Post by ShinyBox on Mar 6, 2014 20:10:44 GMT
Gold dragons: (40–45 meters long) are the only fertile females. Gold dragons are by far the rarest dragons on Pern. They are dominant over all other colors; any non-gold dragon will invariably obey a queen's orders, even against the wishes of its own rider. Queens are incapable of producing flame; however, they do fight Thread – they fly in the lowest wing, with their riders armed with specially designed flamethrowers to flame any Thread missed by the above wings. An egg that is going to hatch a gold dragon is notable: It is gold-colored and larger than other eggs. A gold dragon will always Impress a female and are believed by most Weyrfolk to prefer young women who were not raised in the Weyr.
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Bronze dragons: (35–40 meters long), are male although they are generally significantly smaller than the queens. They are almost always the ones to mate with queens, as the smaller colors generally lack the stamina to chase and catch the gold dragons when they rise to mate. Due to the 5-1 bronze/gold ratio and the infrequency of gold mating flights, they often mate with greens (the losers of a gold flight almost always seek a green for their needs), but their size often puts them at a disadvantage in chasing the agile, smaller females. The senior bronze of a Weyr is determined through which bronze wins the mating flight of the senior gold. In canon Pern, the rider of a bronze dragon is always a male.
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Brown dragons: (30–35 meters long). They may occasionally mate with queens, although this is rare. However, they may fly the junior queens of a Weyr. All brownriders are men; most are heterosexual, but bisexual or "masculine" homosexual brownriders are not rare.
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Blue dragons: (24–30 meters long) are male and make up about a third of all dragons on Pern. They are nearly as agile as greens, but unlike the greens, they often have enough stamina to last for an entire Threadfall. They mate only with greens, as they are simply too small to keep up with a massive queen over a long mating flight. There are few prominent blue dragons or blueriders in the books. Some assume the position of teaching the new riders after their Impression.
Blues may Impress to male or female riders, though the second is frowned upon.
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Green dragons: (20–24 meters long), are female, but unlike the queens, they are infertile and can produce flame. They are extremely valuable in Threadfall because of their agility, but they lack the stamina to last an entire Fall and generally fly in two or three shifts. Originally, greens Impressed to girls; however, after various natural disasters and plagues decimated Pern's population, and Thread threatened, boys also began to be offered, as there were simply not enough females. Thus, green dragons began Impressing both genders.
Greens may Impress to male or female riders, though the second is frowned upon.
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Bronze dragons: (35–40 meters long), are male although they are generally significantly smaller than the queens. They are almost always the ones to mate with queens, as the smaller colors generally lack the stamina to chase and catch the gold dragons when they rise to mate. Due to the 5-1 bronze/gold ratio and the infrequency of gold mating flights, they often mate with greens (the losers of a gold flight almost always seek a green for their needs), but their size often puts them at a disadvantage in chasing the agile, smaller females. The senior bronze of a Weyr is determined through which bronze wins the mating flight of the senior gold. In canon Pern, the rider of a bronze dragon is always a male.
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Brown dragons: (30–35 meters long). They may occasionally mate with queens, although this is rare. However, they may fly the junior queens of a Weyr. All brownriders are men; most are heterosexual, but bisexual or "masculine" homosexual brownriders are not rare.
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Blue dragons: (24–30 meters long) are male and make up about a third of all dragons on Pern. They are nearly as agile as greens, but unlike the greens, they often have enough stamina to last for an entire Threadfall. They mate only with greens, as they are simply too small to keep up with a massive queen over a long mating flight. There are few prominent blue dragons or blueriders in the books. Some assume the position of teaching the new riders after their Impression.
Blues may Impress to male or female riders, though the second is frowned upon.
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Green dragons: (20–24 meters long), are female, but unlike the queens, they are infertile and can produce flame. They are extremely valuable in Threadfall because of their agility, but they lack the stamina to last an entire Fall and generally fly in two or three shifts. Originally, greens Impressed to girls; however, after various natural disasters and plagues decimated Pern's population, and Thread threatened, boys also began to be offered, as there were simply not enough females. Thus, green dragons began Impressing both genders.
Greens may Impress to male or female riders, though the second is frowned upon.