Whers

Whers are the larger cousins of Firelizards.  They were created after the dragons as an attempt to replicate Kitty Ping's accomplishment with the dragons.  They were deemed a 'failed' experiment.  They did, however, come to serve a sort of 'guard dog' purpose.  Because of their nocturnal tendencies they made excelent night watchmen; however, the problem of finding someone who could propperly /handle/ the wher without getting a hand bitten off was another story entirely.  Many Holds have wher handlers.  Many guard units have a night watch that uses whers. Some Lord Holders have acquired them as personal guards, as have some Craft Masters, but the Beastcraft thoroughly investigates any attempt to acquire one legally, and gold eggs are never given out.  Rumors of illegal stock crop up every so often, as do rumors of people acquiring wild ones, but even in the Southern Continent such things are rare.

Whers, like dragons, come in five colors. Greens, unlike dragons, are not sterile, though unlike firelizards there is a very high chance that a green mating will result in NO eggs.  It is a very rare green clutch that actually hatches, even when the eggs that /are/ laid are cared for.  Gold Whers currently lay only 4-5 eggs per clutch and only run about once a year.  They are more numerous than Gold Dragons, but are almost exclusively in the wild or held by legal wher breeders.

Whers hatch about the size of a full grown house cat, with greens about the size of a siamese and the golds about the size of a Maincoon.  The difference becomes more accute as they grow.  Gold whers are roughly the same size as a Siberian tiger. With greens, on the small end, being about the same size as a leopard. There is some variance but that is the general rule.

If you want a wher you must have an IC reason to have one. They are /not/ pets.