Difference between revisions of "Creating a Pet"

Latest revision as of 19:18, 13 April 2019

Personas may own up to three pets each, and these can be added to persona profiles using the persona form. Existing pets may be linked to persona profiles using the Add Connections page (linked from the box on the left of a persona profile) but note that individual dragons, dolphins and firelizards should not be owned by more than one persona.

Name

Choose any name you like, but please don't use any name from a Pern® novel, or any name of an existing pet from the club.

Age

You can enter your pet's age in the form of a birth date, giving the day and month on which they were born or hatched (similiarly to entering a persona birthday). If you leave the month and day blank, the form will randomly generate a birth date.

Remember that firelizards should not be Impressed by very young children, so they should be at least 10 Turns younger than their owners.

Type and Colour

The only pets that are available are firelizards (of the five colours mentioned in the books), canines (dogs), felines (cats) and runnerbeasts (horses). Gold firelizards are a form of rank, and are not usually allowed to new members.

Firelizards are relatively common in our version of Pern - however, they are still precious, and usually only Impressed by those who are wealthy or high-ranking, or those who discover them by accident. Since gold firelizards lay their eggs on sandy beaches, this is much more common among dragonriders (who can travel to the beaches) and in coastal Holds and Halls. A low-ranking drudge would be extremely unlikely to have a firelizard in inland Holds such as Emerald Falls.

• Firelizards can only be five colors (gold, bronze, brown, blue, green) and not even a speck of any other color with the same rules applying to their coloring as dragons

Runnerbeasts are, as on Earth, expensive and time-consuming to care for. They will only be owned outright by well-off holders and craftsmen and their families. Most major holds and halls will keep a stable of runnerbeasts for general use (such as by guardsmen or travelling journeymen) with a stablemaster and his assistants to care for them.

Most working Pernese will not have time to waste on caring for pets unless the pets can be of some use to them. Canines are often employed to hunt, guard homes or to turn spits, while farmholds may have a resident feline to keep down the rodent population. Only wealthy ladies of leisure can afford to spend time on a pet bought exclusively for pleasure.

Dragonriders should be aware that the care of their dragon will always come before that of any pets. On Impression, a new weyrling must give up any runnerbeasts they own to the Weyr's stables, and make sure their canines and felines have someone to care for them (as some Weyrlingmasters will not tolerate them in the Weyrling barracks). Adult dragonriders may own pets other than runnerbeasts, but should ensure that a weyrmate or friend is responsible for walking and feeding them on Threadfall days and at other times when they are not able to.

Description You can use the description box to describe your pet's appearance and personality.

Creating a Dolphin

If you are creating a dolphineer of Journeyman rank or above, you may want to add a dolphin partner to their persona profile. When you select the craft "Dolphineer" and a rank of journeyman or above, a section of the form will appear to enter details about the dolphin. Creating a dolphin partner is not obligatory - not all dolphineers have one.

Name Please don't use any dolphin name from a Pern® novel, or any name of an existing dolphin or pet from the club.

Age You can enter your dolphin's age in the form of a birth date, giving the day and month on which they were born (similiarly to entering a persona birthday). If you leave the month and day blank, the form will randomly generate a birth date.

Description You can use the description box to describe your dolphin's appearance and personality.

Creating a Dragon

If you are creating a dragonrider, you'll need to add a dragon to their persona profile. When you select a dragonrider rank (such as "Wingleader" or "Wingrider") a section of the form will appear to enter details about the dragon.

Name All dragon's names must end in '-th'. Please don't use any name from a Pern® novel, or any name of an existing dragon from the club.

Age You can enter your dragon's age in the form of a birth date, giving the day and month on which they were Hatched (similarly to entering a persona birthday). If you leave the month and day blank, the form will randomly generate a Hatching date for your dragon.

Remember that since Candidates Impress between the ages of 12 and 20, dragons must be 12-20 Turns younger than their rider. If you are creating a Weyrling, please check the persona listings at each location to find out the dates on which clutches Hatched and select one of these for your dragon's Hatching date.

Colour Dragons come in only five different colours:

• Gold dragons will usually be awarded by club vote, and can only be ridden by heterosexual females.
• Bronze dragons require Weyrleader approval, and can only be ridden by heterosexual males. New members requesting bronze MUST choose a weyrling and submit an error free persona sheet!
• Brown dragons can only be ridden by heterosexual males.
• Blue dragons can only be ridden by bisexual and homosexual males.
• Green dragons can only be ridden by homosexual males and heterosexual females.

Description You can use the description box to describe your dragon's appearance and personality. Remember, dragons can only be five colors (gold, bronze, brown, blue, green) and not even a speck of any other color. They have hides, not scales, and while a dragon may have variations of one color on their body, they do not have lime green underwings and forest green bodies, etc.