As mentioned, the dragons' names should end with 'th' if you are going to make a dragon alt to join. It's fine if the character's already been made and the name doesn't end with 'th.' There is a list of names you may choose from, but you don't have to if you don't want to.

There are a few words that are excellent to use during roleplay. Even talented riders can use some of them, but have to add some other parts to it to use them. *winks*

Here are some quotes from the Pern novels that show dragon behavior, to give you a sense of what it's like to roleplay a Pernese dragon.

If you are planning on making a dragon and roleplaying it as a Pernese dragon (which, by the way, is the only kind that will more than likely be accepted into the clan), it would be preferable that you speak only in tells, even if it is out of character (OOC). If you are speaking in character (IC), please use italics. So in other words, dragons can't speak aloud and only communicate telepathically (thus the tells). And another thing, you can only speak IC to your rider and other dragons, unless, of course, the person is special and can hear dragons or the (extremely) rare IC speaking to a regular person.

If you are going to make a dragon, please wait until there is a clutch of eggs to hatch from. If one is not scheduled, then you will have to wait until one is. You will be saved until then so there will be several dragons hatching and an Impression can take place with the chosen candidates.

Please roleplay as often as you can. From this point on, only people who are good to excellent roleplayers will be asked to join. Or you can confront a current member and ask. If that is your approach, you will be asked to prove your roleplaying abilities.

Roleplay with your rider. In the first few weeks after hatching, the dragonette grows very quickly. Their eating should be controlled by their rider, but they should still eat quite a bit. The rider should bathe the dragon occasionally and oil them very frequently, especially during the first few weeks. I itch is a common way of the dragon letting their rider know they need to be oiled. Oiling is very important. If the dragon does not get oiled, their hide will split. This creates imperfect hide on the dragon and can damage the dragon when going between. They need to be oiled as often as possible (practically) in the first few weeks because their hide cannot keep up with the rate they grow at in this stage.

Act your age! If you have just hatched, don't go around acting as if you're years old and can carry your rider or go between. Go through the stages of growth, roleplay the various sizes you'll be. It doesn't matter how long it takes to become fully grown, but please drag it out. Don't become fully grown in a week or a month. Lyana is over a half year old and she's not yet fully grown. She can fly with two people and go between, but she's not fully grown yet. Enjoy your youth, you'll never be like that again!

"Dragon instinct was limited to here-and-now, with no ability to control or anticipate. Mankind existed in partnership with them to supply wisdom and order." -Dragonflight, page 121 Please act like it, too. Don't talk about tomorrow or what happened yesterday. You can refer to things that have already happened, but no saying when it happened. Such as 'But yesterday you said...' isn't good. 'But didn't you say...' works better.

There is nothing after First Impression. Be nice to your rider and don't try and kill yourself by going between and not coming back out or something. It's not fun having half of you being numb for the rest of your life, having a part of you missing. Don't leave them to be dragonless and exiled from the Weyr. If you choose to join the Dragon Ryders, you have to be there, be active, and roleplay.

Impression. It happens at the moment of hatching (but then you know that already, don't you?). The time and date for a hatching will be (or at least try to be) scheduled at a convenient time for all those participating. The way a pair (dragon and rider) will be chosen will be one of two ways. One way won't be able to work if a certain dragon and certain candidate dislike each other. The other may be unfair in the way the candidates get the color of dragons. Or maybe the dragons and candidates will be matched and then the colors randomly given to the dragons. It depends. It'll get worked out when the time comes.

The colors of a dragon determines the status of them and their rider. (the pair often refers to the other as their lifemate) The colors are: Green, blue, brown, bronze, and gold.

-Greens are traditionally only female, though for the Dragon Ryders, they're going to be both male and female. Since the�females chew firestone, they are sterile though can still rise to mate. Greens are also the most common color and have the�lowest status. That doesn't mean they're not important though. One special thing about greens is that riders can Impress�either male or female.
-Blues are traditionally only male, though for the Dragon Ryders, they will be both male and female. They're larger and faster than greens.
-Browns are only male. They are a step up from blues and only one step down from bronze. They are stronger and faster then blues and greens.
-Bronzes are only male. They are the fastest and strongest males thus having the best chance of catching a gold in flight.
-Golds are only female. Golden queens are the largest of all colors and the only female that can mate because she is not allowed to chew firestone. Read about the flight of the queen.

Since dragon and rider are so close, they sometimes share feelings and emotions. Such as when a dragon rises to mate, the rider's mind is taken with the dragon and they think as one, feel as one. The dragons become Weyrmates, along with their riders, until the female dragon allows another dragon to catch her in flight.

Here's a nice, elaborate chart of the sizes of dragons and some characteristics of each color.

COLOR	GENDER	SIZE	DESCRIPTION �
Gold	Female, Queen	40-45 meters	The bearer of the young, the queen is tradionally mated by whichever bronze can catch her. Although browns can mate with queens-and sometimes do, in the case of junior queens-this is unusual and not encouraged. The queen is fertile and bears eggs which she oversees until they hatch. Clutch sizes range from ten to forty; generally, the largest clutches occur during a Pass. The senior queen, usually the dragon of the oldest queen rider, is the most prestigious dragon and is responsible for all the dragons in the Weyr and for the propagation of her species.
Bronze	Male	35-45 meters	The leaders of the dragons. All bronzes compete to mate with the gold queens; the rider whose dragon succeeds becomes Weyrleader. Bronzes are generally trained for leadership and assume Wingleader and Wingsecond positions along with browns. Bronzes and their riders often act as Weyrlingmasters, training the young dragons and riders.
Brown	Male	30-40 meters	Larger than greens and blues, some well-grown browns are as big as small bronzes and could actually mate with the queens if they so dared. The browns are the real wheel-horses of the dragons, reasonably agile and strong enough to go a whole Fall without faltering. They are more intelligent than blues or greens, with greater powers of concentration. Browns and thier riders often act as Weyrlingmasters, training the young dragons and riders.
Blue	Male or Female	24-30 meters	The workhorse of the dragons. Medium-sized, the blues are as tough as the greens but not as maneuverable. They have more stamina under pressure and are capable of sustaining flame longer.
Green	Female or Male	20-24 meters	The smallest and most numerous of the dragons. light, hightly maneuverable and agile, the greens are the sprinters of dragonkind. They breathe short bursts of flame. Greens are rendered sterile through a sex-linked disability triggered by chronic use of firestone.

Questions or comments? Contact Lyana via MudMail on Karchan or email her at [email protected]

Pern and all related names and characters are � and � Anne McCaffrey and DelRey Publishing

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