Speaking of Firelizards

[Sbrock]

Why, when they were being "enhanced" from the original dragonets, weren't they given the ability to "speak" like the dragons? Wouldn't the enhancement of their intelligence been beneficial? Or perhaps they chatter too much.... ;)

[granath]

Perhaps they couldn't make their brains large enough to permit speech...

[C_ris]

i suppose that they didn't want to change them too much, just enhance slightly natural features. The dragons were only created out of necessity.

[Mausey]

I'd agree with C_ris. When the fire lizards were being played with originally, they were basically pets. It was only later when dragons were being created that speech of any kind became necessary.

[Tabra]

I think, more than anything, that they wouldn't have wanted to waste a single egg that could have been a dragon. They needed every one they could get. But it would have been a good idea for all sorts of reasons. I'd rather have a fire lizard to pass messages than a telephone!

[Michael]

i suppose that they didn't want to change them too much, just enhance slightly natural features. The dragons were only created out of necessity.


I agree. It seems I remember in Dragonsdawn that some folks were strongly opposed to "tinkering" with a species too much. What did they call that group? I guess I need to re-read Dragonsdawn now. :roll:

Mikey

[bisb]

I think, more than anything, that they wouldn't have wanted to waste a single egg that could have been a dragon. They needed every one they could get. But it would have been a good idea for all sorts of reasons. I'd rather have a fire lizard to pass messages than a telephone!

I think you are right Tabra. Also wasn't Kitty Ping getting up their in years? And wasn't sure how much longer she could keep going?

[B`dgyr]

I can't remember the name of the group, but on Earth there had been people against genetic enhancement, of any kind. I think (not sure) they were called the pure lifers or something like that. There were none really on Pern, but the enhancement of the fire lizards was done about five to six years before Thread's FirstFall, and was done by Bay, having been given permission by Kitti Ping, reluctantly, I want to say. All they did was enhance the intelligence rather than really mess with them....just to make them better and more useful pets. (Although the beauty is enough for me)

[Greenrider Tresa]

Think fire-lizards are fine the way they are, and possibly changing them as much as they were was causing enough of an uproar.

Anyway, if they'd been given the same ability to speak as dragons, wouldn't that mean they'd have the same poor memory? The differences are what make them interesting!




Tresa

[Kathryn Draconna]

Think fire-lizards are fine the way they are, and possibly changing them as much as they were was causing enough of an uproar.

Anyway, if they'd been given the same ability to speak as dragons, wouldn't that mean they'd have the same poor memory? The differences are what make them interesting!




Tresa


I shall agree with Tresa on that one... two speices that are too much alike is rather boring... and the uproar that messing with the fire-lizards at all created was enough to keep anyone from doing too much to them at the time.

[BD1]

Are there firelizards AND dragonets on Pern?? Or JUST firelizards????? :confused: :confused:

[Greenrider Tresa]

Are there firelizards AND dragonets on Pern?? Or JUST firelizards????? :confused: :confused:

I think dragonets started out being what some people called fire-lizards before the other name caught on.

Then later on, a dragonet came to mean a young dragon. At least, I think that usage is canon...<G> Know in PBeMs at least, dragonet or dragonette always means an immature dragon, rather than a fire-lizard.



Tresa

[C_ris]

Are there firelizards AND dragonets on Pern?? Or JUST firelizards????? :confused: :confused:

'dragonets' i believe were what the original (ie non enhanced) version, and 'fire lizards' have the enfhanced abilities, and eventaully took over from the dragonets. That i think is the only difference.

[Sbrock]

Ah well... A shame I guess... Even as pets, the colonists saw their usefullness as guards agaings things like tunnel snakes, wherries, and that... Even child-speak would have been quite useful... For things like, short messages, locating prey, figuring out WHAT the alarm is about, and that kind of thing... If only my dog could talk... you know? ;)

[Brenda]

I think, more than anything, that they wouldn't have wanted to waste a single egg that could have been a dragon. They needed every one they could get. They started the little enhancements like Mentasynth before Thread came - long before anyone started even thinking about dragons.

The Pure Human Life Group (I think that's the name) was against drastic changes such as altering a human fetus to retain gills (a natural stage in development) so that water worlds could be colonized, or changes to allow humans to live on toxic-gas planets.

[Vyon]

:2cent: Metasynth had to have started before the colonisation because the colonising dolphins had been metasynth enhanced. Whatever "metasynth" was supposed to mean.

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Well the dolphins, I think, were both genetically manipulated and mentasynth enhanced, as were the firelizards. I don't see how dolphins could gain total speaking ability just from an empathy enhancing compound. The dolphins were enhanced before the trip to Pern, and were in cryogenic stasis for the journey. But the Eridani methods could still be used after the colonization, in the Labs. I'm still not sure exactly who the Eridani are, or what their relationship with people is... never remembered much elaboration on that.

[bugsy]

The reason they were inhansed was so they could help protect the stock (chickens, cows, horses) from attacks by the werries (I think that's how you spell it) the only thing changed was thier size :2cent: :2cent: :2cent: :2cent: :2cent: that;s my ten cents (inflation)

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

The dragonets were enhanced with mentasynth for empathy and memory, but also genetically altered from tridactyl to pentadactyl. They were larger, but that was probably more to superior feeding and care than to direct genetic manipulation. They also were leaner, and had flatter noses.

[DuchessPariah]

FROM MEMBER DRUIDSPELL:
Because they used increased amounts of metasynth on the dragons, it affected the empathy(mind-to-mind speaking):memory ratio.
The firelizards, not having received as drastic an amount of metasynth as the dragons, retained the memory, but did not gain an increased empathic ability. The dragons, however, gained the ability to speak clearly mind-to-mind, but, as we all know, have a terrible memory.