Hatching Guide |
Guide to SP Canon regarding Hatchings! |
Welcome to our Hatching Guide! Because we do things different in some ways than other sites, we feel its important for you to have a layout to reference when it comes to PC Clutches, and what it means for you as an RPer, and your applicable characters. OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION PC Clutch We will have as many of these each year as we feel required by the Player population. As a rule, we will hold a PC Clutch at any time there are a minimum of two PC Candidates who are ready to Impress. This can take away some of the surprise if its well known there are only a couple of you after a dragon, but we feel its worth the exchange to get your Character on dragon back in a timeframe that fits your plans for them. While we can host a Semi-PC Clutch for a single Candidate, we prefer to have at least two so that you have someone to RP your Weyrling with. It should be noted that we will never Impress more than five Characters at a single Hatching, even if that Hatching is made up of multiple Clutches. A Semi-PC clutch is a clutch that is played out in the barest manner, very similar to an NPC clutch, but with a PC Impression. Candidate Application It is absolutely paramount that you fill out a Candidate Application (link this) as soon as possible. You can list it as a ‘WiP’ for any character you don’t want to actually Impress yet (eg, Stand Only Candidates). Change it to ‘Complete’ when you are ready to have that character considered for Impression. You can make this change at any time. Additionally, you can update your Application at any time. Just post a bump to the thread letting us know that you made changes, and what those changes were. If you do not fill out an Application, even if the Team knows what colour dragon you are after, even if you have 9,000 posts, you will not Impress. This is because we need in writing what it is you are after. We need you to lay down the information in a clear and blunt manner so that the dragonet writer can write the best possible match not only for your Character, but for you the Player. If your dragonet isn’t something you’ll enjoy playing, you won’t play it. Injury Application If you don’t fill out an Injury Application, your character will not be injured – whether at a Hatching, in training, in a Plot or anything of the like – without your knowledge. By filling out an Injury Application, you’re allowing us to pop in and say ‘hey, this happened’ as part of a plot line. This can be a lot of fun, but it isn’t for everyone. Therefore, no Application will be read as no permission. That said, if you wish to fill out an Application, you can be as specific and detailed as you want! If you have any questions, please feel free to hit up the @Team in Discord, or post a thread in Private Applications (link this) where the Team can talk with you privately! Posting Requirements As a general rule, there are no requirements when it comes to your character’s post count prior to Impressing them. However – and this is important – a character with less than 10 In Character posts is not going to be seriously considered. They could Impress, but it shouldn’t be counted on. Additionally, because women on green and blue dragons are incredibly rare, they should have at least twenty posts for a greenrider and 50 for a bluerider. This isn’t a hard and fast rule – you might Impress before that count, or you might hit 100 before Impression – but it should be considered a healthy guide and honestly, the more posts she has, the more comfortable we are going to feel Impressing her! Why? Honestly, for all that profiles are amazing, characters have this habit of deviating from them. We want to see your character in action to get a good feel for them, and a good feel for how you write them. We want to see them loved, by you and hopefully by the rest of the OOC community! (even if no one IC loves them because they’re an ass) so that we know the dragonet we work so hard to create just for them is the best possible match that we can make it. Abandonment In the even that you abandon the site post Hatching where your character Impressed, for whatever reason, we reserve the right to retcon the dragonet and revert your character back to Candidate. In the event that a female character Impressed to green or blue, we reserve the right to kill the character and her dragon, regardless of her Inactivity Preference, if it isn’t possible to retcon her Impression. Your character is considered abandoned if it has been 3+ months without word from you OR 6+ months without posting with the Character in question. Retcon Impression If, for any reason, you absolutely cannot stand the idea of playing out the bond between your Character and their new dragonet, please contact ThistleProse, who will retcon the Impression, no questions asked. If you wish to elaborate to avoid future instances of the same experience, please do so. Retconing an Impression in this manner must be done within ONE WEEK of the end of the Hatching at which the Impression occurred. IN CHARACTER INFORMATION Searching: Please see this thread (http://pern.second-pass.net/forum/pages.php?page=search-stolen) Candidacy: Please see this thread (http://pern.second-pass.net/forum/pages.php?page=candidate) Hatching Sands The Hatching Sands can be considered off limits, even when there are no eggs on them, unless invited there by the Weyrwoman or the Weyrlingmaster in charge of the Candidate’s group. This is primarily because the gold dragons tend to be territorial and having nosy young people popping in unexpectedly and whenever they want makes some of them anxious, some of them grumpy, and all of them unhappy. Clutching The rider of the gold is usually the one to announce to the Weyrleader how many eggs her dragon has Clutched. No one is allowed access to the Sands without express permission from the gold’s rider, for the comfort of the gold dragon in labour. Usually, the Weyrleaders will be allowed access and the clutch sire, but that is not a given. Anyone going in without permission is likely to find themselves in a lot of trouble. Touching The Touching happens approximately seven (7) days before the Hatching is due to take place. You are not required to take part in the Hatching if your character has already been slotted to Impress, however, it is heavily encouraged and can be a lot of fun! In the past, Touching results have had an effect on the dragonets within when they do Hatch, which can be a really interesting addition to your character and their relationship with their clutch mates. Touchings happen under the guidance of the group’s Weyrlingmaster, the gold and bronzeriders of the Clutch parents, and the Weyrleaders if they aren’t otherwise busy. Candidates are expected to act with decorum and dignity, and with great care towards the unhatched eggs. Firelizards are allowed on a per-gold basis – some gold dragons don’t mind them, and some hate them – your Weyrlingmaster should inform you before the Hatching. Firelizards who misbehave will be banished by one of the appropriate dragons. Bowing to the clutch mother isn’t something our Canon does, however, it is polite to thank the humans at the end of your class – your Weyrlingmaster, and any attending gold or bronzeriders. It is considered impolite to speak directly to a dragon that you haven’t been personally introduced to, or given permission to converse with by the Rider. Hatching Perhaps the largest difference between our Canon, and both the books and other sites, is the length of time with which it takes for a Hatching to complete. An average Hatching on our site takes approximately five to seven hours; sometimes more and sometimes less, usually depending on the size of the clutch. When the Eggs begin to show signs of Hatching – rocking and cracking – the Candidates are alerted via the Weyrlingmaster, who will have been alerted by the gold’s rider. The gold herself rarely calls out to the entire Weyr, though it might happen if she’s of that type of personality. The time between first-rock and actual appearance of a Hatchling is usually at least one hour. When the eggs begin to wobble, several things happen: The Weyrlingmaster wrangles the Candidates into the baths to wash, dress in their robes and boots, and make their way onto the Sands. Messenger riders are sent to the other Weyrs, any Holds that were invited or who expressed interest in attending, as well as to the families of any Candidates that expressed an interest in attending. Guests and residents fill the Stands to watch; dragons are able to perch along the outer rim of the Grounds, if they wish, but there isn’t enough room for everyone. This usually means that unimportant greens and blues miss out. As the Hatching progresses, the Player in charge (usually the gold’s Player or a member of the Team) will indicate how much time has passed between individual Hatching posts. This is usually at the bottom of the latest post, with an OOC stamp such as ‘the next egg will hatch in 2 hours’. This gives you OOC knowledge to include in your post if you want to – such as your Candidate or viewer being bored shitless, or observing the newly Impressed, etc. Generally, there will be up to five (5) eggs Hatching in any given post, unless the Clutch is especially small, at which point it may only be one or two. PC Impressions are not revealed in the post – the revelation will be left to the Player and their post with the appropriate character. It is absolutely VITAL that you do NOT spoil the Hatching for anyone. There is a Spoiler channel in Discord that you’re welcome to use to talk about anything related to the Hatching. All talk within the general #hatching channel must be spoiler free. Anyone who breaks this rule – intentionally or otherwise – will receive a 24 hour ban from the Hatching channels. This page may be updated at any time, for any reason, as deemed required by the SP Team. Any changes will be made known to the Player base. |