Wher Guide

This Wher Guide was adapted from FSoP.

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: watch-whers.

Watchwhers are essentially malformed dragons. They come in the colors of dragons : gold, bronze, brown, blue and green. Watchwhers are more muscular than dragons, but remaining smaller-at several months of age, but not full grown, they stand approximately 12-13 hands tall [4 feet/1.22 meters]. This is a measurement taken at their shoulder, and watchwhers have the long, sinuous necks that both their cousins have, so an approximate total length of 10 feet, tailtip to nosetip, could be possible.

When fully grown, they weigh between six to eight hundred pounds. Watchwhers possess smaller wings, but are actually capable of flight-and of carrying riders, ostensibly late at night when the air has thickened. They are also capable of going between, but their unique vision problem makes this a rare and difficult trip.

Watchwhers 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.

The breeding of watchwhers is supervised by the WherMaster. The WherMaster is, most likely a woman bonded to a golden wher. No mention is made of the gender-bonding preferences of whers, but one could be well-led to imagine that women are the only ones capable of bonding golds-Wind Blossom used the same gender imperative genetic modifications as her grandmother, and Kit Ping's modifications said that greens and golds would be to women; bronzes, browns and blues to men.

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 watchwher to let them have an egg. The eggs are small enough to carry in a well-padded haversack.

A Watchwher will Bond to whomever is present and feeding them, similar to firelizards. To seal the Bonding, the human partner must blood (ex. prick their arm or finger and put it in the Wher's next meal) themselves and mark themselves to their wher.

Whers choose their own name, always ending in "sk". They take their name from their Bonded [ex. Nuella = Nuellsk; Kindarin = Kisk; Renlian = Resk, etc]. Watchwhers are extremely territorial and protective of their Bonded, as well as the place they are considered in charge of. As evidence by cases such as Ruatha and Lessa, they become protective of the Bloodline as well. Bonds can also change; when one half dies, the partner will not definitely suicide-it would be easy to imagine a strongly Bonded pair, and one Bonded for years, to consider it, but it is by no means the norm.

Watchwher 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. While not telepathic to humans, they can communicate through mental imaging and emotions. 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 watchwhers the prime guardian creatures for a Hold, Camp or Hall during the nighttime hours.