Letter from Dawn

Todd,

As a member of several pbem clubs, Hollow Peak Weyr and FireHeart Weyr being the main ones, I have a question about whers that you may or may not be able to answer. As strict canon clubs, we are having some confusion in incorporating the new canon regarding whers. There may be other questions in the future, but I have a burning need to know how whers mate. In the past, before Dragon’s Kin, we were led to believe that whers did not fly. Now we know that they can and do fly at night and also fly fall led by the golds/queens.

So, to wrap it up, 1.)How do whers mate? 2.)About how many eggs would they have in one clutch? 3.)Is one able to tell that there is a gold egg in a wher’s clutch like the dragons, or is it more like with the fire-lizards, basically having to guess, the egg possibly being larger than the others?

I think that is it for now. It would mean a lot to me as someone who has a gold wher handler at Hollow Peak and it would help to dispel some more of people’s reluctancies to write for wher handlers. Any other tidbits of info on whers would be helpful and greatly appreciated if you should want to throw some out my way.

Thank you,
~Clear Skies~
~Dawn~

Dawn,

Hmmm. Eeek. Canon? Oh, dear!

My first bit of advice on canon regarding watch-whers is to be patient and flexible. You’ll get more in Dragon’s Fire — at least as it is now (which may not be what it’ll be when it’s finished) and a whole lot more when we get a chance to tell more of Nuella’s story.

I understand and applaud your desire to get things right for your clubs but I have to warn you that as a writer, I concentrate only on those things necessary for the plot to work. This means that until I have an absolute need to understand something, I don’t really have it sorted out (nor does Mum, I consult with her on everything).

That said, I’ll take a stab at answering your questions. I say “stab,” it’s because I reserve the right to change my mind for the sake of telling a better story (again, with Mum’s full consent and agreement).

1. Whers mate by a mating flight. The mating flights occur at night. Watch-whers are genetically more similar to dragons than to fire-lizards. Watch-whers, as we know from Dragonflight, are nocturnal so they mate at night. Watch-whers, like dragons, use telekinesis to fly more than they use wings — this is most clearly illustrated in “The Skies of Pern” with F’lessan’s Golanth.

2. I don’t know. I haven’t got my mind made up on that; Mum and I will get into a conversation about that (probably when I start working on the next book dealing with Nuella). The best answer I can give you is “some.” I’m reasonably sure that the number is less than a dragons’ clutch but I don’t know if it’s more or less than a fire-lizards’ clutch. On this question I’m definitely going to reserve our right to change our mind. For reasons you can probably guess, the math involved is going to get interesting.

3. The watch-wher eggs are in between fire-lizards and dragons. I suspect that a queen watch-wher has a good chance of knowing a queen egg but will probably be reluctant to reveal the information.

I wish I could be more helpful but I suspect that you’ll get some relief on your issues when you read Dragon’s Fire. Your questions are good and match many of the questions that I’ve been considering!

Cheers,
Todd