and is used with the permission of its owner, Anne McCaffrey. |
Subject: An Interview with Anne
Questions and answers on Dragonriders of Pern (TM), Copyright Anne McCaffrey
1967
Q: Can I ask silly techie questions about Pern, like can a brown rider
with
a really good brown, win a Sr. mating flight AND be the Weyrleader?
Or
would you prefer not to answer such things?
ANNE: Yes, you can refer knotty questions to me. Ista Weyr took
the break-off
from MY timeline of Pern as the moment Canth, F'nor's brown, rescues
Brekke's queen and successfully mates her. So yes, a brown rider
can
become Weyrleader if his brown is clever enough to `fly' a queen.
In
fact, I make that a very strong point in the latest story I'm writing.
Of
course, it's in the initial stages of the dragons' development when
the
size differential is not as great BUT it does work.
What I don't like are questions which sufficient thought and common
sense
would answer. Remember common sense in dealing with all matters
Pernese.
Those colonists weren't flakes!
Q: Can shipfish hear dragons? Or visa versa? ie. A shipfish
is calling
franicly to other shipfish for help, could a passing dragon hear it?
And
respond?
ANNE: Dolphins would only hear dragons if the dragon was just over water
or in
it...in this case, the sea. Remember dolphins move in pods so
that one in
danger would have podmates near enough to help in most cases.
Q: How were the fans that circulated air in Harper Hall powered?
(No
electricity)
ANNE: Well, when the Harper Hall was designed and built by Fulmar Stone,
he put
in a device, wayfar down, in the bowels of both Fort and the Harper
Hall,
that activated the fans...water power...and the perpetua mobile pump.
Q: Do watch whers have the ability to go between..Such as if their
'impressed partner' dies? (Very little is said about whers)
ANNE: Watchwhers can't go between and are generally photosensitive.
They do get
to know the scent of family and friends but will attack strangers in
the
night. Better than geese.
Q: I know that gold dragons can't chew firestone or flame because they
lack the ability, but can gold firelizards chew firestone and flame?
Do
they become sterile, like green dragons chewing firestone or does firestone
effect firelizard fertility at all?
ANNE: Gold fire-lizards did/do chew firestone and flame. Kitti
Ping made it
gender inhibitive for the queens, and the greens are kept infertile
because they chew firestone.
Q: When dragons mate, their riders are affected soo strongly that they
also
are driven to mate/make love/you get the idea.....How much are dragons
who are
not in heat affected by their riders making love? ie. Green and
blue
rider weyrmates in love and having sex, do the dragons just sit and
mentaly 'watch'? Or do they do anything with each other? (Rub
against
each other affectionatly? Mate outside of heat?) What about two
blue riders
in love or a gold rider who falls for a green rider?..(same sex dragons)
ANNE: When people mate, the dragons are interested and may respond,
depending on
Q: You said that Green riders are generally gay males...Is this always
the case?
ANNE: Green riders in my Pern world are ALWAYS gay males: blue riders
are
Q: Are female riders of fighting dragons (greens, blues and browns)
generaly
ANNE: In My Pern, there are still very few female green riders...only
Mirrim, in
Q: Do dragons ever mate for pleasure like humans? Outside of being proddy
(in
ANNE: Dragons don't do it for anything but procreation. That's
the way they are
Q: If a green dragon stops chewing firestone, can she produce a clutch
ANNE: No, greens have been infertile genetically for a long time, due
to
Q: If male green riders are always gay, what are female green riders?
ANNE: Female green riders - and there is only one in My Pern - aren't
lesbians,
Q: There are some wierd looking critters on the cover of Renegades of
Pern,
ANNE: The burden beasts that Michael depicted (and he couldn't have
read the
Q: (alt.fan.pern is currently arguing dragon genetics (again)
and its
ANNE: Ak-shually, Greg Benford had his students do that once - build
a dragon
Q: If a posted Journeyman happens to impress at the Weyr he/she is posted
ANNE: depends on the Weyr and the Crafthall, but mostly any
Q: What exactly is a Weyrsinger? Just a entertainer? Or a full
Harper or
ANNE: A Weyrsinger is a trained singer, but not necessary a Harper.
Not
B
ANNE: Weyrlings are taught the care (which takes up a lot of their time)
of
Q: Do firelizards speak telepathicly, in words like a dragon or just
empathic
ANNE: fire-lizards don't have words - they express stronger emotions
and can
Q: Other than Harpers, what forms of entertainment exist on Pern?
Are the
ANNE: I think singing, dancing are the main entertainments on Pern,
plus card
Q: Would there be people who do acts at gathers? Like jugglers,
ANNE: However, travelling entertainers did not go with the colony group...and
Q: I did sorta hope that Brekke could impress again, but
I do refer to this practice but probably such sentences, because that's
Forwarded from Jazmyn to Yarra, (Presumably from PernWorld) who added comments
Back to Sabria's Guide to Online Pern
whether or not the association is long standing. Casual encounters
because a green is proddy do not cause too much reaction. But
everyone in
a Weyr will feel a tad smarmy when the gold flies to mate.
Two blue
riders - no problem - the dragon is the important half in such encounters.
No gold queen rider would fall for a green rider! Besides which
green could catch a queen rider to mate. Let's be sensible about
this.
Green riders are generally gay males. Gold riders are fully female
women.
The two do not attract sexually but they can be good friends.
Is it posible to have bisexual green riders? For that manner, is it
posible for a bronze rider to be bisexual, even though they generaly
arn't?
usually bi-sexual and browns not averse to a little of what pleases
them
with greens. "The dragon decides!" But as such sexual tendencies
are not
at all unremarkable in a Weyr (where they would be abhorred in Hold
or
Hall), the matter is not at issue. Bronze riders in my books
are as
masculine as gold riders are feminine...but occasionally a bronze will
take a green - and it's up to the riders to decide if they want a like
match or will take each other. One can arrange for extra partners
of the
right persuasion.
of any particular sexual preferance? (Yes, I know that there
was only one
case in the book, but you know how fan clubs are about female riders)
fact. In the beginning, most green rides were females but they
kept
getting pregnant and not wanting to abort. There are NO blue,
brown or
bronze females riders. However, I do know female fans - another
reason
why I do not read fanzines.
mating heat)....(This is sorta what I was trying to ask before, but
wasn't
sure how to ask.)
built sexually - as mares, coming into season while the stallion is
almost
always ready! They can get quite smarmy with each other if they
are long
term weyrmates, like Mnementh and Ramoth, having good neck wraps and
nibbling itchy places on each other but once the fires are out, they're
out.
of fertile eggs?
continued use of firestone. It's just as well, considering how
active
greens are sexually...we'd be up to our eyeballs in little green dragons
for even the green fire-lizards never got more than an occasional blue
in
their clutches. `Neutering' them solves a lot of problems and
there can
be no exceptions to this rule.
Would a lesbian or bisexual female impress a blue or brown? (Though
I
do realize that women don't impress blues or browns in your Pern, it
sorta
seems logical in a way)
but more assertive women. Once, as you will discover in CHRONICLES
OF
PERN, women did ride greens, when blues and browns were definitely
male -
but they kept getting pregnant and being unable to fly except in the
queens wing. Then one or two gays were presented as candidates
and the
emphasis changed...blues went for male gays, greens for the female
ones.
Or blues could be AC/DC...likewise browns - and occasionally bronze
riders
would indulge. When the dragons decides, the rider complies.
Of course, in modern day weyrs, where there might not be sufficient
gays,
greens could impress women. Certainly they do in fan Weyrs.
Somehow,
though, I had a dislike of the guy who wanted to be a Weyrwoman and
ride a
gold. That turned me off like nothing else ever has. He
wasn't even very
personably - I met him at a signing - so I think he was on a power
trip
and that annoyed me even more. Yet he swore that he and his Weyr
would
stick to the traditions as outlined in my books. HOWWWWW?
I suppose a bisexual woman could ride any of the three lower orders,
as it
were, but not bronze and certainly not gold. There is a match
of
personalities between rider and dragon, and sensualities. You
can't
mismatch and not expect REAL BIG TRouble in Weyr City.
painted by M. Whelan, pulling wagons. Are these the decendants
of draft
horses or some creature not brought from Earth? Or just a case
of an
artist who doesn't read the books? or ?...There is also a furry
critter
on the back (Far left side) that looks like a squirrel?
book since I hadn't written it when he had time to do the cover but
we
discussed what I saw as the cover illo) are more or less what would
have
been bred - huge, bulky, tireless. The squirrel was his idea.
The
skybroom trees, too, but they were so great that there was no way I'd
veto
them. The burden beasts are a cross between a rhino and a musk
ox.
bought the original from Michael and it hangs in my dining room!
boring me to tears..and I was a Biology Major at CSUS. You would
swear
these people were trying to build their own dragons in the lab classes.)
and rationalize the fire-breathing aspects thereof. So did Peter
Dickenson in his FLIGHT OF THE DRAGON. He and his wife,
Robin McKinley,
visited here last year - she rode my horse a treat and he insisted
on
being allowed to weed the garden. Marvelous people! I had
the senior
lecturer on Reproductive Biology of Birmingham University (UK) working
on
the biology of my firelizards, thence to the dragons themselves.
He had
lots of fun, and did charts and things, with a whole biological
background. I didn't use as much as I should have, since he went
to so
much trouble, but the fact that I KNEW did come across, or so I'm told.
at..i.e. A WeyrHerder, Weyrharper, WeyrHealer, etc...Does that posted
jouneyman lose all position and they find a replacment or do they maintain
the post and do double-duty as both Weyrling and posted journeyman/master?
crafthall would be delighted to know that their journeywo/man was so
talented and they would keep their rank even as a rider. The
rider rank
being more important though than the Craft rank.
Weyrharper like C'gan was?
necessarily also a rider. Just someone who is talented and not
`just' an
entertainer because you remember that Traditional Ballads are taught
every
child - including weyrfolk children. C'gan was both.
Q: How much work does a Weyrling do? Or rather, how many hours
a day do they
train? Is it sorta like being in boot camp? (marching around
the bowl with
60lb packs? Aiie!) :)
dragons, learn the basics of flying formation, learn to get along with
their weyrmates, memorize a lot of locations, learn balance a-dragonback,
and as they are old enough, teach their dragons to chew firestone,
and how
to regurgitate the residue, take care of their harness, etc.
They also
have drills, passing fire-stone sacks midair, teaching their dragons
flexibility (like polo ponies midair) and also how to act while being
rescued during a fall. I cover that one in THE SECOND WEYR story
in the
Chronicle.
images? There were some points in the books where I wasn't sure.
pick up the mood of the people they are beholden to. They can
occasionally - the queens and the bronzes - project images or scenes
to
their people.
Traders much like the Gypsies of Earth and sometimes dance, tell fortunes,
etc.? Does Pern have anything like a circus? Maybe a preforming
troupe
that travels with the Traders from Hold to Hold? Perhaps a magician
or
trained animals?
games and the usual that follow any human civilization. But as
there are
no trained bears/cats/dogs, except spit dogs, I think things
would be
relatively innocent pleasures... TV has certainly reduced the art of
conversation to minimal exchanges. Sleight of hand, possibly.
They
wouldn't subjugate fire-lizards to the role of tricksters...that's
demeaning. I suppose there are always folk who need to have the
future
told - palmistry - but the traders are not gypsies so much as they
are
honest traders...Lilcamp is, after all, a corruption of Lilienkamp,
Joel,
the commissary chief. Racing, too, as Ruatha breeds speedy runners.
contortionists, acrobats (ground or mounted on runners), tightrope,
comedy
or clowns, or others who put on a thrilling show to amaze the masses?
I
wonder what a rider would say to someone who wanted to do an airial
act..Maybe a stunt involving hanging from a trapeze like thing or rope
hanging from the claws or harness of a flying dragon? (grin)
all the `acts' you mention would take professional guidance and expertise
to perfect. Let's say that very energetic dances stand in for
the other.
NO aerial acts either: enough are seen on a-dragonback to satisfy that
craving for danger. Youmight have stand up comedians, sleight
of hand,
but no much more. Singing and playing instruments would give
the
performer considerable cache. I don't see the other forms of
circus
entertainment being brought with them. I certainly don't mention
them in
D'Dawn. And the tinkers/travellers/gypsies were too `civilized'
by that
time of history. Lord, even the tinkers in Ireland (who are NOT
gypsies)
are leaving the road and settling down.
could see the problems a second dragon would have living with the memories
of the first. I wonder what would happen in the case of a young
weyrling
who had lost his/her dragon soon after impressing due to an accident?
Anne: Same thing applies - one impression is works: a second
doesn't. However,
the weyrling could probably 'make do' with fire-lizards as friends.
Not
the same, but something to fill the void.
Q: Errr....One thing I've never been able to figure...Just what IS
a
meatroll? I thought it might be sliced meat and cheese, wrapped
in a
crust and baked..Sorta like a cornish meat pie?
Anne: Meat rolls are what are known this side of the Atlantic as sausage
rolls -
a pasty, not necessarily tough but the sort which holds in juices,
filled
with meat - usually the scrap ends...could be hamburger(mince) or pork
stuffing. They can be cooked ahead, eaten cold and keep well
for several
days as travel food. OR they could be similar to the Indian pemmican
which was a variety of healthy foods/herbs/pulses.
Q: I sorta was wondering about dragon colors, as far as detailed
descrptions of a dragon. I know they come in differant shades
of blue,
brown, green, etc.., but do they ever have markings of any kind?
ie. A
light blue with darker blue neck, legs and tail or maybe a dark green
with
a lighter green patches..(sorta like a green on green pinto).
I had
decribed a brown once as having a small cream mark between his eyes,
shaped like a diamond, though it was sort of a birthmark. I once
wondered
wiether creatures born from eggs could have birthmarks, but once saw
a red
chicken with an odd white patch of feathers on its neck once and figured
it might be a posibility.
Anne: Dragon colors can actually mottle, but all overish - like a roan
or an
appie...but the same color, different shade. You geta wing of
dragons
together and you would see considerable variation in color but nothing
like with an underbelly a different shade...sort of like mixing
watercolors and blurring them. Most fighting dragons would have thread
scores/scars - even lumps of keloidal - like flesh where they didn't
quite
get *between* fast enough. NO stripes, no tortoise shell markings.
Q: I was wondering if firelizards go between when their 'people' die?
Anne: Fire-lizards merely return to the wild if their friend
dies. They're not on a self-destruct sequence. They usually
B
return to the place of birth - like a salmon.
Q: How intelligent are firelizards? Does the color of the firelizard
affect this? How intelligent are firelizards? Are
they as smart as a cat? A
non-pern dolphin? An IQ rating or range would give me an idea.
Anne: Color affects intelligence - the golds & bronzes being smarter
and
the greens really bubbleheaded. Fire-lizards are as intelligent as
the most
intelligent cat you've ever encountered. Dragon's intelligence
is on a
differant scale - more like dolphins...certainly NOT horses who are
pretty
dumb animals, though you have very smart ones within the parameters.
As thee should know better than I. The problem, or rather the
boon, for
dragons is that they don't remember events - or how would you get them
to go
through Fall after Fall. They DO have very fine instinctive response
to
situations, however.
B
Q: What is the IQ range of dragons for that matter?
Anne: IQ ranges are for psychiatrists. Too many people I know who are
very very
successful have far lower IQ scores than PhD's. What they have they
USE!
Q: Hmmm..A story that got sent to me made me wonder. Would a dragon
impress to a blind person? and perhaps be their eyes? Even
if the blind
person is quite able to live and function as well as any sighted person?
I never meant a blind rider in a threadfighting situation, but
in an
interval or such..One who maybe lost his/her sight due to accident.
Not
realy handicaped, but having learned to live indepenantly. Would
a young,
silly green be bright enough not to impress a blind person who fell
out of
the stands in front of her? Even if she couldn't look into her
eyes,
perhaps she could see into a brave heart? No Weyrleader in their
right
mind would allow such a person to fight thread, even if it was during
a
pass. I was thinking of a case where a person who is very empathic,
but
lost his/her sight due to an accident while young.
Anne: No blind riders...could have fire-lizards act as eyes, but how
in Hell
could a fighter KNOW when, how, Thread is falling. The pair are
a team
and not even a dragon can see everywhere at once, even with faceted
eyes.
NO deaf riders, and few with any physical impairment because fighting
adragonback is hard work, and keeping them clean is harder. You've
groomed horses - multiply that by three times and you've got the size
of a
dragon to keep clean.
Remember, too, that the gene pool of the original colonists had been
very
carefully analysed and all genetic faults rejected. By then, of course,
a
lot of medication was gene-alteration to improve overall health so
you'd
have few genetically transmitted faults. Of course, in the later
years
the medics have lost the art of genetic repair but they don't NEED
that
much because the gene stock was healthy and self-repairing. A
point to
remember. There can be enough bad falls, accidents, etc. to take
the
place of birth defects, thank you.
No, no blind riders. ONly absolutely healthy people can be
presented. There are dogs, on Pern, and there are fire-lizards
and they could be good seeing eye substitutes, but not dragon
Impressing a blind person no matter how empathic.
Q: I was under the impression that 'mercy draughts' were for use with
terminaly
ill patients by healers and not a means for dragonless riders to suicide.
Anne: Mercy draughts are generally reserved for the terminally ill.
Every
attempt IS made to help the unfortunate dragonless rider to adjust,
as
Lytol, Brekke etc. Some may suicide but not with healer help...unless
they know a healer well enough to coerce them into giving them the
fatal
drink. Drowning in the WEyr lake is usually the easiest.
Q: At what age are dragons taught to go between? What are the chances
of a
rather bright weyrling learning to go between on their own, if they
know
that they had to visualize first because someone had told them in casual
conversation?
Anne: Weyrlings are taught to go between anywhere from six months onward
but
generally at the year mark when both rider and dragon are considered
mature enough. The chances of a rather bright weyrling doing
it on his
own are high - but the penalties from Weyrleaders severe and all too
many
end up dead from not knowing HOW. Weyrlingmaster impress on the
young
under their care that they are NOT to do this, no matter how tempted.
It
isn't a question of being `dared' by their peer group either.
The
weyrlings spend hours from the beginning of their training memorizing
the
fireheights of holds which are the identifying landmarks butr equally
so
they are cautioned again and again about making solo jumps without
assistance.
Q: Are weyrlings allowed to transfer to another Weyr if they are having
trouble fitting in or getting along at the weyr they impressed at?
How often do
riders ever transfer to another Weyr? Other then bronze riders
who won sr
mating flights?
B
Anne: Weyrlings are transferred to another Weyr...and often bronzes
and browns
are sent as mature riders to `help' out if the incumbents are injured
and
the Weyrleader asks another Weyr to send replacements for a limited
time.
Sometimes the time expands to unlimited. In the case of friendships
growing up between blue/green/brown riders, transfers occur frequently
to
keep the friends together...if the transfer is agreeable to both
Weyrleaders in question. This occurred more in the beginning
of Dragon
history - then Weyrs got paranoid, especially before a Fall, keeping
all
their good men and trying to shift the less able. The Oldtimers
were
firmly against such inter-weyr cooperation until F'lar bested T'ton
and
the dissedent Oldtimers were exiled to the Southern Continent.
all they'd be, were lost in the complexities of various plot lines.
and sent it on.