Rules and Posting Guidelines

These are the rules of Atora Weyr, progressing from the simplest (and, thus, the most important) to the most complex - and, thus, the most bendable. If you have any questions about the rules - or, heck, objections to the way things are done here - feel free to write an e-mail to the BoD, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Promise. We won't bite.

The Basics

1.) No characters created by Anne McCaffrey are allowed. Not that they'd even exist, in our timeline.

2.) No religion, magic, or war on Pern should be mentioned in your characters' histories, or suddenly sprung on the club in the middle of roleplay.

3.) Other universes, whether created by Anne McCaffrey or other people, will never be involved with Pern.

4.) There are only five dragon colors: gold, bronze, brown, blue, and green. There are no other colors, and there are no sport dragons in this club.

5.) Until the end of time, golds will Impress only women, bronzes only men.

6.) Fanfiction set at Atora Weyr and published somewhere other than the club's roleplaying lists will not be permitted without the permission of the BoD and the owners of any characters mentioned or written about in the fanfiction in question.

Atora Weyr Rules

1.) Dragons will impress as below. These rules are subject to change in the future if the BoD ever feels like it, but the more traditional feel of this club is such that at this time we're not sure we want to include women riding blue and brown dragons. Our rules on sexuality are very loose - notes on sexuality are norms, not requirements. There's a place, hypothetically, for a homosexual bronzerider and a lesbian Weyrwoman. Hypothetically.

Golds – Heterosexual women, typically.

Bronzes – Heterosexual men, typically.

Browns – Men, often Heterosexual but by necessity Flight Bisexual.

Blues – Men, usually bisexual, but on occasion either heterosexual or homosexual men also.

Greens – Men, frequently homosexual, sometimes bisexual, rarely heterosexual; Women, less frequently, of any orientation.

2.) While dragons come only in the above flavors of the rainbow, they can vary in shade. You can have a lime green dragon, and a forest green dragon, and an emerald green dragon. They all occur. Just, no silver-mottled dragons with green spots. Keep them green (or blue or brown or bronze or gold).

3.) A person may only have one female greenrider, who may be Impressed in play or submitted as a backdated Weyrling or adult rider. This limit is to prevent an unrealistically high percentage of female riders - in this setting, women on fighting dragons are rare. Gold dragons will be assigned by the BoD, either through Impression or transfer for plot purposes. In general, we'll approach you - not the other way around - if we want one of your characters to ride Gold.

3.) Male riders elide their names using the honorific. If you’re wondering, it’s usually the first vowel in their name that’s elided, for example, Dorian becomes D’rian, Aobert becomes A’bert. That's not to say you can't get creative, however. Women do not, typically, elide their names - though women on Green dragons may choose to shorten their names by a few syllables if it's a little long, for ease of pronunciation during Threadfall.

4.) No cute names. I don’t like K’mart and Walmarth. I also don’t want to see any dragons named Death, Bath, Labyrinth, Wrath, etc. Also, human and flit names will not end in 'th'. Only dragon names, people, to save confusion. If you absolutely have to have a persona's name end in the "th" sound, just add a silent "e". Please?

5.) Your personae will not be descended from Anne’s characters. They will not have the same names. Oh, and we can see past Lissa instead of Lessa, especially if her dragon’s name is Ramuth.

6.) Firelizards, also known as flits and flitters, come in the same flavors as their dragon counterparts. However, firelizards will impress anyone, regardless of sex or orientation. Gold firelizards will only be given out by the BoD, and each member, not persona, may only have one gold firelizard. Bronzes will be permitted sparingly. Firelizard names will not end in ‘th’. See above on silent "e"s. Please keep the number of pets any of your character down to a reasonable level - a level such that each pet receives attention during roleplay. Dogs and cats are unlikely pets at the Weyr; no rider would be crazy enough to impress more than one or two firelizards, what with a full-sized dragon to take care of, too.

7.) If you want your gold or green firelizard to clutch, please inform the BoD. Greens will not produce metallic hatchlings. The IC owners of green firelizards have discretion as to who receives eggs. Please remember ICly that not all green firelizard eggs will hatch - maybe eight or nine per clutch, if the green lays where you can find the eggs! At a Weyr location, it's custom for all the eggs of a Gold firelizard clutch to be handed over to the Weyrwoman for distribution. The BoD will decide the color distribution of the clutch. At locations other than the Weyr, Gold firelizard owners may do what they will with the eggs - though again, color distribution will be assigned by the BoD. Keep clutches small for IC reasons, please? More than fifteen's a bit much, even for a Gold clutch.

8.) Male Candidates are, at Atora, permitted to stand at ages between twelve and twenty-two turns. Females, ostensibly standing for Gold only, are to be between fifteen and twenty-five turns of age. Dragonriders must be sixteen turns or older to fight and train with a fighting wing. Younger riders are not physically and emotionally mature enough; they will stay on in the Senior Weyrlings' wing until they are of age.

9.)Weyrwomen will generally be no younger than thirty turns, as before that age they are not considered to be experienced enough. Though, by tradition, upon the death of the Weyrwoman the first rider's queen to rise becomes Weyrwoman, in unusual cases the Weyr Council may ride roughshod over tradition. However, if there are no other suitable candidates, a Weyr may turn to a younger rider. Weyrleaders will usually be no younger than twenty-five turns, as before that they are not generally experienced enough, either to gain the approval of the Weyr - often a factor in flights - or for their dragons to have the wiles and wits to catch a queen; their Wingseconds - the "Weyrsecond" - are usually no younger than twenty-five either.

10.)Headwomen are experienced women of the Lower Caverns, usually senior in age and and turns on the job. The BoD is highly unlikely to approve any character as Headwoman who is younger than thirty-five turns.

11.)The Weyrlingmaster is an experienced older rider, typically unfit for duty in a fighting wing for physical reasons or age. The Weyrlingmaster's purview falls over all Weyrlings and, when a clutch is on the sands, the Candidates also. There are no "CandidateMasters" at Atora Weyr - rather, the Weyrlingmaster and his assistants have charge of the candidates. Frequently one of the Weyrlingmaster's several assistants will have special charge of the candidates. Assistants to the Weyrlingmaster often hold the position for only a turn or two, as they are often younger riders taking some time off from Wingriding. They may also be permanently disabled riders who can best serve the Weyr by assisting in training those fit for duty. By tradition, the Weyrlingmaster rides Bronze; however, this is not a law, and a more liberal Weyrleader may choose to shake things up.

12.) Depending on the craft, Apprentices are generally no younger than ten to twelve turns. Journeymen and women are to be no younger than eighteen, Masters no younger than thirty-five or forty.

13.) Gold dragons stop rising after roughly forty years of life. Their riders will become Retired Weyrwomen, whose duties will be as advisors and mid-level administrators.

14.) You do not need permission to hold a Green Flight. Gold Flights will be scheduled by the BoD; winners of Gold flights will be determined by the BoD in a flight to determine the Weyrleadership, between the Gold's writer and the Bronzes' writers during the flight of a junior weyrwoman - unless there's a plot a-brewing, in which case the BoD may again step in. Clutch sizes, color distribution, and Impressions will be decided in collaboration between the BoD, the Gold's owner, and, if the character's owner so wishes, the Bronze's owner, too.

15.) No persona will have psychic powers. There will only be one HAD or HAF, not available at the current time, and that persona will not be riding a metallic dragon.

Roleplaying Rules

Atora is an interesting Weyr in this respect. We are primarily a Round-Robin style Weyr, but each member must submit at leastone full or copost to the Mailing List every three months for each persona. This is because while Round-Robin is great, it doesn’t necessarily require that you write much, and this is a writing club, no?

When you post Round-Robin Style, you have to include this in the subject line:

Title: {Attn: Characters}

ex - Dancing Headless Wherries {Attn: Kitchen Workers}

Inside the post, above the actual roleplay, include this short heading:

Date:

Location:

Dates can be written exactly, referring to a precise day, or indirectly, by referencing events that have happened in the past or will happen in the future. For example, an indirect method of stating the date would be "Two days after clutching, before first candidate class."

Here are a few shorthand abbreviations of Locations -

Abbreviation	Location Name
AW	Atora Weyr
AIMH	Atora Island Minor Hold
DH	Daragon Hold
JH	Jinani Hold
BCH	Beastcraft Hall
SCH	Seacraft Hall
FCH	Farmcraft Hall

When you post a full or copost, you must state that it is a standalone/full post in the subject line, along with the title and characters involved. The heading might look like this:

Fullpost. Dancing Headless Wherries. {Demmie, Mora}

Title: The title of your post.

Personae: The personae involved.

Summary: A very short summary of the plot.

Date: When it takes place (use this format: Day (D), Month (M), Present Pass or Interval turn number(PP or I)

NPCs: Any NPCs you used.

Mentioned: Any prominent NPCs or PCs that you mentioned.

Attn: Anyone who should pay attention to this post.

Notes: Anything else you feel like saying!

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Post. 3 Paragraphs to be submitted, 5 Paragraphs to meet requirements.

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Your Name, Your email Address

Your Persona’s Name and Rank and (if applicable) Dragon Name

Your Persona’s Pets (if mentioned to meet their post requirements)

Here's a blank version:

Title:
Personae:
Subject:
Date:
Weather:
NPCs:
Mentioned:
Attn:
Notes:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Your Post
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Your Name, Email
Persona Name and Rank, Dragon Name
Pet Names