded to a golden wher.
Whers have a mixture of fire-lizard and draconic traits when it comes to the Hatching and Impression process. An individual must first convince the WherMaster that they should have the right to try for an egg. If the WherMaster decides to let them try, that person must then convince the queen wher to let them have an egg. The eggs are small enough to carry in a well-padded haversack.
A wher will Bond to whomever is present and feeding them, similar to dragonets and firelizards. Whers choose their own name, always ending in "sk". They take their name from their Bonded [ex. Nuella = Nuellsk; Kindarin = Kisk; Renlian = Resk, etc]. It may take several days for the Bonded to ‘discover’ their wher’s name. Watchwhers are extremely territorial and protective of their Bonded, as well as the place they are considered in charge of. As evinced by cases such as Ruatha and Lessa, they become protective of the Bloodline as well.
Like with firelizards, intelligence depends partially on hide color. Golds and bronzes have more smarts than the others, but even the dumbest green would have probably the smarts of say a five turn old. A gold or bronze would be adult-human normal. All colors are trainable, especially when treated well, and can be taught to recognize word commands or some other type of signal (like dogs). When treated well, a wher can be trusted not to shred every person on sight, and can be trusted unchained in a contained environment (like in a mineshaft testing for bad air etc). It is only when they are abused that they become dangerous to one and all, or if they are trained soley as attack whers to defend a hold against thieves. They communicate with the same basic range of noises as firelizards and dragons, but their mental communication tends more towards the firelizard end of the spectrum, consisting more of emotions than actual words, though they can manage simble words such as ‘come’ ‘go’ or ‘bad’.
Wher hide does not crack and dry like dragon or fire-lizard hides; it is possible to never need to oil them except for show. They mature more quickly than dragons do, both in growth and in capabilities. Whers can communicate easily with dragons, even over extremely long distances-this telepathic capability, combined with their heat signature sight and territoriality, is what makes whers the prime guardian creatures for a Hold, Camp or Hall during the nighttime hours. However while Whers can communicate with Dragons the Dragons do not seem to like doing so to much and tend to avoid doing so. This means also that Whers are not often found at Weyrs for very long periods of time. Meaning that more then likelyonly travlers or people who are based at Rosuto Hold will have whers.
The above is a picture of a Gold Wher and her Hatching Clutch