wherqueen.jpg

Note that this information has been gathered from Evergen, a now-defunct 10th Pass AU Ista Weyr and Arolos Weyr with some modifications due to personal headcanons. Telgar Weyr runs primarily off of Todd McCaffrey's canon that he made in his book "Dragon's Kin" which I highly recommend (one of his few books that I do).

Whers are a draconic species that sprang from the same genetic stock used to create dragons. Whers were created second to dragons, after some additional genetic tinkering that had its advantages and disadvantages. Whers are are not ‘defective dragons’! They are equally sentient, sensitive, intelligent creatures with their own important niche to fill in Pern’s society.

Whers cannot fly, and their wings are very small, almost vestigial. They are used more to facilitate “body language” than for any other purpose, although they also act as stabilizers during high-speed direction changes and mating runs.

Whers can flame, however, as well as any dragon. They chew smaller chunks of stone than dragons of course, and their flames are also scaled to fit. In the physiology and process, however, they are exactly the same as their airborne brethren. Whers are also fully capable of going *between* using primarily their own directions. It takes exceptional care for a human to be able to guide them since their eyes do not focus as human eyes do. A wher will be able to flame and fight Thread far sooner than they will be able to be guided *between* by a human. Fortunately they are like their firelizard cousins in that they do not have to have human guidance to do so.

Whers are photophobic due to the nature of the faceting of their eyes. This faceting focuses so much light onto the retinas that bright sunlight causes whers extreme discomfort. It is this discomfort which makes them nocturnal. Bonded or Impressed whers can wear smoked goggles which allow them to function in daylight during Threadfalls or other necessary duties. Whers require a longer adjustment period to become diurnal, and they never truly prefer it but they tolerate it well once given time to adjust and with proper eye protection.

Feral whers are solitary, territorial and profoundly vicious creatures. Bonded whers retain some traits of neoteny (see section below) which allows them to function in groups and to accept control and training from their human partner.

There are no true ‘wild whers’ as they are a man-made species not native to Pern. All feral whers were either once bonded to a Handler or are the offspring of a bonded wher gone feral, no matter how many generations removed.

Whers have limited speech, but are as intelligent as a dragon, and just as loyal. Wher speech is restricted or stilted and they have trouble with the use of pronouns. For instance instead of using you, they will use a name or descriptive term, and for me they will use their own name or "This wher". So using Wuianzsk as an example, {‘zisk want go hunt!} for “I want to go hunt.”

In spite of their size and apparent bulkiness, they can be extremely agile when the need arises. Case in point; Lessa's Wher in the original book turned himself mid-jump, but being old, he landed on his back and broke his neck. A younger beast would have been able to execute that move flawlessly.

That episode also shows how loyal and obedient a Wher is to their Handler. They would rather die than disobey an order from their Bonded, once trained.

The bulk does have its drawback, however. Whers are too heavily boned to swim well, and many of them have severe aversions to water. This will make bath time so much fun for their Handlers. Occasionally, there will be a wher who is not afraid of water, but for the most part, they are like felines in this regard.

Either gender may Impress to any color wher, including the metallics. A woman bonded to a bronze or a man bonded to a gold is normal and not uncommon.

Wher-Handlers are titled by color (Ex: Brown-Handler), but given or removed from responsibility depending on their skill, experience, loyalty and honor.

The only restriction on requesting a character with a wher is that the Admin must approve you for Gold before sheet submission. All other colors have plenty of open slots as of this writing.

Whers know their names at hatching, as dragons do and, with the rare exception of a choosy gold, a wher will Impress with anyone who greets its arrival with plenty of meat and accepting affection. Wher names are based off of their handlers with an added “-sk” at the end. The more similar it is to their handler’s the stronger the bond. Again to use Wuianzsk, should her name have been Wusk, her bond with Wuianze would be tenuous at best. Since it is Wuianzsk, it is quite strong, the wher equivalent to a dragon bond. Having a weak bond does not mean that a handler cannot control the wher, it just means that the pair must undergo more extensive training.

The exceptions to this were the watch-whers of major holds. Their name was always derived from the hold's, rather than their handler's, with -sk at the end. This didn't mean that all watch-whers a hold ever has will have the same name. For example, Tillek Hold's watch-wher in the First Interval was named Tilsk, but the watch-wher in the Third Pass was named Tillesk.

There is a very small window of opportunity for Impression, ending forever just scant minutes after hatching. By the time a wher whelp finishes its first meal, it'll be Impressed or not, for the rest of its life. However, unlike dragons, whers do not die if they are unImpressed at hatching, and they can form bonds— often quite close ones— later in life if they choose. An Impressed wher will look to their partner as closely as a dragon would and its life will end with its partner's. Akin to Impression with a dragon, an Impressed wher is “in” its partner's mind at all times, though they are not “one” with their partner's mind, as a dragon would be.

Impressed whers tend to keep the focus of their love narrow, and treat everyone else more as duties to be guarded or guarded against, rather than as objects of affection,
though sometimes their emotions do eventually turn to true love, especially with children. That tendency is never predictable, and like humans, whers can't be forced to love— or even like— anyone if they don't choose to do so.

  • *

Bonding

An unImpressed but bonded domesticated wher defaults to pack behavior— it will show its greatest respect to whomever it decides is Alpha in its household, and the others will be ranked in its mind accordingly. Because of this tendency, bonded whers require careful training to ensure that the wher's ranking scale is the same as their partner's.

The major difference between Impression and bonding is the mental connection between wher and partner. While all whers communicate through mind speech, an unImpressed wher cannot be part of its partner's mind. It cannot “read minds.” Speech from all whers is mental, but a bonded wher is like a transmitter only— it cannot receive. All human communication to it has to be verbal. The partner of a bonded wher will have to show and tell it everything it must know, much as a child is taught and trained.

A bonded wher is more capable than an Impressed wher of accepting other individuals into true affection. They are pack animals, and a pack is by nature expandable, the ties of affection within it strong. Some take comfort in the fact that even if a wher is bonded to them as its Alpha, it will survive its partner's death, rebonding with whomever it perceives as the most worthy survivor in its pack. Should there be no one available, they will turn feral and escape into the wild.

Wher sizes:

Gold: 1060 - 1100 lbs, 5 feet tall at shoulder
Bronze: 1020 - 1060 lbs, 4.5 feet tall at shoulder
Brown: 980 - 1020 lbs, 4.2 feet tall at shoulder
Blue: 940 - 980 lbs, 4 feet tall at shoulder
Green: 900 - 940 lbs, 3.5 feet tall at shoulder

Temperament:
There are slight personality differences between the colors. Emphasis on the slight— there are always exceptions, and individual whers have their own personalities that vary almost as much as humans do.

In general, greens tend to be more volatile, meaning that they are more likely to act first on instinct or emotion and think later. They are also more influenced by their drives, as they'll get proddy about three times a Turn.

Blues are a bit stolid and stodgy. If they were human they'd all be staunch traditionalists. They like routine and they like structure in their lives. Blues prefer doing rote tasks that would bore one of the other colors far more quickly. Their partners can do no wrong, and they are more likely than other colors to follow routine and rules than to react on instinct and emotion.

Browns are the thinkers of the colors. Most of them are quiet lads, but that doesn't mean there's not a lot going on beneath those head-wrinkles. Most browns are a bit reserved, but those who they love, they love without reservation or inhibition. A brown will stop and ask for clarification and explanation if he is asked to do something that seems to go against what's reasonable, where a blue would more likely simply obey his partner.

Bronzes— well, a bronze is a bronze, it seems. Whether dragon, wher or flit, a bronze knows he's Faranth's gift to Pern in general and greens and golds in particular. But bronzes are smart, for all their self-importance, and generally astute and even tempered. They do tend to be a bit vain, though, and if a wher is going to take on an unrequited infatuation with a dragon, that wher will probably be a bronze.

Golds are all the best and worst of all the colors, rolled into one hide. A gold sees herself as your mental equal and demands to be treated as such, even though her nature demands she submit to your will. She is territorial, maternal and protective. She is also well aware of her station in life. No gold wher sees herself as anyone's inferior, not even in comparison to a dragon. Only rarely can a gold be ordered to do something against her will. To Impress a gold wher is to take on a bit of that regal bearing, just by osmosis. Only someone of strong character and will would be accepted by a golden whelp.

Anyone bonded to a wher is expected, without exception, to attend Wuianze’s wher training. Anyone caught not participating and having a wher will be punished at the Weyrwoman’s discretion. All members of Wuianze’s guard will have whers once Wuianzsk clutches, then will spread to members of the Weyrguard. A special Wherguard shall be formed for night time duties.