Whers
by T'star

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.

Whers are foul tempered creatures. They typically are NOT friendly to anyone who is not their own particular person. As they are far more intelligent than Firelizards they can be trained to a 'friend' and 'foe' recognition, but for the most part they do not tollerate casual contact. There are a few notable exceptions but as a whole Whers aren't friendly. They were never intended as pets.

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 Maine Coon. 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.

Whers, like dragons, come in five colors. Greens, unlike dragons, are not sterile, though unlike firelizards not all green matings result in eggs. It is a very rare green clutch that actually hatches, even when the eggs that /are/ laid are cared for. Wher and dragon cycles are very similar beyond that, though greens run less often than green dragons fly, the potential for eggs slowing that cycle down a trifle.

Gold whers run about twice a turn. They will lay their eggs after about 2 months pregnancy, and will then incubate the eggs on the sands for another roughly 2 months. Clutchsizes are usually much smaller than a Dragon's averaging around 5-12 eggs. There are smaller and larger clutches, but they are not common.