@Dragons serve as the primary line of defense against Thread, but they require a good deal of maintenance and food. This requires a large part of Pernese infrastructure to be centered around their upkeep, especially farming herdbeasts (cattle) and other sources of meat. An arrangement of donations to the weyrs called 'tithing' is established, though it is known to cause resentment from all sides for various reasons. Out of this, @F'lessan spearheaded an effort to begin establishing smaller weyrholds that would be located in locations that satisfy draconic needs but are less attractive to larger human settlements. These weyrholds are built to become a smaller home or community that can be home to both dragon and @Dragonrider in a more self-sustaining manner that does not rely on tithes.
Dragons are carnivorous, oviparous, warm-blooded creatures. Like all of Pern's native large fauna, they have six limbs - four feet and two wings. Their blood, referred to as ichor, is copper-based and green in color. Unlike Terran species, dragon ichor does not have different types, and giving a dragon a transfusion of ichor from another dragon would never make them sick. They have multifaceted eyes that change color depending on the dragon's mood. A red/orange color typically indicates anger, yellow shows anxiety, fear, or excitement. Green/Blue is the default color and Purple is usually a sign of worry by itself but is an indicator of love and devotion if displayed with blue. Should only some of these facets be damaged, a dragon will still have limited vision in the remaining ones.
Their head and general body type is described as being similar in shape to those of horses. They had small headknobs, similar to those of giraffes, and no visible ears. Their talons were extremely heat and cold resistant. Unlike the dragons of Terran legend, they had a smooth hide rather than scales; the texture of their skin was described as being reminiscent of suede with a spicy, sweet scent when clean. They were described as having forked tail ends. Dragons are naturally very good healers, being able to regrow serious damage to their wings or hide, although debilitating or even mortal wounds are possible. The dragons usually get from one place to another by going through a teleportation process known as 'going between' if the distance is a longer distance.
Newly hatched dragons are the size of very large dogs or small ponies and reach their full size after eighteen months. Because young dragons grow so fast, their riders have to regularly apply oil to their hides to prevent the skin from cracking or drying out, which could harm the dragons when going between.
Dragons, like their fire lizard ancestors, can breathe fire by chewing firestone which reacts with an acid in a special "second stomach" organ. This forms a volatile gas that can be exhaled at will and ignited upon contact with air. The flame is used to burn Thread from the sky before it reaches the ground. However, the chewed firestone has to be expelled from the body after it is used up, as the dragons cannot digest it. This is done by regurgitation. If a dragon does not do so in a timely manner (usually because of inexperience), it can cause a burning sensation and they will expel it involuntarily.
Dragons can fly to a height just over 3000 meters in daylight, which is around the limit their riders can go without passing out from lack of oxygen. Dragons can also hold their breath for around fifteen minutes, though this requires several hours in an oxygen rich environment and a meal to recover from afterwards. The cold of space, while not entirely comfortable, is tolerable to dragons, though prolonged contact with freezing metals will damage their skin.
Like their fire lizard predecessors, dragons are meat eaters, and part of dragon care is allowing the dragon to hunt and eat prey on a regular basis. While fire lizards often hunt fish, dragons prefer land creatures. Weyrs typically maintain their own herdbeasts for this purpose, though they also make use of other locations with permission. Hatchlings are required to be handfed by their riders, using meat that has been cut into appropriately sized pieces. During gold mating flights, both golds and bronzes show a propensity to hunt at the onset of heat, though riders are taught to restrain the dragons to blood their kills for a quick burst of energy, rather than devour the meat. A dragon's hunting skills are also used in service to humans, providing fresh meat for the residents of whatever location they happen to be at, usually the weyr, but occasionally at other areas.
A favorite activity of dragons is sunning themselves. They will find a high place to perch that is exposed to sunlight and often spread their wings to catch as much sunlight as possible. Such locations are even better if a vertical surface is nearby to reflect more light and solar heat. They particularly enjoy doing this after going between or after spending time in snowy or cold environments.
A female @Dragon's first mating flight takes place upon reaching full maturity, usually around 2 years of age. Mating flights start when a gold or green is in heat, often signaled by a sudden change in temperament. Male dragons can sense when a female dragon is going into heat, even before the female dragon is aware of her condition. The color of a female dragon's hide will become brighter once they begin going into heat.
Greens typically require no further preparation beyond the onset of their cycle. However, Gold dragons will immediately begin hunting with the onset of heat. Weyrwomen are trained to keep their dragon from eating meat; instead, the gold is to blood their kills for a quick burst of energy. Meat is considered to slow a gold down. Bronze dragons are also known to blood kills for energy, prior to a gold dragon's mating flight. Once satisfied, the gold will launch herself into the air, followed by those males capable or willing to follow. Typically, gold flights only involve bronzes, as smaller males do not possess the stamina to keep up with the gold. Thus, brown and blue males typically mate with green dragons. Green mating flights are often shorter than golds, due to the smaller size of greens, though greens are noted to mate more often than golds.
Once in the air, the flight becomes a competition. The female dragon will soar over long distances, utilizing a variety of aerial maneuvers. Males will attempt to catch the female, with the winning male being able to mate with the female. A female dragon usually chooses the male who impressed her the most, however, younger, inexperienced females could be caught before making their selection. Mating takes place in midair, which can cause dangers if the pair are unaware of how close to the ground they fall. Pernese believe that higher and longer flights result in bigger clutches. Since green dragons are usually sterile, this is only a concern for gold dragons, so a Weyrwoman is taught that she must control her gold to keep her from overeating.
Mating flights play an important role in the Weyrs. Weyrleaders are chosen through mating flights; the Weyrleader is typically the rider of the bronze that flies the senior queen. In the event that a senior Weyrwoman is to be replaced, one method of choosing a successor is to select the rider of the first junior queen that rises to mate.
During a mating flight, the involved riders are drawn into the emotions of the event because of their bonds to their dragon. The mating instinct can also cause other females to enter heat, thus Weyr tradition states that all uninvolved queens are removed from the Weyr when a mating flight begins. This is meant to prevent the deadly fights that will otherwise take place between golds during mating flights. It is also a Weyr rule that a female dragon close to rising is not removed from their Weyr.
The intensified telepathic link between dragons and riders involved in a mating flight tends to leave serious psychological damage to a rider should something go wrong. The first queens’ battle during the First Pass, in which Porth, Singlath, and Evenath all rose simultaneously, left Porth’s rider Tarrie Chernoff suffering nightmares for at least two years afterwards - and likely longer. It’s very likely that the other two riders were equally affected. In the Ninth Pass, T'kul deliberately participated in a mating flight despite knowing his elderly bronze Salth might not survive; when the exertion did kill the old dragon, T’kul’s resulting madness was heightened by his participation in the mating flight, which he used to attack and nearly kill F'lar. The deaths of Prideth and Wirenth soon afterwards during a queens’ battle left both their riders severely affected, with Kylara becoming mindless and Brekke catatonic, respectively.