Lyer Wyer - Guide to Mating Flights

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Dec 1, 2009, 4:56am

Leyr Weyr Information
Staff Amber (Creator, Admin) Kai(MIA) Prissy (Admin) Mikal Mod	Congratulations to Lihana rider of Blue Jenenoth for catching Green Avalith. Congratulations to K'nor, Rider of Bronze Kintrath AND S'nar rider of Bronze Cinenth for catching Gold Jyrith Attention everyone, please try to recruit people as a clutch will be laid soon and then we will have a hatching.. Alright ya'll if you have a female dragon, firelizard, or wher and she is going to rise soon, please make note of that and please have her do so, because otherwise I'll just keep canceling them.		Summer is here and that means long days short nights and warm temps
Dragon Flight schedule		Firelizard and Wher Flight schedule
Desperately Needed Characters: -Candidates -Wherhandlers -Weyr staff -Wher Canidates -Dragon Canidates -Crafters(marks will be given for creating crafters) -Holders -Dragon Riders	*Attention* If you were posting in the mating flight please post again or loose the chance to help run the weyr.		Calender

Lyer Wyer :: Basic info :: Dragonriders of Pern Information :: Guide to Mating Flights

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Topic: Guide to Mating Flights (Read 34 times)

Kai
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Guide to Mating Flights
« Thread Started on Aug 30, 2008, 11:45am »

Out of all the topics in Anne McCaffrey's there is one topic that is constantly debated by fans. Dragon sex is not described in intense detail, but there are a few common elements in each book. Using these and a basic understand of the rest of Pern, one is able to fill in the gaps. Remember, while the Dragonriders of Pern books are a great work of fiction they still had to be marketed. Young adults do not want a play by play of the actions as much as an adult would.

Now remember there are two types of two female dragons. However, unlike humans all dragons only mate for procreation. The first major difference between Golds and Greens is that the later are sterile by genetic design. (It is a popular myth that chewing firestone causes a dragon to be sterile. However it is also commonly accepted that Kitty Ping chose to design Greens this way. Remember, bronzes chew firestone but they are not sterile. See the logic gap?) Greens rise much more often than their larger sister, often rising to mate four or even five times per turn. A Gold dragon on the other hand rises usually one or twice a turn but her mating flight is much more intense. The emotions broadcasted by a Gold on her flight are very powerful. When a Queenflight occurs close to a Hold, the birthrate rises substantially for a short time. When many Holds having four to six hundred dragon –half of which are Greens- Pern should be very happy that a Green’s mating flight is not that powerful. Otherwise Pern would soon be over populated!

So what time will a mating flight occur? It is often speculated that mating flights will not occur during the night, due to the sun giving the dragons more energy. Whether that is true or not we do know one thing: Dragons cannot see at night. (Whers are their nocturnal cousins if you remember.) A mating flight can be a dangerous thing but imagine trying to do it in the dark! Another rule of thumb is that dragons will under no circumstance rise during thread fall. Nothing deters romance after all, like acidic thread. Somehow their bodies are able to adjust and have the dragon rise the day before or after the thread fall.

Since dragon genitalia is located at the base of the tail, dragons are often described as mating like eagles. When a male is either chosen by or catches a female, he digs his talons into her shoulder to support her. While the Queen folds her wings the Bronze must struggle to fly for both of them. Obviously this is not going to be easy which explains why Queen need to fly as high as the can. Another reason for the height is that the longer mating occurs the longer the Bronze has to impregnate the Queen and by logic the better the clutch will be. Queen eggs only result from a long mating, which often explains why older Queens are more likely to produce a Queen egg.

Logically most people have to ask how a small male catches a large female. Please remember the Queen wants to be caught. Otherwise she could simply fly between and she would never be caught and there would be no dragon eggs. However while Queens want to be caught, they are not going to do so lightly. Unlike Greens they will only mate with the best of the bronzes. Younger Queens sometimes are physically caught by a bronze while older and more experienced Queens will choose. A bronze is smaller than the Queen, giving him a bit more maneuverability. On the other side a Queen is larger with more stamina. Trickery and experience also plays a part in mating flights for a bronze while Queens often try to play the bronzes against each other.

Greens

A Green rises to make between three to five times a turn.
Their mating flight is much shorter lasting only ten to perhaps thirty minutes in total.
Unlike Queens, a Green needs less energy when she rises to mate. Therefore a Green usually will only blood a kill if she has not eaten for a while.
The emphasis on a Green flight is speed. Greens do not produce eggs, so a long mating is not necessary.
Perhaps the largest difference is that the losers of Green flight do not have ‘leftover’ emotions. Of course, their muscles are probably rather sore.

Golds

A Gold rises to either once or twice a turn. This due to the fact that after mating their bodies make eggs and then they had to care for them until they hatch.
A Queenflight is much longer last between thirty to sixty minutes in total.
While this is only an estimation, a Queen usually seems to blood between one to three herdbeasts depending on how hungry and large she is. A Queen should never eat the animals she kills before a mating flight, because the meat will not disgust quickly enough and will only slow her down.
The emphasis on a Gold flight is stamina. The Queen must have time to either choose or be caught by the best bronze that the Weyr has to offer.
With all of the emotions being broadcasted, males that loose a Queenflight will be both sore and lusting. The losers of a Queen flight often seek a Green for their needs.
Werylings are not allowed to be near a Gold flight, seeing as their dragons are not mature enough yet to handle all of the emotions being thrown around.

Humans

The last part of a dragon mating flight is the human. I have saved them for last because that is their importance. Always remember that the dragon complies and the rider obeys. This is mainly why only a heterosexual female can Impress a Gold. With all of the emotions occurring from a mating flight there is no logical way for her to avoid having sex. When a flight occurs the men usually gather around the rider of the female dragon. When a flight begins dragons and riders are only focusing on the skies. When a winner has been chosen, most human females are not going to care who they are with. The flight-lust of their Golds choice is just too powerful. This is the basic aspect mind you and some riders will have a small amount of more control. They might be able to recognize who they are going to have sex with or they might be on the other side of the spectrum and not know until they wake up the next morning! Thankfully Anne never mentions anything about STDs. As you can imagine they could probably destroy a Weyr rather quickly.

Ever wonder why candidates sometimes have to come from Holds? First of all this probably helps to avoid inbreeding. But going between often makes it nearly impossible for a female dragon rider to have birth. (Ironically men never seem to have any problems even though their gentiles are more exposed to the intense cold of between.) And even if a female does become pregnant, she has a good chance of losing the baby without even knowing. If a rider goes between in the first trimester (the time when it is not possible to know if you are pregnant or not) the fetus will die from the cold. Sometimes this does not occur with Gold riders but a Green rider must go between far too frequently to honestly expect to ever have children. But if a child is born they stay with the mother for a very short time before being sent to a fostering system. The fostering system was created so that children would always be loved, and never neglected because of a to-busy parent.

The final topic I have to address is sexual loyalty. A dragon’s mating choice is in no way a full reflection of the riders. A Green female rider can be anything from hetero to homo or even bisexual. However, the only thing that will occur during a mating flight from a female green rider is male-female sex. The same thing can be said for a bronze that catches a male’s green dragon. Bronzes riders are heterosexual but will engaged in male to male sex because of their dragon. Weyrs are very open because of this, understanding also that a human cannot be chained long term to their dragon’s sexual choice. From time to time riders might be lucky enough to have their dragon fly someone they like but this is the acceptation rather than the rule. Some of the time, riders will choose a Weyrmate (think boyfriend or girlfriend) to go for the rest of their sexual needs. Other riders may never choose a ‘partner’ due to all of the flight mating.

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