Whers are just ugly, flightless Dragons that speak like children...right?
Wrong.
Yes, both dragons and whers require a strong personality to control, but while Dragons are only violent in response to Thread or a threat to their rider, Whers are innately and in some cases have been bred specifically to be dangerously violent, vicious creatures.
However, the good news is there are 3 types of Whers to consider which are distinctly different: Wild, Lilacape, and the half wild-half Lilacape mixes.
Lilacape whers were bred to be not just better guards but also better companions- more like a partner instead of just a hair-trigger living weapon. Lilacape and Wild whers are not a separate species- they are just different breeds. As such, Wild whers and Lilacape whers are able to interbreed which results in the mixbreed wher having both physical and mental characteristics of both parents. First, the physical differences between all the types will be discussed, then the behaviour and mental differences.
Yes, both dragons and whers require a strong personality to control, but while Dragons are only violent in response to Thread or a threat to their rider, Whers are innately and in some cases have been bred specifically to be dangerously violent, vicious creatures.
However, the good news is there are 3 types of Whers to consider which are distinctly different: Wild, Lilacape, and the half wild-half Lilacape mixes.
Lilacape whers were bred to be not just better guards but also better companions- more like a partner instead of just a hair-trigger living weapon. Lilacape and Wild whers are not a separate species- they are just different breeds. As such, Wild whers and Lilacape whers are able to interbreed which results in the mixbreed wher having both physical and mental characteristics of both parents. First, the physical differences between all the types will be discussed, then the behaviour and mental differences.
Physical Differences:
Size and body type wise, the main two types (Wild and Lilacape) have a large gap between them with mixes lying between the two main types (as shown here):
Full Lilacape Size at maturity (approximately):
|
Pure Bred Wild at maturity (approximately):
|
Half Lilacape/Half Wild at maturity (approximately):
|
Essentially, Lilacape whers of any color are smaller and more compact than their Wild counterparts. The book's canon whers (our Wild and Watchwher whers) describe them as being the size of a small horse, so Lilacape whers are more the size of a large dog or small pony. Putting it in comparison: a female Great Dane on the larger side of their average height is 2.5 ft at the shoulder which is still a half a foot too short for the average Lilacape green wher, while a pony can only be between 14 and 14.3 hands (4.65-4.9ft) tall at the shoulders and so is just a little over the average size of a Lilacape gold. However, despite that Lilacape whers are smaller than Wild Whers they are still capable of killing any lifeform (including other whers) on Pern except their larger Dragon cousins.
As well as being bred to be smaller, Lilacapes were also bred in an effort to help restore the faceting to their eyes so that whers might have better daylight sight and the result is that Lilacape wher's eyes are less photo-sensitive.
As well as being bred to be smaller, Lilacapes were also bred in an effort to help restore the faceting to their eyes so that whers might have better daylight sight and the result is that Lilacape wher's eyes are less photo-sensitive.
Mental and Behavior Differences:
Lilacapes were bred with not only different physical traits in mind, but behavioral and mental traits as well. They were bred to be more social, more intelligent, and more emphatic.
The Lilacape whers were bred to have calmer temperaments and to be more easily controllable. A comparison would be the differences between a domestic dog vs. a feral dog: they are the same species but are vastly different in their interactions with other dogs/animals/people.
On the other side of the coin, a Wild Wher or a Watchwher are essentially still wild creatures and the WatchWhers have even been brutalized for turns so both have a highly developed 'fight' response and a rather under developed 'flight' one.
Here's an example of the resulting difference in violent behavior:
While a original wild wher would probably attack all strangers at first sight, with the goal being to kill that stranger, a Lilacape would tend to challenge the newcomer and then would only attack if the person was deemed threatening. Other than the challenge, the Lilacape would just sound an alarm to let their person or pack know that there was a newcomer on the premises.
The attitude of a Lilacape wher has also seen development through their developed higher intelligence. A Lilacape wher has an attitude much similar to a loyal canine in that they receive lots of satisfaction from praise and reassurance that they have properly guarded and protected either their territory or their person well. They are also more doglike in the attention they desire from their people and are playful as well as work less on the hair-trigger response that the wild whers have. Still, even without that hair-trigger response a Lilacape wher still has to be trained because, like any wher, they do not have the same inhibitor that dragons do about harming humans. This means, that if a human who was either impressed or bonded to a wher was attacked then the wher would attack the attacker with all the strength and power they have in their bodies and jaws- meaning a wher could literally bite off a limb when in this mindset. So, despite all the calmness bred into the Lilacapes, it’s still a wher and is a predator who will attack and kill if provoked.
As a result of the breeding to alter the eye facets of the Lilacapes to be less photosensitive, a Lilacape wher can be trained to wear special darkened wher-goggles so that it could walk in the full sun without being blinded, unlike a wild wher who would gets irritated in a strong glow light. This doesn’t mean they lose all their nocturnal habits, as that is their natural state, but that they are just less nocturnal.
Whers can also be trained to ride on a dragon with a kind of Wher saddle-mat (a large leather mat with slotted leather webbing where they can grip with their talons) and a more basic flight belt. Depending on the size of the dragon and wher, the dragon can also be trained to carry the wher for short distances in their forelegs. But realistically it would be harder, for example, for a small green dragon to carry a larger gold wher.
A wher will also gravitate to it’s own area or nook in their territory, someplace the wher calls it’s own, and most smaller animals (cats, dogs, and flits included) can be regarded by the wher as food instead of a pet.
The Lilacape whers were bred to have calmer temperaments and to be more easily controllable. A comparison would be the differences between a domestic dog vs. a feral dog: they are the same species but are vastly different in their interactions with other dogs/animals/people.
On the other side of the coin, a Wild Wher or a Watchwher are essentially still wild creatures and the WatchWhers have even been brutalized for turns so both have a highly developed 'fight' response and a rather under developed 'flight' one.
Here's an example of the resulting difference in violent behavior:
While a original wild wher would probably attack all strangers at first sight, with the goal being to kill that stranger, a Lilacape would tend to challenge the newcomer and then would only attack if the person was deemed threatening. Other than the challenge, the Lilacape would just sound an alarm to let their person or pack know that there was a newcomer on the premises.
The attitude of a Lilacape wher has also seen development through their developed higher intelligence. A Lilacape wher has an attitude much similar to a loyal canine in that they receive lots of satisfaction from praise and reassurance that they have properly guarded and protected either their territory or their person well. They are also more doglike in the attention they desire from their people and are playful as well as work less on the hair-trigger response that the wild whers have. Still, even without that hair-trigger response a Lilacape wher still has to be trained because, like any wher, they do not have the same inhibitor that dragons do about harming humans. This means, that if a human who was either impressed or bonded to a wher was attacked then the wher would attack the attacker with all the strength and power they have in their bodies and jaws- meaning a wher could literally bite off a limb when in this mindset. So, despite all the calmness bred into the Lilacapes, it’s still a wher and is a predator who will attack and kill if provoked.
As a result of the breeding to alter the eye facets of the Lilacapes to be less photosensitive, a Lilacape wher can be trained to wear special darkened wher-goggles so that it could walk in the full sun without being blinded, unlike a wild wher who would gets irritated in a strong glow light. This doesn’t mean they lose all their nocturnal habits, as that is their natural state, but that they are just less nocturnal.
Whers can also be trained to ride on a dragon with a kind of Wher saddle-mat (a large leather mat with slotted leather webbing where they can grip with their talons) and a more basic flight belt. Depending on the size of the dragon and wher, the dragon can also be trained to carry the wher for short distances in their forelegs. But realistically it would be harder, for example, for a small green dragon to carry a larger gold wher.
A wher will also gravitate to it’s own area or nook in their territory, someplace the wher calls it’s own, and most smaller animals (cats, dogs, and flits included) can be regarded by the wher as food instead of a pet.
Mixed-Breed Whers:
Now a 50/50 (or 25/75, or any other fraction of Lilacape and Wild Whers) would essentially be a mix of both parents physical and mental/behavioral traits. While it could easily lean more one way or the other in most things they are like any animal in that they are a mix of their parents.
An example of a way to split the attributes for a 50/50 would be a wher who leans more toward Lilacape in temperament and photo-sensitivity (making it easier for a person impressed/bonded to the wher to not have to work at night and so that the wher would be able to stand the some sunlight once trained to wear goggles). But to balance out the Lilacape parent with traits of the Wild Wher parent, an option might be to make the size and body type lean more prominently to the Wild Wher side- making this 50/50 much noticeably larger and bulkier than its Lilacape counterparts- literally about a full foot taller and around 500 pounds heavier.
An example of a way to split the attributes for a 50/50 would be a wher who leans more toward Lilacape in temperament and photo-sensitivity (making it easier for a person impressed/bonded to the wher to not have to work at night and so that the wher would be able to stand the some sunlight once trained to wear goggles). But to balance out the Lilacape parent with traits of the Wild Wher parent, an option might be to make the size and body type lean more prominently to the Wild Wher side- making this 50/50 much noticeably larger and bulkier than its Lilacape counterparts- literally about a full foot taller and around 500 pounds heavier.