Post by Kaya on Sept 4, 2011 18:55:18 GMT -8
(It's not art swath color matching, I promise. 0:-) )
Have you ever noticed that when Pern is in need of a Queen, there is one? That no matter how grim, if there needs to be a Queen egg, it arrives? In canon, we have Jora's Gold's Queen egg, from which comes Ramoth. In the fandom, the "old Queen died leaving a Queen egg and no heir" plot has been done into the ground.
What about when a Weyr is full of Queens? A few times, Weyrs transfer the dragons if there really are too many, but it is seldom that a Weyr has too many Queens. Surely with random luck and chance of pure, statistical genetics, it would have happened a few times in almost 3000 Turns.
If a Weyr has boys that the whole of the weyrfolk approves as BronzeRiders, there are Bronze dragonets! If there is a need for Royal dragons, they come! Simple as that.
But why?
Surely if dragon coloring were as simple as a punnett square it would never work this way. This is why I am a supporter of the following dragon color theory:
The majority of a dragon's important senses are located in the cerebral region. They are telepathic creatures by nature and use this skill and language to communicate far more than they do via body language, scent, or other means that are more common in the animal kingdom. In addition, dragons are egg layers, which means that their offspring's sizes are not set concretely into a shell's limitation until it is laid. In addition, since they lay many eggs at once, they are not limited to size in the way a placental mammal might be.
But back to telepathy and the world of the dragon mind. It's where everything happens, the center for Impression, their name's consciousness, besides all other thought. They have extreme influence on their environment. Why not on developing dragons?
Dragon mothers would be the ones in the most contact with their young, but the overall thought cloud of the Weyr would certainly influence the young ones as well. Thus, it is a combination of the concentrated desires of their mother and the societal expectations of their Weyr that shape the futures of these young dragons.
If the Weyr is in desperate need of a Queen, a developing female with the right stuff to be a ruler will be shaped into one by the need constantly expressed in the conversations, worries and thoughts of those around her. She will get bigger, and become a dragon that is a mix of what was in her to start with and that which society demands. So in the Weyr's time of need, a young Queen will always be there.
If there are too many Queens, the existing Queens' wills will suppress a new Queen arising from a Hatching. With such a competition for Bronzes and Weyr decisions, it is unlikely that in such a mental environment another Queen would be born.
Similarly with BronzeRiders. If there are not enough, if the entire Weyr expects Bronzes to be born - whether from a lack of current Bronzes or because there is an especially promising Candidate - then it is extremely likely that the right male dragonet will develop into a Bronze. If there are too many, then it is much less likely (but not as extremely as with Queens' wills) that a Bronze or other King will be born.
But what about all the "new" colors you ask? Can this theory explain those?
Yes. Yes it can.
When Ruth was born it shook the world of Pernese expectation. A strange White dragon had been born. He was novel, he was adorable, he was the icon of Pern. People the planet over would dream of seeing him, or another like him. To see another White hatch! What a marvel! Some would desire greatly to Impress such a dragon, some Queens would give their left foot to go down in history as such a momentous mother. And so, not too long after Ruth's rise to popularity, another White was born. And then another. And another.
Which lead to the question: "If a new color can arise after Turns of having only Gold, Bronze, Brown, Blue and Green, why not another one? Why not Black, the opposite of white?"
And so the dream spread and Black dragons came into the world. And as Pern came to believe that new colors were possible, new colors came. And came. And came. Especially in the places that wanted them, while some were disgusted or frightened by the tradition breaking dragons. And in these Weyrs where the dominant thought about the newer colors was negative, there were far fewer of them born, if any at all.
Eventually some places, such as Rainbow Mists Weyr, had so many colors that people expected less of them to appear. And so less did, though it took quite a lag of time. A few new colors have been added to the list, though some wonder if they're just a variation of an existing one. People doubt what they ought to call a "new color" and so more variation is introduced to the existing ones, rather than radically new designs.
And finally, about "bad" dragons, they are the unfortunate outcome of terrible thoughts and evil plans. In a world where peace was the norm and grudge matches were fought in Holds, the Weyrs stayed fairly upright. Some dragons were less savory than others, but they were for the most part tolerable.
In the time of the old timers and Ruth squabbles and theft between Weyrs spread like a bad cold. An egg was even stolen. Riders fought and bickered, and the bad feelings around the dragonets did not help. Still, Riders had Thread to fight and duties to perform. Pern was spared a tragedy for another few hundred Turns. And then a greedy Crimson moved to Rainbow Mists and influenced a young Crimson. He hadn't had the best of developments, some of the Candidates had been particularly awful. He was bitter. He would be Deikoeth, the Crimson Terror.
More unsavory dragons were born in the Dark Mists Weyr environment because of the people around the eggs and the types of dragons that surrounded them. In a proper setting, a "dark, evil" color may be no more than a mischievous youngster and a bothersome adult, but left unbalanced they threatened Pern.
So be careful, Pygmalion, it won't always happen, but your statue might just come to life.
~Kaya
Have you ever noticed that when Pern is in need of a Queen, there is one? That no matter how grim, if there needs to be a Queen egg, it arrives? In canon, we have Jora's Gold's Queen egg, from which comes Ramoth. In the fandom, the "old Queen died leaving a Queen egg and no heir" plot has been done into the ground.
What about when a Weyr is full of Queens? A few times, Weyrs transfer the dragons if there really are too many, but it is seldom that a Weyr has too many Queens. Surely with random luck and chance of pure, statistical genetics, it would have happened a few times in almost 3000 Turns.
If a Weyr has boys that the whole of the weyrfolk approves as BronzeRiders, there are Bronze dragonets! If there is a need for Royal dragons, they come! Simple as that.
But why?
Surely if dragon coloring were as simple as a punnett square it would never work this way. This is why I am a supporter of the following dragon color theory:
The majority of a dragon's important senses are located in the cerebral region. They are telepathic creatures by nature and use this skill and language to communicate far more than they do via body language, scent, or other means that are more common in the animal kingdom. In addition, dragons are egg layers, which means that their offspring's sizes are not set concretely into a shell's limitation until it is laid. In addition, since they lay many eggs at once, they are not limited to size in the way a placental mammal might be.
But back to telepathy and the world of the dragon mind. It's where everything happens, the center for Impression, their name's consciousness, besides all other thought. They have extreme influence on their environment. Why not on developing dragons?
Dragon mothers would be the ones in the most contact with their young, but the overall thought cloud of the Weyr would certainly influence the young ones as well. Thus, it is a combination of the concentrated desires of their mother and the societal expectations of their Weyr that shape the futures of these young dragons.
If the Weyr is in desperate need of a Queen, a developing female with the right stuff to be a ruler will be shaped into one by the need constantly expressed in the conversations, worries and thoughts of those around her. She will get bigger, and become a dragon that is a mix of what was in her to start with and that which society demands. So in the Weyr's time of need, a young Queen will always be there.
If there are too many Queens, the existing Queens' wills will suppress a new Queen arising from a Hatching. With such a competition for Bronzes and Weyr decisions, it is unlikely that in such a mental environment another Queen would be born.
Similarly with BronzeRiders. If there are not enough, if the entire Weyr expects Bronzes to be born - whether from a lack of current Bronzes or because there is an especially promising Candidate - then it is extremely likely that the right male dragonet will develop into a Bronze. If there are too many, then it is much less likely (but not as extremely as with Queens' wills) that a Bronze or other King will be born.
But what about all the "new" colors you ask? Can this theory explain those?
Yes. Yes it can.
When Ruth was born it shook the world of Pernese expectation. A strange White dragon had been born. He was novel, he was adorable, he was the icon of Pern. People the planet over would dream of seeing him, or another like him. To see another White hatch! What a marvel! Some would desire greatly to Impress such a dragon, some Queens would give their left foot to go down in history as such a momentous mother. And so, not too long after Ruth's rise to popularity, another White was born. And then another. And another.
Which lead to the question: "If a new color can arise after Turns of having only Gold, Bronze, Brown, Blue and Green, why not another one? Why not Black, the opposite of white?"
And so the dream spread and Black dragons came into the world. And as Pern came to believe that new colors were possible, new colors came. And came. And came. Especially in the places that wanted them, while some were disgusted or frightened by the tradition breaking dragons. And in these Weyrs where the dominant thought about the newer colors was negative, there were far fewer of them born, if any at all.
Eventually some places, such as Rainbow Mists Weyr, had so many colors that people expected less of them to appear. And so less did, though it took quite a lag of time. A few new colors have been added to the list, though some wonder if they're just a variation of an existing one. People doubt what they ought to call a "new color" and so more variation is introduced to the existing ones, rather than radically new designs.
And finally, about "bad" dragons, they are the unfortunate outcome of terrible thoughts and evil plans. In a world where peace was the norm and grudge matches were fought in Holds, the Weyrs stayed fairly upright. Some dragons were less savory than others, but they were for the most part tolerable.
In the time of the old timers and Ruth squabbles and theft between Weyrs spread like a bad cold. An egg was even stolen. Riders fought and bickered, and the bad feelings around the dragonets did not help. Still, Riders had Thread to fight and duties to perform. Pern was spared a tragedy for another few hundred Turns. And then a greedy Crimson moved to Rainbow Mists and influenced a young Crimson. He hadn't had the best of developments, some of the Candidates had been particularly awful. He was bitter. He would be Deikoeth, the Crimson Terror.
More unsavory dragons were born in the Dark Mists Weyr environment because of the people around the eggs and the types of dragons that surrounded them. In a proper setting, a "dark, evil" color may be no more than a mischievous youngster and a bothersome adult, but left unbalanced they threatened Pern.
So be careful, Pygmalion, it won't always happen, but your statue might just come to life.
~Kaya
