The Dragonriders of PernŽ is a trademark, Registered U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, of Anne McCaffrey.

Pyrene's a 'Reaches rider - there must be something corrupt about her, somewhere.
   -Lis

   Since the first Pern book I read was Dragonsong, closely followed by the rest of the Harper Hall Trilogy, fire lizards have always been part of what makes Pern Pern, in my view. Certainly I always wanted one of my own when I first read the series, and lo and behold… wishes do come true! In a non-tactile sort of way. So here is Pyrene's fair, in order of impression, and colour coded just for fun. As a bonus, you can also go on an illustrated tour of their namesake places on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, UK where I grew up (aren't you the lucky ones?!). The Lizard theme was just too appropriate to pass over, only I ran out of childhood beaches, so Tremayne was named for a spot on a river instead and Kernow was simply named for Cornwall. Fortunately, Harper's Tale will only allow any one character to impress five fire lizards, so there will be no more additions to this page. Well, I could always recycle one, but I really don't have the heart. I did further my fetish in requesting a dragon name though; Cadgwith is also the name of a small harbour village on the Lizard.

Poldhu
Brilliant hues of blue swirl together on this small fire lizard's hide. Faint lines of deep blue form cobwebs across his gossamer wings, wings that seem much too delicate for this rather rambunctious boy. For he appears to be in constant motion, always chirruping happily. This image of buoyancy seems at odds with the mournful expression in his bejeweled eyes; he seems to hold a world of sorrows within their depths.
    -Hatched by Lacyene from her gold Beldara and Wild Bronze

   Poldhu (pole-jew) was my first fire lizard anywhere, so I've always had a soft spot for him. I impressed him about two weeks after I joined Harper's Tale at the first hatching I ever went to. I hadn't expected to impress, hence my very flimsy IC excuse for being at the Seahall, but I had met the ubiquitous Jezabel a few days earlier and as soon as she heard I was going to Lacy's hatching, she gave me a quick practice session and some tips and also sent one of her alts along to the hatching. Considerably buoyed up by this moral support, I relaxed and just tried to have fun... probably the most sensible thing I'd done on HT thus far. Pol was the third to hatch (Buoyant Jovial Blue?), bubbling over with personality and, to my not inconsiderable surprise, went to me fairly quickly. Full credit to Jez: I doubt I could have done it without her.

I had been thinking of what to name a lizard should I be lucky enough to Impress one only that morning. As I recall, Poldhu came to me while in the shower, probably because my mother always decorates the bathroom like a seascape. But how could I resist bringing Cornwall to my little part of Pern? 

Gunwalloe
Muscles ripple in a royal blue patchwork that circles in a dizzying paisley pattern. Wide shoulders and lean hips give this rugged fellow an imposing wedge shape offset only by the compactness of his body. Far shorter in length than his fellows, he makes up for this inadequacy with his physical strength and devil-may care attitude. His undeniably square jaw-line gives him the profile of the typical hero, rushing in to save the damsel before discovering exactly what the danger is.
   -Hatched by E'ren, from Aligore's green Widget and blue Sprocket

    I didn't get to this hatching, my second, until it was about halfway through, so when I impressed Wal, I privately decided that it could be argued that I had a better than %100 track record at these things. I kept this, by dint of not actually going to any more hatchings, for a good month (I may be smug, but I'm not stupid… much), but you’ll be pleased to hear that I then attended three or four without a hatchling so much as looking my way. That'll teach me humility (well, you'd think). Actually, looking at the rest of that clutch (modelled on stereotypes from various countries), I probably wouldn't have had a chance with any of the others, I'm just lucky that Wal, (Rugged Australian Hero?), didn't hatch until I got there. I can cope with Aussie stereotypes: I always knew that watching Neighbours religiously would come in handy someday (and taking the mick out of that is practically a national sport in Britain). Wal and Pol pretty much complement each other, purposefully, although I don't play them together as much as I could do. 

Since he was meant to go with Poldhu, I had to name him for the cove that went with Poldhu: Gunwalloe.

Unfinished Symphony Brown Kynance
Ominous blackish brown creeps up broad paws and muscular haunches to cover a stocky body, giving this firelizard a broad foundation for a base. He squats low to the ground, more of a one to sneak his way into a crowd that just appear. Making his appearance known by his out of place soprano trills, he has a way of worming his way into the crowd until... 'tada'!... his presence is noticed by all.
    -Hatched by D'rik and Ayrina from his gold Sunlight and her bronze Gigolo

   Kynance came along roughly two months after the first two. I hadn't intended to go to his hatching at first, but had sent Wal to watch in case I knew anybody there. Then I thought "Why not?", hopped over and started posing. Ky was the first to hatch, so I wasn't taking part for long anyway. Not that I was complaining, of course: I finally had my non-blue lizard. Although I adore my blues, it was a little odd having two of them when Pyrene ostensibly couldn't stand the colour. Brown is her favourite though, and consequently, Ky can get away with a lot more than the other pair (and knows it), while Wal and Pol have cultivated a severe distaste for brown lizards and Kynance in particular. Pyrene, however, won't stand for this, being a hypocrite who'd rather not have a trio of squabbling lizards in her head, so she will regularly insult blues in one breath and in the next rebuke Ky for agreeing with her. 

   After Poldhu and Gunwalloe, I had been waiting to name a lizard after Kynance Cove.

   Tremayne came as a surprise, with a mail from Flarra soon after I reached my one year anniversary on HT. I have to admit that I was inanely flattered that she wanted to give one of her eggs to me, but I was a little apprehensive about hatching it. I'm never very good with new commands. Sure enough, I tried hatching it with Areiah and Kyren in the Living Caverns, which isn't a hatching room, so the egg refused to hatch. Fortunately, Areiah remembered that the baths worked, and we relocated there, only I forgot the egg. Bizarrely, as long as I was the in the baths, the egg hatched quite easily in the Living Caverns and the little bronze impressed to me regardless of my technical absence. I didn't even realise that I'd forgotten the egg, until Areiah asked where the lizard was. You can read the log of the hatching, complete with relevant OOC comments and channelchat here.

    I originally named him Kennack for another beach on the Lizard, but Kennack Sands didn't have as many memories for me as the others did. Then I remembered Tremayne Quay.

Helpful Unbiased Michaela Quinn Gold Kernow
Muted amber caresses headknobs, flowing down neckridges and trailing to her wingspars. Proud and lithe, this queen holds her head high, a born defender of the oppressed. Pale sunlight streaks her throat and underbelly, deepening to nearly rust along the outer edges of her wings. A rainbow of hues melt together on her sturdy 'sails, a multicultural harmony of which the buttermilk gold is merely a part of the whole. Bubbling apple cider laces her tail from its tip to the middle of her back, pouring in shimmering waves down her haunches and ending in talons of filigreed moonlight.
    -Gifted by Adora, from Gwenna's gold Papillon and Spectrum's bronze Deception

    I'd learned my lesson with Tremayne about self-hatching eggs, but Adora didn't give me much warning with Kernow (and on HT the rule is that the fifth and final lizard has to be gifted). One minute she was paging me asking if I had a gold on any alt, next thing I knew, she'd used up a batch of my quota with an egg. Not, of course, that I was going to say no. We actually had more rigmarole with this one than Tremayne: after my experience with him, I went to the baths without the egg, only to find that this time I needed to have the egg with me for it to hatch. It was eventually managed and we returned to the RP. I'm putting up the log without OOC chatter, but if anybody feels that I didn't 'earn' my gold, then you're welcome to ask me for the full log. Just don't come back and say that it proves I'm too idiotic to deserve one; I already knew that. Pyrene rather counts on Kernow to keep the others in control (that's what queens are for, right?), which means that she has a depressing time of it mostly... except when the others are 'a terrible influence on her'.

    The name Kernow (Ker-no) was always destined for any gold lizard that Pyrene might impress.

    As a note of interest, when Gwenna hatched out the rest of her clutch a week later, Ping impressed the first brown and was wondering what to call him. Utterly shameless, I persuaded her to name him Truro, after the main city of Cornwall, where I went to school.