Post by Kira on May 24, 2010 1:01:15 GMT -5
- Pern has "Turns" instead of "years" and "sevendays" instead of "weeks." Each Turn has 12 months and two extra days. Each month has thirty days. The months do not have specific names, but are referred to by their number (First Month, Second Month, etc.); the same goes for days of the week(Firstday, Secondday, etc.). The first and last days of a Turn are referred to as "Turnover." "Turn's End" (the last day of the year) occurs on the winter solstice and is considered a major holiday, during which many Gathers take place and it is customary to exchange gifts (much like modern winter holidays).
- There is no such thing as religion on Pern. This has been well-established by Ms. McCaffrey herself in various interviews. However, some people believe there is an afterlife of sorts, generally referred to as 'beyond between.'
- In part because of the previous statement, certain oaths and swears are not valid on Pern. There are a goodly number of (fun!) replacements though, such as the following:
- By Faranth's egg
- By the Egg
- By the Egg of Faranth
- By the first Egg
- By the shards of my dragon's egg
- By the Void that spawned us
- Eggshells!
- In the name of the Egg
- Scortch it!
- Shards!
- Shells!
- Through Fall, Fog, and Fire
- ((and more to come as we reread and research! XD))
- By Faranth's egg
- Ruth was the only dragon not of the common five colors. This was because he was forcibly hatched by Jaxom from a 'dud' egg. 'Dud' eggs contain dragons that, due to some genetic abnormality, did not develop fully or well enough to hatch, much like miscarriages and stillborn children in species who give live birth. Ruth was lucky in that he was simply lacking in pigmentation, size, and the ability to reproduce (he did not even rise to chase in mating flights) - which were likely caused by the cessation of his formation during the gestational period - and did not have a much more severe deformity. Dragons forcibly hatched from such eggs could be missing body parts, incredibly ill, or dead, and if able would likely go between shortly after. If they had already bonded to someone in that time-span, it could be completely devastating to that person.
- The bond between Rider and dragon is immense. When a Rider dies, the dragon will always go between and never return (thus committing suicide). When a dragon dies, it is incredibly common for its Rider to commit suicide in turn. Other Riders are very sensitive to this fact and may even offer to carry the former Rider between and drop him or her, and will not face repercussions for doing so. It is possible for the former Riders to overcome their devastation, but it is extremely difficult and they will likely never be truly happy again. While it is thought possible, it is thought of as morally repugnant to try to Impress again after the death of one's dragon.
- Within the Weyrs, there is no stigma placed on abortion as many female Riders unintentionally cause themselves miscarriages by going between during the first trimester before they even know they are pregnant. Sexual relations caused by flightlust can sometimes also lead to unwanted pregnancies and the phrase "take a short ride between" has become a common euphemism for abortion.
Here's an ongoing list of links that might be helpful in researching things needed to create characters and such. If you have any new ones, please message Rouxy about it.
www.freewebs.com/xdistantfuturesx/Essays/Kneazles_healing.htm
-Healing and a list of Pernese herbs.
www.silvertree.org/~romany/dragonhealing/practical.html
-A practical guide to dragon healing.
www.silvertree.org/~romany/dragonhealing/anatomy.html
-A guide to dragon anatomy.
www.2createawebsite.com/build/hex-colors.html
-A hex code color generator.
caribbean-joe.net/joe/Notebook/images/hex_colors.jpg
-A large list of hex codes and colors for those who don't want to use the generator.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pern
-A Wiki on Pern.
www.kadanzer.org/zipfiles/handbook/fauna.pdf
-The fauna of Pern in a handy PDF.
www.hollow-art.com/
-Images, icons and avatars to help with making signatures.
southern.silvertree.org/weyrlings/fromweyrlingtorider.pdf
-Weyrling health issues and healing.
www.angelfire.com/on2/menai/pernplants.html
-List of all Pernese plants.
i39.photobucket.com/albums/e195/Hseru/Cerulean/HatchlingsLaughingDove.gif
-Pixel version dragons for all your Signature needs. Made by Laughing Dove.