2-- There MUST be a candidate present on the page! This candidate MUST be Pernese in nature. Please read the Dragonriders of Pern stories by Anne McCafrrey to understand what this means. For a brief, but hopefully complete, course on weyr and candidate construction, please check the Protectorate's Guide to Weyr Building, or the Pernese Candidate Generator. Your candidate may have pets, but ONLY Pernese pets/animals. No candidate that already has IMPRESSED a watch-wher, or has BONDED a dolphin may stand at Blackstone's sands. NO CANDIDATE WILL BE ACCEPTED IF THEY HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN A DRAGON ELSEWHERE, OR IF THEY ARE KNOWN TO BE REPEATED IN ANOTHER WEYR'S SANDS!! "NEOPETS" Pages will NOT BE ACCEPTED. "CYBERPET" collection pages will NOT BE ACCEPTED. If you send in a candidate and I believe it has been copied or stood upon other sands (and not been awarded a dragon) I will investigate. ALL weyrwomen/weyrleaders communicate with each other about this matter, and if a copied weyr is discovered, that candidate will never -- EVER -- impress on ANY Protectorate Sands.
3-- Neatness, color schemes and backgrounds, spelling, and other such shallow things count VERY MUCH when sending a candidate to Blackstone. The quality of your candidate AND their page will be taken into account for their dragon. If you'd like to use any of the Protectorate's backgrounds, logos or shields, please do, but always link back to the Protectorate to do so, and please email me showing where you've used them. I made all the backgrounds, and I'm very proud of them!
4-- There MUST be a link back to Blackstone Weyr or the Protectorate on the SAME PAGE as the candidate, AND if/when they impress, upon the pages with the dragon images. Please either use the Blackstone shield logo, one found here, or a full written link, instead of "I'm a candidate HERE". This must be followed up, if there is a page with an Protectorate dragon and no link, how will others know where it was found?
5-- If the candidate is accepted, and Impresses, their dragon stages MUST be put up promptly. This amount of time will vary from clutch to clutch and from stage to stage because I know how hard it is to keep up on these things. I usually like to give at least 10 days to 2 weeks. IF a dragon is not put up at Hatchling stage, notices will be sent out that that dragon will be abandoned and put up for Readoption. If it is not put up as a Weyrling, it will also be considered abandoned and available for Readoption. If an Adult stage dragon is not put up within time, it will be considered BETWEENED, and not allowed out for readoption. All readoption will be done at the Healing Den.
6-- To prove that you've read these rules, please include the phrase "Blackbottoms Rule" in your email. This phrase will change when I see fit to remember to change it. ;>
7-- You may NOT do the following: Readopt out, change size, flip, recolor, claim as your own work, redraw/trace these dragon pictures. ALL PROTECTORATE DRAGONS WERE DRAWN BY LETHE, and are owned entirely by her. Other pictures (such as Dawnlight's flitters, Enclave's dolphins, Eden's Gate's canines, etc) were drawn by and are (c) to Cristin Owens and are used with permission.
7a-- You MAY put the dragon's name on the picture. The pictures are transparent .gif's. If your server (aol) cannot use transparencies, I will send a BMP or other format instead. Transfering the .gif to the (what is it,) .art file format causes the picture to look dramatically different from its normal state. Please remember to TRY and use a .gif. If it's not loading as a .gif, email me!
