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Mon, Dec. 20th, 2004, 02:33 pm
Random Question
Is anyone here a Pern fan? Can someone explain the differences in personality/social function among the different colors of dragons on Pern?
Mon, Dec. 20th, 2004 08:49 pm (UTC)
 chaiya
Okay, I haven't read them in a few years, but here's my best recollection ... The gold dragon is female and the queen bee. She gets to be bossy on everyone else, and is also one of the smartest. She always (or so close to almost always that it's a shocker if it happens otherwise) mates with bronze dragons, which are the smartest males. Bronze take orders only from the gold queen. Then there are browns, greens, and blues, which are all less intelligent and less highly prized. Either greens or blues are also female, but they have a tendency to forget about their eggs, so they don't reproduce with high frequency. Browns are the smartest of those three, so the one time I think a gold didn't mate with a bronze, it was a brown dragon who won the race. There was one white dragon in the recorded history of Pern. He was Impressed by a lordling who had social obligations to *not* be a dragonrider, so they were both pretty fucked when he went up to the egg and let out the dragon within (which everyone thought wasn't going to hatch because the dragon inside had stopped moving, etc.). With dragons more than with fire lizards (the smaller predecessor), the dragon has a mind link with the human Impressed upon it. So they add a lot to each other's personalities, experiences, etc. When the dragons mate, the associated humans almost always mate. When the humans mate, the associated dragons often cuddle, at least. Dragon riders also put an apostrophe in their name after Impressing. Falar became F'lar, etc. Anything else? I loved those books as a kid ...
Mon, Dec. 20th, 2004 11:50 pm (UTC)
kleenestar
So . . . the greens are kind of dumb, the golds are queen bees, the bronzes are the alpha males. What about blues and browns? Are browns just not-so-good bronzes, or do they have a shtick? Do I recall that blues are kind of playful? Thank you!!! (malkavsnyx, these questions are for you too. Just didn't want to post the same questions twice.)
Tue, Dec. 21st, 2004 02:31 am (UTC)
psychick
Blues are very small dragons, and light. Not the brightest, but good maneuverability. Playful, yes. I think the Browns are somewhere between Blues and Bronzes. Note that Golds are the only ones who can lay Gold and Bronze eggs, which is why they're so important. Also, there is usually only fully adult Gold per Weir (they fight otherwise) so there are far fewer of them than any other color. When a gold egg gets laid, its a big deal! Sometimes a brown or blue will try to fly after a Gold, but generally Bronzes are the only ones strong enough to catch one. (Also note that when dragons are mating, their riders, and sensative humans in general, get quite...shall we say, worked up!) Golds are also the largest dragons (they're HUGE!), followed by bronzes, browns, greens and blues. The white one, whose name was Ruth, was complete sport and was a little smaller than a blue. He wasn't really part of the heirarchy, and seemed to be highly intelligent.
Tue, Dec. 21st, 2004 04:15 am (UTC)
chaiya
Yeah, what psychick said. I would add that I remember the phrase "flighty as a green," now that I think of it. Blues and greens are definitely the playful ones, and often play together. Browns are more workhorse material than any of the others -- bronzes don't get a workhorse rep because they're the most valuable male, and blue are well-meaning but kinda dumber, so they can take direction but aren't a smart workhorse. And they blues are a lot smaller, which makes them a less effective workhorse. Golds are only prone to fighting when one is in heat, and there was at least one tragedy of a gold going into heat while in the vicinity of another gold. They fought and took each other Between, or something, which killed both of them. Major tragedy, major big deal. When they're not in heat, though, they can form their own squadron of armed Thread-fighting women on the backs of golds queens, and they can work together quite well. For more information, you might want to read the first Dragonflight book, of the 3 or 4 in that storyline. ;)
Mon, Dec. 20th, 2004 08:43 pm (UTC)
angelsrespite: Pern
Ok here goes Females: Gold - are the queens and have most of the babies. They are not allowed to chew firestone that allows the dragons to breathe fire. Greens - can have babies but usually don't (only when there are not enough dragons around to fight thread) so they can chew firestone. *Note: Firestone makes female dragons sterile. Males: Bronze - usually the color that mates with the queen. Chews firestone to produce flame breath. Brown - can mate with queens or greens. Smaller than the Bronze. Chews firestone to produce flame breath. Blue - Do not mate. Are smaller then the Brown. Chews firestone to produce flame breath. White - Only one has been born. He's never mated. Chews firestone to produce flame breath. They were genetically engineered by Pern's colonists from the native firelizzards. They chew firestone (a phosphine bearing rock) to fight thread a parasite that falls to pern from another plante. Thread is a parasite and eats through anything that is not metal or rock. Thread drowns in water or can be burned with fire. The dragos burn it from the sky with their breath. Queen dragons also fly against thread but their riders use a contraption that resembles a flamethrower. Dragons produce a clutch of eggs. At the time of hatching they choose a human to be telepathically linked to. These humans become their riders. Without this telepathic bond they die. These dragons do not have scales. Their eyes change colors to reveal their moods.
Mon, Dec. 20th, 2004 11:47 pm (UTC)
kleenestar: Re: Pern
Thank you! I know this is kind of random, but I'm glad I know people (who know people) who know about this stuff. :)
Mon, Dec. 20th, 2004 11:49 pm (UTC)
kleenestar: Re: Pern
By the way, your dogs are adorable. So are the not-your-kids. :)
Tue, Dec. 21st, 2004 02:57 pm (UTC)
angelsrespite: Re: Pern
thanks so much! Their good dogs which says somthing for them being huskies. I agree with what the others said about the greens being flighty. There is a book out there called Dragonlover's guide to Pern. It goes into detail how they were developed form the Firelizards. It also has some good recipies on the pies they always talked about in the dragonsong series of books.
Tue, Dec. 21st, 2004 04:34 pm (UTC)
bneuensc: Re: Pern
If I remember correctly, golds don't go sterile; they just puke it back up right away. Because I seem to recall the first set of engineered dragons all chewing firestone, and the golds all clutched just fine.
Mon, Dec. 20th, 2004 09:38 pm (UTC)
maastrictian
Now I'm totally currious why you want to know... --Chris
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