Eastern Weyr

ANNE MCCAFFREY'S REQUESTS

Anne McCaffrey is the creator of Pern and of its societies.  As an author and creator, we at Eastern will respect her rights to maintain some level of control over her intellectual property.  The following rules are without exception:

Eastern Weyr has a few rules of its own - mostly to prevent out of scope, un-canonical behavior and to promote an atmosphere which is cohesive and user-friendly to its members.

On one hand, we expect the following guidelines to be noted and respected in your roleplay. On the other, we understand that many roleplayers have ideas and plots that will try and exceed or ignore these rules. In some cases that will work out beautifully - but as a general principle, if you have to ask yourself "Will I get in big trouble if I....." it is always better to ASK FIRST. We're not proponents of the "better to beg forgiveness then ask permission" rule, and we don't enjoy axing plots - but if you ask us first, we get the chance to work with you and hopefully come up with a way to make it happen that's within the scope of Eastern's rules and canon.

At Eastern Weyr, we want to make sure that everyone has the chance to earn In-Character ranks, and we'd much rather have a supportive network of rankers spread out among our members than all the pressure heaped on a few writers and everyone else excluded. That being said, we do want to make sure that our rankers are believable, and played. If you are given a ranking character, or applied for one and had it approved, then you have been given that character for a reason. The most common "virtues" that will result in awards of rank include consistent roleplaying, roleplaying talent, time commitment and effort. OOC behavior can and will be factored in to these decisions Eastern expects that its player-base recognize and understand the need for proper OOC behavior.

We also expect that those given ranking characters will PLAY them. A ranker is necessary in many plots and should, for all intents and purposes, be highly active in the Weyr. That being said, we certainly understand that nobody's perfect, we all get busy, and Real Life should ALWAYS come first - all we ask if that honest efforts at consistent activity are made.

Probably THE most important rule at Eastern Weyr forbids powerplaying.  For a simple definition, power-playing is essentially playing someone else's character.  In instances of obvious and flagrant powerplaying, for example, one member might write two characters falling in love and getting handfasted - even though one of those character isn't theirs, and the other writer didn't give permission.  Usually, however, the actions described are much small in scale - a handshake, a smile, a spoken sentence, even an expression on another character's face might be off-limits if the writer of the character being described didn't write it into being themselves.

Of course, on a small scale such as this, there tends to be a bit of gray area, and we understand that.  Sometimes interpretations disagree, someone misreads, or there's just a simple misunderstanding, and in such cases the standard fix is just to remove the powerplayed portion of the post from the assumed IC record (usually with a re-post or even just an edited re-quote in the other writer's reply).  Warnings are only issued if a member refuses to stop powerplaying despite being alerted that they've done so.

Complaints of powerplaying will be taken seriously by the BoD, as no one wants to have their characters written for them.  Anyone intentionally powerplaying will receive a formal warning on this topic.  If more than two warnings are necessary, the BoD reserves the collective right to ban a member from our boards.

Due to the climate of Eastern Weyr, flits are readily available as pets. For the most part these flits will be "lucky finds", when someone trips over a wild clutch and takes the eggs. However, some rules apply. These flits must be BROWN, BLUE, or GREEN and should have a suitable write-up. Bred flits are available at Gathers from particular flit and wher breeders, but these flits come with a price-tag attached. Any bronze or gold flits must be pre-written and pre-approved by the BoD before play. In other words, ASK.

Whers will be available at Eastern on a limited basis. Because of the amount of wide-open space, whers as pets are feasible. But keep in mind that whers IMPRESS to humans and are a huge responsibility. They will not be gifted to any character and bronze or gold whers are absolutely off limits unless received via BoD Impression. Otherwise, the colors of pet or watch whers are limited to BROWN, BLUE or GREEN.

A dragon's name always ends in "th". Why? Because Anne McCaffrey says so, and because it makes things interesting. Dragons have grown since the 9th Pass written about in Anne McCaffrey's novels. If you want a dragon outside these parameters, write to us, and we'll consider it. We have a stretch limit, and a shrink limit. If you want the smallest dragon on Pern, write up a good sheet, and we'll talk.

Current sizes are as follows:


We will only be approving the CANON colors - gold, bronze, brown, blue, and green. There will be no sport dragons (e.g. Ruth). The reason for this is simple: first, dragons of different colors are genetic mutations. They are sterile and usually unhealthy. Even Ruth was not in the best of physical conditions. And second? Anne has asked us not to do so.

Secondly, which gender and sexual preference can Impress to each color?

First, golds only Impress to females, and bronzes and browns only Impress to males. No exceptions. As for blues and greens, we try to keep the ratios roughly between 75/25 and 50/50 at any given point in time, with blues leaning towards being male-heavy and greens leaning toward being female-heavy.

For Impressions, sexuality will be relevant only according to the rules set forth below.

Orientations and dragons:

Here at Eastern Weyr, we utilize a simple system of dragon, human, wher, and flit speech:

((Dragon))

"Human speaking voice"  [[Human mindvoice]]

~Flit speak~

**Wherspeak**

Remember - flits don't actually communicate in words! They use a combination of images, emotions, and other simple sentiments to get their point across. In other words, anything in ~Flit speak~ is really just a short-cut for something ultimately non-verbal. A flit would probably be able to convey names, but that's about it.

Mary Sue (noun);

Any character who could be the protagonist of a daytime soap.

See: flowing hair, misty eyes, or eyes that "reflect the depths of timeless sorrow", cores of inner strength, rosy lips, flawless skin, skinny but large chested women, sexy virgins, "natural feminine grace", "natural charismatic auras", the "innocent seducer", the idiot savant (aka the wise airhead), and any post in which melodramatic metaphor or the words or phrases: "forces beyond her understanding", "stoic weeping", "great inner pain", "inner strength", "....forged through many trials", or any variation thereof are used.


Examples:

(Thanks to Pete for the following write-up.)

Marielle
Age:  16
Physical Description:

Marielle stands at just under/over 5 feet tall, with long flowing blonde hair and flawless pale skin. Her figure is thin with ample curves and her eyes are the color of a forest in the spring, reflecting a hidden core of inner strength that has been forged through many trials. She tends to wear very simple, low cut dresses that accent her hair and eyes, and that give ample credit to her womanly figure. She moves with the grace that transcends her inauspicious beginnings as the daughter of a pillow crafter, and can often be seen with a soft smile, revealing straight, perfect teeth.

Personality

Marielle is a gentle, mysterious soul that is like a ripple on a lake. The more you try to pull her in, the further away she gets. This is, however, only because the love that fills her generous heart cannot be contained by a single person… yet she waits patiently for her one true love, the man who can quell the wild wind of her heart. She is always ready to listen to a friend in need, and give advice beyond her years to any soul who would have it. Extremely sensitive, she takes the woes of others onto her own shoulders, bearing their burdens as though they were her own. But the core of inner strength she carries within her, which shines like a beacon of hope to the masses, always carries her through...

History:

Marielle was searched when she was thirteen turns old, giving her the opportunity to escape from the abusive creche workers who looked after her. She never knew her mother, but was told that she was a pillow crafter of some renown… an obvious source of Marielle's beauty and charm. Though often tempted, Marielle never gave up her virginity, waiting for her one true love to find her… however, she was molested and nearly raped by four guards who were so taken by her beauty, and who had grown jealous of her wit and charm. She was rescued, however, by a valiant young bronze rider who was transferred to another Weyr before Marielle could pursue what might have been her one true love… She swears that one day she will find him again...

At fourteen, she impressed to Gold Fayth, and became the junior weyrwoman. Rejoicing at finally being able to transcend the sinful ways of her mother, she immediately set up a protective program in the Weyr for abused pillow crafters, and worked to improve the conditions of the Creche, so that no child would ever have to know anything but comfort and security.

Then one day, she was collectively raped in both mind and body by the BoD, and her sheet was never approved. Mua ha ha!


In other words, a Mary Sue is that girl in your high school class who got straight A's and never looked as if she had a hair out of place. She's the kind of person whose eye you want to black JUST BECAUSE she's perfect. Look, the truth is, no one out there has that kind of life. No one is the perfect daughter of a Lord Holder who then becomes a glorious and wonderful WeyrWoman who Impresses to the largest Gold ever clutched. They are not being hunted down by stalkers, constantly involved in intrigue, alluring to everything alive or capable of abnormal feats. They are not capable of learning a craft overnight. They are not geniuses or prodigies. Nor are they the only son of a now-dead pillowcrafter whose father committed suicide after killing off their two dearest siblings, and who now have Impressed to a small but incredibly brave Bronze. It just doesn't happen. And we will barf in your shoes if you even dare to suggest it has.

A flawed character is a good character. This isn't to say your flaws should be ticked off directly opposite your good points. We're not making grocery lists, and people don't fit well into that mold. But a Candidate who is afraid of heights, a goldrider who fears Threadfall and a bisexual brownrider who refuses to come out of the closet tend to be a lot more engaging than Mr. or Ms. Perfect, simply because they give you not only humor value but plot worthy interactions. Let's see some realism in these characters.

If your character passes the litmus test below, great. If not... think again before you submit him or her.

MARY SUE LITMUS TEST

Flaming is the mistreatment of anyone in an OOC way. If you're angry with someone - wait before you reply. Flaming will be taken seriously by the BoD, and may lead to your being banned from the group if it becomes a serious repeat issue. The BoD will not tolerate name-calling, finger-pointing, or any other form of disruptive flaming behavior to interrupt our game.

Remember - If you can't say something nice, just don't say anything.

For the most part, the Eastern BoD feels that all in character actions should have appropriate in character consequences. That is, you can't have a character jump off a cliff because he or she thinks they can fly only to have them avoid terrible injury afterward. On the other hand, we understand that occasionally, people make bad decisions. They act without fully understanding a situation, don't realize a canon point existed, or are otherwise confused by a circumstance, plot, or action. We've all goofed up like this in the past, and we are understanding. If you made a mistake OOCly that caused a mistake that does not make sense ICly -- e.g. mistakenly thinking a character was a Candidate rather than a Weyrling, or calling another person's dragon by the incorrect name although your character would not have made the mistake -- we have no problem with OOC take-backs.

Just don't push it too far. We'd prefer less mistakes were made. Again, better to ask permission than beg forgiveness; but if begging's your only option, we're not going to leave you in the lurch.

Yes, we know that other Weyrs sometimes allow these kinds of plots, but according to Eastern's specific canon, timing it is an ability that does not exist. It had never existed, it never will exist. Please don't ask for plots involving it.

Please visit the JOIN page to submit a character, and we look forward to playing with you!